Google Pixel 4a has officially launched as the successor to the Pixel 3a budget lineup of phones, albeit without the Pixel 4a XL. The Pixel 4a aims to offer the vanilla Pixel experience with a flagship-level camera and is already looking like a great contender in the mid-range smartphone market going up against the likes of the OnePlus Nord and Apple iPhone SE 2020. The Pixel 4a is also important for the countries where Google didn’t launch the Pixel 4 last year like India, however, availability is set to vary depending on regions.
Google has indicated that the delay in the launch of the Pixel 4a was due to the outbreak of COVID-19 which impacted the supply chain, leading to several delays. Hence, some countries will just see a deferred availability of the PIxel 4a in their regions. Google also gave us a sneak peak at the Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 that will be debuting sometime this fall in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.
Let’s take a brief look at the specifications, pricing and availability of the Pixel 4a.
Google Pixel 4a comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and is priced at $349. It will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States from August 20. The Pixel 4a will be available in India sometime in October and the Indian pricing will be revealed closer to the sale date.
Google has made some new cases for the Pixel 4a with fabric design that’s made from 70 percent recycled material and comes in Basically Black, Static Grey and Blue Confetti colours to choose from.
Google Pixel 4a has a new design with a soft-to-touch plastic back but without the dual-tone style as on the Pixel 3a. It measures 8.2 millimetres in thickness and is fairly lightweight, weighing 143 grams, due to the polycarbonate built. There is a square camera module on the back with the fingerprint reader placed in the middle for faster unlock speeds. The phone doesn’t go for an in-display sensor as is the trend these days likely to keep the price down.
The 4a features a 5.8-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an OLED panel. The screen has a punch-hole cutout in the top-left corner for housing the selfie camera and has minimal bezels on the sides. This gives it a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Additionally, the display is HDR+ certified which should enhance the video-viewing experience on the phone while the audio is expected to be decent with stereo speakers.
The Pixel 4a is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G with an octa-core CPU clocked at upto 2.2GHz and Adreno 618 GPU. This is paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Being a Pixel phone, Google offers unlimited photo and video storage in Google Photos in high quality for free. The Pixel 4a is a slightly toned-down version of the Pixel 4 that debuted late last year. It doesn’t come with the Soli radar chip or Pixel Neural Core but does come with the Titan M security chip which helps in keeping your data safe along with assured updates for three years.
Google Pixel 4a comes with a single 12MP camera which uses the same Sony IMX363 sensor as the Pixel 4 with support for OIS and EIS. Google claims that the camera of the Pixel 4a is capable of producing Pixel 4-like images from its camera with features like Live HDR+, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Super Res Zoom and more. The phone’s rear camera is capable of recording in 4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30/60/120fps and 720p at up to 240fps while the selfie camera can shoot Full HD videos at 30fps. The front camera on the phone is the same as the Pixel 3a with an 8MP camera with an 84-degree field-of-view.
The 4a does not lose out on the 3.5mm headphone jack and comes pre-loaded with Google Assistant along with a slew of new features like the new Recorder app which transcribes speech to text using AI and machine learning algorithms. In addition, the phone has accessibility features like live Transcribe and Live Caption as well.
The Pixel 4a is equipped with a 3,140mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Google claims that the 4a can provide a 24-hour battery backup and comes with Adaptive Battery feature that manages the battery life based on how you use your phone.