Weekly poll: Are the new Pixel 3a and 3a XL any good?
- V
- VectorR
- X}e
- 13 May 2019
Finally, a non-Chinese smartphone with perfect OS and one of the best camera around for reasonable money. Bravo Google! Will definitely buy Pixel 3a as a backup phone once the price drops a bit. $349 for Pixel 3a and $449 for Pixel 3a XL seems more attractive and fair deal for me.
- V
- VectorR
- X}e
- 13 May 2019
Anonymous, 12 May 2019Nah 64gb with no sd slot is useless. "Clean" android is too... moreI would't say so. 64GB is more that enough for 99% of people who don't make tons of 4k videos. I can't fill up 32GB storage for years :). Also your statement automatically makes many iPhones and other flagship phones useless which is nonsense.
- ?
- Anonymous
- XFF
- 12 May 2019
Kingslayer, 12 May 2019Blackberry KeyOne went initially for $500+ and had a weaker... moreAnd you can stick to your spying buggy crap with boring software
- ?
- Anonymous
- XFF
- 12 May 2019
Anonymous, 12 May 2019Interesting how a company like Google wants to do business ... moreOh thanks because you made me realise that plastic back, small battery, no gorilla glass, no sd card reader, huge besels and boring software are the most important things in a smartphone
- ?
- Anonymous
- JiA
- 12 May 2019
Whoever designs Pixels should have been fired a long time ago.
- L
- Love the Community
- vaS
- 12 May 2019
Don't vote against Google. This is the only opportunity to get the headphone jack back in the Pixel 4. We must show Google that we want the headphone jack back by buying these.
- F
- Flow
- 3LU
- 12 May 2019
Ali Bashir, 12 May 2019As usual, the global fans of other brands are voting agains... moreThey literally aren't lol. All they have is the camera. They get beaten in absolutely everything else by other midranges.
- A
- Ali Bashir
- StN
- 12 May 2019
As usual, the global fans of other brands are voting against, these two phones from Google so far the best midrange smartphones and the best bang bucks smartphones.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 043
- 12 May 2019
Interesting how a company like Google wants to do business in a serious way, but are "seemingly" taken down by some Indian Xiaomi fanboy kids who say "uhhh my Redmi has the same processor for half the price" because you know, an SoC is everything about a phone and the rest doesn't matter. If any of you were reasonable, you would realize that smartphone SoCs have hit a point where it is fast enough for most people. Might not be the best for the latest fortnite update, but who cares apart from some kids playing this in their lunch break.
So even though you shallow people won't take my comment seriously, I will explain why the concept of the Pixel 3a is great and should be the way forward, and why it is a really reasonable option:
Most people use their phone for: texting, browser, phone, photos, social media, youtube, and some really basic stuff like stopwatch and weather.
For all of those tasks, a mid range phone might not have been capable enough a couple of years ago. For example, my Xperia M4 Aqua was just about usable for browsing the web, but it was not a good experience. This is also due to Sony's software which looks stock, but is rather heavy. However, a Snapdragon 615 is not comparable to a Snapdragon 670, like at all. The 615 uses these weak A53 cores only, they are useless. The 670 has a much more advanced manufacturing process, which gives headroom for higher clock rates, and uses 2 A75 cores. That is flagship level we are speaking here. Combine that with the fact that Android became lighter over the years (believe it or not, it's true, Project svelte did wonders), and the faster storage we have today, and you got a user experience that's just on another level. I think Flagships reached this point at about 2017, with the iPhone 6s in 2015 being an exception, because it is not much slower than the latest iPhone, and those are among the fastest phones out there.
So for the mentioned tasks, you don't need a strong GPU. If you are really dependent on that, just waste 1000 dollars on a Snapdragon 855 device, but about 97% of population doesn't care.
Every phone nowadays has a good enough display. These saying the XR display is cheap and pixellated don't realize with what tech we are blessed compared to a few years ago. So Youtube is done.
Most of the tasks mentioned are fulfilled, but some only half way. The other half needed for those is a good camera, for photos and social media. And here is the biggest difference. I like to compare older flagships with never flagships here. The only thing I am missing a bit on my iPhone 7 from the never phones, is a better camera, because that makes a notable difference. The rest, like performance, screen etc. is fine, and the differences are negligible for me and most people. I updated my Xperia Z1 Compact to LineageOS 16, it fulfills basically everything most would ever need from it. The only point where it is noticeable that it is a 2013 phone is the camera. And that one differentiating factor, that most spec warriors often overlook, makes the biggest (and for some phones the only) difference.
Now that is why the Pixel 3a is a concept every manufacturer should follow suit. The camera should be the most important factor on a phone. And for me, manufacturers can also go out and finally put some big-ass lenses into the phone. Not these of digicams with optical zoom, just bigger sensors, and focus a rather big chunk of software development on image processing. A single phone camera costs about 15 dollars, so it really isn't that much of a problem to finally improve these, because everything else is already greatly advanced.
I also wouldn't mind if they put out an even cheaper phone, something with a Snapdragon 636 and LCD screen, but still that same camera. It would a good upgrade for many people. Call it Pixel 3e, put a € 250 price tag on it, and you are good to go.
Google has cut the right corners with the 3a. The thing that would worry me the most is the plastic back, but with a case, it should not be too big of an issue. And I use my phones with a case anyways, and the camera once again is a much more differentiating factor. I hope this Pixel 3a marks the start of a new generation of phones. I liked the focus on speed when it was necessary, and now that most € 200 phones have at least one A73 or A75 core, and stock android is that light, we are finally here. And from here on, camera and software should be the focus. Software updates and security/privacy are the next issue to tackle, together with improving the cameras quite a lot.
- Walter C. Dornez
- qig
- 12 May 2019
Kingslayer, 12 May 2019Blackberry KeyOne went initially for $500+ and had a weaker... moreWhile I do usually disagree with a lot of what you have to say, I'm honestly in the same boat as you. Sure, they should get knocked for the 64 GB and no microSD, and they should've fine with aluminum, but everything else is fine, even above average. The camera, software, stereo speakers, and the screen are flagship grade. So I feel like while it needs improvement, it's a fantastic first try for Google.
- Kingslayer
- Icx
- 12 May 2019
Blackberry KeyOne went initially for $500+ and had a weaker SoC than the Pixel 3a.
The Pixel 3a brings back a stronger polycarbonate (plastic) finish and headphone jack. It's under $400 in the United States. Same camera quality as the more expensive Pixel 3. People will still find ways to hate on it.
Stick to your cheap Huawei Honors and Xiaomi Redmis then with the Chinese iOS skin clone many of us don't care for. And ASUS will forever be crap to me. Never buy ASUS even if their Zenfones cost less than $100. Junk phones.
- Kingslayer
- cUU
- 12 May 2019
One of the biggest complaints about the Pixels was THE PRICE. Now Google decided to make an affordable Pixel and people are still COMPLAINING and COMPLAINING. SMH.
It's like every episode of Game of Thrones. After every episode, they rant and rant about how the show sucks on YouTube, yadda yadda.. But every Sunday night, they're still glued to their television ready to watch it.
Haters gonna hate.
- ?
- Anonymous
- IHx
- 12 May 2019
If you have to ask.
- T
- The last Oracle
- vIY
- 12 May 2019
This option should have been added:
1. They are good, but could do better at $50-100 less, considering the lower quality of hardware, and the fact that Photography is their sole talent.
- D
- AnonD-731363
- SH3
- 12 May 2019
400 and 500 bucks for a low end midranger? Thanks no.
Mi9 explorer can be bought for same price thats a lot better deal.
P20 pro as well.
S9 or S9+ also better deal for same price.
Lenovo Z5 r Z6 Pro GT same price much better specs.
- C
- CompactPhones5ever
- 8uS
- 12 May 2019
I REALLY dig the design, I've been longing for a compact plastic phone with decent specs for a while (I hate the giantic glass sandwiches with passion), but 64GB storage with no SD card slot?!
Really Google? 2012 called, it wants its storage option back.
- M
- Mokap
- 0WL
- 12 May 2019
Is understandable that people refuse them because they are clearly overpriced average mid-range phones. You can find the news about the CEO of Google being upset because people don't buy their phones and the profit is not the expected... Of course!!! The profit is very high for each phone... but if you are offering crap hardware aside the camera with a lot of lacks in features that your competitors offer at the same price, don't expect sell a lot. Their phones had also plenty of issues along the years. And the software support even being, obviously the faster, is not enough as other brands give a good one too. Change the price to a proper one or offer a better updated hardware with a nicer design and more features too for the same price and you'll sell more. But no, they prefer be as greedy as Apple but without local warranty and custom service around the world, with a shared OS and with better competitors that give customers a better value for their money.
Aside blind fans, people no more buy only due to the brand and show the logo. That is. Is good have a lot of alternatives as we have today to choose so we can compare and buy the one we find the best for our money. So change and adapt your hardware strategy if you want be success selling phones.
- Z
- ZloiYuri
- Tmf
- 12 May 2019
Price killed this basic phone. There is absolutely no any reason to buy that weird thing.
- ?
- Anonymous
- GQd
- 12 May 2019
Anonymous, 12 May 2019Redmi note 7 pro wants to have a word with you....
P.S I a... moreYes, Indian market is 5he reason why most phones are completely proceed, think that
Btw , Oneplus 7 pro is a better value than Bixel 3aXL Cr@p