Google Pixel 3a XL review
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- Anonymous
- jej
- 08 May 2019
pjcamp, 08 May 201964 GB but no SD slot? What are they smoking?where have you been?? google product (except for the first nexus maybe) have never had SD card slots..
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- AnonD-784107
- gAn
- 08 May 2019
Personally its over priced I can go get a Pixel 2 XL. For the same price in Argos which has flagship specs. They should of priced it £299 then it would probably sell well. Only die hard pixel fans will buy.
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- Ultimate Reviewer
- 44L
- 08 May 2019
soares, 08 May 2019I am interested in decent pictures, but also in gaming and ... morePixel 3a xl has great battery life, camera, and it is good for gaming. People underestimate the SD 670 but it can run pubg great at hd ultra.
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- soares
- 6XT
- 08 May 2019
Anonymous, 08 May 2019People either complain about too expensive, don't have don'... moreI am interested in decent pictures, but also in gaming and performance and good battery life. I don't want to rob a bank to afford such a device. So what would you suggest for me? And why do manufacturers think that people only want great battery life OR great camera OR gaming?
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- Noname
- 49m
- 08 May 2019
It is missing FM radio. In USA, it gives people option to avoid paying for music services. It is clever “collusion” with phone manufacturers and sometime their own music streaming services.
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- RatBoy
- xYR
- 08 May 2019
You have to consider the price and the audience Google is pushing their "a" models to. I own the pixel 1 XL and I've had 0 complaints, but I've been wanting to upgrade to a pixel 3 XL but the screen issues threw me off at launch so I stuck with my Pixel 1. The Pixel 3aXL at the moment doesn't have any issues and much cheaper than the Pixel 3xl. Sure I'm missing some features but the basics are here and I'm still getting the outstanding camera and guaranteed day 1 android updates. This isn't a flagship, but rather a spin on a good phone for a mid-range audience.
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- J
- 5Aj
- 08 May 2019
When can we expect to see audio measurements including THD levels?
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- Keypad
- PBb
- 08 May 2019
Holy Smokes, that's a lot much hate about this phone.
I guarantee you, 90% of those hate comment didn't really own Pixel phone or hands-on this 3a XL. Yes, this phone is way down worse than Oneplus 6T and Mi 8. It lacks of build quality, protection glass, no IP Rating, and ugly bezel that seems too big with that dimension of phone.
Personally, I'm using Pixel 2XL and I'm happy using this phone by in terms of experience.The Main selling of Google Pixel lineup is experience and computational processes, like Camera Machine Learning, Vanilla Operating System, and Long-Term Update. Pixel lineup, also, not intended for hardcore gamer, through using powerful processor, noted that.
Comparing OP6 and RN7 just like comparing banana-to-apple which has no correlation and quite absurd. OP6 is intended for people who likes the speed, simple UX, and bang for buck aspect--OP6 roughly at 500 EUR, that brings OP6 snappier. OP6, however, bumps at camer processing--OP6 got 98 in DxOmark and Pixel 2XL way better than OP 6.
Redmi Note 7, yes, it's budget king, in terms of cash. Has really good hardware specification to price, low-pricing--see Xiaomi philosophy, and intended for people who wants tech in low price. RN7 bumps at build quality design, UX friendliness--some Xiaomi app using ads, camera debuff, and relatively long waiting updates.
So... ? What's point of this ? Pixel 3a XL selling software comfortness, with premium camera with DSLR quality, overall experience, but with relatively "bit" overpriced--Google didn't know how cheap 2XL is today. Oneplus 6 selling almost vanilla OS, premium spec, but bumps at relatively low performing camera, and slow updates. Redmi Note 7 is soo cheap, even you can stack up 10 RN7 with just a single Iphone XS Max, with powerful chipset, big of memory, RAM, but bumps in term experience in software, camera, audio, display. RN7 is also my favorite Smartphone of 2019, besides P30 Pro.
I'm also former Xiaomi user for about 3 years with Redmi Note 3.
You can disagree with me, yes, opinion. But, think first and experience the phone you want to give an opinion, and don't be a tech "master" that judges phone that bad, but you not experienced that. Thanks
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- Kristic
- Hx7
- 08 May 2019
Ugly Chin are still these Goggle phones, When will Goggle learn to make better design.
No major potential to buy one of that.
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- Subi the dog
- MXF
- 08 May 2019
Anonymous, 08 May 2019Oh forget that MI Xiamoi crapola chinese rubbish with Adds!You know, the mi a2 runs stock android. (P.S. Miui doesn't have ads.)
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- Anonymous
- jtV
- 08 May 2019
Looks like storage for 3a is slow eMMC which will affect loading times to a significant degree, not UFS 2.1. This should be verified and corrected in the specs.
- Walter C. Dornez
- r93
- 08 May 2019
AnonD-794217, 08 May 2019Yeah there is a bit expensive OnePlus phone, but with highe... moreYes, but that's clearly a flagship with a flagship chip. This phone is clearly mid-range, which never has wireless charging
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- Anonymous
- PGq
- 08 May 2019
"Unfortunately, while the lack of any notch or cutout is appealing, the massive bezels are far more distracting than any notch we have ever seen."
Don't understand what's the fuss about. These "massive" bezels prevent touch miss-operation. Beats the Pixel 3 XL FUGLY NOTCH any day :D
"This gave us some hope for audio quality, as the USB-C Earbuds that come with the Pixel 3 phones are patently rubbish."
This explains why USB-C earbuds are a hit or a miss (active or passive). 3.5mm jack DON'T HAVE passive or active "c**p" tech, they just sound better overall out of the box.
Let me improve these below:
Pros
-Excellent display
-Great performance
-Outstanding camera
-Long-lasting battery
-Clean UI with guaranteed updates
-3.5mm jack as STANDARD
-Look Ma, no NOTCH!!
-Plastic poly carbonate construction, so no risk of breaking other than scratches which is more than durable.
Cons
-No microSD slot as STANDARD. Hey Google, it's a mid-range device, shouldn't you include that?!
-No dust and water-resistance
-FORCED GESTURES on the Pixel software experience, why?! Shouldn't Google give a choice between nav buttons or gestures?!
-No wide or telephoto cameras
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- Anonymous
- 8kr
- 08 May 2019
.."Unfortunately, while the lack of any notch or cutout is appealing, the massive bezels are far more distracting than any notch we have ever seen."
That right there is the most ridiculous line I've read on GSMArena.
I'd take those XLa's classic bezels over the XL's hideous notch ALL DAY, any day
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- Mario
- PWa
- 08 May 2019
Google should makes the dual sim phones. Thanks
- Kangal
- RN8
- 08 May 2019
I have to agree with the fellow commenters here, and disagree with GSMArena (again).
This isn't a great device, and its not at a great price. Here's an easy run-down:
...The Good
Stock GoogleOS (it is almost Stock Android)
3-Year software support
Great rear-camera
Headphone jack included
Decent SoC: QSD 670 is slightly better than QSD 636/slightly worse than QSD 660
Great screen
Good fast charging
Good microphone and radio profiles
Polycarbonate back is not as slippery and smudgy as glass, and much less fragile/more durable
...The Bad
Acceptable loudspeaker performance (not front-firing stereo loudspeaker)
Acceptable battery size and overall battery life
Bezels are unnecessarily large (see Samsung S8, Meizu 16S, BlackShark 2)
Phone has a glossy finish instead of Matte, which is more prone to scratches and slippage
No DualSIM for East Europe/Asian markets
No microSD slot, where 64GB is just serviceable in 2018-2020
No wireless (trickle/slow) charging
No removable battery
...The Ugly
It's using a low-end EMMC 5.0 flash storage instead of UFS 2.1 or UFS 3.0
It's using an outdated USB 2.0 port instead of USB 3.0 or USB 3.1
It's using a cheap Dragontrail glass instead of Gorilla Glass 4/5
There's no IP69/68/67 waterproofing
Google's price for the Pixel 3a/3XLa are much much higher outside the USA
....Competitors
From a software perspective there is the; LG G7-One, Xiaomi Mi A3 (coming soon), Xiaomi Mi A2, Google Pixel 2, Google Pixel 2XL, Nokia 8.1, Nokia X71, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 7.1, Nokia 6.1 Plus, Nokia 5.1 Plus.
From a hardware perspective there is the; Meizu 16S, Xiaomi PocoPhone F2 (coming soon), Xiaomi PocoPhone F1, Xiaomi BlackShark 2, Xiaomi Mi 9SE, Xiaomi Mi 9, Xiaomi Mi Mix 3, and more. Lenovo's also has the Z6 Pro, Z5 Pro GT, Z5s Pro, whilst ASUS has the Zenfone 6 (coming soon), Zenfone 5z, Zenfone 4 Pro.
From a monetary perspective, there are clearance models to compete at these price points are; Samsung S8/S8+/S9/S9+ and, LG V30/V40/G7 and, Huawei P20 Pro/Nova 3/Nova 4 and, Honor 10/10 Note/8X Max/Play and, OnePlus 5/5t/6 and, Realme 3 Pro/2 Pro and, ZTE Axon10 Pro/Axon9 Pro and, Nubia X/Z18/Z18 mini/Redmagic 3/Redmagic Mars/Red Magic and, Oppo FindX/Reno Zoom/Reno/R17x Pro/R17x/R17/R15x/R11s Plus/R11s/R11 plus/R11/K1 and, Vivo NexS/NexA/iQoo/Z3x/Z3/Z1/X27 Pro/X27/X23/V15 Pro/V11 Pro/V9 Pro/S1 Pro.
And there's even more options if you go the route of the used phone market or even the refurbished market, not to mention heading the xda-developers and using older devices with custom roms to match or surpass the Google Pixel's when it comes to Software Quality and Longevity/Software Support.
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- Anonymous
- thw
- 08 May 2019
Mi 9 with 6/64 is USD 437, that is SD 855.. this pixel 3a/3aXL 4/64 SD 670 cost USD 399 with mediocre everything, and design that so shamefully outdated that the reviewers already very polite about this phone...
Anybody can self rationalize about plastic is better... But please, this is 2019 ... Phone with this kind of design and hardware with the price tag... It only shows how arrogant and blunt google have been with no regards for market.
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- allen_antetokounmpo
- uHH
- 08 May 2019
this phone only worth the price in US,in Singapore the cheapest variant cost 659 sgd (480~ usd),same cost as pixel 3a XL in US
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- abigfanoftechs
- pLD
- 08 May 2019
Another misstep, by Google, to go with that SoC!
I personally would use that cash to buy a refurbished Pixel 2/3 instead ... if you want the camera quality.