After months of rumors, the Google Pixel 3a is finally available. It’s a more affordable take on the company’s flagship phone, with corners cut in all the right places. It’s 90 percent of the Pixel 3 at half the price.
It still offers most of the things that make the Pixel 3 special: an excellent camera, Pixel-specific Android with updates directly from Google, the crazy-fast and convenient rear fingerprint sensor, and meaningful software features—all for a starting price of $399 for the Pixel 3a ($479 for the 3a XL).
Of course, at half the price, it’s also missing a few things: wireless charging, waterproofing, “premium” materials, and a top-of-the-line processor. But what it lacks in so-called “high-end” features, it makes up for in…well, everything else.
The most exciting part of the 3a is that it still offers the Pixel 3’s best feature: that killer camera. Since most of the magic is in the post-processing on Pixel phones, Google was still able to offer things like portrait mode, Night Sight, and other excellent camera features in the 3a.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it’s worth mentioning that this review focuses on the smaller of the two 3a phones. Since the 3a XL is basically the same phone with a bigger screen, however, you should be able to apply everything said to it, as well.
Build Quality, Hardware, and Specs: Oh Plastic, How I’ve Missed Thee
As manufacturers have shifted to use more “premium” materials like aluminum and glass in phones, handsets have also gotten more slippery, fragile, and expensive. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not into any of those things. Despite the direction the phone industry has been moving in, I’ve longed for a plastic phone worth using. The Pixel 3a is the answer to that longing.
So, why plastic? Because it’s light, it’s nearly indestructible, it doesn’t scratch easily, and it’s not slippery. What more do you want from a phone’s body? I can’t think of anything better—“premium” materials be damned. And the 3a is plastic done right. Some plastic phones can feel cheaply made, but this little guy feels excellent. It’s a well-made little device. The plastic on the 3a is excellent (though it is a fingerprint magnet).
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