Google Pixel 4a/aL

[Heat_Fan89]

Its a nice phone for $350. Mine arrived a few days ago. I am a little disappointed in performance coming from an iPhone 11 Pro but it is not a deal breaker. The camera is awesome. Have not decided yet whether to keep it or return it and wait on the Pixel 5. Or I could just stick with my iPhone and keep the 4a to play with. I have no plans to get an iPhone 12 Pro this year so that saves me some money. Actually this 4a is making me rethink ever spending $1000 on a phone again.

I can see why if you have an iP11 Pro that's a step down in performance but i'm coming from a Nexus 6 and I recently purchased an Honor 9X, sweet looking phone and it's fast but it's the International model. But in reading all the comments, reviews and opinions, the P4a looks to be a massive winner for Google and if this had been released as the original Pixel, it would have properly launched the Pixel line and made everyone take notice.

But the P4a is here and now and hopefully Google has learned several lessons that they can never beat Apple for that matter and it's best to go the Amazon route (Fire HD Tablets) which is to offer a solid all around product for an attractive price.

As far as $1000 phones, that's a tough sell to me and I have the money. I'd much rather take that $1000 and put it towards a new PC build with the new Rocket Lake CPU's and the new nVidia RTX 3080.

There are too many solid phones for far less money out there. My favorite being Huawei phones but they got banned in the US. One of the reasons why I have not purchased an iPhone is because I prefer Google Apps i.e. GMaps, Gmail, Google Phone App, Google Messages, YouTube, Google Music (YouTube Music is replacing GMusic) and their Play Store. I also much prefer Stock Google but I do own Apple products two Mac Mini's and two iPad's.

 

[ackmondual]

Its a nice phone for $350. Mine arrived a few days ago. I am a little disappointed in performance coming from an iPhone 11 Pro but it is not a deal breaker. The camera is awesome. Have not decided yet whether to keep it or return it and wait on the Pixel 5. Or I could just stick with my iPhone and keep the 4a to play with. I have no plans to get an iPhone 12 Pro this year so that saves me some money. Actually this 4a is making me rethink ever spending $1000 on a phone again.

There are many small things I miss going to the Pixel 4A coming from my LG G4 (a $600 MSRP phone, from 2015), but overall, it's been good. That said, while I like paying only 1/3 to 1/2 the price of other smartphones, I still get jealous of the $700 to $1100 phones every now and then.

 

[The Game 161]

Is there any difference in camera quality from 3a to 4a?

 

[nospleen]

Is there any difference in camera quality from 3a to 4a?

I’ve had both and they seem similar to me. I haven’t noticed much difference between the 3, 3a, 4, and 4a. I’m sure there are subtle differences, but to my amateur eye, they are super close.

 

[Vegastouch]

I really like this phone. It's pretty snappy imo. Takes really good pics and I really like the finger print button on the back which consistently works really fast.
I'd say the only thing I miss is being able to put it on the wireless charger when I walk by and pick it up when I walk by again after a little while.
However,.....since I have had this 4a, I haven't needed to put it on a charger at all. Before I started typing this post I had 24% left with 6 hours and 22 minutes of on screen time.

I take an external battery to work (no desk job) and use it once , maybe twice a day. I didn't use it at all this past week. And it charges really quick if it does get a little low if you are using the crap out of it and you need some juice.

Oh and as mentioned before, I wish the volume was a little louder with both the external speakers and headphones.....but that's it really. It's not annoyingly too low but could just be just a bit louder.

The gestures I'm good with now. I did end up deleting a saved email once and had to retrieve it from the trash after swiping to go back from my email and it didn't go back obviously lol.

For $349 , this phone is a winner! Should be getting the $80 trade in back soon to make this even cheaper.
Really glad I took my time searching for a mid grade priced phone and this came up as an option.

I am intrigued by the 4a 5G but not for spending $150 more for it. The 4G is fast enough while 5G isn't really that great right now anyways. I'm pretty satisfied with this.

 

[Vegastouch]

Ditto, although I need to figure out how to create folders in the app drawer. Having one humongous list of apps (without the pages) is not what I'm used to.


This is kinda weird for me... comparing my previous, LG G4 screen side-by-side with my new p4A, it looks like the former is bigger. However, the latter is spec-ed to be bigger (5.5" vs. 5.8"). OTOH, the former is also spec-ed at having more pixels and higher pixel density ?

I suppose I'll get used to a slightly smaller looking screen.

Also, I was considering a Galaxy s9 for my next phone! 64 GB may not have been enough for photos and multimedia, but it does have a micro-SD card slot, which would take care of that!


Agreed. I'll have to do more accurate tests, but it seems like the alarm on my LG G4 was much louder.

Also, I'm playing a game where 75% volume level seems to be equivalent of 40% on my LG G4.

BTW, you can offer feedback on the volume of the Galaxy s9? Both for when in speakerphone mode, and regular talk mode? Someone I know is on the lookout for this feature.

I thought the Pixel 4A uses the home buttons, but I was wrong. It's more like the iPhone X in that regard. However, reading this, you do have the option to change to that! Reading further, not being able to customize the home touch buttons would be a turn off. I did that too on my LG G4... back button on the left hand side!

I think I can continue with the "swiping navigation gestures". In some places, going back means you need to swipe a different edge, since some popup or the app itself causes those areas to not register the initiation of the "back swipe". It's been really odd for me and I sort of miss the familiarity, but TBF, I've had to adjust every time I switched to a new phone... Nokia 6133 (flip phone) to a Samsung Galaxy s2, then to an Galaxy s4, then to an LG G4, and now this Pixel 4a.

The volume on the GS9 is pretty good. When talking on the phone, I had to turn it down a couple-few clicks. Especially when talking to my Mom. She is loud on the other end lol.
And the external speaker is pretty good too. As mentioned it is louder than the 4a in both regards. It's not a huge difference but a noticable difference.
The alarm on the Pixel 4a is still plenty loud to wake me up.

 

[Vegastouch]

 

[Vegastouch]

Got Android 11(don't know what they are calling it....if anything other than 11) on the 4a today. I guess it's cool to be first on line this time around lol.

 

[Cryates]

So I did a thing and ordered a Pixel 4a yesterday. Best Buy had them in stock, and it claims that it will be here tomorrow but we will see. I've been using the Note 20 Ultra, but I just don't know that I can do large phones long-term any more and started feeling that I grossly overpaid for what it gives me. It's a big change up, I'm looking forward to giving it a test run. I think the 4a has the potential to change my mind on paying top dollar for a flagship. I don't know what I want in a phone anymore these days besides a great camera and great battery life. And something ideally that I can easily manage with one hand when needed, and carry caseless. Based on what I've read this ticks all of those boxes, so we will see.

Crazy to have gone from buying (and likely returning) a $1,300 Note 20 Ultra, to lusting after a $2,000 Fold 2, to buying a $350 Pixel 4a in the span of one week.

 

[TsuaSai]

So I did a thing and ordered a Pixel 4a yesterday. Best Buy had them in stock, and it claims that it will be here tomorrow but we will see. I've been using the Note 20 Ultra, but I just don't know that I can do large phones long-term any more and started feeling that I grossly overpaid for what it gives me. It's a big change up, I'm looking forward to giving it a test run. I think the 4a has the potential to change my mind on paying top dollar for a flagship. I don't know what I want in a phone anymore these days besides a great camera and great battery life. And something ideally that I can easily manage with one hand when needed, and carry caseless. Based on what I've read this ticks all of those boxes, so we will see.

Crazy to have gone from buying (and likely returning) a $1,300 Note 20 Ultra, to lusting after a $2,000 Fold 2, to buying a $350 Pixel 4a in the span of one week.

I wish I would have ordered one when the showed in stock. I was thinking about it to long and now its a September 25 delivery date.

 

[Vegastouch]

I wish I would have ordered one when the showed in stock. I was thinking about it to long and now its a September 25 delivery date.

It will probably come sooner. Mine said Sept 5th-8th and i got it Aug 29th.

 

[Cryates]

I wish I would have ordered one when the showed in stock. I was thinking about it to long and now its a September 25 delivery date.

There was like a 30-minute window yesterday on the Best Buy website where they were available for immediate delivery. I contacted Best Buy not long ago and they said it's currently waiting on the carrier to pick it up then I'll get tracking for a tomorrow delivery. I'm kind of shocked. I don't know if stock is depleted because of supply or demand.

 

[mjschabow]

So I did a thing and ordered a Pixel 4a yesterday. Best Buy had them in stock, and it claims that it will be here tomorrow but we will see. I've been using the Note 20 Ultra, but I just don't know that I can do large phones long-term any more and started feeling that I grossly overpaid for what it gives me. It's a big change up, I'm looking forward to giving it a test run. I think the 4a has the potential to change my mind on paying top dollar for a flagship. I don't know what I want in a phone anymore these days besides a great camera and great battery life. And something ideally that I can easily manage with one hand when needed, and carry caseless. Based on what I've read this ticks all of those boxes, so we will see.

Crazy to have gone from buying (and likely returning) a $1,300 Note 20 Ultra, to lusting after a $2,000 Fold 2, to buying a $350 Pixel 4a in the span of one week.

That's the funny thing about Samsungs in general. They are so cool, feature packed, by far the best screen. But once that initial shine wears off, there's always that "Do I really need all of this" thought that takes over. With that said, the Note 20 Ultra is a freaking awesome phone. But I think I was more into all of those gadgets well over 5 years ago where now, simple is ok even if it means sacrificing a couple groundbreaking features here and there. So I totally support your thought. The only thing I'd suggest is waiting for the 5G version of the 4a to come out, or maybe crossing your fingers that the 5 isn't overpriced.

 

[ackmondual]

So I did a thing and ordered a Pixel 4a yesterday. Best Buy had them in stock, and it claims that it will be here tomorrow but we will see. I've been using the Note 20 Ultra, but I just don't know that I can do large phones long-term any more and started feeling that I grossly overpaid for what it gives me. It's a big change up, I'm looking forward to giving it a test run. I think the 4a has the potential to change my mind on paying top dollar for a flagship. I don't know what I want in a phone anymore these days besides a great camera and great battery life. And something ideally that I can easily manage with one hand when needed, and carry caseless. Based on what I've read this ticks all of those boxes, so we will see.

Crazy to have gone from buying (and likely returning) a $1,300 Note 20 Ultra, to lusting after a $2,000 Fold 2, to buying a $350 Pixel 4a in the span of one week.

I have a few more tests to go through, but overall, I'm satisfied with my p4a. I kinda do wish the screen was bigger. It's odd that the screen here is 5.8", but my LG G4 is at 5.5", while the phone itself of the latter is only slightly physically bigger! I would've liked to have extra clarity going to a 6" phone in that case.

 

[Aneres11]

Still can't believe this phone is not even that close to actually releasing still here in the UK.
Madness really. It's still not as bad as Sony announcing a phone in Feb before releasing eventually in June... But it's up there.

Makes me wonder how the Pixel 5 may affect its sales with the rumours of it being more cost friendly than previous main line entries.

Not that Google probably give a crap about that.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I have a few more tests to go through, but overall, I'm satisfied with my p4a. I kinda do wish the screen was bigger. It's odd that the screen here is 5.8", but my LG G4 is at 5.5", while the phone itself of the latter is only slightly physically bigger! I would've liked to have extra clarity going to a 6" phone in that case.

It's not so much the screen size but the near lack of bezels on the P4a. It's similar to the iPhones with and without bezels. The iPhone 11 Pro Max was almost the same size as my Huawei Mate SE, with the Mate SE sporting a 5.9" screen. Remove or reduce the chins and side bezels and the phone will appear much smaller than it really is.

 

[Cryates]

My Pixel 4a order was slightly delayed from Best Buy (ordered on the 8th w/ a delivery date of the 10th) but I got a tracking number just now. Looks like I'll probably get screwed by the weekend though and have to wait until Monday, but it could be worse. I also have a Oneplus 8 Pro on order that should be in next Tuesday. Geez, I've gone mad. Now that I'm 100% moving from iPhone and completely out of that ecosystem, I'm testing literally all of the waters.

 

[noobinator]

My Pixel 4a order was slightly delayed from Best Buy (ordered on the 8th w/ a delivery date of the 10th) but I got a tracking number just now. Looks like I'll probably get screwed by the weekend though and have to wait until Monday, but it could be worse. I also have a Oneplus 8 Pro on order that should be in next Tuesday. Geez, I've gone mad. Now that I'm 100% moving from iPhone and completely out of that ecosystem, I'm testing literally all of the waters.

See you in a month back on your iPhone

I kid, sort of. I attempt this a few times every year too.

 

[Cryates]

See you in a month back on your iPhone

I kid, sort of. I attempt this a few times every year too.

Haha, I know I know. But it's actually different for me this time, more than it's ever been. Back when I tried to switch OS's in the past, I still had either a Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch. I don't have any of those anymore, the iPhone is it. I've always favored Android over iPhone but kept myself "trapped" in the ecosystem in one way or another. That all changed when I built my own PC back in February, the best decision I've ever made, and I haven't looked back since.

 

[mjschabow]

I never switch phones. If you need advice on how to stay put and not give into temptation, just ask and I'll help.

 

[oVerboost]

Still can't believe this phone is not even that close to actually releasing still here in the UK.
Madness really. It's still not as bad as Sony announcing a phone in Feb before releasing eventually in June... But it's up there.

Makes me wonder how the Pixel 5 may affect its sales with the rumours of it being more cost friendly than previous main line entries.

Not that Google probably give a crap about that.

I got an email today saying it's available in the UK to buy... Then once you click it the Google store days Pre-Order and that delivery is going to be early October. It's almost like they don't want to actually sell the damn thing!

 

[Aneres11]

I got an email today saying it's available in the UK to buy... Then once you click it the Google store days Pre-Order and that delivery is going to be early October. It's almost like they don't want to actually sell the damn thing!

I know! It's just silly. By that time surely the 5 will be out. Well, in America it'll be out. We might see it in March.

 

[Cryates]

My Pixel 4a just showed up. I'll condense my thoughts into a later post, but all I want to say right off is, love the in-hand feel (both size and materials), love the matte black with accented power button more than I thought I would, and gosh this tiny camera bump is so cute.

 

[Cryates]

I also have a Oneplus 8 Pro on order that should be in next Tuesday.

This Pixel 4a seriously has me thinking about not even opening the OnePlus 8 Pro I have coming early this coming week. It's that impressive, relative to my expectations.

 

[Cryates]

This seems like plenty good battery life for me. If the 5 (or whatever they call it) has similar stamina, then it'll be a winner.