Google phone compromise takes us back to basics
The launch-delayed 4a phone is a cutprice offering that still packs a punch despite reduced spec
THIS is a story I should have written a long time ago – but it’s not me that’s late, for a change, it’s Google.
The new phone it has announced this week was supposed to show its face a few months ago. I can’t imagine what in the world tripped that plan up.
The most important thing is that it will be here very soon and it’s not a disappointment.
The Pixel 4a is a winner because of the choices Google has made.
The phone is Google’s midpriced version of its flagship Pixel 4 phone (which still costs from £669 even nine months after its release). And it costs £349.
Now, because the Pixel 5 is not as far away from the release of this phone as it might have been, Google has also confirmed the 5 is also on the way soon – fall, they say. Which I think means autumn.
Google executives have said nothing about what the Pixel 5 will do or what it will cost, but simply said it’s coming, and shared a photo of it that reveals nothing apart from the fact that its case seems to come with a speckled finish.
But they don’t want people to buy the 4a if they think the 5, too, has been delayed. So they are reassuring everybody that it hasn’t.
As well as the 5G-capable Pixel 5, Google has also said there will be a 5G version of the 4a coming in the autumn, too. That will cost somewhere in the region of £500, so you might want to hang on, too, if 5G is important to you.
Anyway, that’s all for the future. What we’re here to talk about today is the phone you can get in line to order right now, and get your hands on in a couple of weeks – the 4a ships on August 20.
If a phone is to work at £349, compromises obviously have to be made – and it’s here where Google has made all the right choices.
It has stripped away a lot of features to make this phone as cheap as it is – it does not have wireless charging, it’s made of plastic, and it has no waterproofing.
It doesn’t even do the neat trick of pulling up the Google Assistant when you squeeze it on the sides.
This is a basic device from a hardware point of view.
There’s no face-unlocking, either – just a fingerprint sensor on the back.
There’s even a compromise on the camera front – there’s just a single 12MP unit on the back and an 8MP on the front (with a cool-looking small hole punched out of the screen to accommodate it).
But that camera is the same as the The quality of the images are right up there with the best smartphones one you’ll find as the main unit in the Pixel 4 itself, so the compromise isn’t really about its quality, more a lack of versatility.
And so we come to the thing that really makes this phone shine. The software.
Google has been right at the very forefront of camera software, taking what might be considered modest hardware like this and making it shine with software that squeezes the pips out of it.
Yes, the Pixel 4a can do portrait mode and Night Sight photos in near darkness. And the quality of the images are right up there with the best smartphones. Google’s software can do that.
You won’t want to rely on this phone for video, though – stills is where it really shines.
Running Android 10, the Pixel 4a is also the device that runs that operating system in its purest form.
Many other Android phonemakers (and, with Huawei hamstrung due to its lack of access to Google’s platform, we’re really talking about Samsung) stuff their devices with proprietary apps and
OS skins that add bloat and unnecessary levels of complexity.
With the Pixel you’re just getting Android, and it’s a joy to use for that reason alone.
The 4a also boasts a couple of hardware pluses over the 4 – it has a headphone jack, which some people seem to feel is an absolute must, and the battery life is decent if not exceptional.
That’s in part due to a slightly bigger battery than the 4, but also due to an underpowered processor that does the job while still bringing a little more lag than you might like.
If you’re a heavy user, that might annoy in the end, but if you’re a heavy user you’re likely willing to spend a bit more than £349 on your phone.
That said, the 4a is comfortably at least 80% of the phone 100% of people need – so if your needs are a decent camera and access to all the apps you’ll ever need, and you’re not too fussed about it being the very fastest and the very best, you probably can stop looking now. Find out more and register interest at store.google.com