The Google Pixel 3a XL Review: Does Mid-Range Make Sense?
by Andrei Frumusanu on June 27, 2019 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Snapdragon 670
- Pixel 3a
- Pixel 3a XL
Camera - Low Light Evaluation
Google’s Night Sight feature was a primary marketing point for the Pixel 3a: Google last year did raise the bar in terms of computational photography and it managed to save the Pixel 3 from otherwise ending up with more mediocre low-light results.
In general there’s no too much new on the Pixel 3a, and the night-time scenes between the new phone and the flagship predecessor are identical, so I’ll skip the detailed evaluation as we’ve covered things extensively against the current line-up over the last few months.
[ Pixel 3 ] - [ Pixel 3a ]
[ OnePlus 7 Pro ] - [ OnePlus 6T ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ Honor 20 Pro ]
[ G8 ] - [ Oppo Reno ] - [ iPhone XS ]
[ Pixel 3 ] - [ Pixel 3a ]
[ OnePlus 7 Pro ] - [ OnePlus 6T ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ Honor 20 Pro ]
[ G8 ] - [ Oppo Reno ] - [ iPhone XS ]
[ Pixel 3 ] - [ Pixel 3a ]
[ OnePlus 7 Pro ] - [ OnePlus 6T ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ Honor 20 Pro ]
[ G8 ] - [ Oppo Reno ] - [ iPhone XS ]
[ Pixel 3 ] - [ Pixel 3a ]
[ OnePlus 7 Pro ] - [ OnePlus 6T ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ Honor 20 Pro ]
[ G8 ] - [ Oppo Reno ] - [ iPhone XS ]
[ Pixel 3 ] - [ Pixel 3a ]
[ OnePlus 7 Pro ] - [ OnePlus 6T ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ Honor 20 Pro ]
[ G8 ] - [ Oppo Reno ] - [ iPhone XS ]
[ Pixel 3 ] - [ Pixel 3a ]
[ OnePlus 7 Pro ] - [ OnePlus 6T ]
[ S10+ (E) ] - [ S10+ (S) ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ Honor 20 Pro ]
[ G8 ] - [ Oppo Reno ] - [ iPhone XS ]
Low-Light Camera Conclusion
As with the Pixel 3, the Pixel 3a is saved by the Night Sight mode which still is among the best computational photography implementations out there in current phones. Since the Pixel 3, Google was beaten in low-light by various Huawei and Honor phones, and more recently Samsung’s new night mode looks to perform better than Google’s.
The Pixel 3a however remains quite unique in its price range in regards to low-light photography, and the only real competition here is from mid-range Huawei phones, as other manufacturers haven’t yet caught up with their camera algorithms. Unfortunately I don’t have more mid-range phones on hand to contextualise the Pixel 3a’s performance against other such mid-range devices, but I expect the phone to still perform extremely well.
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Threska - Sunday, June 30, 2019 - link
How many of the "dropped phones" will have alternative firmware (implying unlocked boot-loaders)?MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link
I went with those four reasons plus one more:5) When it came out the Google Store offered a deal where you could get $250 trade-in for an iPhone 6, and on top of that give you a $100 googel store credit. I didn't have an iPhone 6s, but bought a refurb for $60 and mailed that in. So net cost of new Pixel 3a was $210, and a $100 google store credit came with it.
voicequal - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
Pixel is as much about the software value as hardware. Samsung phones are getting cluttered with unwanted or inferior software (e.g. Bixby). It's even worse if you buy from a carrier and get all the shopping apps, fortunately some can be uninstalled. The pixel direct from Google is the best way to get a clean Android phone.Ratman6161 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
On Samsung phones, Package Disabler Pro is your friend :)Oyeve - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
There has not been "carrier bloat" in years.Ashinjuka - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
Nor software updates.tuxRoller - Thursday, July 4, 2019 - link
Sure, buy a slower phone that's over two years old, has worse battery life and camera. Who wouldn't sign up for that?UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link
The Best Buy price is 500 without activating a new line (I don't do business with sketchy people out of ebay) and Android Pie is the last update this phone will receive.Also don't forget that the Pixel 3A has MSRP exactly at 400 bucks, will receive updates for three years.
Sparkyman215 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
I still use an OG Pixel XL and this 3a looks like it has pretty similar specs, but with a better camera, better screen ratio, larger battery, and better CPU. While not huge jumps, at $480, it's neat to see how it's better than my ~$900 3 year old phone.Quantumz0d - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
In NA also this will fail. Most of the NA market is based off Carrier financing options then there is a mindset of iPhone esp the SE and the latest 7.Then we get to the Samsung phones S9 all being available at Bestbuy for $400 to 500 Brand new unlocked. LG G7 is also there unlocked at less
Although LG is not great in numbers but after Apple, Samsung, LG sells a lot. Then perhaps OnePlus and Honor.
Ebay, Exynos Note 9 is at $550 and far cheap for all flagship phones from Sammy and LG again. Impossible to beat any of these Discounted flagships.
Then we have Zenfone 6, all these phones have UFS + SD slot which is mandatory. Even Motorola has them in all phones.
Google is just too fucking greedy. Stupid SoC and cheap build. The OLED is not bright, no SD slot. Priced at $500.
Asian market this is DOA.