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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UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link
The low Best Buy prices are for those who are activating a new carrier line. Without activation, the S8 is 500USD, and S9 is 600.I'll take a 400 Pixel 3A easy. Besides price, no round edges is a great win.
Alistair - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
My nephew trashed the babysitter's phone and needed to buy a new one recently. I really wanted to buy a Pixel 3A, but it is absolutely trashed by the value of the A50 from Samsung imo. $375 vs $550 in Canada.Stormbolter - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
I would like to point that for the rest of the world, Google offers a clean Android Experience that Xiaomi, Huawei or Honor don't offer on the same price range - although Xiaomi, Nokia and Motorola do offer Android One devices, these are lower end, with worse camera and screen.And that the price difference fails to include VAT. Pixel 3a retails for 399/479€ in Spain. The Mi9 retails for ~449€ in the amazon marketplace, but stores (and phone providers) sell it for about 499€. Of course, if you're willing to forego warranty and such, you can import the phone for less, but then... so can someone living in USA (as long as they stick to GSM providers).
Finally, Chinese flagships have all but done away with the phone jack, and middle class offerings tend to be lacking the good camera and screen flagships have.
So, Pixel 3a /3a XL is a good option if you want a clean Android Experience, with a decent camera and screen, at a reasonable price.
Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
The Mi9 is 393€, VAT included, directly from Xiaomi on Amazon.deeastcoast_pete - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
Xiaomi phones like the Mi9 can also be had in the US (Amazon and other online retailers). A possible alternative if one sticks to the GSM-based carriers (AT&T, T-MOBILE). However, make sure at least some of the LTE channels are covered by the modem.RSAUser - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
The Nokia devices are definitely not lower end.The Nokia 8.1 has a better SoC, which is clocked higher plus HDR support for camera, with a slightly worse battery but the SoC is more power efficient and also has a Google Camera port. It delivers all of that at about 350 EUR inc. of taxes, but sadly not available in the U.S. for you folk.
voicequal - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
The headphone jack brought me to the Pixel 3a. It's been great so far. Now if dedicated home and back buttons would make a comeback, UI productivity would be back up to where it was on my first Android phone.imaheadcase - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
No idea why "reviews" post how a phone looks or is "prone to scratches". Everyone uses a case anyway with a phone. You see many car reviews about them worry about scratches on them? Nope, its about the insides and engines.Just stop with the headphone jack nonsense, its not a big deal at all. Every test shows people can't tell a different sound wise vs wired with a phone. I've yet to find anyone in real world who cares. Hell most people prefer bluetooth over wired anyway for workout, running, work, etc.
Ratman6161 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
Have to agree on the looks of a phone. My beautiful blue S9+ had a black plastic case on it before I even left the store. Its too darned expensive to take a chance on using it case-less.On the headphone jack...thats another matter. I have a set of blue tooth headphones (used with a TV set, not my S9). Sound quality is fine for my purpose. The problem is that they have a battery. So yet another thing that needs to be kept charged. Workout + running? Why would I want to run with a big honking phone strapped to my arm? For that I need something simple and cheap which is why I'm using my trusty old SanDisk MP3 player.
Inteli - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
I'm so glad you're here to tell all us plebians what we need and what we don't need. Of course nobody needs wired headphones! We also don't need anything above 128kbps MP3s. You're lying if you say you can hear a difference. You also don't need a car. Everybody in the city gets by fine without them! Your opinion is obviously the only one that matters and every reviewer should cater to exclusively what you think is important.