After a longer-than-expected wait, the Google Pixel 4a has arrived, bringing the photographic capabilities of Google's flagship smartphone to a much less expensive device, according to Google Pixel 4a reviews of the new model, especially when comparing its specs to the current Pixel 4, It appears to be worth the wait

The Pixel 4 ranks among the best Android phones, largely due to its camera, but it is still priced like a flagship the Pixel 4a manages to offer many of these same features for $349, making it one of the more attractive smartphone options available today options, making it one of the more attractive smartphone options available today

Comparing the Pixel 4a versus the Pixel 4 shows what trade-offs must be made to enjoy a less expensive smartphone The conclusion is this While not as good as the top-performing Android devices, the Pixel 4a has features comparable to the flagship models

When the Pixel 4 was introduced last fall, it debuted at $799 for the 64GB model That's the price available on Google's online store, but now, 10 months after the Pixel 4's debut, some retailers and carriers are offering the phone at a discount

But even with the most generous discounts, the Pixel 4 cannot rival the Pixel 4a in price Google's latest smartphone is priced at $349, which is $50 less than the selling price of the Pixel 3a, which was introduced in 2019 This makes Google's budget smartphone even more affordable, especially when compared to its flagship devices

In addition to Google Fi, the Pixel 4a is also available on Verizon and US Cellular, as the Pixel 4 is available from these options as well as T-Mobile, Visible, Republic Wireless, and Best Bay, a bit easier to track down

The Pixel 4a and Pixel 4 look very similar, but once you pick up both models, you'll know immediately which is the budget device and which is the flagship: the Pixel 4a has a plastic casing, while the Pixel 4 has metal and glass In other words, the budget phone is lighter at 504 ounces compared to the Pixel 4's 571 ounces

However, even though the Pixel 4a's display is slightly larger at 581 inches versus the Pixel 4's 57 inches, it is not as tall as the Pixel 4 The minimal bezel on the Pixel 4a is due to the front camera being housed in a punch hole in the display The Pixel 4a also does away with the Pixel 4's Motion Sense technology and eliminates the sensors used for gesture control technology These sensors are responsible for the prominent bezel at the top of the Pixel 4's display

There are no size options for the Pixel 4a, only one 581-inch model; the Pixel 4 has a 57-inch model and a 63-inch Pixel 4 XL model

One of the Pixel 4's biggest drawbacks is its dim display, which other flagship phones easily outperformed; the Pixel 4a may be an inexpensive device, but at least that problem is avoided when the phone's adaptive brightness feature is turned on With this setting enabled, the Pixel 4a's brightness was 653 nits With adaptive brightness turned off, the reading dropped to 433 nits, approaching the Pixel 4's 429-nit performance

The Pixel 4a's OLED panel is not as colorful as what we get from the Pixel 4, as it captures 1058% of the sRGB color spectrum; the Pixel 4 reproduces 1301% of that spectrum; the Pixel 4a's colors are slightly more accurate and less expensive Pixel's Delta-E is 029, while the Pixel 4 is 034 (The Pixel 4a does not have the fast refresh rate of the Pixel 4's 90Hz display However, it is worth noting that the OnePlus Nord has a fast refresh rate while keeping the price under $500

The Pixel 4a has a single 122 megapixel camera, compared to the Pixel 4's two lenses But even though Google's flagship has both a 12MP main camera and a 16MP telephoto lens, it doesn't give up that much on Google's budget phone, except for the ability to optically zoom

The Pixel 4a holds its own against other mid-range camera phones thanks to Google's Computational Photography: the software smarts on the Pixel 4a allow you to change contrast and brightness on the fly, and to take pictures with a wide range of options, including the ability to adjust the brightness of the camera and the contrast of the image, While the Pixel 4a does not have a telephoto lens, this super-less zoom functionality has been available on previous Pixel phones and eliminates that inconvenience

The front remains largely unchanged: the Pixel 4a has the same 8MP front camera as the Pixel 3a's 8MP selfie cam; the Pixel 4 also uses an 8MP camera for its front camera; the Pixel 4a's 8MP camera is the same as the 8MP camera on the Pixel 3a

While we haven't had a chance to pit the Pixel 4a against the Pixel 4 yet, Google's phone certainly showed its mettle in a head-to-head comparison with the iPhone SE's lone shooter the Pixel 4's camera array, especially when zoom is required, is more variation, but the Pixel 4a's camera is quite attractive in its own right, challenging mid-range cameras with more lenses just because of Google's camera smarts

Perhaps the most notable trade-off between the Pixel 4a vs the Pixel 4 is the processor that powers both models: while the Pixel 4 uses the Snapdragon 855, the Pixel 4a is less costly with the Snapdragon 730G This is a perfectly practical mobile processing platform, but it will not match the Snapdragon 855 in terms of performance, even though Qualcomm has since introduced a more powerful flagship chip

Consider the Geekbench 5 results for both models In this test of general performance, the Pixel 4a's multicore score of 1,647 is well below the Pixel 4's 2,329, and while the Pixel 4a can certainly hold up in the everyday tasks that most people use their phones for, it's not as good as Google's phone with 6GB and the same amount of RAM, it will not have the extra power from a more powerful processor that the Pixel 4 enjoys

Oddly enough, when Google releases its Pixel 5 flagship model in a few months, the performance difference will not be as great Allegedly, Google will use the Snapdragon 765G chipset in its upcoming device, which has more processing power than the Snapdragon 730 in the Pixel 4a while also including 5G connectivity, but not as much as the Pixel 4, Google's budget smartphones, it won't outperform them

Google's phones used to deliver the best smartphone battery life we've tested, but not recently And the Pixel 3a continues this unfortunate trend

The Pixel 4a and its modest 3,140mAh battery falls short of that, running out of battery in an average of 8 hours and 55 minutes in our tests This is roughly an hour behind the smartphone average On the bright side, it outperformed the Pixel 4, which had a smaller 2,800mAh battery that ran out after eight hours Therefore, choosing the Pixel 4a over Google's latest flagship will not result in shorter battery life

Wireless charging, which is available on the Pixel 4 but not supported on the Pixel 4a, is also not available (However, using the 18-watt charger included with the Pixel 4a, we were able to charge the depleted phone to 50% This is slightly more than the 47% when the Pixel 4 was tested

Whenever choosing an inexpensive phone, one has to make some trade-offs; the Pixel 4a has a higher charging rate than the Pixel 4a The Pixel 4 has a less powerful processor, one rear camera, and no wireless charging It would also give up the fast refresh rate of the Pixel 4's screen

Skipping the 90Hz refresh rate is hard to swallow - especially since the OnePlus Nord offers that feature to bargain Android fans - but other sacrifices mean paying hundreds of dollars for a phone that still takes top-notch photos then it's a sacrifice many smartphone owners are willing to make

The Pixel 4a is one of the best inexpensive phones you can buy And its features make it a strong alternative to the Pixel 4