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I switched to Google’s new $400 phone, and I’m never going back to $1,000-plus smartphones (GOOG)

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Google's best new phone in years is also its least-hyped smartphone in years: The understated, shockingly affordable Google Pixel 3a.

The phone costs just $400, comes with Google's best-in-class camera, and works just as well — or better — than phones that cost double.

I've been using the Pixel 3a since its launch earlier this month, and I'm convinced it's the best smartphone available anywhere near its price point. Here's why:

1. The price!Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

In case it wasn't already clear, a major selling point of the Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL is the incredibly low price — at just $400, the Pixel 3a comes in at half the price of its predecessor. 

And if we're talking about Pixel vs. Apple's iPhone, the price is less than half of the $1,000 iPhone XS. It's nearly half the price of Apple's less expensive version of the iPhone, the XR, that costs $750 to start.

The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are an incredible value for what you get.

Most importantly, the Pixel 3a demonstrates that great phones don't need to cost an absurd amount of money.



2. The camera is ridiculously great.Ben Gilbert/Business Insider

As you can see above, the Pixel 3a takes gorgeously detailed photos up close. This falafel sandwich from Nish Nush that I've covered in garish orange amba looks absolutely ridiculous. Light glistens off the sauces and the moisture of the cucumber and tomato salad. Individual specks of parsley are visible.

This wasn't a carefully rehearsed photo — I snapped it quickly before diving in to lunch. (And yes, it was delicious.) I was so impressed by the camera that I wrote a whole piece about it that you can go read right here.

It looks so good because the cameras in the Pixel 3a are nearly identical to those in the far more expensive Pixel 3. That's right: Despite the Pixel 3a costing far less than the Pixel 3, the crucially important camera is basically the same. 



3. It's more than powerful enough.Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

At just $400, you might imagine that the Pixel 3a isn't as quick or nimble as its competition. I thought that might be the case as well, but was pleased to discover I was wrong.

While using Google Maps navigation, listening to Spotify, chatting on Slack, and messaging a friend through Google Messages all at once last weekend, I was glad to see that there was no discernible slowdown. I double-tapped the power button to bring up the phone's camera in the midst of all this, and it handled that command just as quickly as ever. 

I hadn't intended to test the Pixel 3a's processor like that, but it provided a great use case for putting the device through its paces.

If you're somehow doing more than that all at once with your Pixel 3a, and it slows down, I think that's on you.



4. The Pixel 3a acknowledges that there's a smartphone market outside of the superrich.Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

That we as a society refer to the $750 iPhone XR as the "cheap" version of the iPhone says it all — there are nearly no major smartphones being made for people who don't want or can't afford bleeding edge, $1,000 devices. The "cheap" version of Samsung's Galaxy line, the S10e, is also $750.

As flagship smartphones drop headphone jacks, remove bezels, and use your face as a login, the price keeps going up. The latest iPhone, the iPhone XS, looks great and has some cool tricks. But $1,000? One thousand American dollars for a device that gets maybe two years of use, that does essentially the same things as the previous model albeit in a sexier form factor? It's no surprise that, for the first time since launch, fewer people are buying the newest iPhone than the previous year.

The Pixel 3a is perhaps the greatest example yet that smartphones don't need to cost so much money. If nothing else, it's a tremendously strong example of the power of utilitarian design in smartphones — not since Google's excellent Nexus line and the iPhone SE has a smartphone so directly appealed to the huge market of smartphone owners who don't want the bleeding edge of tech (or the price that usually comes with it).



5. The screen on the Pixel 3a is superb.Ben Gilbert/Business Insider

The bezels on the Pixel 3a are slightly larger than those on the Pixel 3, but the Pixel 3a makes up for that with a slightly larger screen overall.

The Pixel 3a has a 5.6-inch screen, whereas the Pixel 3 has a 5.5-inch screen — not exactly a huge difference, but it doesn't hurt. The Pixel 3 XL has a slightly larger screen than the Pixel 3a XL at 6.3 inches versus 6.0 inches on the Pixel 3a XL.

Apart from the size of the screen, the Pixel 3a has the same gorgeous OLED display as the more expensive Pixel 3 (just at a slightly lower resolution).

In practice, the screen on the Pixel 3a is vibrant, bright, and sharp. Admittedly, I'm not watching feature films on it — but, even more crucially, photos look excellent on it. And that's particularly great considering how good of a camera is on the Pixel 3.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Google's new $400 smartphone takes absolutely gorgeous photos — here's proof

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