A couple of weeks ago, Google gave us our official first look at the Pixel 6 lineup and gave initial details of its in-house Tensor chip. Well, now, Google has quietly made the Pixel 5a official, and this comes as the latest budget Pixel phone from the brand. The phone succeeds the last year’s Google Pixel 4a 5G, and there are a lot of things that are unchanged from the last year, e.g., the design, the performance, cameras, display, etc. Now, while the Pixel 4a 5G launched last year for $499, the Google Pixel 5a has launched for $449.
As mentioned above, the design remains the same as the last year’s Pixel 4a 5G. So, you get a flat display on the front with a hole punch on the top left corner and a square-shaped camera module on the back with a dual-camera setup in it. The fingerprint scanner is on the back as well. There is a power button with a textured finish on the side, along which are the volume rockers. Google didn’t remove the headphone jack from this phone, so it is there on the top. There are stereo speakers on this device.
One huge upgrade this time in terms of the design is IP67 certification and a metal unibody. It still has the same smooth finish all around. The display on the front gets Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
Speaking of the front, it is the same panel as last year’s Pixel 4a 5G. So, you get a Full-HD+ OLED with a 60Hz refresh rate and HDR support. This time, however, the display is slightly bigger at 6.34-inch, as compared to 6.2-inch on the Pixel 4a 5G.
Under the hood, there is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SOC, so it is the same chip that powered not only the Pixel 4a 5G but also the Pixel 5 of last year. This chip is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage. The Titan M security chip is there too.
And the camera setup is the same too! So, you get two cameras on the back that includes a primary 12.2 Megapixel sensor with OIS, 1.4-micron pixel size, f/1.7 aperture lens, and Dual PDAF paired with a secondary 16 Megapixel ultrawide. On the front, there is an 8 Megapixel selfie camera with fixed focus. You can shoot 4K 60fps videos with the rear camera.
So, if the cameras, the display, and the performance are the same, then what’s upgraded? Well, the Google Pixel 5a comes with a huge 4,680mAh battery which is much bigger than the 3,885mAh cell of the Pixel 4a 5G. It is even bigger than the Google Pixel 5’s 4,080mAh battery. The phone supports 18W fast charging, and you get a USB-C 18W adapter with USB-PD 2.0 in the box.
Finally, Android 11 runs out of the box, and you get guaranteed three years of Android updates with this phone. It comes in only one color, and that is named Mostly Black!
Speaking of the availability, the Google Pixel 5a with 5G is available for pre-order today in the U.S. and Japan on the Google Store. The price is $449 for the US and ¥51,700 for the Japanese market. Shipping starts on the 26th of August.