Google Pixel 5a: The New Best Budget Android You Can Buy

The 5a retains the latest in Google technology while still within a budget-friendly package that can be expected within the Pixel A-line devices. So you got the plastic shell w/ a non-slippery matte finish + an aluminum frame underneath, a lightly recessed fingerprint reader in the rear, and a 3.5mm headphone jack w/ a nice weight to it. All within a Mostly Black color option but can easily pass for Forest Green in select lighting.

One of the bigger things of note is the lovely addition of IP67 dust/water-resistant rating. This means it can handle being submerged in up to 3ft of liquid for up to 30 minutes. Beating out the likes of the OnePlus Nord, iPhone SE, or the Samsung A-series. And remember that the Pixel 5 has an IP68 rating so it ain’t far off from flagship-level and a welcome addition to the A-series.

You got Gorilla Glass 3 over the 6.3inch 60Hz 1080p OLED HDR display that everything seen on this looks great. Good + bright colors, visible in sunlight, & viewing angles – and not just for a budget device either. And mind you it is just a hair bigger than the 6.2inch size on the Pixel 4a 5G. Making this the largest screen on a Pixel as well as the battery but more on that shortly.

6.3inch OLED HDR display w/ 2400 x 1080 resolution
Snapdragon 765G CPU
6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage
Dual rear-facing camera setup w/ f/1.7 12.2MP main sensor w/ OIS + EIS & f/2.2 16MP ultrawide sensor
f/2.0 8MP selfie camera
Android 11
Rear fingerprint reader
3.5mm headphone jack
Stereo speakers
IP67 dust/water-resistant body
4680 mAh battery

Now the Snapdragon 765G CPU has been used within the past few Pixel smartphones as well as other devices like the LG Velvet & TCL smartphones. So it kind of tried and true at this point and the same applies to the chipset inside of the Pixel 5a. All while being able to handle 5G speeds (sub-6GHz 5G not mmWave, sorry Verizon users) depending on your network. Paired up w/ 6GB of RAM + 128GB of storage, the processor is already known to handle multitasking, streaming, gaming, & everyday use w/ ease. All while pulling down 5G speeds as well. BTW, Gaming on the 5a w/ COD Mobile will warm the phone up a bit but not to point of locking up or overheating.

A great performer w/ an up to 2-day battery (depending on how heavy you use it).

Now Google put the largest battery they’ve ever used inside of a Pixel smartphone. So you got a 4680 mAh battery inside to truly live up to their all-day battery life claims and does so w/o breaking a sweat. I got over 24 hours of juice w/ mobile tethering to my wife for over 12 hours, 1 and 33 minutes of navigation via Google Maps, and some light Googling, messaging, & more. On a heavier day of usage, I got over 5 hours of on-screen time after being unplugged 15 hours prior w/ still an estimated 7 hours left. So w/ features like Adaptive Battery & Extreme Battery Saver, you’ll easily get 2 days of juice on a single charge w/o being excessive w/ usage.

So Google retains the same shooters & Google’s AI-based image processing from the Pixel 4a 5G and the 5. So you got a 12.2MP sensor w OIS, 16MP ultrawide sensor, & a 8MP selfie sensor. Google is still using its Super Res Zoom via software to act as a Telephoto and still works well. The only thing missing here is the laser-guided autofocus from the 4a 5G and 5 which didn’t seem to make a huge difference when using tap-to-focus.

Everything you would expect from the Pixel cameras: amazing photos + decent video.

No surprise that Google’s shooters still remain supreme in just about any situation. That’s daylight, low-light, or night-time as you can get good color reproduction, heavy on the sharpness, amazing dynamic range, & great HDR quality. At least for my tastes, in regards to image processing as your may differ. And on the ultrawide side of things, they make sure to correct lens distortion via software so you won’t have to deal w/ that fishbowl look to your images.

On the video side of things, you can still shoot in 4K w/ your choice of 30fps or 60fps and offer improved stabilization. It also keeps the Cinematic Pan video from the 4a 5G/5. This feature combines slow-motion + stabilization to create dramatic video clips in 1080p. However, I am curious to see if we’ll see a dramatic step up in video quality in October when we see the Pixel 6 lineup. Fingers crossed.

On the software side of things, it’s exactly all of the things you either love or hate about Pixel smartphones. You got everything that comes w/ Android 11 but within a few weeks, we’ll see the official rollout for Android 12 Material You UI. And Google will offer up to 3 years of software + security updates as well.

So you got pure stock Android, the faster Google Assistant that’s armed w/ Duplex-powered call-screening that can fight Spam calls w/ it and wait on hold for you, their automatic + offline Shazam-like feature Now Playing, system-wide closed caption w/ Live Caption, Voice Recorder w/ AI-powered transcribing, the Personal Safety app for sharing your current info/location w/ emergency contacts, Crash Detection, and Locked Folders + Portrait Lighting within Google Photos.

If you're on Android, there's no better value than the Pixel 5a at this price point.

Many have called the Pixel 5a w/ 5G boring but good. I would call it a budget essential phone for Android. Of course, there are cheaper phones on the market but at $449, it is still less than half of what you would pay for a premium flagship smartphone.

While there is now plenty of budget Android smartphones, I personally think Google checks off the more essential boxes w/ the Pixel 5a. While other companies like Samsung offer more lenses and OnePlus Nord has a faster refresh rate display, Google just nails the essentials w/o the fluff. And that is a big screen, good cameras, & a hard-to-kill battery.

So if you have the Pixel 4 or 4a, then the 5a is a great upgrade for you. But if you have the Pixel 4a 5G, then it is not a huge reason to upgrade to this. However, the 5a is a great budget introduction or just a budget Android option.