Google Pixel 5a review: All hail the king of affordable camera phones
Our Verdict
The Google Pixel 5a delivers the same experience every bit the Pixel v or Pixel 4a 5G, but for merely $449. Information technology's as well got the biggest bombardment always in a Pixel — at to the lowest degree until the Pixel 6 Pro came along — and it's the start A-series Pixel to sport water resistance. The phone's big OLED display, two rear cameras, and decent amount of power are dandy for the cost.
For
- Spectacular cameras
- Big, bright display
- IP67 water resistance
Against
- Older chipset
- Express to Usa and Nihon
- No wireless charging
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Google Pixel 5a delivers the same experience every bit the Pixel five or Pixel 4a 5G, simply for only $449. It's also got the biggest battery always in a Pixel — at least until the Pixel 6 Pro came along — and it's the outset A-serial Pixel to sport water resistance. The phone's big OLED display, two rear cameras, and decent amount of ability are swell for the cost.
Pros
- +
Spectacular cameras
- +
Large, brilliant display
- +
IP67 h2o resistance
Cons
- -
Older chipset
- -
Limited to US and Japan
- -
No wireless charging
Google Pixel 5a: Specs
Price: $449
Bone: Android eleven
Display: vi.43-inch OLED (2400 ten 1080)
CPU: Snapdragon 765G
RAM: 6GB
Storage / Expandable: 128GB / No
Rear cameras: 12.2MP (f/i.vii), 16MP (f/two.2) ultrawide
Front photographic camera: 8MP (f/2.0)
Battery: iv,680mAh
Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 9:45
Charging: 18W
5G: Sub-6Ghz
Size: half-dozen.1 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches
Weight: 6.five ounces
Colors: Generally Black
The Google Pixel 5a is a revelation in the most deadening sense of the discussion. After the incredibly expert Pixel 4a last year, some of us were left wondering how the Mount View-based company could one up itself. While we loved the Pixel 4a — with it regularly appearing in many of our all-time phone lists — information technology had some flaws.
But the Pixel 5a wows me more than the 4a did. Essentially, this new telephone is a cheaper Pixel 4a 5G with a bigger battery. Since we liked that phone a lot, too, you won't hear me complain almost getting what's finer a tweaked version of that telephone with a $50 discount. We'll take to run across what a potential Goggle Pixel 6a does to encounter if information technology changes the current Pixel a's winning formula.
The Pixel 5a costs $449. For that money, you get 5G connectivity (just sub-6Ghz) and the largest battery we've e'er seen in a Pixel. That translates to real-world benefits, likewise, with the Pixel 5a lasting longer than almost whatsoever other Google phone that we've tested. Information technology's likewise the get-go h2o-resistant A-serial Pixel, adopting a feature Google has long reserved for its flagship devices.
In fact, I'thousand hard-pressed to observe anything truly wrong with the Pixel 5a. It's not the most powerful phone, and the display doesn't wow. While upkeep-conscious buyers won't similar the price increase over the Pixel 4a, I don't think these criticisms finish up detracting from this phone'due south merits.
In this Google Pixel 5a review, I'll go over everything that makes this one of the all-time Android phones you tin currently buy.
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Google Pixel 5a review: Cost and availability
The $449 Pixel 5a features 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. It comes in one color choice, Generally Black. Y'all can purchase one unlocked from the Google Store and through the Google Fi wireless carrier.
Every bit with the Pixel 4a, the Pixel 5a's biggest rival remains terminal twelvemonth's iPhone SE (2020), which starts at $399 but has half the storage of the Pixel 5a (64GB). The cheaper iPhone also makes do with a single photographic camera versus two, and an LCD screen instead of an OLED panel.
The Pixel 5a is only available in the US and Japan, perchance due to the chip shortage that led to rumors of the phone being outright cancelled earlier this year. A couple months subsequently its release, we withal don't know if Google will expand the Pixel 5a's availability in the futurity. Google's focus at the moment is on the Pixel 6, which at a starting toll of $599 is just $150 more the Pixel 5a. (We've got a Pixel 6 vs. Pixel 5a comparing to aid yous determine which telephone is best suited for your needs.)
If you're looking for Pixel 5a deals, at that place's a Pixel 5a Black Friday deal for just $349, which takes $100 off the toll. And nosotros expect more sales during the holidays.
Google Pixel 5a review: Blueprint
With the exception of the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google's pattern language has been very minimalistic. I daresay it'south downright spartan in many respects, but information technology's too pretty functional. The Pixel 5a follows in that vein, looking like an unassuming large plastic handset. Nothing virtually the phone stands out, except possibly its mint-colored power button.
And perchance that'due south just how information technology should exist. I love fancy-looking phones like those from Samsung or OnePlus, but I'k likewise a fan of function over dazzler. The Pixel 5a won't plow heads, merely that's not what Google was aiming for. Instead, this is a $449 phone that focuses entirely on software. As you'll see in a flake, that largely translates to extraordinary camera prowess.
The build quality of the Pixel 5a feels very solid, and it comes with an IP67 water-resistance rating — a first for A-series Pixel phones. Even though the 5a is a large polycarbonate slab, it has a smooth, soft-touch terminate. Unfortunately, that also means it attracts fingerprint oils, which appear prominently on the black plastic. Unlike fingerprints on glass back phones, these oils can be hard to remove with simply your shirt or a microfiber cloth.
There'due south goose egg on the Pixel 5a's back but a simple foursquare camera module, the fingerprint sensor, and a modest Google "Chiliad" near the bottom. Around the forepart, in that location's non much more going on, either. The big 6.34-inch brandish covers virtually the whole confront of the telephone with impressively slim bezels all around. The new phone looks like a more than premium device compared to the Pixel 4a.
The rear-mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor is incredibly accurate. I didn't in one case accept a false rejection (assuming I placed my alphabetize fingers properly) — I think this sensor is as good as the 1 on the Pixel 5. The placement feels very natural, as I think rear-mounted fingerprint sensors are superior to in-display ones.
Similar other A-series Pixels before it, the Pixel 5a nonetheless has a iii.5mm headphone jack. I love this decision nevertheless, and I call back many of you volition, besides. Even though Bluetooth headphones and earbuds take gotten really adept, having a headphone jack is still a must for many people, not to mention cars so that you tin can plug the phone in with an auxiliary cable.
Sound quality on the Pixel 5a is very skillful, thanks to stereo speakers. The tiptop speaker is nestled in the earpiece, which is a barely noticeable slit above the display. Combined with the bottom-firing speaker, the Pixel 5a can get very loud and punchy. While it lacks the bass and warmness you'd find in a pair of headphones (or higher-quality phones), the 5a has better sound than about other phones in this price range.
As an aside, the rumored Google Pixel 6a could be a big difference in pattern terms from the Pixel 5a.
Google Pixel 5a review: Display
Google is pretty proud of the Pixel 5a's display, calling it the biggest one ever on a bezel-less Pixel, which covers the Pixel 4a, 4a 5G, and 5. At 6.43 inches, the full-Hard disk drive OLED screen on the Pixel 5a is vibrant and brilliant. It's not the nearly impressive panel we've ever seen, but it's very adept all the same, specially at this toll.
One thing I really capeesh is how easily I tin can see what's on the display when I'chiliad out in straight sunlight. When I was out wandering around to capture photos for this Pixel 5a review, I establish myself surprised and impressed considering I could meet the photos I'd simply taken. Normally, I have to discover shade to run into the photos conspicuously plenty. Not so with the 5a, and not every phone that crosses my desk tin can merits that.
Like the rest of the telephone, the Pixel 5a'south display gets the job done. Neither awful nor astonishing, the screen is average in the best kind of way. One surface area that has definitely improved over the Pixel 4a is the viewing angles. With the 4a, you lot'd start to find distortion pretty quickly when viewing the telephone from an off angle. I ran into no such problem with the Pixel 5a. In fact, the display has fantastic viewing angles and little visible distortion until you go to closer to 180 degrees, equally you do with most phones.
Once yous become with an OLED screen, information technology'southward hard to go dorsum to LCDs on a phone. That comes downward to how deep the blacks go, which lends itself to a sense of foreboding and dread in nighttime games similar Limbo or calculation stark contrast to the harsh orange scenes in Bract Runner 2049. Even Genshin Touch on with its anime-manner graphics or Dead Cells' pixel art look amazing on the Pixel 5a. The resolution is just well-baked enough to make nature photos almost await like you're actually there, too. Fifty-fifty something equally mundane as a YouTube video or sports clip looks swell on this display.
In its default color profile, the Pixel 5a managed to reproduce 119.3% of the sRGB and 84.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamuts. That'southward actually a bit more saturated than the iPhone SE's 111.2% sRGB rendering. The iPhone has a significant reward with color accurateness, however, with a Delta-Eastward score of 0.2 compared to the Pixel 5a'south 0.32. (Scores closer to 0 are all-time in this test.)
The Pixel 5a is similar most other Android phones out in that location, in that y'all can only achieve maximum brightness with Adaptive Brightness enabled. In our testing, the telephone reached a 501-nit max, which is surprisingly lower than the Pixel 4a'due south 681 nits and the iPhone SE'southward 651-nit average. Only like I said above, I had no trouble viewing the brandish out in direct sunlight.
Adaptive Brightness uses AI to judge how you like your display brightness in sure lighting conditions. that requires y'all to train the feature, which I doubt most people do — I just allow my phones suit automatically. On some previous Pixels, a few people (including Adam Ismail in his Pixel 4a review) reported a full general sense of indecisiveness with Adaptive Effulgence. I ran into this problem on my Pixel iv XL, which would vary wildly while sitting in 1 spot. I haven't noticed this frustrating trouble with the Pixel 5a.
Google Pixel 5a review: Cameras
The biggest highlight with the Pixel 5a this yr is the improver of the 16MP, 117-degree ultrawide photographic camera, which joins the primary 12.2MP shooter. Terminal yr's Pixel 4a only had the single 12.2MP camera. Upward front, the Pixel 5a'south 8MP selfie cam sits nestled in the top left corner of the display in a hole-punch cutout.
This is a Pixel, so you lot'd wait the photography feel to be really good, especially given that the 5a has about the same hardware as the Pixel 5. As you'll see below, the Pixel 5a's cameras meet that expectation then some — they're the best you'll find under $500.
When testing the Pixel 5a against an iPhone SE, yous can immediately see the differences in approach between the two phones in this photo of some flowers. The Pixel 5a kept a more than natural color profile, while the iPhone SE looks a bit too saturated and fantastical. The iPhone's image also looks too absurd, especially given the daylight's overall warm tones in this scene. I prefer the Pixel's shot.
To come across how well either telephone captured vibrant color, I took a moving-picture show of this pickup truck. The blue is very bright, dazzlingly then in direct low-cal. The Pixel in one case again opted for a more than somber wait to complement the overcast sky higher up. The truck's bluish paint is still beautiful in the Pixel'southward image. However, with the iPhone SE, Apple'southward telephone turned up the saturation once more. You tin as well meet the evidence of this in the grass behind the truck, and even on the lighter portion of the wooden fence in the background.
Heading inside, the Pixel 5a and iPhone SE took their own approaches to this statuette of Merida. WIth the 5a, the paradigm is absurd, just still captures the vibrant colors of Merida's dress and hair, plus the yellow candle off to the correct. The iPhone took a warmer image, a fleck too yellowish in my stance. However, both phones compensated for the calorie-free in the room, producing well-lit photos.
The portrait shots were besides quite dissimilar, and the results surprised me. Apple pioneered the portrait photo mode years agone, but the Pixel 5a offers a much better and more artistic photo in this particular comparison. The iPhone SE zoomed out and had a softer bokeh event, while the Pixel 5a focused solely on my confront. The background is beautifully blurred, too.
The night modes differ greatly betwixt the two phones, more often than not because the iPhone SE doesn't accept one. This remains a strange omission on Apple'southward part, but the Pixel 5a features Google's fantabulous Night Sight. You lot can come across how well the 5a handled the smoker at night, producing a clear image with plenty of detail. The smoker is still visible in the iPhone SE's photo, merely it's harder to see.
A familiar pattern repeated itself when I tested the forepart camera. The Pixel 5a kept the colors toned down, giving my face up a more than natural look. The SE, meanwhile, cranked upwardly the saturation and made my face look splotchy and unhealthily blood-red. If my confront isn't proof enough, await at the pool umbrella in the background. It's manner too green for something that's sat out in the lord's day for years.
Google Pixel 5a review: Video
The Pixel 5a can record video up to 4K at 60 frames per second. Google also includes what it calls Cinematic Pan for capturing audio-less video clips. This effectively slows downward the panning in your video clip, calculation a more artistic, cinematic effect.
Compared to the iPhone SE, the Pixel 5a's video is just better. Colors are more accurate, the mic quality is much improve, and Google's new telephone focuses on close objects faster. Even the stabilization on the Pixel 5a is skilful, right on par with the SE's. Google has gotten steadily better with video recording lately, and the 5a is definitely 1 of the best Pixels so far at this task.
Google Pixel 5a review: Performance
Information technology may non have the Google-built Tensor chip introduced in the new Pixel 6 lineup, but the Pixel 5a takes a serious step upwards from its predecessor in terms of hardware. Rocking a Snapdragon 765G (the same system-on-chip as the $699 Pixel 5 and $499 Pixel 4a 5G from terminal year) and 6GB of RAM, this is a decently powerful phone for many tasks. Every bit far as Android phones get, the Pixel 5a is pretty middle of the road.
The 765G isn't a bad flake and it's an improvement over the Pixel 4a's Snapdragon 730G organisation-on-fleck. But the Snapdragon 765G is not going to concord up well against the A13 Bionic in the iPhone SE. Apple tree's silicon magic makes the $399 iPhone SE a petty powerhouse that even the best Android phones struggle to friction match. At $449, though, the Pixel 5a is nigh equally powerful equally Android devices in this toll category get.
Playing games on the Pixel 5a was a fine feel, though some of the more than intense titles like Asphalt 9 and Genshin Touch on caused the phone to heat up. Lowering the graphics settings tin assist, especially with dropped frames, but the Pixel 5a isn't truly adept at gaming in the way more powerful flagship phones are.
Notwithstanding, in day-to-24-hour interval tasks, this phone flies. Android 11 on the Pixel 5a feels buttery smoothen, fifty-fifty with a brandish locked at 60Hz. Outside of gaming, I couldn't get this phone to slow down, whether I was speedily scrolling on a big spider web page, switching between several apps and games on the wing, or taking multiple photos in quick succession.
Having the power of the Snapdragon 765G helps the Pixel 5a process photos quickly. Google'south software magic really shines on the Pixel 5a, and it's thanks in role to the big processor upgrade over the Pixel 4a.
Every bit far every bit benchmarks go, we ran into some compatibility issues with Geekbench v. I couldn't download the app from the Play Shop and the scores we did manage to go in lab testing (from sideloading) were startlingly depression, much lower than the ones we saw from the Pixel 4a with its Snapdragon 730G.
That said, the Pixel 5a did pass through the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited graphics test, managing a score of one,678 with an average fps of 10 — this, in one case once again, seems really depression for a 765G. Regardless, information technology's chump alter compared to the iPhone SE's 47.9 fps average. The A13 Bionic is even so an incredibly powerful flake, and it makes the iPhone SE the functioning gnaw in the sub-$500 category.
Still, even if the Pixel 5a'south performance feels middling, that's not really a bad affair. Google's phone does most everything a phone ought to without any trouble.
Google Pixel 5a review: Battery life and charging
The Pixel 5a sports the biggest battery nosotros caput seen in a Google Pixel, though the Pixel 6 Pro now tops that. Nevertheless, the Pixel 5a's 4,680 mAh power pack helps it plow in i of the amend times nosotros've seen from a Pixel phone on our battery test. That'due south not a high bar to clear, though, equally Pixels tend to falter on our examination involving web surfing over a cellular connection.
To that end, the Pixel 5a was able to remain powered up for 9 hours and 45 minutes, which is effectually the average for smartphones. That beats the Pixel 4a's time by nearly an 60 minutes, and it's roughly thirty minutes longer than the iPhone SE'south result.
Given Google'south historical struggles on our test, it'due south overnice to meet the phone at least in the neighborhood of average performance. But given the size of the battery, we wish the Pixel 5a had come closer to landing on our best phone bombardment life list.
Pixel 5a charging is less encouraging. With a max of 18W, the Pixel 5a got from a drained phone to 23% in 15 minutes, and to 43% in xxx minutes. That handily beats the iPhone SE'south charging times, which simply reached 29% in 30 minutes in our testing. However, in that location'southward no wireless charging onboard the Pixel 5a, unlike Apple tree'southward budget iPhone.
Google Pixel 5a review: Software
Android 12 is rolling out now, and that includes to the Pixel 5a. That's one of the benefits of owning a Google phone — yous get Apple-level admission to the latest Android versions on the day they're released. Now if just the Pixel 5a would be supported for as long as an iPhone.
With Google debuting its ain system-on-chips (called Tensor) for the Pixel 6, maybe we'll see time to come Pixels stay updated as long as iPhones do. Nonetheless, the Pixel 5a will still see iii years of platform updates and a minimum of 3 years of security patches.
Out of the box, the Pixel 5a comes standard with stock Android 11. There's zip new here, since Android 11 is a fairly spartan thing. There is a department to customize some of the 5a'due south gestures, like swiping on the fingerprint sensor to pull down the notification shade. That'due south about it. If you're coming from Samsung or OnePlus — or even Motorola — y'all might discover the lack of customization and features to exist a chip of a beat shock. That said, Android 12 is going to alter that.
Google Pixel 5a review: Verdict
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro innovate more significant changes to Google'due south phone lineup, simply the Pixel 5a is worth strong consideration if yous want the Google software and camera experience for a lower price. Despite $449 being a $100 hike from last year'south phone, the Pixel 5a delivers near everything that the $699 Pixel five managed, minus the 90Hz brandish, for $250 less.
The Pixel 5a's merits to fame comes down to its cameras, and boy do they deliver. This phone runs laps around anything at this price, fifty-fifty the iPhone SE. Apple tree's budget iPhone isn't a bad photographic camera telephone past any means, simply the 5a is just better all around. This should come up as no surprise to anyone who knows that Pixels regularly feature in our picks for the best camera phones.
Despite the battery life not knocking my socks off, I really like the Pixel 5a. Information technology does everything the Pixel 4a 5G did well for $50 less, and that's impressive. While people in other countries will feel left out that the Pixel 5a only ships in the U.Due south. and Nippon, you lot should absolutely consider this phone if you lot want a top budget handset.
In that location are better phones that price upward of $one,000 or more, simply I observe information technology difficult to consider whatsoever of them to be equally adept of a value as the Pixel 5a.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/google-pixel-5a
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