Pixel 3a

[Zaap]

Interesting phone: half price, NO notch, same great (rear) camera as the regular Pixel 3, ......headphone jack???

The plastic doesn't bother me as it seems pretty good build quality

Curious what people think? For a sub $500 phone seems a surprisingly good deal to me. I could see this giving Samsung and others a real run for the money.

 

[isekii]

this may take over the midrange world.

 

[Chromagnus]

I picked one up yesterday. T-Mobile has a sale right now where you can get it for free if you trade in a qualifying phone and they considered the original Pixel to be a qualifying phone. I was going to wait until OnePlus' announcement next week before making a decision on what I was doing but a free upgrade from a Pixel 1 to a 3a seemed like too good of a deal to pass up.

In general it seems like a really good deal for $400. While it would have been nice to have wireless charging and waterproofing those aren't deal breakers for me and I liked the addition of having a headphone jack. The specs aren't top of the line but the camera is which feels really amazing on a phone this cheap.

 

[WelshBloke]

I was thinking about one of these for my son. I can get a refurbed S7 edge for cheaper though (and I've got a bunch of old S7 accessories as well).

Where does the snapdragon 670 line up against the snapdragon 820?

 

[v0id]

Any idea how this compares with the (relatively) new Moto G7, the other budget phone that seems to get decent praise? The G7 is available for $300 unlocked compared to $400 unlocked for the Pixel 3a. I am not a mobile power user but my Moto E4 (lol) is pretty beat up, slow, and doesn't really hold a good charge anymore so I am looking for something new in the budget realm. Have to purchase an unlocked phone as I'm still on the very old grandfathered Verizon unlimited plan and don't want to give that up. I do take pictures on occasion (frequently at night or in darker areas), so the excellent camera on the 3a is attractive.

 

[Midwayman]

This is what a midrange phone should be. If I weren't so entrenched in the iOS world now I'd be all over it.

 

[isekii]

I was thinking about one of these for my son. I can get a refurbed S7 edge for cheaper though (and I've got a bunch of old S7 accessories as well).

Where does the snapdragon 670 line up against the snapdragon 820?

get the pixel. no bloat is great and even though it has the mid tier cpu it should run just fine for whatever you need to do.

 

[WelshBloke]

get the pixel. no bloat is great and even though it has the mid tier cpu it should run just fine for whatever you need to do.

I dont have a problem with "bloat" he's got an S7 edge already and that works fine for him, it's just a bit battered now. I just wondered how a new mid range SOC compares to an old top of the range one.

 

[spacejamz]

Best Buy has the 3a and 3a Xl for $100 off plus a $100 gift card...

I got a Pixel 3 for $400 a few weeks ago thinking I would like a smaller screen but I miss the 6" screen...

 

[spacejamz]

Best Buy has the 3a and 3a Xl for $100 off plus a $100 gift card...

I got a Pixel 3 for $400 a few weeks ago thinking I would like a smaller screen but I miss the 6" screen...

The $100 off is only if you activate it for Sprint or Verizon....still the $100 gift card though (but you can also get $100 credit from google if you buy through them)...

 

[killster1]

Interesting phone: half price, NO notch, same great (rear) camera as the regular Pixel 3, ......headphone jack???

The plastic doesn't bother me as it seems pretty good build quality

Curious what people think? For a sub $500 phone seems a surprisingly good deal to me. I could see this giving Samsung and others a real run for the money.

what about huge bezels ?? i checked the review.. the night photos and camera seems to be OK.. but snapdragon 670 64gb storage with no memcard for 500??@?@? i wish the p30 pro was less than 1000 (havnt checked used prices) but the night photos on the p30 pro wow. \
is the modem worth using? UE Category 11 (DL) / Category 5 (UL)
600Mbit/s DL (3xCA 2x2 MIMO)
75Mbit/s UL
not sure how great the reception will be compared to a Snapdragon X20 LTE, i was so impressed with my signal and usage overseas with the 9+ while the iphone 7+ i next to me often had terrible reception / bad wifi range etc.) the pixel 3a Google continues to employ dual front facing speakers with stereo playback capability. that also sounds like a great feature and nice plastic back instead of glass to break?

Hard for me to consider anything new id rather buy a used top o the line model.

 

[isekii]

what about huge bezels ?? i checked the review.. the night photos and camera seems to be OK.. but snapdragon 670 64gb storage with no memcard for 500??@?@? i wish the p30 pro was less than 1000 (havnt checked used prices) but the night photos on the p30 pro wow. \
is the modem worth using? UE Category 11 (DL) / Category 5 (UL)
600Mbit/s DL (3xCA 2x2 MIMO)
75Mbit/s UL
not sure how great the reception will be compared to a Snapdragon X20 LTE, i was so impressed with my signal and usage overseas with the 9+ while the iphone 7+ i next to me often had terrible reception / bad wifi range etc.) the pixel 3a Google continues to employ dual front facing speakers with stereo playback capability. that also sounds like a great feature and nice plastic back instead of glass to break?

Hard for me to consider anything new id rather buy a used top o the line model.

This was a no brainer for me. I'm on T-mobile and they were offering $400 credit for the OG Pixel.

 

[killster1]

This was a no brainer for me. I'm on T-mobile and they were offering $400 credit for the OG Pixel.

im not following your post! so how much did you pay and how many years contract do you have now? my whole post basicly said.. ya OK camera but big bezels bad soc and bad modem. i wonder what the reception difference would be i know the note 9 vs xmax apple was a huge difference in speed.

 

[isekii]

im not following your post! so how much did you pay and how many years contract do you have now? my whole post basicly said.. ya OK camera but big bezels bad soc and bad modem. i wonder what the reception difference would be i know the note 9 vs xmax apple was a huge difference in speed.

I got the 3a and the 3a xl .

I paid tax on the 3a and 70 + tax on the 3a xl. I bought the OG Pixel on swappa for like about $110 each
No contract, but the $400 (includes device trade in credit) are spread over 24 months.

Since i've been with t-mobile for ages.. i dont mind the 24 month split.

 

[killster1]

I got the 3a and the 3a xl .

I paid tax on the 3a and 70 + tax on the 3a xl. I bought the OG Pixel on swappa for like about $110 each
No contract, but the $400 (includes device trade in credit) are spread over 24 months.

Since i've been with t-mobile for ages.. i dont mind the 24 month split.

but isnt the 24 month payout the same as a contract wonder how much monthly bill is.

220 for the phones + 40 + 70 + 2 year contract? doesnt sound to bad i guess but i still wonder about the antenna and speed you will get with old modem

 

[isekii]

but isnt the 24 month payout the same as a contract wonder how much monthly bill is.

220 for the phones + 40 + 70 + 2 year contract? doesnt sound to bad i guess but i still wonder about the antenna and speed you will get with old modem

I've been with T-mobile for over 18 years now going back all the way to voicestream. I pay $140+tax and fees for 5 lines unlimited with 10gb hot spot each (grandfathered plan)

 

[Oyeve]

A co-worker picke up a P3a last week and I set it up for her. It's ok, but doesn"t feel as "nice" as the P3, IMO. But, she digs it.

 

[Sentrosi2121]

Not that this is a deal breaker or anything, but will the 3a support 5G when it gets rolled out? I'm on AT&T right now but am seriously considering moving to GoogleFI. And is GoogleFI going to have access to 5G once it gets rolled out?

 

[killster1]

Not that this is a deal breaker or anything, but will the 3a support 5G when it gets rolled out? I'm on AT&T right now but am seriously considering moving to GoogleFI. And is GoogleFI going to have access to 5G once it gets rolled out?

well i want to know how bad the modem is also. how much will it effect not having latest modem in a phone. But im sure it really wont matter since i wont be purchasing one for me or anyone i know.

 

[ericlp]

Well, for what it's worth... Pixel phones come with eSIM ... basically they can switch networks like google fi is both on tmobile and sprint and can easily jump between them...

If you travel, and want good coverage with verizon, you may want to check out visible, that uses phone with eSIMS like the pixel. I hear the pixel 3a is already available on their network when you bring your own pixel. Basically a 40 dollar plan, all you can use that even includes unlimited hotspot.

So... right now on amazon, you can get a pixel 3a XL for 479, 100 dollar gift card and if you activate it on visible they will also give you 100 dollars. So basically you could get an XL pixel for 280 bucks... not bad and thinking about it, just for the camera alone.

 

[darkswordsman17]

A co-worker picke up a P3a last week and I set it up for her. It's ok, but doesn"t feel as "nice" as the P3, IMO. But, she digs it.

That's basically literally what it is, which is the point and the appeal.

Its close to being great. I feel like there's no reason we shouldn't have multiple devices that offers what this does (with some offering things it doesn't, like a telephoto camera, microSD, maybe waterproofing, bigger battery), for equal price though.

The 3a is interesting, but I feel like its mostly a "good enough" phone for people still using like 3 year old phones, or if you really value stock Android and Google's Camera processing while being price limited. For people on T-Mobile rocking older Pixel phones (but not interested in upgrading beyond to say a new Samsung or Apple device), its basically a no brainer to trade in your Pixel 1 or probably 2 even.

I'll be interested in seeing where things go from here. Its priced low enough that Google could drop the 3 to like $500-600, keep the 3a at $400, and then bring out a new phone at $800+. I'm hoping it actually goes more like the 3a drops to $300/375, the 3 gets punted to $450-550, and Google brings out a worthwile new phone at $650/750, where it'll have at least telephoto (and go to 128/256 for storage), being waterproof, slim (but not curved) bezel. I'd love if they took LG's second display (the one they showed instead of a folding phone not the little one from the V10/20), using it as a cover, battery boost, control for games, and bolstering multi-tasking.

Not that this is a deal breaker or anything, but will the 3a support 5G when it gets rolled out? I'm on AT&T right now but am seriously considering moving to GoogleFI. And is GoogleFI going to have access to 5G once it gets rolled out?

The 3a won't be able to support 5G, as it requires entirely new modems and antennae, which currently requires Qualcomm's highest end SoC, a separate modem chip, and space for the antennae (minimum). That will change in the future, but not for this phone.

Google Fi will assuredly support 5G in the future (well unless Google cancels it...), as 5G will become the standard for newer devices and all the major carriers (which Google leases from) will support it (but of course will have to have compatible device). How good that support is is anyone's guess (don't be surprised if carriers limit it to their own customers only for a few years - its gonna take awhile before you should be caring about 5G).

 

[zinfamous]

So... right now on amazon, you can get a pixel 3a XL for 479, 100 dollar gift card and if you activate it on visible they will also give you 100 dollars. So basically you could get an XL pixel for 280 bucks... not bad and thinking about it, just for the camera alone.

That pricing isn't correct. The total Price is actually 579, as Amazon lists the cost of the $100 gift card in with the item. so It's 579 total that you pay...and you get the $100 gift card. It's a "bundle price" of $579, with the 2 items, lol.

https://www.amazon.com/Pixel-Just-B...ords=pixel+3a&qid=1558325721&s=gateway&sr=8-7

...I guess you can pay $479, but that's if you sign up for the Amazon Visa card, as always.

the 3a is a $399 "bundle price"

anyway, point is, it's not like the phone is $200 cheaper than what you pay on Amazon, if you activate with Visible. It's $100 cheaper than that price (Assuming the Visible offer is also correct). It would be one thing to actually get a $100 gift card, but you aren't. You are directly paying for it.

...probably better to get it through Project Fi/Google pricing and switch over after you get your $100 Fi credit value...actually, it looks like the Fi $100 credit is no longer available? hmm.

I've found that Fi service has been really terrible for me over the last year or so. Just...abjectly terrible. Calls just cut out, never come through, messages disappear into the ether, voice quality is abysmal, etc. I've read something about Sprint radio not being set up properly or whatever...but this wasn't from initial setup. I've been on it for about 3 years now. It just started happening recently. ...that being said, I pay about $26/month for everything I need on it (I'm not really what you would call a data user), so paying $40 month is like asking me to take an arsenic IV.

 

[Victoria2]

How much did you pay and how many years contract do you have now? my whole post basicly said.. ya OK camera but big bezels bad soc and bad modem. i wonder what the reception difference would be i know the note 9 vs xmax apple was a huge difference in speed.