Google Pixel 4a

Affordable and essential – a mid-range marvel

Google’s Pixel 3a stirred the smartphone world by offering the important core features of its flagship brethren at a considerably more affordable price, and Google’s latest Pixel 4a carries on that torch. While there are some obvious corners that have been cut to bring this handset down to its AU$599 launch price, the compromises have (for the most part) been in areas that will affect users the least. This means that your money will almost certainly be going towards features and capabilities that you actually need, rather than premium extras that you’ll never use.

The chassis is made from a recycled plastic rather than glass or metal, but we found its textured surface to still feel fine in the hand, and allow for a more lightweight device that still felt rugged enough. While there’s no waterproofing, the upshot of this is that there’s a headphone jack (a rarity these days in the world of smartphones). With a fairly bezel-free face and 5.8-inch display, the phone is quite compact and very suitable for one-handed operation. As for the internals, a Snapdragon 730G runs the show, alongside 6GB of RAM. This is more than enough for average users and their day-to-day needs, and will even keep those with more intensive habits satisfied to an extent.

Amazingly, the camera tech (both hardware and software) that makes the premium models in Google’s lineup is present here too, so for those that mostly use their phone for casual browsing and taking snapshots, this is the perfect combo. There’s a 12.2MP dual-pixel primary camera and an 8MP front camera, but the true magic happens with Google’s AI that intelligently adjusts photos to turn out great every time. It’s only available in one colour and storage size (Black, 128GB), which may not please those that like a personalised device, or huge storage amounts, but it will suit a huge majority of users in this configuration.

Score: 4.5 / 5

Verdict: As with the flagship Pixel 5, Google has hit a home run in its ability to condense the important and genuinely useful features and functions of a smartphone into a device that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars. While it’s not the most powerful or flashy device, its core experience is more than enough for most.