Pixel 3a or 4a

M4xson · 14 Sep 2020 at 14:23

I've got a Pixel (1) and it's fine apart from the battery. So I'm looking to upgrade (assuming the 3a has similar CPU power) to a new 3a or 4a.

Potential Deal Breakers:
3a;
151mm is a bit longer (probably fine)
64GB (OK as I don't use all of my 128GB pixel anyway)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 with Octa-Core (WTF does all that mean? I assume Octa Core will be better than my old Quad core)

4a;
£50 more (not that bothered as both are much cheaper than my old £700 phone)
Not available yet (does bother me as my battery is nearly dead)
The screen notch (prefer a shorter screen TBH)
19.5:9 (what sort of ratio is that? 16:9 is perfect)
Always-on display (battery killer?)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Adreno 618 (Eh? How many cores is that?)

Squink · 14 Sep 2020 at 14:31

Ignore the cores and whatnot on the two phones. The Pixel 4a is the better, faster phone. Since you have a Pixel 1, I assume you keep your phones for a long time and I believe the Pixel 1 did not get the latest Android 11 update because it is out of its support window. The Pixel 4a should in theory get an additional year of support and updates over the Pixel 3a. If this is important, go for the 4a.

It also depends what price you'll pay for the two phones. Both have been available below RRP and if you're very price sensitive, you can pick up a 3a for cheaper than a 4a.

The always on display can be switched off if you find it's draining too much battery.

Orcvader · 14 Sep 2020 at 15:54

As above, don't worry about the amount of cores but these days it's usually 4 performance cores and 4 power saving cores for Qualcomm. Both the 670 and 730G are better CPU wise but in terms of GPU the Adreno 530 in the SD821 is pretty strong, the 730G's 618 should be closer to the 530 but there's not much benchmarks comparing the two.

The Pixel 3a also has always on display, and from a friend's usage, it hardly uses much battery.

It really depends on what you mainly use the phone for. Both have great cameras so you can't go wrong photography wise, but if you do a bit of gaming the 4a will be better thanks to the stronger GPU.

benparker · 15 Sep 2020 at 06:33

I would got for 4a

M4xson · 15 Sep 2020 at 06:35

Squink said:
Ignore the cores and whatnot on the two phones. The Pixel 4a is the better, faster phone. Since you have a Pixel 1, I assume you keep your phones for a long time and I believe the Pixel 1 did not get the latest Android 11 update because it is out of its support window. The Pixel 4a should in theory get an additional year of support and updates over the Pixel 3a. If this is important, go for the 4a.

I've kept my pixel for too long and I've been having battery problems for months. The batteries just aren't big or durable enough on any phone and that's so you have to buy a new one in a couple of years. Also so your phone can be 0.2mm thinner which is irrelevant when you have to have a case to stop your phone breaking in your pocket. Anyway I'm not planning on keeping this one so long so that part is fine plus the new versions of android seem to have less advantages that actually matter me. Android 8 was fine and I'm sure android 11 will be fine for me for years.

M4xson · 15 Sep 2020 at 06:39

Orcvader said:
As above, don't worry about the amount of cores but these days it's usually 4 performance cores and 4 power saving cores for Qualcomm. Both the 670 and 730G are better CPU wise but in terms of GPU the Adreno 530 in the SD821 is pretty strong, the 730G's 618 should be closer to the 530 but there's not much benchmarks comparing the two.

The Pixel 3a also has always on display, and from a friend's usage, it hardly uses much battery.

It really depends on what you mainly use the phone for. Both have great cameras so you can't go wrong photography wise, but if you do a bit of gaming the 4a will be better thanks to the stronger GPU.

Thanks for the reply.

I've not been playing games on my phone lately, so I may as well get the 3a as it's £60 cheaper and I can get it now instead of waiting until October.

kona786 · 15 Sep 2020 at 13:33

You'd be bonkers to get the 3a over the 4a given the price difference.

M4xson · 15 Sep 2020 at 14:07

Maybe I am bonkers. I ordered a Pixel 3a for £289 with £5 cashback from Carphone warehouse. Plus I hope to get £30 for my pixel so It'll only cost me £255 to replace my phone. Plus the cost of a case and screen protector.

neoboy · 15 Sep 2020 at 14:29

For the price difference, Pixel 4a easily.

One extra year of support and finally up to date ergonomics with minimal bezels, plus all the incremental little upgrades all round.

david25 · 15 Sep 2020 at 15:16

There are reports of the 4a casing being soft and rubbing smooth

M4xson · 16 Sep 2020 at 06:02

I also read the battery life of the 4a isn't great.

superleeds27 · 16 Sep 2020 at 09:41

M4xson said:
I also read the battery life of the 4a isn't great.

I've read the opposite.

Squink · 16 Sep 2020 at 09:56

superleeds27 said:
I've read the opposite.

I have read kind of the opposite

The 4a battery punches well above it's capacity according to every review I've read.

kona786 · 16 Sep 2020 at 10:14

2 week review.... Quote : Amazing battery life

M4xson · 16 Sep 2020 at 14:20

Squink said:
I have read kind of the opposite

The 4a battery punches well above it's capacity according to every review I've read.

Oh really? Does it last about a week on one charge? I'm sort of kidding as I know they don't last that long. I also know the battery life of the 3a isn't that great.

My first mobile phone was relatively huge, only did phone calls and the battery lasted 8 hours if you didn't talk on it too much. gradually phones got better and smaller and the battery would last over a week. When smart phones arrived and the batteries only lasted a day it was sort of OK because you could change the battery easily when it ran out. At that time I thought we can put up with this on this generation of mobiles as smart phones are new and in a few years the batteries will be lasting over a week again. So I'm going to be disappointed with the battery life of any current phone.

Orcvader · 16 Sep 2020 at 14:39

It's going to be like that for many years to come. While everything else has done well to lower power consumption unfortunately battery tech is has hardly changed. There's been a lot of promising alternatives to lithium batteries but none of them seem close to being used for phones. Another alternative is true wireless charging but current consumer products are still limited to a few centimetres away and needing a clear line of sight.

kona786 · 16 Sep 2020 at 15:02

Unrealistic expectations can't be healthy.