I fail to understand why UA-cam reviewers are so obsessed with "wireless charging" !! That's one most useless feature. A simple regular charger saves space, money and energy.. simple!
ABCD; so true. Reviewers are obsessed with "wireless charging", IP rating, 120hz screens, professional grade cameras and the latest and fastest chip that allow them to play "AAA" games and edit video's at the same time. Real everyday people just want a phone that will last all day, text, facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and perhaps bash through a decent time waster video game.
It happens because They judge a Device according to Their Usability.. And almost everyone does That.. No one talks as a Normal User, who wants a Phone which lasts throughout a day, Good Speaker Quality, no hiccups while using social Media..Takes fairly Good pictures and can use that for Netflix and Prime Video etc..with a Good Software Experience, with fairly less number of bugs.. These guys don't talk much on Usability..which kinda suggests that we are wasting our time watching such Tech Reviewers.. The same happens in My country as Well..
Wireless charging in cars is a really nice feature. Let's say you're listening to some music and you realize half way in your roadtrip that you didn't plug your phone and the battery will most likely be close to 0 by the time you arrive. With wireless charging, you can simply place your phone without taking your eyes of the road. So safer. Also, in bed, when I feel I'm about to fall asleep I simply drop my phone on my wireless charger on my nightstand effortlessly. Before, I'd have to search for my cable, sometimes turn on the light and then plug the phone. I know it's just a few easy steps but I do enjoy being able to skip those with that feature.
Tech reviewers should note: 1. Most people don't use/have wireless chargers. (Btw wireless chargers are way slower and waste a lot of power.) 2. People put phone cases on their phones so extreme durability tests are irrelevant. 3. Wireless buds/earphones are way more expensive and lot of people use wired ones. 4. Extra cameras are a gimmick, they just hide mediocre main camera. ( Yes I'm talking about the OnePlus Nord) All these points are applicable here in India. :)
I agree with all of this, but there are wireless earbuds from companies like MPOW and JBL that are cheap and I would reccomend people get because they've made a surprising difference to me. But, I do still use wired earbuds for calls and stuff.
@@Draw3524 correct!!! 90% of the people out there are casual users who use basic apps and messaging services mainly. just a question people should ask themselves before buying the flagships like A13Bionic, are you going to power up a rocket with that?
Seriously, I have never understood this obsession with ultra-thinness and the phone's outer casing that so many tech reviewers waste time focusing on. News flash: most normal people, i.e., people who use their phones for 2+ years before switching them out, use a phone case. Glass v. plastic v. matte finish v. whatever has never meant a damn to me when it comes to making a purchase decision. /rant
I had a plastic phone I refused to buy a case for. That's me though, I hardly go out, work at home (pre-pandemic) so... but I could easily see you not wanting to pick up a 10 dollar case for a plastic phone. Those things are already easy to grip and hardly scratch so it's kind of a waste of money... And regardless of case sometimes you can see your phone like a red phone in a black case :/ I don't know if that's a consideration lol but worth saying?
@@pdraggy plastic, glass or whatever. Drop your phone at the right angle and you'll be more than happy to protect your $350-800 phone with a $10-20 case.
@@butlermj76 I guess... but it's like getting a 300 dollar/ year insurance plan to protect a 200 dollar smartwatch. like c'mon really? just don't and buy a new one in a year or less are you that clumsy, it's a watch!
@@pdraggy that doesn't make sense. Phones cost hundreds and cases cost $10 or 20-something. And you have your phone in your hand all the time. All it takes is for someone to bump into you while you're playing on your phone for you to drop it. Watches stay secured to your wrist so there's not much risk of breaking them.
@andrew from PerfectFyfth Iphone SE is for dumb people who wouldn't mind using a 5yr old phone!!!! or just desperate to enter or stay in Apples Ecosystem. That's not 95% of people.
andrew from PerfectFyfth you're absolutely right. but imo, the SE2 has the upperhand in terms of essentially being able to install what the 4a has onto the SE2, but the 4a can't have imsg, or even just a universal implementation of RCS... and duo still needs to improve its handling of slower cellular data connections, the app is not as efficient as facetime when traveling in developing countries in terms of scope and tech. here in the US, that translates to a staycation of driving thru the boonies between states(pre-covid CA,AZ,NV,UT) and the throttled data available when roaming in my carrier's dead spots. but get the 4a if you need a larger screen, and more than 4.5hrs of on-screen time. i'm not a power user so for android, the A-series pixels are for me. i just don't like the rear fingerprint id, and single cam/flash aesthetics plus like i said above, imsg/ft just works better than android's rcs, duo.
6:36 Not a lot of people have usb-c but a lot of people have wireless chargers....lol...😂. As an Indian I have not seen a single wireless charger in my life except for phones with reverse wireless charging
add me to the list of disliking wireless chargers... have two, but use NONE. between family and friends, i think i'm the only one with a wireless charger. the proper cords(amps) and charging block(PD,QC) are just more efficient.
WHO SAID GLASS IS PREMIUM? they've been developing better gorilla glass for years and yet it still breaks. Phone companies should embrace textured plastic or a carbon fiber build
every glass phone I've owned I've had to put a case on. just make the phones out of case material. actually, a couple years ago Motorola was making a modular phone that you could choose different backs instead of having to get a case.
For me, headphone jack is super important in a phone. I do not want to shell out loads of money for an expensive pair of Bluetooth earphones. Sure there are cheaper wireless earphones but for that money I could get an even better pair of wired earphones.
I used to think this way until I got raycons for someone that works out its sooo nice to not get the wires all bunched while using weights and stuff. It stays charged for a long time I use them for like a couple hours 4 to 5 days a week and I charge them maybe every 2 weeks. But I think a headphone jack is still necessary I use it all the time with my wired big headphones
@@JoshuaWorth true, but most of those were software issues which google provided updates for and any phone will last that long, some function will just be limited Sure is possible cause my 6 year old Snapdragon chipset still works fine in 2020
Exactly, this sentence destoryed the credibility of the review itself... Comes across as someone who is trying to point out as many flaws and to make them sound as bad as possible.
I feel like a lack of wireless charging capability is the most first world problem thing I've heard lol I've never seen nor cared for it. Great video anyways 👍
Wireless charging will only matter to me when it's as fast as a 30w or faster plug in. Although that exists it isn't mainstream yet. So yeah, we agree 😁
Yeah, I cringed when he complaint about not having that option while at a friend's house. Like, come on... I don't even have friends with wireless chargers at home
I have a wireless charger.... biggest waste of money... I mean if you need to put your phone down in a certain way why can't you just plug a cord into it??
I'm Canadian. I ordered this phone my whole family owns newer phones at least ten in my immediate family and none of us own a wireless charger. Unless they start to come with the phone we will never own a wireless charger. And LTE is a glorified 3g so 5g means nothing when living in a rural part of Canada we wont see a true 5g untill they invent 6g lol.
Not as common as micro usb or lighting cable because micro usb have been out for a long time. But i think it all comes down to his personal experiences. It might not be the case for all of us. Unlike his case, i hate wireless charging, always use cable.
In terms of screen brightness, you may want to turn adaptive brightness on. From Tom's Guide review: "The maximum manual setting tops out at 433 nits; outdoors in sunlight, with the adaptive setting enabled, the Pixel 4a’s panel can reach 681 nits. By comparison, the iPhone SE can hit 653 nits no matter whether you use auto or manual brightness."
My best friend just purchased the Pixel 4a. I have the Pixel 4 XL and my spouse has the Pixel 3a. Here are a few comments regarding your video and assessment: 1) You should NEVER place ANY phone in your pocket with the screen facing outward. One good bump into anything (from not watching where you're walking) and "hello cracked screen." I cracked my Pixel 2 screen and my iPhone 6 screen this way. Learned my lesson the hard way. 2) The Pixel 4a screen isn't as "dim" as you state. You can get up to 450 nits on manual brightness, and in sunlight with adaptive brightness turned on, you an get up to 803 nits. Maybe you need to turn on adaptive brightness for going outside. 3) USB-C is the new "standard" in charging and data transfer. More and more charging stations and electronic stores are selling USB-C chargers and even some Apple devices are using USB-C now. If anything, Apple is the one that needs to get onboard with USB-C for their iPhones. 4) FYI, for Google Duo calls on the Pixel 4a, suggest turning on "Data Saving mode" in the Call Settings (Settings - Call Settings - Data Saving mode). This reduces the amount of data that is transmitted which in turn reduces the "toll" taken on the transmitter. It's the transmitter that gets warm when you transmit a lot of data. Turning on Data Saving mode should help with this issue. NOTE: Pixel 4a 5G will have a more powerful chipset that can better handle higher data transmissions, so this issue should not exist on that phone. 5) Pixel 4a has a decible rating of 78, I wouldn't call that "quiet." Great video! I enjoyed watching.
Can you comment on the long term performance of Pixels? I've heard though they are generally quite smooth but can exhibit stutters or terrible lags randomly.
@@sanketjain9320 I still have my original Pixel 1 XL and it has yet to get sluggish or laggy. It no longer gets updates from Google, but I still use it on wifi and to play games with no problems whatsoever. People who claim otherwise are haters trying to prevent people from wanting to use Pixel phones. They just don't want the competition.
Why would it hurt anybody? You may give too much importance to phones. One can perfectly happy with a phone that just half the price of the Pixel 4a too.
I currently own this phone and use it as my daily driver and I can tell you that it does get alittle warm sometimes but it also depends on other things like temperature and that kind of stuff but overall the phone is very snappy and smoothe I must say it's a great device, I like it
Mostly overheats if your doin like heavy stuff. EX face calling, that’s when I found it overheated and died the most. Other than that I didn’t find it have other heating issues randomvly
Well it does get warm and in direct sunlight it could overheat. But I really don't care if I need to put my phone in my pocket for a few minutes. Plus it's only in direct sunlight so it's alright for me.
Wireless Charging is great when you have a magnet mount in your car, to charge it while using the Google Maps. This is the only way I w8ukd use wireless charging.
Fingerprint sensor rub your pocket never ever happened in my lifetime maybe your pants are a little to tight . Really your frustrations are not worth mentioning. I like your reviews but this one I’m not feeling as far as frustrations. Best $350 phone period.
I disagree, it IS worth mentioning. For the payment non tech savvy older person, it matters. I read books on my phone, I'm reliant on a GOOdD speaker, screen protectors and litter cases are extra expenses...I appreciate what he's mentioning. That's why I came. It helps to know the nuances ahead of time cuz finding them out by trial and error can lead to buyer's remorse. We go through Honey moon stages with new tech devices. I appreciate knowing what all I signed up for and any glitches that may arise
@@privateprivate5302 Speakers are excellent the build quality is excellent better than glass in my opinion and also hardware is a part of a phone I agree but it's how the software operates is the most important thing . Without software performance hardware doesn't matter. Once again I have never had problems with any phone being inside my pocket.
Why should you have the screen facing outwards at all? This makes it inconvenient to take it out of your pocket and if you bump into something the screen is more likely to break.
I like it. Have only had it a week. I miss the Samsung Calendar and the ability to type all in caps without having to do each letter. Also, I haven't figured out where my phone messages are to listen to them. Other than that, a great thumbs up. Oh, I'm 71.
Hmmm. A number of people have mentioned that this phone can overheat rather quickly. I'm waiting for it to become available in my region but this is slightly concerning.
They do...i know my pixel 4 seems to overheat with certain cases..i have to use a shitty cover case or it overheats. I switched back to my s10. I am referring too pixel 4 regular one 2019
A month with mine and it's awesome still.. battery life is way better than I thought and size and weight are perfect imo. It's nice being $350, I'm way less worried about dropping or breaking it knowing it's not a 1k glass phone.
@@as611667 I haven't had any issues with overheating.. I did have issues with my pixel 3 when I would Skype it would get unusually hot and shut down.. I haven't skyped yet on the 4a though.. I probably will this week sometime and reply if it does overheat
Love my Pixel 4a! I am coming from a 3a haha! Agree with pretty much everything except I like the speakers. But I don't use Google Duo enough. Haven't been frustrated with anything really...
@@timo1383 You have reason to be happy with your 3a. I for one was was paying my carrier an installment on my 3a which cost me more than the 4a. So I'm saving money switching when I did. I like the display way more with smaller bezels. The camera is a touch better. I look the look and feel of the 4a more. Went from 64GB of storage to 128GB.
I like a phone with a headphone jack for times when I just can't make the Bluetooth work! I leave a wired set of buds in my car and there have been times when I grab them and get on with what I was doing rather trying this and trying that to make my buds work.
I am so happy you made a comment about the low light on the 4a. I like being able to use it without being blinded by brightness of blueness. Considering switching from my IPhone se 2016 to the 4a.
4 роки тому+12
I'm listening to this video on my 4a using headphones :)
Yeah, I need to know how the speakers sound on the Pixel 5. I still have my pixel 3 and it has great sounding loud stereo speakers and I can't imagine living without that anymore.
Don't worry, I would never be disrespectful of a peaceful place! An example was when my brother and I were outside at a gas station and tried to call someone. Neither of us could hear the other person on the phone. I agree that is it annoying when people walk around grocery stores with speaker phone
I use my speaker ALL the time. As long as no one is around me. So this phone just lost out for me. I need loud smooth depth on a speaker, i have decided on the pixel 5g after sound reviews of the 3 pixels this year..... It is a bit quieter, but better sound clarity, which is what i need. I have wireless charging, but get so flustrated with it, due to having to put the phone on it EXACTLY right or nope, phone does not charge. I went back to wired charging. I have more than one wireless charger by dif mfg and they do the same thing....
I've had this 4a over 2 months & have been plesently surprised and impressed. Now if you're gonna compare this from price points then this wins my vote for not only what it has but what it does. I don't really miss my bigger flagship. It's a great buy and I wouldn't compare it with another to operating system type phone I mean why? I'm Android bias.
~6:30 thats why i have a charger and cable with my backback when i'm on the go. I also bring a powerbank with lightning and micro usb cables just in case anyone would need it.
I know now that everytyhing these days are USB-C it's amazing too. My Charger is somewhere in the back of my bag cause I just use a different Charger. It's a shame IPhone doesn't use it. Because everything I have is USB-C - Phone - Macbook - Switch - A Tablet (I don't use one but still)
Great review. Having my 4a about a month now as well... I like the size... but without a case it's too small and slick for my hand.. I needed the case (I got one of the cloth cases from google) to be able to hold onto the thing... and the case has become one of my favorite features. This thing gets HOT. Just having it on and browsing reddit it gets noticeably hot... first phone to have that happen for me. GF has an S9+ and we have wars were we try and race doing certain things like turn off our lights as we leave... I always win now with the power-button controls. Friend has an S20 and I think the 4a takes better photos. Volume wasn't an issue for me, but I have good hearing ;)
Alex Rybicki does the phone ever overheat to the point where its uncomfortable to hold or the phone overheats? I'm looking at buying it but im a bit worried about this
@@Scr3amerrr no it's not super problematic. It feels like a battery under load or charge, if you're familiar with that. I've seen youtubers complain on other channels where it would stop recording videos, but I haven't experienced it yet. Buy it, if you want a little phone it can't be beat. It's more I can't find anything else wrong with it so I'm nit-picking.
Thank you for your review comment. Man can i know your experience on it's performance. Is this phone able to do multi tasking? How smooth does it feel?
Just offering some perspective on the headphone jack from a Pixel 2 user. I bought mine kinda late, about two months before the Pixel 3 came out. I would LOVE to have a 3.5mm headphone jack. The USB-C to 3.5mm dongle that came with my phone started wearing out about a year ago; it can be physically plugged in but the inner metallic components will disconnect with the smallest wiggle or even just from putting my phone down after plugging it in. So I can't even listen to music in my car unless I fidget with the dongle for like 10 minutes, and even then a sharp enough turn or hard enough bump will make the dongle disconnect. New dongles are running for about $9, and it MUST be Google's proprietary USB-C to 3.5 dongles only; I tried using a generic one and it showed up as unrecognized on my phone. For me, being kind of old fashioned and still using the same aux cord from 2012 (still works, the old dongle not so much), phones like the 3a and now 4a are a hot commodity. $9 for a new dongle every year or so isn't much, but why pay for that? I'm already on my second dongle and that's more than I anticipated buying. Design specs show the Pixel 5 will be keeping the headphone jack so that's a very nice surprise for me. If it weren't so close to the 5's release and if my 2 weren't still kicking two years later, dongle issues aside, the 4a would be a great phone and its headphone jack a very welcome and essential feature. This is a great review btw. Some of your critiques were expected, such as overheating and the anodization on the camera bump/the phone's paintjob scraping off from putting the phone down on tables, which is natural wear and tear anyway, but I'm glad you made note of it. The overheating issue was common when The Verge tested its camera, so it's good to know that it's a fairly common issue when doing other hardware intensive tasks such as video calling. Some were unexpected, such as the weak speaker, which is disappointing to me since my 2's speakers are loud and proud enough for me to be afraid of leaving them maxed out by accident. The fingerprint sensor reading your thigh as a failed fingerprint read if you put your phone in screen facing out to me is a non-issue; it is much more ergonomically sound to have the phone in the pocket with the fingerprint sensor facing out since it also matches the anatomy of how basically everyone puts their hands in their pockets anyway and the finger will automatically go to the reader.
A third of the time, my phone doesn't ring when I'm receiving a call. Often, when I'm on a call, suddenly I realize that I'm hearing the party that I'm speaking to but they don't hear me. I suspect that it's a sketchy reception problem in my house, but... Irritating. Anyone else?
I've had the 4a for a few weeks now. I'd personally like a bigger screen; coming from the OnePlus 6T, I love a big screen to watch youtube on, but I honestly don't care once I'm immersed into a video. My one big complaint that probably sounds like a nitpick for most people: I have a lot of issue trying to swipe in just the right way so that I can look at my running apps and close them. I often swipe and it either pulls up the area where all the apps are, or does nothing. I know that having apps run in the background will impact performance, so I want to close them all the time as a natural reflex. On my 6T, this was a breeze, as I had tabs on the bottom of the screen for easy and flawless navigation. Swiping specifically up in order to swipe away running apps is not easy - and it's really starting to genuinely frustrate me. Typed this from my 6T, as it's easier to navigate with.
I'm interested by this phone. Since you are using it for some times, does it happen to you to make long Zoom/Teams/FaceTime calls? If so, did it overheat like he said?
Question : I have OnePlus 5t been using it since 3 years now, is it worth it to upgrade ( or downgrade 🙄,not sure) to pixel 4a?? I have been pixel fanboy but haven't been to get one due to their cost and unavailability of most of the models in India.
It depends what you use your phone for. As phones get faster and equipped with more ram, apps will be more reliant on these. Meaning, further down the line as more apps come out, a lower end phone will be quicker to become obsolete. Also, for people that play games or do a lot on their phone at once, more ram and a better processor are almost a necessity. Having apps close in the background can be infuriating, and waiting for them to reload on a slow processor just adds to that. As for cameras, I feel like more than one is good. However, anything other than an ultrawide, regular, and zoom lens is pretty much useless.
Decided to try using it without a case. The plastic is surprisingly slippery. It falls out of my pockets a lot when I'm sitting, and I found the smooth metal edge on my friends iPhone to be, surprisingly, far more grippy and much easier to hold. The reviewer has much larger hands than I do, so perhaps this isn't an issue for him. Dropped the 4a as I was getting out of the car, so less than waist height. Screen is shattered, but the phone otherwise works. Going to cost $140 to get it fixed.
I wonder what type of glass on the 4a because the 3a and 3aXL use Dragon Trail Glass which is inferior and there are stories of shattered screen from low height. My experience with this type of glass is with a Blackberry DTEK 50 ( produced 2016) , screen shattered from hip height. it has a case on but no screen protector.
A lot of people have wireless charging? Never seen it in my life. I've had this phone for a month but haven't taken it out of the box because I'm still waiting on my screen protector... I messed up the one that came with the phone.
Hi. I have a Pixel 3a and I looking you review after 1month of use, and I'm still waiting like a child the release in France to buy the new Pixel 4a for sure, not because I need to replace my Pixel 3a, it's still working good, but my wife stole my phone everytime she wants to make photos about our childrens :) so I'm so excited to the release of this phone for the 1st October in France for this phone, I'm sure that's the best phone mid-budget for me. I'm waiting for the moment.... it's so loonnnnnng :)
If it's from best Buy don't hold your breath...they keep adding delivery times until they eventually will cancel your order. Even worse...they continue to list the phone as available to current shoppers with delivery dates sooner than yours...GRRR! Such liars...
@Dan O'Connell I ordered it through the Google Store (I live in Canada). I personally would never pre-order an item from Best Buy, if its available on the Manufacturer's website.
Had the 4a also for a month. No heating issues. Had the case before the phone arrived so plastic build is hidden. Camera is excellent, finger sensor is excellent, battery excellent. Problem: when texting/typing I get long spread gibberish A LOT. Am I missing something in the settings? Very frustrating, if I touch a letter, just put up that letter/number/symbol I don't want the phone to interpret something that makes it difficult to send a text.
Hey awesome review thanks! I have two questions though- 1) Ive noticed on other reviews that the video camera ,at night, sorta like jiggle ripples in and out of reality for brief split seconds between filming scenes, really glitchy and offputting-- has anyone noticed anything like that? 2) About the waterproofing- how sensive then is the phone to water? Are we talking not even spalshes? Can you take it to the beach or does just the proximity to salty water air corrode it?
I do not get how this guys got a lot of scratches on within month (may be a lot of knifes in pocket), I have been using phone for around 3 month and I barely got scratches even without case.
Insufficient speaker volume for outside? C'mon it's obnoxious when people have conversations over their speakers in public. Super inconsiderate to nearby people; maybe utilize that headphone jack going forward . . .
It overheated once on Skype. However that was December update which was not a good one. Since Jan phone much cooler so would be curious to see if it still does.
Hi Mike I have a Google pixel for a and my GPS is not working I installed GPS status until box and it doesn't work and then I installed and reinstalled Waze and Google maps and it still doesn't work and I restarted my phone still doesn't work do you have any suggestions
My experience is similar coming up on my 1st month with the 4a. Just not quite as critical. I have lots of wired headphones, 2 pair at work, one at home and 1 wired over the ear set. So I like it a lot coming from an iPhone and having to remember the Lightning headphones. I just replaced my wireless chargers with usb-c cables so I don't miss wireless charging as much as you did. One thing nice about usb-c charging is the phone charges rapidly. However most days I don't need to charge at all. Nice review thanks
I’m really wondering whether or not I should go for the Pixel 4 XL or the Pixel 5. Seeing reviews like these where it’s pointed out that the upper speaker has a lower volume, and apparently it’s hidden behind the glass somewhere, makes me worry that the pixel 5 will struggle with volume and heat issues at the top of the phone as well. Something else I noticed in reviews was that the phones don’t seem to be recording balanced stereo audio, a person’s voice while recording with the back facing camera seems to have the voice predominantly coming from one side. Have you noticed this?
What games can't be played on this phone? I keep hearing that in reviews but I have one and it seems to run everything (albeit on lower graphic settings sometimes) and I'd love to know what games are so demanding. I've tried PUBG, real racing, etc.
I kinda hate it. Mobile games havent advanced enough to use that much performance from something like Snapdragon 865. I had a IPad Air 2 from 2014 that played everything nicely. In 3D Mark it scored 1900 points. Phones with a 730G score around 2100. So my minimum would be 2000 points for a new phone. So thats why i dont understand gaming phones. COD Mobile and PUBG still looks like a dogs feces compared to PC versions. If new games come out that take full advantage of a more powerful processor then i would get it. But it hasnt. These phones like the 4a is perfect for most people.
@Mike O'Brien is the speaker issue a deal breaker in your opinion? I do listen to a lot songs on the phone speakers while working. And is the ringtone audible when you have this phone in your pocket? Waiting for your reply. Cheers mate!
I`m wondering if this phone is good for me because I use iPhone 6S with a dying battery right now and almost any phone is better than that in 2020, but this phone might get super outdated in like a year considering how it`s a mid-range phone. I don`t really do anything with my phone that requires flagship performance of right now, but app like that might become necessary in the future so paying a little more for a high-end ones could also be an option.
It is 2020, not 2015. Mid range phones dont get outdated in a year which is why there are no videos demonstrating that fact. Just a fake talking point to get people to buy overpriced flagship phones. My pixel 3a is 18 months old and doing just fine. Makes my iPhone 6s feel ancient...
TIMESTAMP 3:17 "could crack as it did right here " .I could not see what you were mentioning there. What was the screen protector that cracked, what's it called, just want to make sure that I buy the screen protector that will not crack. Thanks for the video Mike.
Considering this phone for myself and my son. How many of you who actually have one, experience overheating? We do Pokémon Go on ours, and watch videos for longish stretches.
I've had it for 2 weeks and it's over heated once after around 2hrs on a video call on Snapchat (which for me is a notorious app for causing phones to overheat). It was a non issue, I received an over heating warning.
Thank you for a straightforward commonsense review and thanks for calling it your everyday phone and not your daily driver like all the sheep reviewers do.
0:54 - Editing videos or playing intense games is too much, alright. But what other similar tasks are there. You say there are a lot of things like that and I can't think of any besides video editing and gaming so which are you thinking of? 3:00 - No, a coin or a key is not hard enough to scratch the glass on this phone (which is using old Gorilla Glass 3). It is still possible to scratch it, maybe with granis of sand or something, but not a metal key as it just isn't hard enough. Nothing wrong with a glass screen protector and I would probably get one myself, but not to protect against keys and coins.
Very complete review thanks 👍 perfect size, even with a case but does it need a case as it is plastic ? I think I would only use tempered glass on the front and to protect the camera
Hi there! I've an issue with my pixel 4a and wanted to know if you have the same too... I set the silent mode allowing vibration only for incoming calls.. but when someone calls, the phone does not vibrate..google says It could be hardware issue..i don't think so!
I fail to understand why UA-cam reviewers are so obsessed with "wireless charging" !! That's one most useless feature. A simple regular charger saves space, money and energy.. simple!
ABCD; so true. Reviewers are obsessed with "wireless charging", IP rating, 120hz screens, professional grade cameras and the latest and fastest chip that allow them to play "AAA" games and edit video's at the same time. Real everyday people just want a phone that will last all day, text, facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and perhaps bash through a decent time waster video game.
It happens because They judge a Device according to Their Usability..
And almost everyone does That..
No one talks as a Normal User, who wants a Phone which lasts throughout a day, Good Speaker Quality, no hiccups while using social Media..Takes fairly Good pictures and can use that for Netflix and Prime Video etc..with a Good Software Experience, with fairly less number of bugs..
These guys don't talk much on Usability..which kinda suggests that we are wasting our time watching such Tech Reviewers..
The same happens in My country as Well..
Wireless charging in cars is a really nice feature. Let's say you're listening to some music and you realize half way in your roadtrip that you didn't plug your phone and the battery will most likely be close to 0 by the time you arrive. With wireless charging, you can simply place your phone without taking your eyes of the road. So safer. Also, in bed, when I feel I'm about to fall asleep I simply drop my phone on my wireless charger on my nightstand effortlessly. Before, I'd have to search for my cable, sometimes turn on the light and then plug the phone. I know it's just a few easy steps but I do enjoy being able to skip those with that feature.
This phone supports wireless charging. Or I guess mine is the only one that does. I don't get that at all.
plus time
Tech reviewers should note:
1. Most people don't use/have wireless chargers. (Btw wireless chargers are way slower and waste a lot of power.)
2. People put phone cases on their phones so extreme durability tests are irrelevant.
3. Wireless buds/earphones are way more expensive and lot of people use wired ones.
4. Extra cameras are a gimmick, they just hide mediocre main camera. ( Yes I'm talking about the OnePlus Nord)
All these points are applicable here in India. :)
I agree with all of this, but there are wireless earbuds from companies like MPOW and JBL that are cheap and I would reccomend people get because they've made a surprising difference to me. But, I do still use wired earbuds for calls and stuff.
Nice to hear it bro
I second that 🙆
@@Draw3524 correct!!! 90% of the people out there are casual users who use basic apps and messaging services mainly.
just a question people should ask themselves before buying the flagships like A13Bionic, are you going to power up a rocket with that?
@amirit you're on point.
Why does the casing matter to people so much. Don't 98% of people use external phone cases anyway?
Seriously, I have never understood this obsession with ultra-thinness and the phone's outer casing that so many tech reviewers waste time focusing on. News flash: most normal people, i.e., people who use their phones for 2+ years before switching them out, use a phone case. Glass v. plastic v. matte finish v. whatever has never meant a damn to me when it comes to making a purchase decision. /rant
I had a plastic phone I refused to buy a case for. That's me though, I hardly go out, work at home (pre-pandemic) so... but I could easily see you not wanting to pick up a 10 dollar case for a plastic phone. Those things are already easy to grip and hardly scratch so it's kind of a waste of money...
And regardless of case sometimes you can see your phone like a red phone in a black case :/ I don't know if that's a consideration lol but worth saying?
@@pdraggy plastic, glass or whatever. Drop your phone at the right angle and you'll be more than happy to protect your $350-800 phone with a $10-20 case.
@@butlermj76 I guess... but it's like getting a 300 dollar/ year insurance plan to protect a 200 dollar smartwatch. like c'mon really? just don't and buy a new one in a year or less are you that clumsy, it's a watch!
@@pdraggy that doesn't make sense. Phones cost hundreds and cases cost $10 or 20-something. And you have your phone in your hand all the time. All it takes is for someone to bump into you while you're playing on your phone for you to drop it. Watches stay secured to your wrist so there's not much risk of breaking them.
For the most part, this phone is the right phone for 95 percent of people. Most stuff people do on their phone is already on this phone.
@andrew from PerfectFyfth Iphone SE is for dumb people who wouldn't mind using a 5yr old phone!!!! or just desperate to enter or stay in Apples Ecosystem. That's not 95% of people.
@andrew from PerfectFyfth The SE has subpar battery, worse than the Pixel 4
andrew from PerfectFyfth
you're absolutely right.
but imo, the SE2 has the upperhand in terms of essentially being able to install what the 4a has onto the SE2, but the 4a can't have imsg, or even just a universal implementation of RCS... and duo still needs to improve its handling of slower cellular data connections, the app is not as efficient as facetime when traveling in developing countries in terms of scope and tech. here in the US, that translates to a staycation of driving thru the boonies between states(pre-covid CA,AZ,NV,UT) and the throttled data available when roaming in my carrier's dead spots.
but get the 4a if you need a larger screen, and more than 4.5hrs of on-screen time.
i'm not a power user so for android, the A-series pixels are for me. i just don't like the rear fingerprint id, and single cam/flash aesthetics plus like i said above, imsg/ft just works better than android's rcs, duo.
I use my phone mostly for reading webnovels. I'm upgrading from the Nexus 5 mostly for the 128GB storage and 6GB of ram.
@@zetmu01 you have high expectations from most people
Literally no one I know uses wireless charging.
its shit,thats why
@@bananamonke630 plus bad for battery life
Honestly the only time I use it. Is when I go to sleep. I place my phone done on my night stand. But other than that. I don't ever use it.
I use it mostly every charge. I don’t like the wire.
my entire family uses iPhones and also my extended one, but no one of them uses one
6:36 Not a lot of people have usb-c but a lot of people have wireless chargers....lol...😂. As an Indian I have not seen a single wireless charger in my life except for phones with reverse wireless charging
From France 🇫🇷, exactly the same, no wireless here
Exactly
add me to the list of disliking wireless chargers... have two, but use NONE. between family and friends, i think i'm the only one with a wireless charger.
the proper cords(amps) and charging block(PD,QC) are just more efficient.
@@IM-eq9gx agreed
Exactly, I don't care for wireless charging
WHO SAID GLASS IS PREMIUM?
they've been developing better gorilla glass for years and yet it still breaks. Phone companies should embrace textured plastic or a carbon fiber build
I really miss the high quality polycarbonate of the Nokia Lumia Phones. Built like a tank, no need of cases.
Glass is glass and glass breaks
Well, glass and metal back phones do help in heat dissipation much better than plastic backs, don't you think so?
@@NVSArvind Nope nope nope.
every glass phone I've owned I've had to put a case on. just make the phones out of case material. actually, a couple years ago Motorola was making a modular phone that you could choose different backs instead of having to get a case.
This is probably the 25th Pixel 4a review I have watched. Yes, I am from a different planet where things get here super late, it's called India.
Fellow Indian here who's also obsessed with 4a.
I'm from Germany and Google's has not been shipping it yet. So I'm sharing the same problem with you
Same here... Thinking to buy it.. But lets see pricing 1st
Akash Sathvara today Google sent an email. They’ve finally shipped it
@@GGAbi2012 Thats goodd!
For me, headphone jack is super important in a phone. I do not want to shell out loads of money for an expensive pair of Bluetooth earphones. Sure there are cheaper wireless earphones but for that money I could get an even better pair of wired earphones.
Having to charge Bluetooth headphones is really annoying for me. The convenience of wired headphones is irreplaceable.
I used to think this way until I got raycons for someone that works out its sooo nice to not get the wires all bunched while using weights and stuff. It stays charged for a long time I use them for like a couple hours 4 to 5 days a week and I charge them maybe every 2 weeks. But I think a headphone jack is still necessary I use it all the time with my wired big headphones
Depends on the person. I never use the headphone jack.
Charging Ur earphones is a waste of time
@@thematt5325 no one asked
Most "cons" of the phone is just nitpicking, for 90% of people, this is a great phone with no problems for 3-4 years
True. The phone is great for next couple of years. All cons are just for video purpose.
Doubt it will last that long honestly
Also the thing is Google doesn’t have a very good track record for reliable devices
@@JoshuaWorth true, but most of those were software issues which google provided updates for and any phone will last that long, some function will just be limited
Sure is possible cause my 6 year old Snapdragon chipset still works fine in 2020
watching this with my pixel 3, when pixel 6a comes. I'm gonna be watching it's review with my pixel 4a 😄
I seriously doubt someone who has a wireless charger doesn't have at least one usb c cable laying around somewhere
Exactly, this sentence destoryed the credibility of the review itself... Comes across as someone who is trying to point out as many flaws and to make them sound as bad as possible.
I feel like a lack of wireless charging capability is the most first world problem thing I've heard lol I've never seen nor cared for it.
Great video anyways 👍
Wireless charging will only matter to me when it's as fast as a 30w or faster plug in. Although that exists it isn't mainstream yet. So yeah, we agree 😁
Yeah, I cringed when he complaint about not having that option while at a friend's house. Like, come on... I don't even have friends with wireless chargers at home
I have a wireless charger.... biggest waste of money... I mean if you need to put your phone down in a certain way why can't you just plug a cord into it??
I'm Canadian. I ordered this phone my whole family owns newer phones at least ten in my immediate family and none of us own a wireless charger. Unless they start to come with the phone we will never own a wireless charger. And LTE is a glorified 3g so 5g means nothing when living in a rural part of Canada we wont see a true 5g untill they invent 6g lol.
😂 😂 😂
I'm going back to 2 soup cans connected by a string.
USB C is not common? LOL. Every android device made in the last four years has it.
Not as common as micro usb or lighting cable because micro usb have been out for a long time. But i think it all comes down to his personal experiences. It might not be the case for all of us. Unlike his case, i hate wireless charging, always use cable.
I had old micro usb and i couldn't find any person with micro usb charger at work, everyone are using type-c
This is my first experience with USB C since I bought this phone, so wasn't very common for me!
In terms of screen brightness, you may want to turn adaptive brightness on. From Tom's Guide review: "The maximum manual setting tops out at 433 nits; outdoors in sunlight, with the adaptive setting enabled, the Pixel 4a’s panel can reach 681 nits. By comparison, the iPhone SE can hit 653 nits no matter whether you use auto or manual brightness."
The Lighting in your videos is amazing. I wonder if it's just daylight or you have some freakish lighting setup.
lol I spend a lot of time working on my lighting. I am really glad you noticed!
My best friend just purchased the Pixel 4a. I have the Pixel 4 XL and my spouse has the Pixel 3a. Here are a few comments regarding your video and assessment:
1) You should NEVER place ANY phone in your pocket with the screen facing outward. One good bump into anything (from not watching where you're walking) and "hello cracked screen." I cracked my Pixel 2 screen and my iPhone 6 screen this way. Learned my lesson the hard way.
2) The Pixel 4a screen isn't as "dim" as you state. You can get up to 450 nits on manual brightness, and in sunlight with adaptive brightness turned on, you an get up to 803 nits. Maybe you need to turn on adaptive brightness for going outside.
3) USB-C is the new "standard" in charging and data transfer. More and more charging stations and electronic stores are selling USB-C chargers and even some Apple devices are using USB-C now. If anything, Apple is the one that needs to get onboard with USB-C for their iPhones.
4) FYI, for Google Duo calls on the Pixel 4a, suggest turning on "Data Saving mode" in the Call Settings (Settings - Call Settings - Data Saving mode). This reduces the amount of data that is transmitted which in turn reduces the "toll" taken on the transmitter. It's the transmitter that gets warm when you transmit a lot of data. Turning on Data Saving mode should help with this issue. NOTE: Pixel 4a 5G will have a more powerful chipset that can better handle higher data transmissions, so this issue should not exist on that phone.
5) Pixel 4a has a decible rating of 78, I wouldn't call that "quiet."
Great video! I enjoyed watching.
I am still using my Google Nexus Phone :)
Can you comment on the long term performance of Pixels? I've heard though they are generally quite smooth but can exhibit stutters or terrible lags randomly.
@@sanketjain9320 I still have my original Pixel 1 XL and it has yet to get sluggish or laggy. It no longer gets updates from Google, but I still use it on wifi and to play games with no problems whatsoever. People who claim otherwise are haters trying to prevent people from wanting to use Pixel phones. They just don't want the competition.
It hurt when he said, 'Coming from a FLAGSHIP phone' so casually!
Remember your viewers are mostly midrange users.
Why would it hurt anybody? You may give too much importance to phones. One can perfectly happy with a phone that just half the price of the Pixel 4a too.
Oh look you're a naga as well
Lol are u kidding I know people who live paycheck to paycheck with flagships. The average person is not smart with money 😂
I keep hearing about the easily overheating of this phone ... That's worrying 😬😬😬
I currently own this phone and use it as my daily driver and I can tell you that it does get alittle warm sometimes but it also depends on other things like temperature and that kind of stuff but overall the phone is very snappy and smoothe I must say it's a great device, I like it
Mostly overheats if your doin like heavy stuff. EX face calling, that’s when I found it overheated and died the most. Other than that I didn’t find it have other heating issues randomvly
@@nathanlomayesva3 Did your phone really overheated and froze during Zoom/Teams/FaceTime calls? That's an important factor for me.
Well it does get warm and in direct sunlight it could overheat. But I really don't care if I need to put my phone in my pocket for a few minutes. Plus it's only in direct sunlight so it's alright for me.
wait y’all use wireless chargers? Isn’t it so inconvenient, space hogging, and unpleasant to the table/your eyes???
Wireless Charging is great when you have a magnet mount in your car, to charge it while using the Google Maps. This is the only way I w8ukd use wireless charging.
Fingerprint sensor rub your pocket never ever happened in my lifetime maybe your pants are a little to tight . Really your frustrations are not worth mentioning. I like your reviews but this one I’m not feeling as far as frustrations. Best $350 phone period.
Totally agree that this is the best $350 phone. Thanks for the feedback :)
@@MikeOBrienMedia Do you leave the phone with the fingerprint sensor facing outward or towards you?
I disagree, it IS worth mentioning. For the payment non tech savvy older person, it matters. I read books on my phone, I'm reliant on a GOOdD speaker, screen protectors and litter cases are extra expenses...I appreciate what he's mentioning. That's why I came. It helps to know the nuances ahead of time cuz finding them out by trial and error can lead to buyer's remorse. We go through Honey moon stages with new tech devices. I appreciate knowing what all I signed up for and any glitches that may arise
@@privateprivate5302
Speakers are excellent the build quality is excellent better than glass in my opinion and also hardware is a part of a phone I agree but it's how the software operates is the most important thing . Without software performance hardware doesn't matter. Once again I have never had problems with any phone being inside my pocket.
Why should you have the screen facing outwards at all? This makes it inconvenient to take it out of your pocket and if you bump into something the screen is more likely to break.
The heat on the phone is my biggest criticism.
That's a big off for me too...
Does the phone get too hot?
It gets too hot especially when in the sun
I've had mine for a week and haven't had that issue. Only time it gets a little hot is if I'm using it while it's charging.
@Ilir Cami Nope
Might just be your speaker but my phone speaker is actually pretty loud, I had to lower it especially when out and about.
Interesting. I will compare with my brother's 4A when I see him next
@@MikeOBrienMedia Yes sir I was just at Walmart and it was nice and clear haha
I like it. Have only had it a week. I miss the Samsung Calendar and the ability to type all in caps without having to do each letter. Also, I haven't figured out where my phone messages are to listen to them. Other than that, a great thumbs up. Oh, I'm 71.
Hmmm. A number of people have mentioned that this phone can overheat rather quickly. I'm waiting for it to become available in my region but this is slightly concerning.
No Overheating for me at all, not even when charging.
They do...i know my pixel 4 seems to overheat with certain cases..i have to use a shitty cover case or it overheats. I switched back to my s10. I am referring too pixel 4 regular one 2019
I have mines since first day of launch. And I haven't had that issue. I guess it has to do with the phone.
he said this at 8:20
ive been using my 4a for a week, no overheat issue with me.... it never got hot in my hand
Compact size, light in weight, excellent cameras, stereo speakers, good haptic feedback, physical fingerprint sensor, headphone jack, stock Android OS. Pixel 4a is a solid phone
A month with mine and it's awesome still.. battery life is way better than I thought and size and weight are perfect imo. It's nice being $350, I'm way less worried about dropping or breaking it knowing it's not a 1k glass phone.
Same here!
Does it really get hot like i have read everywhere? Is it unusable? Or normal heating ?
@@as611667 I haven't had any issues with overheating.. I did have issues with my pixel 3 when I would Skype it would get unusually hot and shut down.. I haven't skyped yet on the 4a though.. I probably will this week sometime and reply if it does overheat
Love my Pixel 4a! I am coming from a 3a haha! Agree with pretty much everything except I like the speakers. But I don't use Google Duo enough. Haven't been frustrated with anything really...
Honestly, this is one of the few times I totally recommend upgrading for the same model, one year newer. Good job Google
@@MikeOBrienMedia I agree! I usually don't do that after 1 year...
Weird - i'm happy with my 3a but also looking at the 4a reviews - why did you guys switched to 4a from 3a ?
@@timo1383 You have reason to be happy with your 3a. I for one was was paying my carrier an installment on my 3a which cost me more than the 4a. So I'm saving money switching when I did. I like the display way more with smaller bezels. The camera is a touch better. I look the look and feel of the 4a more. Went from 64GB of storage to 128GB.
Pls tell me about heat issue?
I like a phone with a headphone jack for times when I just can't make the Bluetooth work! I leave a wired set of buds in my car and there have been times when I grab them and get on with what I was doing rather trying this and trying that to make my buds work.
I am so happy you made a comment about the low light on the 4a. I like being able to use it without being blinded by brightness of blueness. Considering switching from my IPhone se 2016 to the 4a.
I'm listening to this video on my 4a using headphones :)
Same
:(
Yeah, I need to know how the speakers sound on the Pixel 5. I still have my pixel 3 and it has great sounding loud stereo speakers and I can't imagine living without that anymore.
This guy is another mkbhd in making,always to the point no bull shitting.always love his reviews
I really appreciate your kind words. Thanks for watching!!
u should not be using speaker phone in public dont be like that dawg
Don't worry, I would never be disrespectful of a peaceful place! An example was when my brother and I were outside at a gas station and tried to call someone. Neither of us could hear the other person on the phone. I agree that is it annoying when people walk around grocery stores with speaker phone
@@MikeOBrienMedia Gas Station....Phone.....Ok
I use my speaker ALL the time. As long as no one is around me. So this phone just lost out for me. I need loud smooth depth on a speaker, i have decided on the pixel 5g after sound reviews of the 3 pixels this year..... It is a bit quieter, but better sound clarity, which is what i need. I have wireless charging, but get so flustrated with it, due to having to put the phone on it EXACTLY right or nope, phone does not charge. I went back to wired charging. I have more than one wireless charger by dif mfg and they do the same thing....
Great detailed review.
Some points are very unique from the other reviews. +1sub.
Thanks so much! I am really glad you liked the video :)
How's the Video Quality from Front as well as Rear Camera ?
The front screen is really soft. I kept it in my pocket with few coins, it got scratched..
okay like this guy has rich friends, none of my friends have a wireless charger damn it!!
His friends are other reviewers, so they have flagship phones and wireless charging pads in every room and office.
😂😂
I talk to my therapist for an hour a week and mine doesn't get hot .. Hell, I haven't even noticed it get warm!
What video conferencing app are you using to do that with?
I've had this 4a over 2 months & have been plesently surprised and impressed. Now if you're gonna compare this from price points then this wins my vote for not only what it has but what it does. I don't really miss my bigger flagship. It's a great buy and I wouldn't compare it with another to operating system type phone I mean why? I'm Android bias.
Is it overheats constantly?! like with just browsing, not doing heavy tasks
~6:30 thats why i have a charger and cable with my backback when i'm on the go. I also bring a powerbank with lightning and micro usb cables just in case anyone would need it.
I know now that everytyhing these days are USB-C it's amazing too. My Charger is somewhere in the back of my bag cause I just use a different Charger. It's a shame IPhone doesn't use it. Because everything I have is USB-C
- Phone
- Macbook
- Switch
- A Tablet (I don't use one but still)
Was wandering why there were no videos from you for a while, but happy to see u back!)
I was working on a project for another channel ( I was in Yellowstone National Park) and I am really excited to release that
Great review.
Having my 4a about a month now as well...
I like the size... but without a case it's too small and slick for my hand.. I needed the case (I got one of the cloth cases from google) to be able to hold onto the thing... and the case has become one of my favorite features.
This thing gets HOT. Just having it on and browsing reddit it gets noticeably hot... first phone to have that happen for me.
GF has an S9+ and we have wars were we try and race doing certain things like turn off our lights as we leave... I always win now with the power-button controls. Friend has an S20 and I think the 4a takes better photos.
Volume wasn't an issue for me, but I have good hearing ;)
Alex Rybicki does the phone ever overheat to the point where its uncomfortable to hold or the phone overheats? I'm looking at buying it but im a bit worried about this
@@Scr3amerrr no it's not super problematic. It feels like a battery under load or charge, if you're familiar with that. I've seen youtubers complain on other channels where it would stop recording videos, but I haven't experienced it yet. Buy it, if you want a little phone it can't be beat. It's more I can't find anything else wrong with it so I'm nit-picking.
Thank you for your review comment.
Man can i know your experience on it's performance.
Is this phone able to do multi tasking?
How smooth does it feel?
I heard that Pixal 4a gets hot as you mentioned as well. Winter is around the corner it could be a good and compact hand warmer.😅
Just offering some perspective on the headphone jack from a Pixel 2 user. I bought mine kinda late, about two months before the Pixel 3 came out. I would LOVE to have a 3.5mm headphone jack. The USB-C to 3.5mm dongle that came with my phone started wearing out about a year ago; it can be physically plugged in but the inner metallic components will disconnect with the smallest wiggle or even just from putting my phone down after plugging it in. So I can't even listen to music in my car unless I fidget with the dongle for like 10 minutes, and even then a sharp enough turn or hard enough bump will make the dongle disconnect. New dongles are running for about $9, and it MUST be Google's proprietary USB-C to 3.5 dongles only; I tried using a generic one and it showed up as unrecognized on my phone.
For me, being kind of old fashioned and still using the same aux cord from 2012 (still works, the old dongle not so much), phones like the 3a and now 4a are a hot commodity. $9 for a new dongle every year or so isn't much, but why pay for that? I'm already on my second dongle and that's more than I anticipated buying. Design specs show the Pixel 5 will be keeping the headphone jack so that's a very nice surprise for me. If it weren't so close to the 5's release and if my 2 weren't still kicking two years later, dongle issues aside, the 4a would be a great phone and its headphone jack a very welcome and essential feature.
This is a great review btw. Some of your critiques were expected, such as overheating and the anodization on the camera bump/the phone's paintjob scraping off from putting the phone down on tables, which is natural wear and tear anyway, but I'm glad you made note of it. The overheating issue was common when The Verge tested its camera, so it's good to know that it's a fairly common issue when doing other hardware intensive tasks such as video calling. Some were unexpected, such as the weak speaker, which is disappointing to me since my 2's speakers are loud and proud enough for me to be afraid of leaving them maxed out by accident. The fingerprint sensor reading your thigh as a failed fingerprint read if you put your phone in screen facing out to me is a non-issue; it is much more ergonomically sound to have the phone in the pocket with the fingerprint sensor facing out since it also matches the anatomy of how basically everyone puts their hands in their pockets anyway and the finger will automatically go to the reader.
A third of the time, my phone doesn't ring when I'm receiving a call. Often, when I'm on a call, suddenly I realize that I'm hearing the party that I'm speaking to but they don't hear me. I suspect that it's a sketchy reception problem in my house, but... Irritating. Anyone else?
80 percent of what you said could have been said after just reading the specs.
Any other heating issues while doing other tasks??🙏
I've had the 4a for a few weeks now. I'd personally like a bigger screen; coming from the OnePlus 6T, I love a big screen to watch youtube on, but I honestly don't care once I'm immersed into a video.
My one big complaint that probably sounds like a nitpick for most people:
I have a lot of issue trying to swipe in just the right way so that I can look at my running apps and close them. I often swipe and it either pulls up the area where all the apps are, or does nothing. I know that having apps run in the background will impact performance, so I want to close them all the time as a natural reflex. On my 6T, this was a breeze, as I had tabs on the bottom of the screen for easy and flawless navigation. Swiping specifically up in order to swipe away running apps is not easy - and it's really starting to genuinely frustrate me.
Typed this from my 6T, as it's easier to navigate with.
I'm interested by this phone. Since you are using it for some times, does it happen to you to make long Zoom/Teams/FaceTime calls? If so, did it overheat like he said?
@@RosbifChaud I don't ever video chat with it. If I watch videos for a long time, it'll get warm. But nothing that's concerning
Question : I have OnePlus 5t been using it since 3 years now, is it worth it to upgrade ( or downgrade 🙄,not sure) to pixel 4a??
I have been pixel fanboy but haven't been to get one due to their cost and unavailability of most of the models in India.
wait for pixel 5 next week and then see
@@matthewmcb1089 yup, but most probably as much as I am aware pixel 4a 5G and pixel 5 won't be getting released in India.
i think it would be a upgrade but you should wait for pixel 5
I am coming from a OnePlus 3 been using it for 4 years and 2 months. I want to upgrade too.
@@matthewmcb1089 pixel 5 will not be available in India
HIGHLY OVERRATED. Obsession with processors, useless ram acpacity
, unnecessary 3 pairs of camera. REMEMBER FREE RAM IS A WASTE RAM. GLAD PIXEL 4a don't have these.
It depends what you use your phone for. As phones get faster and equipped with more ram, apps will be more reliant on these. Meaning, further down the line as more apps come out, a lower end phone will be quicker to become obsolete. Also, for people that play games or do a lot on their phone at once, more ram and a better processor are almost a necessity. Having apps close in the background can be infuriating, and waiting for them to reload on a slow processor just adds to that. As for cameras, I feel like more than one is good. However, anything other than an ultrawide, regular, and zoom lens is pretty much useless.
There's no possible way a coin will scratch any type of glass, especially Gorilla Glass. Even a sharpened knife can't scratch glass.
Yeah, there's this thing known as hardness...
Decided to try using it without a case.
The plastic is surprisingly slippery. It falls out of my pockets a lot when I'm sitting, and I found the smooth metal edge on my friends iPhone to be, surprisingly, far more grippy and much easier to hold.
The reviewer has much larger hands than I do, so perhaps this isn't an issue for him.
Dropped the 4a as I was getting out of the car, so less than waist height. Screen is shattered, but the phone otherwise works. Going to cost $140 to get it fixed.
I wonder what type of glass on the 4a because the 3a and 3aXL use Dragon Trail Glass which is inferior and there are stories of shattered screen from low height. My experience with this type of glass is with a Blackberry DTEK 50 ( produced 2016) , screen shattered from hip height. it has a case on but no screen protector.
@Benjamin Liu Thank you for the information , I am sure it is better than the Asahi Dragon Trail Glass.
Gorilla glass junk its the 3 version not 5 like the pixel 4 lol
Benjamin Liu Yup its cheap pixel 4 has the gorilla glass 5 lol
A lot of people have wireless charging? Never seen it in my life. I've had this phone for a month but haven't taken it out of the box because I'm still waiting on my screen protector... I messed up the one that came with the phone.
Headphone jack is a must for me.
Dude usb c cables can be found in a dollar store it’s now a common cable
I work in construction and am tough on phones. How will this hold up?
I would get an otter box or other case with some kind of protection guarantee for any phone if you are rough on them.
Hi. I have a Pixel 3a and I looking you review after 1month of use, and I'm still waiting like a child the release in France to buy the new Pixel 4a for sure, not because I need to replace my Pixel 3a, it's still working good, but my wife stole my phone everytime she wants to make photos about our childrens :) so I'm so excited to the release of this phone for the 1st October in France for this phone, I'm sure that's the best phone mid-budget for me. I'm waiting for the moment.... it's so loonnnnnng :)
That is exciting! Enjoy your new phone!
'waiting like a child' that's me too 😀
My pixel 4a is coming in on Oct 1 after ordering it Aug 19
If it's from best Buy don't hold your breath...they keep adding delivery times until they eventually will cancel your order. Even worse...they continue to list the phone as available to current shoppers with delivery dates sooner than yours...GRRR! Such liars...
@Dan O'Connell I ordered it through the Google Store (I live in Canada). I personally would never pre-order an item from Best Buy, if its available on the Manufacturer's website.
Dude cancel and order from the Google site. I ordered 11 Sept and it came a week later.
@@virtualtransientvagrant I just ordered mine yesterday and google's predicted delivery date is oct 15-16 :^(
Wondering if supply and demand played a role in that. I know it's a best seller phone here in the US currently
When you review after a months use, that is going to be most authentic review👌
🙏
Had the 4a also for a month. No heating issues. Had the case before the phone arrived so plastic build is hidden. Camera is excellent, finger sensor is excellent, battery excellent. Problem: when texting/typing I get long spread gibberish A LOT. Am I missing something in the settings? Very frustrating, if I touch a letter, just put up that letter/number/symbol I don't want the phone to interpret something that makes it difficult to send a text.
Hey awesome review thanks!
I have two questions though-
1) Ive noticed on other reviews that the video camera ,at night, sorta like jiggle ripples in and out of reality for brief split seconds between filming scenes, really glitchy and offputting-- has anyone noticed anything like that?
2) About the waterproofing- how sensive then is the phone to water? Are we talking not even spalshes? Can you take it to the beach or does just the proximity to salty water air corrode it?
Didn't use the audio jack?? What kind of a savage are you sir!
I just got one and I think it's a totally slick no BS phone, perfect size, and the price was just right.
If you put a case on the phone will the finger print at the back not work? Sorry if that's a dumb question.
They design the case so it has a hole where the sensor is.
Miner complaints. I love my 4a and find myself taking this phone over any other flagship phone I have. It's a grate phone at a good price. The thin
6.45 is this dirt on the camera or is it scratched !?😯🧐
I been looking at a few phones as of late and this one is on the list to possibly get, But wanted to ask how is the overall gaming on it?
How video wise iPhone SE does a better job? If I am not wrong, iPhone SE has a lcd display and PPI is also very low
I do not get how this guys got a lot of scratches on within month (may be a lot of knifes in pocket),
I have been using phone for around 3 month and I barely got scratches even without case.
Insufficient speaker volume for outside? C'mon it's obnoxious when people have conversations over their speakers in public. Super inconsiderate to nearby people; maybe utilize that headphone jack going forward . . .
Heating issue is not appreciated.
Sanket Jain I have the phone and it does not overheat stop hating iPhone fangirl
It overheated once on Skype. However that was December update which was not a good one. Since Jan phone much cooler so would be curious to see if it still does.
the camera lens durable? does it scratches easily?
Hi Mike I have a Google pixel for a and my GPS is not working I installed GPS status until box and it doesn't work and then I installed and reinstalled Waze and Google maps and it still doesn't work and I restarted my phone still doesn't work do you have any suggestions
how low is its speaker volume? compared to iPhone or other flagship phones?
The forehead and chin bezels are not symmetrical right? The chin bezels are slightly bigger?
My experience is similar coming up on my 1st month with the 4a. Just not quite as critical. I have lots of wired headphones, 2 pair at work, one at home and 1 wired over the ear set. So I like it a lot coming from an iPhone and having to remember the Lightning headphones. I just replaced my wireless chargers with usb-c cables so I don't miss wireless charging as much as you did. One thing nice about usb-c charging is the phone charges rapidly. However most days I don't need to charge at all. Nice review thanks
how's the phone what's wrong
@@varunkumar3731 It's still a good phone I plan to keep it another few years.
I’m really wondering whether or not I should go for the Pixel 4 XL or the Pixel 5. Seeing reviews like these where it’s pointed out that the upper speaker has a lower volume, and apparently it’s hidden behind the glass somewhere, makes me worry that the pixel 5 will struggle with volume and heat issues at the top of the phone as well. Something else I noticed in reviews was that the phones don’t seem to be recording balanced stereo audio, a person’s voice while recording with the back facing camera seems to have the voice predominantly coming from one side. Have you noticed this?
Just get the 4XL...I use it and never have an issue with it
What games can't be played on this phone? I keep hearing that in reviews but I have one and it seems to run everything (albeit on lower graphic settings sometimes) and I'd love to know what games are so demanding. I've tried PUBG, real racing, etc.
I kinda hate it. Mobile games havent advanced enough to use that much performance from something like Snapdragon 865. I had a IPad Air 2 from 2014 that played everything nicely. In 3D Mark it scored 1900 points. Phones with a 730G score around 2100. So my minimum would be 2000 points for a new phone. So thats why i dont understand gaming phones. COD Mobile and PUBG still looks like a dogs feces compared to PC versions. If new games come out that take full advantage of a more powerful processor then i would get it. But it hasnt. These phones like the 4a is perfect for most people.
@@user-qk8rt9yf9v Agreed. It's cool to see what mobile development has done so far, but it definitely can go a lot further.
love this channel
Thank you!
How does one have a phone without a phone case to protect it?
I have a nexus 5x and the camera glass came off, what's the deal with google and camera bumps
How's the sound quality and volume from earphones?
Can we charge this phone with a higher power adapter, say 25W? Or 18W is the only and the maximum option?
@Mike O'Brien is the speaker issue a deal breaker in your opinion? I do listen to a lot songs on the phone speakers while working. And is the ringtone audible when you have this phone in your pocket? Waiting for your reply. Cheers mate!
Does it get heated even for normal usage?
That duo app heating is a bug my phone too gets so hot after 20 mins but runs meet for hours on mobile data but never even feels warm
would you buy this over the a71 if the a71 is the same price in my country ?
I`m wondering if this phone is good for me because I use iPhone 6S with a dying battery right now and almost any phone is better than that in 2020, but this phone might get super outdated in like a year considering how it`s a mid-range phone.
I don`t really do anything with my phone that requires flagship performance of right now, but app like that might become necessary in the future so paying a little more for a high-end ones could also be an option.
Go for pixel 4a. It's worth it.
It is 2020, not 2015. Mid range phones dont get outdated in a year which is why there are no videos demonstrating that fact. Just a fake talking point to get people to buy overpriced flagship phones. My pixel 3a is 18 months old and doing just fine. Makes my iPhone 6s feel ancient...
TIMESTAMP 3:17 "could crack as it did right here
"
.I could not see what you were mentioning there. What was the screen protector that cracked, what's it called, just want to make sure that I buy the screen protector that will not crack. Thanks for the video Mike.
Any bugs on IG?
Considering this phone for myself and my son.
How many of you who actually have one, experience overheating?
We do Pokémon Go on ours, and watch videos for longish stretches.
I've had it for 2 weeks and it's over heated once after around 2hrs on a video call on Snapchat (which for me is a notorious app for causing phones to overheat). It was a non issue, I received an over heating warning.
Mike my GPS shows up on my Google maps but when
Thank you for a straightforward commonsense review and thanks for calling it your everyday phone and not your daily driver like all the sheep reviewers do.
How is the battery life in a day of heavy usage
0:54 - Editing videos or playing intense games is too much, alright. But what other similar tasks are there. You say there are a lot of things like that and I can't think of any besides video editing and gaming so which are you thinking of?
3:00 - No, a coin or a key is not hard enough to scratch the glass on this phone (which is using old Gorilla Glass 3). It is still possible to scratch it, maybe with granis of sand or something, but not a metal key as it just isn't hard enough. Nothing wrong with a glass screen protector and I would probably get one myself, but not to protect against keys and coins.
Curious if Pixel 4a heats up, if used as a Hotspot say for over 2 hours. My Pixel 3a XL works well during Hotspot, so was wondering about 4a. Thanks.
I've a question...does night mode take ~15 seconds to get a picture clicked? is this true?
Very complete review thanks 👍 perfect size, even with a case but does it need a case as it is plastic ? I think I would only use tempered glass on the front and to protect the camera
i am using it and i love it but same is happened to my pixel 4a camera bump how to fix it
Hi there! I've an issue with my pixel 4a and wanted to know if you have the same too... I set the silent mode allowing vibration only for incoming calls.. but when someone calls, the phone does not vibrate..google says It could be hardware issue..i don't think so!