Google Pixel 4a-Test: Immer noch schockierend gut für $ 349

Das Google Pixel 4a bietet alles, was das Pixel 3a von 2019 großartig gemacht hat-die Flaggschiff-Kamera, die durchdachte Software, die beeindruckende Verarbeitungsqualität-und verbessert es, während auch den Preis auf 349 US-Dollar senkt. Das Ergebnis ist nicht einfach das beste billige Telefon auf dem Markt. Es ist eines der besten Telefone , auch wenn wir uns dem ersten Jahrestag seiner Veröffentlichung nähern.

Nachdem ich das Pixel 4a bei seiner Auslieferung im letzten Jahr getestet hatte, würde ich persönlich nicht zögern, es über das iPhone SE . Während das iPhone SE leistungsstärker ist und über Annehmlichkeiten wie kabelloses Laden und Wasserbeständigkeit verfügt, bietet Googles Mittelklasse-Angebot in mehreren anderen Bereichen die besten von Apple, darunter ein größeres und helleres OLED-Display, ein moderneres Design und einen doppelten Speicherplatz.

Ich würde eine längere Akkulaufzeit bevorzugen. und das Google Pixel 4a 5G ist ein Bessere Option, wenn Sie 5G-Konnektivität wünschen und bereit sind, etwa 100 US-Dollar mehr zu zahlen. Aber wie unser Google Pixel 4a-Test zeigt, ist dies eines dieser seltenen, erschwinglichen Smartphones, das fast alles gut macht. Der einzige Grund, beim Kauf dieses Telefons zu zögern, besteht darin, dass einem Nachfolger, dem Google Pixel 5a , nachgesagt wird kommt irgendwann in diesem Sommer und ist möglicherweise leistungsfähiger als das Pixel 4a.

Google Pixel 4a-Test: Preis und Verfügbarkeit

Der Pixel 4a ist weiterhin freigeschaltet unter Google und Einzelhändler wie Amazon . Sie können das Telefon auch über Verizon, Google Fi, US Cellular und andere ausgewählte Anbieter kaufen. Es gibt nur eine Konfiguration für dieses 349-Dollar-Gerät mit 128 GB Speicher. Wir haben die Just Black-Version getestet. Seit diese Pixel 4a-Überprüfung veröffentlicht wurde, hat Google eine Barely Blue-Farboption veröffentlicht, die exklusiv für seinen Online-Shop erhältlich ist.

Wie bei allen Pixel-Handys gibt es hier keine microSD-Erweiterbarkeit Es ist sicherlich nützlich, den gesamten Speicherplatz von Anfang an verfügbar zu haben.

Wenn Sie 5G-Konnektivität wünschen, müssen Sie 100 US-Dollar mehr für die Pixel 4a 5G , das ebenfalls weiterhin zum Verkauf steht. Diese 5G-Version des Pixel 4a hat tatsächlich mehr mit dem Pixel 5 zu tun, bis hin zum Dual Rückfahrkameras und Snapdragon 765G-Prozessor, obwohl das Pixel 4a 5G 200 US-Dollar weniger kostet als Googles Flaggschiff für 699 US-Dollar.

Google Pixel 4a-Test: Design

Wenn Sie in den letzten Jahren Googles Pixel-Telefone gesehen haben, wissen Sie, dass sie in Bezug auf das Design keine Risiken eingehen. Zu einer Zeit, als die Konkurrenten von Mountain View anfingen, Geräte mit winzigen Einfassungen, massiven Kameras mit mehreren Linsen und Loch-Front-Shootern zu produzieren, waren die neuesten Pixel in Bezug auf ihr Erscheinungsbild eher fußgängerisch und zeichneten sich nur durch einzigartige Materialien, Oberflächen und Eigenschaften aus Farbvarianten.

Und so ist es kaum überraschend Das Google Pixel 4a ähnelt zwar Pixel 4 , ist aber sauberer und leichter, hat schlankere Lünetten und einen Kunststoff-verkleidetes Gehäuse, das die Kombination aus Glas und Metall des teureren Telefons ersetzt. Zum Glück fühlt sich das Pixel 4a dank einer matten Textur, die sich angenehm anfühlt, immer noch zufriedenstellend solide an. Der quadratische Kamerapatch auf der Rückseite wirkt etwas albern, besonders wenn man bedenkt, dass das Pixel 4a nur über ein Objektiv und einen LED-Blitz verfügt, obwohl zumindest das Kamera-Array kleiner ist und ich wage es niedlicher zu sagen als das auf der Rückseite des Flaggschiffs Pixel 4

Leider gibt es zwei Bereiche in was das Pixel 4a auf die iPhone SE , wenn es um Design geht. Dieses Telefon ist überhaupt nicht wasserdicht und kann nicht drahtlos aufgeladen werden. Angesichts der Tatsache, dass dies zu diesem Preis seltene Funktionen sind, stört mich das nicht allzu sehr-schließlich ist das iPhone SE die Ausnahme von der Budget-Telefonregel, nicht die Norm. Für das, was es wert ist, gleicht das unendlich modernere und attraktivere Design des Pixel 4a diese Zugeständnisse aus. Angesichts meiner Vorliebe für kleine Telefone finde ich es toll, dass das 5,8-Zoll-Pixel 4a nur ein bisschen größer ist als das 4,7-Zoll-iPhone SE, aber so viel mehr Platz auf dem Bildschirm bietet.

Google Pixel 4a-Test: Display

Das Pixel 3a war eines der billigsten Handys auf dem Markt mit einem OLED-Bildschirm, und das Pixel 4a setzt diese Unterscheidung fort. Das 5,81-Zoll-Full-HD-Panel in Googles neuem Midrange-Telefon liefert kräftige, aber realistische Farben und wird überraschend hell.

Das tiefe, tiefschwarze Schwarz des OLED-Panels von Pixel 4a verlieh dem Trailer für die Fortsetzung von Train to Busan, Peninsula, eine angemessen dunkle und grizzlyartige Atmosphäre eindrucksvoller kontrast machte das da ybreak szenen umso fesselnder. Und als ich mir den Trailer zum neuen Science-Fiction-Thriller Sputnik ansah, wurde ich von den blinkenden CRT-Monitoren und Lichtern angezogen, die die trostlose Dunkelheit eines sowjetischen Kontrollraums in der Krise beleuchteten.

Bei Einstellung auf sein natürliches Farbprofil Das Pixel 4a hat 105,8% des sRGB-Farbraums gerendert, was tatsächlich etwas weniger gesättigt ist als das 111,2% des LCD SE-fähigen iPhone SE. Wenn Sie jedoch lebendigere Farbtöne wünschen, können Sie die Einstellungen für die verstärkte oder adaptive Farbe des Pixels wählen. Das iPhone SE hat jedoch einen leichten Vorteil in Bezug auf die Farbgenauigkeit: Es erzielt einen Delta-E-Wert von 0,2 im Vergleich zu 0,29 des Pixel 4a. (Zahlen, die näher an Null liegen, sind in diesem speziellen Test besser.)

Wenn es um Helligkeit geht, das Pixel 4a folgt dem Präzedenzfall, den die meisten Android-Telefone festgelegt haben, da Sie nur dann auf die tatsächliche Einstellung für die maximale Vollbildhelligkeit zugreifen können, wenn die adaptive Helligkeit aktiviert ist. Die maximale manuelle Einstellung liegt bei 433 Nits. Im Freien bei Sonnenlicht kann das Pixel 4a-Panel bei aktivierter adaptiver Einstellung 681 Nits erreichen. Im Vergleich dazu kann das iPhone SE 653 Nits erreichen, unabhängig davon, ob Sie die automatische oder manuelle Helligkeit verwenden.

Insgesamt bin ich vom Panel des Pixel 4a sehr beeindruckt, abgesehen von zwei Nitpicks. Erstens, da dieses Telefon im Vergleich zu anderen mit OLED-Technologie relativ günstig ist, wundert es mich nicht, dass die Betrachtungswinkel des 4a neben höherwertigen OLED-Modellen wie Googles Flaggschiff Pixel 4 leicht verblassen Ein bisschen rote und blaue Polarisation, die sich einschleicht, wenn Sie das Bedienfeld aus steilen Winkeln betrachten. Wenn Sie den Bildschirm auf natürliche Weise betrachten, ist dies jedoch nicht der Fall.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

A more aggravating albeit fixable complaint concerns the Pixel 4a’s Adaptive Brightness tuning. Google introduced AI-aided Adaptive Brightness in Android 9 Pie, and unlike standard auto brightness, it’s built to learn your preferences and remember how bright you prefer your screen to be in certain lighting conditions. It worked excellently for me on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4, but it’s an indecisive mess on the Pixel 4a.

Upon turning Adaptive Brightness on, the device raised and lowered the brightness seven times in the space of a minute, even though I didn’t move the phone at all. I tried to lead it in the right direction by manually adjusting the slider every time it made a change I didn’t want, but that didn’t help either. The software is simply far too aggressive as it stands, and refuses to defer to the user’s wishes. Hopefully, it’s something Google will address in an update.

Google Pixel 4a review: Camera

Looking at the Pixel 4a spec sheet alone, you’d expect very little from its camera. It uses the same lens and sensor as the past two generations of Google phones, and the numbers — 12.2 megapixels and an ƒ/1.7 aperture out of a single lens — surely aren’t very awe inspiring in an era when flagship models are boasting triple-digit megapixel counts.

But you can’t argue with results, and boy, does this com bination of modest hardware and clever software deliver results. The Pixel 4a benefits from many of the same features you’ll find in Google’s more premium phones, including Super Res Zoom to improve the quality of digital zoom, Live HDR+ to see the effect of HDR processing before you tap the shutter and Dual Exposure sliders that give you the ability to modify contrast and brightness on the fly. Beyond that, there’s Google’s beloved Night Mode, and just like the Pixel 4, this model can capture the starry skies as well.

No, the Pixel 4a doesn’t blow away the iPhone SE in every side-by-side image comparison that follows. But Google’s latest contender wins at enough of them, and offers so many more special features, that it’s hard to argue it’s not the best camera phone overall for the money.

We start with this shot of a forest, and straight away it’s easy to tell that the Pixel 4a extracts more lush, verdant greens out of the vegetation and more deftly reins in the overexposed sky breaking through the leaves. The iPhone SE’s rendition of this scene feels washed out and oversharpened by comparison.

However, the Pixel 4a’s emphasis on color can occasionally result in oversaturated scenes with unrealistically strong contrast, like this shot of a vase of sunflowers. The iPhone SE unquestionably delivered the more natural rendition here, as the yellow petals turn to a golden pseudo-orange through the Pixel 4a’s lens, and the shadows in the foreground and background alike are a little more pronounced than they should be.

That said, I don’t think either shot is necessarily poor; personally speaking, if I took the iPhone’s shot and did some light editing to it before sharing, I’d probably end up with the Pixel’s version, so it’s really a matter of preference.

Here I used 3x zoom on both devices to illustrate the advantage that Google’s Super Res Zoom tech offers. To me, this is the most underrated feature in any Pixel camera. Super Res Zoom almost negates the need for optical zoom or a telephoto lens by using natural hand shake and motion to intelligently “fill in” areas of the frame, giving the sensor more information to work with and thereby improving sharpness and overall image quality. Where the iPhone SE’s take is overcome with noise, the Pixel’s is precise, with more neutral white balance as well.

As both the Pixel 4a and iPhone SE sport single-lens rear cameras, they rely entirely on software to separate foreground and background for shallow depth-of-field bokeh shots. You immediately notice the vast difference in perspective the Pixel 4a and iPhone SE offer when capturing portraits — Google’s handset crops into the frame to simulate the use of a telephoto, while Apple’s doesn’t fuss with the vantage point.

Personally, I prefer Google’s approach, as it’s simply more useful for portrait taking. If I wanted to achieve a portrait more like the Pixel’s with the iPhone, I would have had to move in mere inches from the subject’s face — awkward already, but certainly a no-no in the age of social distancing.

Comparing the two on the basis of quality alone, however, Apple’s camera wins in terms of sharpness, and also accurately separates the subject from his surroundings — something that the Pixel 4a struggles with, particularly with the bokeh erroneously applied to the individual’s ear. That said, Google’s device was less intent on overly smooth facing features, and the colors, speaking both of the environment and the subject’s skin tone, are slightly more accurate.

A big question surrounding the Pixel 4a’s camera will likely be how it performs at night. Given that it has a Night Mode, which the iPhone SE lacks, it’s hardly surprising that it emerges the victor in this particular face-off. Google’s software is able to illuminate far more of the image, providing a sharp and noise-free view of the front door of the house in the image, while rendering the shadow of the railing on the grass below with exceptional contrast. It’s an example of how powerful a good Night Mode can be, as well as a reminder of the iPhone SE’s most glaring deficit.

Turning the camera back at myself, there are again aspects I like about both of these attempts. The Pixel 4a, with its 8MP front camera, is better at managing highlights and shadows, managing not to overexpose my white t-shirt like the iPhone did, while dulling the shine of my face on a humid, hot summer day. That said, Google’s take is inexplicably blurrier, and strangely warps the proportions of my face just a bit, despite beautification or retouching features being turned off.

Google Pixel 4a review: Performance

One of the most obvious concerns surrounding the Pixel 4a — or any budget-minded Android phone — tends to be performance. Qualcomm’s flagship 8 Series Snapdragon chipsets are tried and tested in flagships from every manufacturer, and 9 times out of 10, they perform flawlessly. But the chipmaker’s lower-end silicon often falls somewhere between weak and serviceable, and let’s face it — no mid-tier Qualcomm CPU is going to embarrass Apple’s A13 Bionic tech in the iPhone SE, let alone the even more powerful A14 Bionic powering the iPhone 12 models.

Bearing all that in mind, I’d say the Snapdragon 730G chipset in the Pixel 4a, coupled with its 6GB of RAM, delivers smooth and sufficient performance overall, though obviously faster phones have come out since the Pixel 4a’s debut.

I often swap between an iPhone 11 Pro and Pixel 4 for my daily drivers, but during my time reviewing the Pixel 4a, I never felt desperate for power. In fact, when it comes to the basic tasks, I reckon the Pixel 4a is every bit as sprightly as the Pixel 4.

Unsurprisingly, though, gaming and photography where things start to waver a bit. Playing Asphalt 9 Legends on the Pixel 4a was a fine experience overall, but occasional skipped frames and a lower rendering resolution kept me well aware of the hardware I was racing on.

Likewise, you’ll have to wait a second or few longer for the Pixel 4a to conjure its post-processing magic on photos with that 730G chip, as this cheaper Pixel lacks Google’s dedicated Visual Core architecture. Burst shots, or repeatedly tapping the shutter for a bunch of frames in quick succession, won’t quite yield immediate results.

The benchmarks tell us why. In Geekbench 5, which evaluates overall system performance, the Pixel 4a achieved a multi-core score of 1,647 points; the iPhone SE managed 3,226, and with just one of the A13 Bionic’s six cores, it hit 1,331 alone. The Pixel 4a also took far longer to dispatch our Adobe Premiere Rush video encoding test, clocking 2 minutes and 27 seconds to convert a minute-long 4K video clip to 1080p. The iPhone SE needed just 47 seconds for the same task.

Ultimately, I believe the Pixel 4a’s performance will certainly be adequate for the vast majority of people, even with more powerful midrange phones now available. But if all-out power for the absolute least money is your priority, the iPhone SE remains unassailable.

Google Pixel 4a review: Battery life and charging

Armed with a 3,140-mAh battery — a modest size by today’s standards, even though Google notes it’s the largest battery ever fitted to a “small” Pixel — the Pixel 4a’s battery life isn’t anything special. Google’s new midrange phone lasted an average of 8 hours and 55 minutes across four sessions of Tom’s Guide’s battery test, where the device endlessly refreshes web pages while set to 150 nits of screen brightness.

That’s a bit worse than the 9 hours and 18 minutes the iPhone SE turned in, and considerably poorer than a number of pricier smartphones, including the OnePlus 8 (11:04) and iPhone 11 (11:16), though ironically, the Pixel 4 actually churned out an hour less than its half-price brethren. If you want better battery life for even less than the Pixel 4a, we’d direct you toward the $249 Moto G Power, our current leader for the best phone battery life at an astonishing 16 hours and 10 minutes.

Fortunately, at least the Pixel 4a recharges rather quickly, owing to its packed-in 18-watt adapter. This brick got our unit from completely dead to exactly half capacity in 30 minutes, which is pretty speedy for a device in this class. While it’s nice to know the Pixel 4a can juice back up in a pinch, its longevity on a charge is easily its weakest quality.

Google Pixel 4a review: Software and special features

Just as Google preserved the Pixel 4’s best camera tricks despite the Pixel 4a’s lower price, the Pixel 4a contained many of our favorite Pixel features that made Android 10 a little bit better at the time of the phone’s launch. The Pixel 4a has subsequently gotten the Android 11 update, so you can expect the latest and greatest Android experience. The newly released Android 12 beta runs on the Pixel 4a, too.

Android-based conveniences abound in the Pixel 4a, including Call Screen, which can fend off robocalls and telemarketers without forcing you to pick up your phone just to be duped. Google’s excellent Recorder app is here too — software we once hailed as our favorite app, because it transcribes voice to text in real time, and it’s also really, really good at it. Recorder can now export transcriptions to Google Docs, for even more seamless note taking.

Otherwise, this is Android as you know and love it, with the addition of Android 11 features like Bubbles and notification grouping for messaging apps; one-time permission granting for apps; built-in screen recording; and a new power menu that offers quick access to your Google Pay cards and passes.

One feature that was often derided in Google previous Pixels that I actually miss in the Pixel 4a is Active Edge — the pressure-sensitive sides of the device that you can squeeze to summon Google Assistant. It was a feature that was admittedly easy to forget about, but proved quite handy when committed to memory. Google omitted Active Edge in the Pixel 4a presumably in the name of keeping costs low, and we wonder if it’ll ever return in another Pixel again.

Google promises a minimum of three years of software and security updates for the Pixel 4a, which is far better than the usual year that most cheap Android phones get, or even the two years at best granted to higher-end models. Of course, three years falls short of the five or so years Apple supports its handsets, but it’s respectable nevertheless.

Google Pixel 4a vs. iPhone SE

The iPhone SE is an excellent proposition for those who want to remain in the Apple ecosystem, and of course its performance is unmatched, thanks to the A13 Bionic chip. The iPhone SE also offers a water-resistant design and wireless charging — two features the Pixel 4a lacks.

That said, the Pixel 4a is superior in many ways. It has a more sophisticated camera, a newer design with slimmer bezels, a much roomier OLED display, fast charging out of the box and a headphone jack — all for $50 less than the 64GB iPhone SE and a full $100 less than the model with comparable storage. I personally think the Pixel 4a is a better phone for most people, because it checks more boxes.

Google Pixel 4a vs. OnePlus Nord

The OnePlus Nord is an excellent alternative to the Pixel 4a, provided you live in an area where OnePlus’ midrange phone is available. The £379 Nord offers a larger 6.4-inch display with a faster 90Hz refresh rate, 5G connectivity and a bigger battery that lasts longer on a charge. The Nord also pulls off both wireless charging and wired charging that’s even faster than the Pixel 4a’s.

Since this review as posted, OnePlus has shipped the OnePlus Nord N10 5G, available for a mere $299. That phone offers 5G — the Pixel 4a does not, making that omission seem more glaring as time goes by.

Google Pixel 4a review: Verdict

With the Pixel 4a, Google has once again delivered a device I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone who wants the best phone for the least amount of money — at least if they don’t want to hold off for the expected release of the Pixel 5a in a couple months.

The Pixel 4a does practically everything well — it has a pretty display, solid performance, lots of base storage, a well-built design and especially, a stunning camera. About the only area in which it comes up short is battery life, but even then, that’s not a deal breaker.

The midrange phone market is flush with options, and many will naturally shop the Pixel 4a against its two best competitors — the iPhone SE (which is faster) and the OnePlus Nord N10 5G (which has a better display, bigger battery and 5G).

But overall, the Pixel 4a strikes a great balance between affordability, performance and quality. Like its predecessor, it makes you wonder why anyone should spend twice or three times as much on a so-called flagship. The Pixel 4a 5G is the Google phone to get if you want faster 5G connectivity, but if you’re on a tighter budget the regular Pixel 4a remains a great value. Still, with the Pixel 5a expected to arrive no later than a few months from now, if you can hold out, you’ll likely get a more powerful phone with improved cameras for a few dollars more — our Pixel 5a vs. Pixel 4a comparison looks at what else could be new.