One of the allures of the Google Pixel series of devices is its clean OS. The Google Pixel 4a 5G (and Pixel 5) run Android 11 right out of the box, with no funky skins or stylized customization to speak of – it’s just Android as Google intended.

Great Battery Life, Clean Android OS, Excellent Camera Quality, Reliable Fingerprint Sensor, Good Display, Solid Build, Good Speaker Quality / Output, Headphone Jack!

Trails In The Benchmarks, Only 60Hz Display, Non-Expandable Storage, No Wireless Charging, No Dust / Water Resistance

Three months ago I reviewed the Pixel 4a, and gave it a perfect score . I think it’s ideal for a budget Android phone today. The Pixel 4a 5G is that, just bigger and with 5G. Does that make it perfect, too? Not quite.

Perfect screen size, Fantastic Android software, Great battery life, Unbeatable cameras

5G is questionably useful, No water resistance, No wireless charging

Earlier this year, Google released the Pixel 4a, a relatively cheap device at $349 with no real interesting characteristics besides from it being a cheap Google phone with a good camera. For some, maybe that’s good enough. Now, we have a beefed up version of that device called the Pixel 4a 5G...

Great value; rich OLED screen; simple design; snappy rear fingerprint sensor; has a headphone jack; double the storage from last year

Only one color; no water resistance or wireless charging

More like the Pixel 5 Lite, the Google Pixel 4a 5G is a cracking, affordable camera phone...

Pantalla grande para los fans de XL; Excelentes cámaras; Fácil de usar;

Los rivales son más baratos; Pantalla de 60 Hz; Carga rápida sólo 18W;

The simplicity of design flows through to the software which is clean, proactive, free from bloat and a joy to use, especially compared to other lower-price Androids. The device focuses on delivering everything you need and very little extra, with Google's services and AI doing the heavy lifting...

The Pixel 4a is a great starting point for anyone looking for a basic, capable smartphone. You get a modern design, a great camera, a headphone jack, good enough performance, and a great software build with timely, day-one updates direct from Google.

The $350 price tag. You could buy three of these for the price of a $1000 smartphone., From the front, it's the best-looking phone Google has ever produced, with slim bezels, a hole punch camera, and no crazy design decisions. It's a rare Pixel phone that just looks... normal.

It's a budget phone, so don't expect wireless charging, water resistance, or a fast 90Hz or 120Hz display., The back, which is plain and cheap-looking, and not because it's plastic. An exact copy of the Pixel 3a back would have been a huge improvement.

Techaeris readers know that our reviews are as objective as we can make them and are based on specifications, price, value, and performance. That said, I’ve long been of the opinion that most people do not need smartphones that cost upwards of US$1000.

Much of the money spent advertising smartphones typically centers around flagships, and that makes sense for the most part. It’s the bleeding-edge tech, heavy with hardware and coupled with the latest software. It’s big sexy designs with curves and gorgeous colors.