The Google Pixel 4a is one of the cheapest smartphones I've reviewed all year.
It's just $350. Feels good to finally have a phone in front of us that won't break the bank. But if
it's not breaking the bank, will it just break in general? There's really only one way to find out.
This video is sponsored by Audible. Let's get started.
[Intro]
First thing, let's see what's inside the box. It could be nothing or it could be everything.
It's hard to say for sure these days. Looks like we have a USB-C power cord and a charging brick
that can charge at 18 watts. Surprising there are no headphones though, since the Pixel 4a is also
one of the first phones in a while to bring back the headphone jack. No complaints here.
Let's start with the scratch test. The Pixel 4a is using some old school Gorilla Glass 3,
so we already know where it's going to scratch, but we might as well check anyway. Remember,
glass is glass whether it's Gorilla Glass 3, 5, or victus, the scratching level will be the same. But
the toughness, as in the shadow resistance, might improve slightly with each new level of glass.
Toughness is hard to quantify because changing the shape of the glass or the curve of the screen
also affects the strength. The Pixel 4a scratches at a level 6, with deeper grooves at a level 7.
Keys, coins, and razor blades won't have any affect on the glass,
or the 8 megapixel front facing hole punch camera up here in the top corner.
The top stereo speaker grill and earpiece is made from plastic and secure. It's only when
we turn the phone to the side that we see how Google got this phone so cheap – it's
plastic. My razor can easily carve huge chunks of plastic away from the sides of the phone.
Now, of course, there is nothing wrong with plastic. Honestly, I kind of like it
since the Pixel 4a will literally never have a shattered glass back to replace,
unlike the $400 iPhone SE whose broken glass back costs $270 to fix.
Once we get down here to the bottom USB-C charging port and stereo speaker, we do see something
interesting. There are no antenna lines on the Pixel 4a which gives it a nice smooth uniform
design all the way around. Google was able to accomplish this no antenna design by putting
those antennas as a thing metallic layer embedded inside the plastic around the bottom and top of
the phone. The metallic layer doesn't encompass the whole phone, it's just at the ends. You can
see the top of the phone has more thin copper right next to our friend, the headphone jack.
There's plenty more plastic here next to the removable SIM card tray. There's no water
resistance rating on the Pixel 4a. The Google G on the back is lightly painted onto the surface,
so it might rub off eventually, but not a big deal. Overall it's a very
simple and inexpensive design. Quite the opposite of the very
complex and expensive RGB gaming phones that cost quite a bit more.
Speaking of gaming, do you remember Ready Player One – both the movie and the story?
One thing I'm looking forward to from Audible, who's sponsoring this video, is Ready Player Two
that comes out on November 24, here in 2020. I've already preordered the audiobook with one
of my credits since Ready Player One was one of my all-time favorites. You can get your own free
audio book with a 30 day trial of Audible. Audible.com/jerryrig. Or text “jerryrig” to
500-500. If you haven't already listened to Ready Player One, you should probably start there,
you won't regret it. The story is quite a bit different than what we saw on the movie,
and equally entertaining. Audible.com/jerryrig or
text “jerryrig” to 500-500. I'll leave a link down in the description.
The downside of the Pixel 4a is it's one camera perspective.
You would think there would be more cameras hidden under this massive square glass camera housing,
but there isn't. From everything I've seen though, that one 12 megapixel camera is pretty great.
But sometimes it's nice having a wide angle or telephoto camera for a unique perspective.
After all the craziness that's gone on in 2020,
I decided it might be best if Art Class with Jerry was something non-controversial.
You know, I could just draw something we could all universally agree on,
like how candy corn is the best tasting candy of the holidays.
You can let me know how much you like candy corn down in the comments.
There is no metallic layer on the back of the Pixel 4a, it is all pure plastic.
The last few phones that I've tested have all had underscreen fingerprint scanners,
and have all been equally underwhelming...some not even able to read my fingerprint because
my hands aren't squeaky clean. But that's not the case with this Pixel 4a. The rear
fingerprint scanner was able to set up my fingerprint super fast
and recognize it every single time, even with substantial damage made
to the fingerprint scanner surface. Not bad at all. Thumbs up for that.
The Pixel 4a has a 5.8 inch 1080p OLED display, which we can confirm by seeing the pixels turning
slightly white after 20 seconds from the heat of my lighter. The screen did still mostly recover.
But $350 is $350. And if a phone sacrifices too much durability to achieve a low price point, then
it's just not worth buying. With the first bend of the Pixel 4a we see that curve, but the phone
locks out and does not snap in half or crack. And it's the same for both sides. The Pixel 4a might
be the most durable budget phone of 2020. The Nord snapped, and the iPhone SE has a glass back.
Overall I'm impressed with the Pixel 4a. I don't talk about software much on my channel,
but it also has a robocall blocking feature that I'd love to try out. Those are pretty much the
worst. Let me know if there's any other budget phones you want me to sneak in before the end of
the year. And we'll be taking a look at the inside of the Pixel 4a. So hit that subscribe button if
you haven't already. Grab your free audio book from Audible with the link in the description. And
come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.