Last year, I called the Pixel 3 XL the worst flagship phone I’ve ever used.
I admit I was very harsh in my review, which got a lot of hateful comments, but I had to
stand by my opinions not only because the 3 XL had a lot of software issues, but because
it was also quite a bit behind hardware-wise when you consider the $900 price point.
So what about half a year later, now that Google released the 3a and 3aXL?
Well, to be honest, my mind is completely changed this time around, and this time I’m
calling the 3a XL Budget Perfection.
The 3a doesn’t have top of the line specs like the 3, the CPU is a bit weaker, the graphics
are even behind the Pixel 2, The display is of lower quality and as are the speakers.
There's no wireless charging, no IP water resistance rating, and the phone is made of
plastic.
But at half the price, all those sins are forgiven and if you compare the features to
other similarly priced phones, the 3a really shines.
Now there are a few things I wish Google did differently, and there are some people who
I wouldn’t recommend it to, which I’ll cover in just a bit, but overall, this phone
is a winner and I would highly recommend it.
I don’t want to get too much into specs, but we have the same rear camera, with a single
front that's wider than the pixels 3’s standard which was a smart move, rear fingerprint scanner,
Google assistant squeeze feature, and the same 4GB of RAM.
What really matters is the real world experience, how is it to use the phone day to day, and
I have to say that is really good.
No not as good as a proper flagship like the S10+ or 7 Pro, but still good and for the
price tag, excellent.
RAM management wasn’t an issue for me, and the UI was smoother than the Pixel 3’s.
The CPU is slower so its not that, but thanks to Google Optimizing and fixing software bugs
ever since their flagships launched.
Google made a smart choice to put spend money where it matters and is most noticeable.
The Camera, Display, and speakers.
The things you actually interact with most.
As I mentioned the display and speakers aren’t as good as the 3’s, but the OLED screen
and stereo speakers definitely are close and fight above their price point.
The photo quality is really good, basically the same as the Pixel 3’s.
The algorithms have been tweaked over time and I noticed images don’t have the same
strong bias towards cool white balances which Im glad they tweaked.
Since we have a single lens camera, zoom shots are still behind phones with a dedicated telephoto
lens, but because of Google photo stacking they look better than then other single systems
like the XR.
Portrait photos oldy now use a 2x digital crop instead of the 1.25x the Pixel 3 used.
I really liked the slight crop of the 3, it limited distortion for close ups but still
gave a high quality great looking wide portrait.
Usind a 2x crops gives a similar field of view to the iPhone XS which is close to a
real 50mm lens but cropping so much on a wide lens reduces the image quality and make noise
more visible.
Don’t get me wrong, the photos don’t look bad, and in low light will still look better
than the XS’s due to a faster lens, I just wish they gave us an option to choose the
crop.
Video recording is still a few years behind the flagships, with no 4K 60 and poor mic
quality but thats passible at this price point, just like not having a telephoto or wide angle
lens, and other things like 4GB of RAM, and a thicker bezel.
This phone will take better photos than any phone under $500, and many that are far more
expensive.
My only other complaint is the shutter lag.
It seems worst than the Pixel 3, and far behind the flagships.
In this side by side I pressed the shutter right when elon was at the top of the swing,
The iPhone grabbed the image instantly ever time since its actually constantly taking
phtos and just saves the photo when you press.
The Samsung and Oneplus are behind but no where near as much as the 3a XL which took
the image almost a second later.
I complained about this in my S10+ review, since I noticed myself missing shots of my
kids in action which I would have properly captured on the iPhone.
If you have little kids, pets, or shoot other quick moving subject this could be a deal
breaker.
Check out or detailed photo comparison to see how it stacks up to 3 very impressive
flagships after this video.
Let just back to the design of the phone.
Google needed to cut costs so the phone is made of plastic.
Some reviewers said it feels just as good as the 3, I can see where they are coming
from because of the frosted back but I can definitely tell its not as premium.
With that said, it doesn’t feel cheap at all, and most people will put a case on it
and then there's not difference.
On the plus side, the headphone jack is back.
It makes a ton of sense why, if you’re buying a budget phone the chances of you not owning
Bluetooth headphones is much higher.
The forehead and chin are quite large, but so where the pixel 3’s after people used
software to cover up that huge notch so the end results were the same.
At this price point, it makes more sense.
On the positive side, the batteries are large and that's a huge plus.
The 3a XL’s is 3700MAh and paired with a less powerful thus less power draining processor
and lower rez display means it last a long time.
If you're a power user on a budget it will last you a full day.
MrWhostheBoss did a battery shootout and the 3a XL lasted for 8 hours of heavy screen on
time, longer than any phone hes ever tested and even beating out the ZenPhone 6 that has
a 5000Mah Battery!
For regular users, the 3a which has a smaller battery but a more manageable size should
last all day as well.
If your a gamer the weaker graphics end up extending battery life while gaming by quite
a bit, but the graphics quality is noticeably lower as well.
If you’ll be playing a lot of games I’d suggest picking something else up, maybe the
RazerPhone which is now priced similarly.
If you want to know more check out our gaming comparison to the Pixel 3 after this video.
So all of that said, I think Google made a genius move bringing out the Pixel 3a XL,
and I hope they continue to focus on this mid-range price point.
When you consider the price point and feature set, a lot of smart decisions were made on
where to focus and where to cut cost.
For most people, the 3a and 3aXL will get the job done, and I would recommend it to
almost everyone who’s looking to buy at this price point other than those who need
something with minimal camera shutter lag or hardcore phone gamers.
Google has a real winner in their hands, and now that its at every Major carrier in the
states its going to be in a lot of others.
Thanks for checking out our review, if you want to pick up a Pixel 3 a or 3a XL we have
a link to some great deals down in the description below.
Click right over here to subscribe and if you want to see out detailed camera comparison
click right over there, this has been Max with Max Tech and I’ll see you in the next
video!