The Google Pixel 5a is the solid, budget-friendly A-series pixel for 2021. I've been using the 5a
that Google sent me for over the past month now, and I'm going to take you through my
favorite things about it, any downsides, and then my recommendation on who should get one
First up let’s talk about the design and battery life. If this phone looks like a phone
you saw last year, that’s likely because it’s very similar to the Pixel 4a 5G in its size and weight,
though it’s is color is a different shade of black with forest green undertones which looks
really nice in person. The Pixel 5a sports a 6.34 inch display and weighs a reasonable 183 g.
Google in general, actually does a very good job with ergonomics and the Pixel
5a is just another example of that. Now while the phone does have an aluminum construction,
Google gave it this grippy back, so it's less likely to slip out of your hand,
and the phone is actually lighter than I was expecting to make it easier to hold.
The display on the Pixel 5a is a 2400 x 1080 OLED panel with a 413 ppi density
and holepunch selfie camera. Text looks crisp, colors look good,
and while it’s not the best OLED panel in terms of viewing angels, for $449,
it’s a good screen, and things like reading our free channel newsletter on it look great.
And Google did add one new thing with this display and that's a high brightness mode which will turn
the display up to 800 nits of brightness. Another significant update Google made this year with
this phone is bringing IP67 water resistance to the 5a, a first for an a-series pixel.
Next up, let's talk battery life. Now the pixel 5a has the largest battery of
any pixel to date. And my opinion is one of the main selling points of this phone.
The battery life is just solid, I’m typically seeing about a day
and half of battery life without battery saver or extreme battery saver turned on.
That gets me easily 4-5 hours of screen time on this phone and I think you'd have to work
really hard to drain this battery in a day. Now if you use extreme battery saver or the regular
battery saver, you can likely get full two days of battery life with this phone, which ain't bad.
You can actually schedule battery saver to turn on automatically based on your routine and when
Google thinks your battery is likely to run out or when your battery hits a certain percentage.
Extreme battery saver is another neat feature from Google that lets you extend your battery
life in critical moments, turning off power hungry background activities and
certain features like Wi-Fi hotspots. You can go into extreme battery saver
settings to set the essential apps that you still want to get notifications from
when you have this feature turned on and you can set the conditions for triggering it.
And when you need to juice up your phone, the Pixel 5a does have quick
charging using a USB-C cable now, do note, it does not have wireless charging and yes,
I am a bit bummed about that because I like this phone a lot. I wish it did have wireless charging,
but wireless charging is still a pretty rare feature to see on a
phone at this price level, so it's not like it was expected.
Alright, now lets talk about that camera system. The Pixel
5a gets the same exact wide and ultrawide cameras that the Pixel 5 got last year,
You get Google’s excellent HDR+ technology which performs very well in situations like a sunset or
sunrise. You get Google’s Nightsight which is handy for taking photos of objects in
dark or low light conditions as well as Google’s astrophotography mode. You also get some pixel
exclusive Google Photos features like portrait light which lets you change the direction of
the main light source in portrait photos. And Pixel phones in general, produce photos
that have this great contrasty look, and their image processing is some of the best
out there, often giving me photos that look better than ones from other phone brands.
And while the video quality on pixels, the 5a included,
isn’t nearly as good as what I’ve experienced on a Samsung or or Apple phones,
the 5a’s video quality is a step up from previous a-series phones thanks to the
stabilization modes Google has brought to the 5a from 5 and the the color accuracy has improved,
although it’ll still shift colors as you pan the camera in shots which can be annoying. But
at this price level, the video quality at the end of the day is still pretty decent.
Alright, before move onto the Pixel’s software, lets talk about this video’s sponsor Bellroy.
I proudly partnered with Bellroy, headquartered in Melbourne Australia,
because they’re focused on improving the ways to carry your tech and belongings. And
they've been making some great products for over a decade.
like Pixel phone cases and accessories like their tech kit pouch for keeping your tech
accessories sorted and packed neatly. Mine came nicely packed and I love the limestone color
which is made from a leather free woven fabric which is 100% made from recycled PET bottles
and is water resistant. It’s softshell body lets it squeeze into tight spaces and zips out flat for
easy access. You can fit all sorts of accessories in there thanks to the built in elastic loops to
organize items like charging cables,earbuds cases, a mouse, apple pencil & more. It also
includes a hidden pocket that magnetically opens so you can add an extra power bank or other tech
accessory into the pouch. It’s really the perfect way to organize a bunch of tech accessories to go
into a bag like Bellroy’s classic backpack which I also have in a matching limestone color and best
of all, the tech pouch comes with a three-year warranty.
Belroy is offering an exclusive 10% off anything on their site to six months later,
viewers like the tech pouch, classic backpack & pixel phone cases,
including the new Pixel 5a case, so use the link in the description below to get that 10%
off your order and hurry, the 10% off discount only lasts through the end of October 2021.
Next up, software. The Pixel 5a runs Google’s Pixel version of
Android which is slightly different than stock Android and comes with a lot of
exclusive Pixel features. The pixel version of Android for me is just such a joy to use.
It's simple, fast, there's no crapware on it, Google hasn’t automatically downloaded
a bunch of third party applications for you like you get with the Samsung phone,
You get Android’s great notification management and sorting, Android-exclusive features like
smart lock and the work profile that you can setup if you use G suite,
to separate your work apps and personal apps and it gives you the ability to turn
off all work apps and their notifications with a simple switch, which I use and absolutely love.
And with the Pixel version of Android, you can use the Google Assistant right out of the box.
Some Pixel-exclusive features the 5a has include Call screening which is a great way
to weed out spam callers by having the Google Assistant on the phone pick up phone calls
and screen them before actually ringing your phone, allowing you to see a transcript of
the conversation the Google Assistant had with the person when your phone does ring. A related
feature to call screen that I absolutely love is called Hold For Me. Now you use this feature
when you know you're going to be on hold for a while with a customer service rep.
The Google Assistant will stay on hold for you, letting you move onto other tasks
and ring your phone when it detects a customer service representative comes back on the line.
The Pixel 5a also comes with one of Google’s hallmark pixel features which is Now Playing,
which detects any music playing in the background, displaying it on the always on display
and you can easily search your Now Playing History to see all of the songs your Pixel has detected.
Now, another thing to think about with the pixel 5a is privacy and security,
and you might think that fruit company over in Cupertino has this market cornered with
their devices, but this is something Google has actually been paid a lot of attention to
with their pixel devices, including the pixel 5a. Inside the 5a is the Titan M chip which
handles the phone’s most sensitive processes and information such password protection, encryption,
and secure transactions in apps. The Pixel 5a also has a personal safety app,
with features like safety check where can tell your Pixel to check in on you after a certain
amount of time, like when I’m going on a walk. If you don’t check in after the time you set,
the location of your phone will automatically be sent to contacts you’ve selected.
The Pixel 5a also features car crash detection where the phone will automatically detect
if you’re in a car accident and let you check in if you’re safe
or it’ll automatically call emergency services if you don’t respond within 60 seconds.
And new this year for Pixel devices, in Google Photos you now have a private photos
folder for sensitive on-device photos like scans of your passport, ID, etc.
So that's everything I like about the Pixel 5A. Now let's talk about who I think this
phone is for and how it compares to the upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro due out in October 2021.
I think the Pixel 5a is a great choice of phone for anyone who just needs the basics, you want
a pixel with great battery life, one of the best cameras for the money with a nice design
and screen size. And the best part is, you get all of this for $449 US dollars,
which is pretty resonable. Google really did everything they needed to do with the Pixel 5a.
And as a result, it is a very solid device. Now, if you want a pixel with more premium build
materials, and you want one with wireless charging ,a much improved camera system, a better screen,
and a likely much faster processor, that's who the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are going to be for.
So if any of that sounds appealing to you, I wait till they release those phones so you can
see what the pricing information is on those devices before you make your final decision.
Now if you currently have a Pixel and are asking whether you should upgrade,
my advice there is if you have a Pixel 3a or older, I’d look at upgrading. If you have a 4,
the only reason to upgrade would be if you wanted a larger sized a-series
pixel with a better camera system and water resistance. If you don't need those things,
then you're better off waiting to see what Google does with its a-series phone or phones next year.
And then of course if you have the 4a 5G from last year, the 5a is so similar,
I wouldn’t bother switching. So that's the pixel 5a. If you're looking to purchase a new pixel,
check out the links on the side of the video or down in the video description below. And if you
have any questions at all about the Pixel 5a, or you want to share your experience
with this phone or a previous pixel device, drop a comment below, hit that thumbs up button
if you like this video and found it helpful, and subscribe to the channel for more reviews on tech
products and Google products like this one. For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.