Unsurprisingly, what was true of the 4A and 5’s image capabilities is also true of the 5A. Plenty of the Pixel 5A’s competitors can take good photos in bright outdoor light, but Google is still the low light champion in the budget class. Even without new sensors or lenses, the 5A still offers the best photo quality in the midrange class, thanks largely of course to Google’s smart image processing.
If those specs sound familiar, that’s because it’s the same hardware as the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G, and that’s actually fine for this model. But if you’re on Verizon or AT&T and you plan to keep using your phone for the next two to three years, this could become a real drawback as those carriers enable C-band and (in theory) strengthen their 5G networks. T-Mobile customers don’t need to worry as much since it won’t be relying much on C-band. There are numerous budget and midrange phones on sale right now that fully support C-band, starting as low as the $279 Galaxy A32, so it’s odd that Google won’t commit to supporting it. It could add support in the future, but isn’t committing to doing so. The Pixel 5A has the hardware support and FCC certification to use C-band, but Google hasn’t enabled software-level support for these frequencies. C-band is the good mid-band stuff that carriers will gradually begin adding at the end of this year and over the next few years. MmWave 5G is no great loss, but the 5A’s lack of C-band support at launch is more worrisome. MmWave 5G is no great loss, but the 5A’s lack of C-band support at launch is more worrisome There’s a subtle 1990’s Nickelodeon vibe about it. Some are more neutral, like “black moss” and “maybe moon” (and also sound like Neko Case song titles?), but I opted for “likely lime” with my review unit and, reader, I do not like it. You can spice things up with one of the colorful case options, which are designed for added protection against drops and bumps. There’s just one color option this year: black. The plastic panel features a matte finish that I appreciate - it’s less slippery than a glossy finish and doesn’t show smudges as easily. On the front panel there’s Gorilla Glass 3 for screen protection and underneath, the phone’s outer plastic shell is a metal unibody. Official IP ratings are rare in the $500-and-under bracket outside of the Samsung A52 5G and iPhone SE, so this is one area where the 5A rises to the top of the class. The Pixel 5A includes an IP67 dust and waterproof rating, meaning it can be submerged in about three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. Google Pixel 5A IP rating and build quality One of this year’s case options, “likely lime,” features bright green accents. As someone who takes too many portrait mode photos of her cat in hopes of getting just the right shot, I truly appreciate that. Apps open quickly, and I didn’t notice any significant delays or hiccups going about my daily tasks and social media scrolling.Ĭomplex image processing tasks are also carried out in a second or two, and that happens in the background so you can keep taking portrait mode photos without having to wait for every frame to finish processing.
There’s no change to the processing or memory specs from the 4A 5G: the Pixel 5A uses the same Snapdragon 765G chipset with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The same can’t be said of some of its competitors’ screens, big as they may be. It’s also just a good quality screen - the OLED technology delivers rich contrast, and it’s bright enough to be viewable outside in direct sun without too much effort.
So the 5A’s screen isn’t a standout, but it is big enough that it doesn’t look quite as out of place next to the competition compared to the 4A and 4A 5G. You don’t get the smoother scrolling experience of faster 90 or 120Hz rates