Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G
At Google’s “Launch Night In” event, the company showed off its Pixel 5 and 4a 5G to the general public, after both devices had been the subject of rumors for months. The Pixel 4a 5G is basically a Pixel 4a on steroids as it comes with a bigger screen and better performance than its little brother. But where do we find the differences with Google’s flagship, the Pixel 5? We give an overview.
Screen
Interestingly, Google hasn’t released an XL version of its Pixel 5 this year, as we’ve been used to since the first generation of Pixel devices. With its 6.0 inch screen size, the Pixel 5 is just between the Pixel 4 XL and the Pixel 4. Last year, Google also worked with such XL versions for the Pixel 3a series, but you could argue that the 4a 5G in fact still serves as the larger variant in Google’s midrange segment. The Pixel 4a had a screen size of 5.81 inches, compared to 6.2 inches for the 4a 5G.
That makes it remarkably enough that the cheaper 5G phone also has a larger screen than the Pixel 5. Although you can hardly even call the screen of the 4a 5G large by today’s standards in the smartphone industry.
Both the devices have the same resolution and it also comes with an OLED screen for both the Pixel 5 and the 4a 5G. The main difference is in the 90 Hz refresh rate for nicer animations that the cheaper phone has to miss. The Pixel 5 can also show richer HDR10+ color contrasts from video content optimized for it. Finally, there is the older version of the scratch-resistant Gorning Gorilla Glass for The Pixel 4a 5G. The Pixel 5 comes with Gorilla Glass 6, compared to Gorilla Glass 3 for its cheaper brother. Although you should certainly not overestimate the latter difference.
Casing and size
The size, weight and finish of these smartphones are perhaps the main differences between the new Google phones. The Google Pixel 4a 5G is the largest, thickest and heaviest phone of the duo. Google also clearly wanted to reduce the price of the 4a 5G by choosing a housing made entirely of plastic.
On the other side you have the Pixel 5 which is made of aluminum, and that while the device still supports wireless charging. Some of you may wonder, “How is that possible?” In short: the phone is made of aluminum with a thin, but sturdy plastic layer as the topping. In addition, Google made a cut-out in the aluminum where the contact point for wireless charging is. That’s a smart solution from Google, because the choice for aluminum means that the phone will not crack on an unfortunate encounter with the earth’s surface. So you can say that the Pixel 5 is robust and has a more premium finish.
Cameras
We can be very brief about this, as the Pixel 4a 5G got a camera upgrade over the regular 4a. An upgrade to the point that it now uses the same main, selfie, and wide-angle camera as the Pixel 5. Google hasn’t skimped on optical image stabilization either, and the phones can both enjoy the package of exclusive camera features that all Pixels come from. taking advantage. In this article you can read more about the new Portrait Light, the night function for portrait photos and the Cinematic Pan.
Performance and Storage
The Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G have essentially the same engine: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G which is good for theoretical download speeds of up to 3.7Gbps. It just cannot support the even faster mmWave 5G internet, but this will not be the case in the Netherlands in the first few years.
Furthermore, the phones with 128 GB have the same amount of storage, and you cannot expand it via microSD. The only difference when it comes to performance is in the 6GB RAM of the Pixel 4a 5G, compared to 8GB for the Pixel 5. Though 6GB is still plenty to run Android smoothly without too much app. processes are aborted in the background.
Battery
This is a remarkable difference, because it is not easy to explain. As said before, the Pixel 4a 5G is a lot bigger, heavier and thicker than the Pixel 5. Then it also seems logical that it will have a slightly smaller battery, but nothing could be further from the truth. Google’s flagship comes with a 4080 mAh battery, compared to the 3,885 mAh battery of the Pixel 4a 5G.
Whether the difference will be noticeable in practice remains to be seen. Although the Pixel 4a 5G has a slightly larger screen that should consume more, the OLED panel has a 60 Hz refresh rate and not 90 Hz. A review should show how the two batteries fare. Both phones come with an 18-watt fast charger, which is somewhat disappointing considering the price of the devices. Primarily for the Pixel 5.
Conclusion
The Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G are two phones that have a lot in common. The housing, size and screen are the main differences, but despite that different design, they have a lot more in common than you might think. In fact, the 4a 5G has more similarities with the Pixel 5 than with the 4a.
So if you like a more premium finish and a nicer screen, then you’ve come to the right place with the Pixel 5. If you think the screen size is more important and you want a good camera for an accessible price, then the Pixel 4a 5G is the better choice. The phones will also be very similar in terms of software, as both come with Android 11 out of the box and can count on three years of security and version updates. In addition, they will also both be able to enjoy the exclusive Pixel features.
Whether the extras that the Pixel 5 comes out with are sufficient to justify the additional cost of 129 euros compared to the 5a, that is a personal choice. Although an extensive test will have to show which of these two devices is the most interesting in the current Google line-up.
You can read all about how to pre-order the phones from the Netherlands here. What do you think of the new Pixel? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.
– Thanks for information from Androidworld.