Smartphone Google Pixel 3a XL - advantages and disadvantages

The American corporation Google has been part of the Alphabet holding since 2015. The main product of the company is a search engine. The company develops and maintains Internet services, products and tools for them (OS, browsers, extensions and add-ons, hosting, etc.), the Android mobile operating system, and devices. In 2018, Google bought out part of HTC, whose engineers began to develop Pixel gadgets with their own design - laptops, smartphones, tablets and accessories for them. The Google Pixel 3a XL smartphone is the latest version of the third generation of the Pixel line. About him and will be discussed.

New smartphone

Previously, Google launched a line of premium smartphones at a high price that not everyone can afford. Budget gadgets in the list of corporation products appeared relatively recently.Google Pixel 3a XL was presented on May 7, 2019. The company claims that this smartphone is a flagship with the latest features and built-in features, an excellent camera and a high-quality screen. The successful release of previous 3rd generation Pixel models has accelerated the development and improvement of the Pixel 3 XL into the 3a XL. The option turned out to be more simplified and cheaper. The manufacturer expects to support new OS versions and security updates for 3 years. The device will update like a regular app downloaded from the Play Store. You won't have to wait for application optimization, system reboot, system adjustment to valid certificates.

Product design and appearance

The case-monoblock is made of plastic, the screen is glass. The matte two-tone color speaks of pixel gadgets. The model is presented in three colors: black, snow-white and soft purple. Employees of the corporation took part in the development of the design. Therefore, the identity is maintained throughout the Pixel line. The corners of the screen are rounded, with a headphone jack on top. The power button and volume control are located on the same end. The appearance is similar to the older brothers of the gadget - Pixel 3 and 3 XL. The plastic case makes the product cheaper and does not provide moisture protection, as premium materials do. Therefore, the device does not have wireless charging.

Screen

The model has a touch color screen with an OLED matrix, a screen resolution of Full-HD plus with a resolution of 2160x1080 Pixels, a diagonal of 6 inches. There are 3 color modes for every taste of users. OLED panel delivers sharp colors with natural balance, deep blacks and a wide viewing angle.True, it is better to look at the screen at a right angle, when tilted, overflows appear in a blue tone.

Interface Features

Menu with convenient and simple control. There is a button to turn on the dark theme of the design, like on most Google smartphones. It allows you to reduce eye strain, provides convenience and ease of reading. At the same time, the function works to save the battery: at 20% charge, switching to a dark background occurs automatically.

Google Assistant allows you to book a plane ticket, a theater ticket, a table in a restaurant, a hotel room without your intervention: having loaded the necessary information, the algorithms begin to independently view mail, notes, calendar and look for solutions to relevant problems as accurately and correctly as possible. At the same time, you do not need to fill out a lot of forms - artificial intelligence, together with an assistant, will help save time. The Active Edge feature allows you to call up and launch Google Assistant by pressing the sides of your smartphone.

It became convenient to communicate with the voice assistant 2.0 without the Internet. No need to repeat every time the phrase: "OK, Google ...". It is enough to apply once, and then ask the usual questions. The information is not sent to the server, the phone itself answers the question, opens the desired application. The assistant also produces subtitles for all types of content. The Live Caption function is convenient when watching a video without sound, so as not to disturb others and get useful information every minute. It is also useful for hard of hearing people. Voice data is sent to the server, where it is analyzed and converted into text. The data is confidential, not monitored, and transmitted quickly. This does not consume megabytes of the Internet.

Operating system and processor

The new smartphone uses Android 9.0 Pie. The latest Android Q beta will not be supported until mid-June. This is the decision of the corporation about the "budget" models Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.

Snapdragon 670 class Qualcomm central processor. The chip includes 8 cores (2 + 6) with Kryo 360 architecture. This type is recommended for mid-range smartphones. 2 cores of a powerful cluster operate at a frequency of 2.0 GHz, the remaining 6 cores are limited to a frequency of 1.7 GHz, the Adreno 615 accelerator.

The smartphone is designed for one SIM card, it does not have a slot for a removable memory card. The gadget has 64 GB of internal memory without the possibility of expansion.

4 gigabytes of RAM allow you to quickly open several applications, switch between them, use search services at the same time. If you download and run a video game, the picture will not switch smoothly, the difference will be noticeable. The analyzed smartphone is suitable in terms of toys for children and beginners, it is better for avid gamers to purchase a special gaming unit with a more powerful processor.

Camera and model features

The top camera has similar specifications to the 3 XL model. The module on the rear side is 12.2 MPix with an aperture of F / 1.80. There is a rear LED flash. Additional camera features include optical image stabilization, auto focus, macro mode, the ability to shoot video. The front (front) camera is 8 MPix, aperture is F / 2.0. The Night Sight function allows you to take pictures in the dark by increasing the exposure. If we talk about video, then the quality of shooting directly depends on the lighting. In poor lighting, a good video will not work.

The device does not have an additional processor with which fast photo processing takes place (as in models 3 and 3 XL). Photos are processed more slowly, but the quality is not lost from this.

Not a very pleasant feature of a smartphone: you can’t store full-resolution photos on Google servers for free, only in High Quality mode with a certain compression.

In the device, video can be played in 4K simplified version, the frame rate per second is 30. Ultra-high resolution video with a frequency of 60 frames is not available due to the processor power. The maximum video resolution is 3840x2160 - 4K (Ultra HD). You can shoot video with the main and front cameras in HD: 1280x720 pix at 240 fps, Full HD: 1920x1080 pix at 120 fps.

Sound

When recording audio, several compression formats work: MP3, WAV, AAC, WMA. The stereo speakers point downwards, so the sound only travels in one direction, although the presentation journalists gave different information.

Battery

The battery capacity of the 3a XL is similar to that of the 3a and is 3700 mAh. Fast charging is supported by the Quick Charge 4+ protocol and takes approximately 100 minutes. In normal mode, the phone can work a day without recharging, leaving 35%. When testing the battery with a continuously working screen, the device was completely discharged after 11 hours.

Connection

The device has the following wireless communications: Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0 device, NFC chip, OTG. GPS/GLONASS satellite navigation works. Standard communication is distributed by the following names: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE, CDMA.
Everything new is well forgotten old. The phrase is suitable for the presented 3a XL version. It again has a mini-Jack headphone jack with a diameter of 3.5 mm.

Additional gadget features

Management can be exercised by voice, there is a voice dialing. There are light and proximity sensors, a flashlight, noise reduction, an optical gyroscope. The fingerprint scanner is located on the rear panel.

Equipment

The standard kit includes:

• smartphone;
• Charger;
• key for installing and removing a SIM card;
• USB TYPE-C cable;
• wired stereo headphones;
• USB TYPE-C to 3.5 mm adapter;
• User's Manual;
• branded stickers.

Price

The new flagship has become more affordable. A camera with a similar resolution and this class could previously be purchased for about $1,000. The Google Pixel 3a XL costs €480 = $540.

Smartphone Features:

• excellent software quality;
• great intellectual capabilities and functionality;
• own developments are used (design and Android operating system);
• operating system updates are primarily for Google smartphone users;
• does not heat up;
• good price for a quality camera;
• high camera performance under ideal conditions;
• the smartphone is fast charging;
• responds well to actions on the interface;
• works autonomously for a long time;
• the kit has everything you need;
• powerful battery.

• 1 SIM card;
• no expansion of memory is provided;
• 1 camera - which is not enough for a modern smartphone;
• old-style sensor;
• not suitable for those who like to play;
• no video recording 60 fps;
• it is impossible to get high-quality video in poor lighting;
• complex and lengthy graphics processing;
• to store photos without compression and for free, you need a separate drive;
• case does not protect against moisture.

Conclusion

When considering the new 3rd generation Pixel model, it can be noted that it has a larger battery, a larger 6-inch screen, compared to the Pixel 3a. The excellent camera is taken from the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL versions. The device belongs to the "budget" due to cheap case materials, mid-range processor and simplified characteristics of similar premium models.