We chose our best budget smartphone of the year recently, as the Google Pixel 4a won it. Well, it seems like you, our readers, agree with that choice. The Google Pixel 4a won in AH Reader’s Choice Awards this year as well. It won easily, it seems. We offered four choices in a Twitter poll, the Google Pixel 4a, Galaxy A71 5G, Moto G Power, and the Nokia 7.2. The Google Pixel 4a won 58.3-percent of your votes, and is followed by the Galaxy A71 5G with 25-percent. The Moto G Power is third-placed with 12.5-percent, while the Nokia 7.2 grabbed 4.2-percent.
This result is not exactly surprising. Google did a great job with the Pixel 4a this year, and Pixel phones in general. The device offers a great camera, really good performance, is well-built, and it’s also compact enough for one-hand usage. On top of all that, its battery life is also pretty good. I’ve been using that phone as my daily driver for a while now, and I don’t feel the need to change at all. It reminds me of the good old Nexus days, and I’m glad to see our readers like it as well. Considering that the Pixel 4a already won an AH award from the site’s editors, I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible, just to avoid completely repeating myself.
Great performance, good display
The Google Pixel 4a is fueled by the Snapdragon 730G SoC. That is far from being the best Qualcomm has to offer, and yet, the phone performs admirably. This handset is not made for long gaming sessions, but it can handle games just fine. Even some more demanding games run fine, though they may not run as well as on the Snapdragon 865, or something similar. For everyday usage, though, this processor is more than enough. The phone is snappy when it comes to opening apps, multitasking, multimedia consumption, and so on. 6GB of RAM is included, and seems to be more than enough for this phone.
The device comes with a 5.81-inch fullHD+ OLED display, and that display is… well, it’s good. It’s far from being the best fullHD+ panel in the market, but chances are you won’t have any complaints. If you don’t hold it side-by-side with a better unit, you really won’t be disappointed. The colors are punchy, the blacks are deep, viewing angles are good… and the display gets bright enough. This is a 60Hz display, though, so it’s not exactly too smooth, but you can’t ask for more at this price. On top of everything, it’s a flat panel, which is something most people prefer.
Excellent camera performance, and really good battery life
The Pixel 4a comes with the same main camera as the Pixel 5. In fact, that is the only camera on the back of this phone. Google has been utilizing that 12.2-megapixel sensor for a long time now. It managed to get its algorithms just right, and it’s still performing like a champ. No matter if you’re using it during the day, or night, chances are you’ll get excellent shots. Google’s software magic is doing its part, and as long as you don’t need an ultrawide camera, this is one of the best point-and-shoot smartphone cameras on the market. That is a huge bonus for such an affordable phone.
Now, in terms of battery life, that aspect may surprise you. The Google Pixel 4a can easily reach 6 hours screen-on-time in my usage. Do note that I don’t really play games, but I do use my phones a lot during the day, and I often cross that 6-hour mark. Browsing, multitasking, image editing, multimedia consumption, messaging, emailing, and much more. This phone can handle it all like a champ, and still have enough battery life left. 18W wired charging is included, which is not the fastest out there, but chances are you won’t have to charge this phone before the end of the day, so… that shouldn’t be a problem.
The Google Pixel 4a is making 2020 budget smartphones look good
The Google Pixel 4a is not only the best budget phones of 2020, but one of the best phones this year overall. When you consider everything you’re getting here, it’s difficult not to say as much. I’m used to using flagship-grade devices, and yet I’m still sticking with this smartphone. The size is perfect, it’s comfortable to use, and it delivers in every important way. If you’ve been wondering whether to get this phone or not, both us (editors), and our readers seem to agree that this is one excellent smartphone.