If you’re looking for a cheap Android phone, especially one with a great camera, you ought to set your sights on Google’s Pixel 4a series. The 5G version of the phone might have been slightly out of some people’s budgets at launch, you can currently score one at $40 off via Amazon, dropping it back down to its best-ever price of $459.
The Google Pixel 4a 5G rarely falls in price, and we don’t know how long this discount will last, so it’s a deal well worth jumping on if you’re in the market for a 5G upgrade.
Design-wise, the Pixel 4a 5G is essentially unchanged from the regular Pixel 4a, though there are a few extra features that make it worth the jump in price.
One key differentiator for the Pixel 4a 5G is the Snapdragon 765G chipset with 5G connectivity. It offers much better performance in day-to-day use over the Snapdragon 730 in the Pixel 4a, so if you like to play games on your phone, the Pixel 4a 5G is a better option.
Both the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G have identical OLED displays, with the former offering a 5.8-inch screen and the latter a 6.2-inch panel. The panels offer HDR, are backed by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3, and are limited to 60Hz. The larger screen gives the Pixel 4a 5G a slight edge, but the panel quality itself is identical between both models.
The charging tech is also identical across both devices, with Google offering 18W wired charging, though the 5G version has a larger 3,885mAh battery that delivers more screen-on-time. Both phones come with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
If your phone’s camera is important to you, the Pixel 4a 5G offers more in that area than its non-5G counterpart with the addition of a 16MP wide-angle camera at the back as well as the primary 12.2MP lens.
Check out our Pixel 4a 5G review for more on exactly how well it performs in day-to-day use and hit up our Pixel 4a vs Pixel 4a 5G guide for a deep-dive spec sheet comparison.
