The Perfect Smartphone for 2020? (Premium)

The Google Pixel 4a 5G occupies a confusing spot in Google’s confusing 2020 Pixel lineup. It’s boring, bland, and unexceptional. And I love it.

Next week, I’ll publish my review of this most recent Google handset. Here, I’d like to just focus on how it meets my own needs. What’s most curious about the affection I have for this device is that I’m not sure I’d have felt the same way about it two, four, or six months ago. But being confronted with the various compromises in the far more expensive and luxurious Samsung Note 20 Ultra, Apple iPhone 12, and OnePlus 8T was a nice level-set. At the end of all that, I was ready for something a little boring. Something that just worked like I wanted it to.

The Pixel 4a 5G is that phone.

No, it’s not perfect. But it is the right phone for me right now.

And I don’t necessarily mean that in a pandemic sense, though it’s not hard to make the argument that a $500 handset with a great camera system, 5G compatibility, and a durable polycarbonate body is, in many ways, the right choice for many during these uncertain times. I won’t argue otherwise. But this handset meets my needs by hitting at an interesting intersection of some of the things I really care about. And those needs aren’t entirely about the here and now of this horrible pandemic year.

First, I should just note the odd juxtaposition of my job as a reviewer and my needs as an individual. Were I not reviewing smartphones and other products, I would certainly have far fewer of them coming through my house every year, and I’d likely just stick with a single handset for years at a time. I know this because that’s how I do things elsewhere. I like things that last, and I use many things past the point where it even makes sense. I respect and appreciate when others do the same.

But for me, that’s not the case with smartphones. Each year, I review several handsets, moving from one to another throughout the year. And that changes the dynamic of the relationship a bit. I don’t really need to choose something that lasts since I’ll be trading in most phones for their successors a year later anyway and using several other phones in the meantime. Oddly, I usually do end up buying or getting the most expensive model of whatever handset, but the goal is usually to buy the one I’d pick regardless in those instances where it’s up to me to acquire the device.

Usually. But thanks to the odd positioning of Google’s 2020 smartphones, that’s not what happened here. None of the three handsets that Google released this year—the Pixel 4a, Pixel 5, and Pixel 4a 5G—are truly flagship-class products. Each has mid-range processors, two have small displays, and the most expensive of the three costs just $700. Nothing about these products makes any sense, even if you understand how badly Google has done in the smartphone market.

If you look back at my Google Pixel 4a review, you’ll see that I lauded it for its delightful polycarbonate unibody, low pricing, and decent camera system that was—and still is—a unique value … assuming you could live with its limitations.

I could not: The Pixel 4a is simply too small for my oven mitt-sized hands and middle-aged eyes, and since I value camera quality above all else, the 4a’s single camera sensor was problematic. Ideally, a smartphone would have three sensors, but I’d accept just two, assuming they were a main (wide) sensor and an ultra-wide. (As opposed to the main sensor and the telephoto in the Pixel 4/4 XL.)

The Pixel 4a 5G solves those two problems: It has a larger XL-type form factor and display, and it has two camera sensors, main (wide) and ultra-wide. It also improves dramatically on battery life, and I’ve often gone almost two full days before worrying about charging.

The Pixel 4a 5G retains those things I really liked about the Pixel 4a, too: The low price and resulting great value, the modern and minimalist design with its delightful and durable polycarbonate body, and its fast and accurate rear-mounted fingerprint reader.

It’s worth mentioning, however, that the Pixel 4a 5G also retains some issues from its smaller sibling that might make it less than ideal for some, of course. There’s no wireless charging, no IP water/dust rating, no facial recognition, and the mid-level processor is concerning over the long term. There are no fun color options, just black. I’ll hit on those issues in my review.

Ultimately, the value proposition here is clear. This is a handset that is not expensive for what you get, at $500, and it comes at a reasonable additional cost ($150) over the original Pixel 4a given the extras. (Size, battery life, camera system, and 5G connectivity.)

Interestingly, this is not the case if you pay yet another $150 to upgrade to the so-called Pixel 5. This handset has the same dual-camera system as the Pixel 4a 5G, and it even includes wireless charging and at least one other color choice. But it’s just about as tiny as the Pixel 4a and it comes in a weird hybrid aluminum/plastic resin body that is both unnecessary and, by all accounts, feels like a brown paper bag to the touch. (I’ve not held one.) The Pixel 5 does little to justify its additional cost and its downsides are incredible. (Among them is cost: You’re paying $50 to $100 more so that the Pixel 5 can be compatible with both of Verizon’s 5G network types, and that’s true whether you use Verizon or not.)

Put simply, the Pixel 4a 5G—which I can’t stop thinking of as the Pixel 4a XL—hits at what I consider my own sweet spot. It’s a “good enough” phone for today and the near future. It has a clean Android image that doesn’t get in the way and provides several fun and useful Pixel extras, none of which could possibly be called crapware. Its camera system, while not perfect, is good enough. It’s size, while not quite perfect, is good enough. Ditto the performance, though again I have questions about the long term. But I hope to answer those questions by using this handset for as long as I’m able. Yes, eventually, some review unit will come calling. We’ll see how it goes.

Looked at from another angle, you may recall that while the OnePlus 8T is wonderful in so many ways, its camera experience is so inconsistent that I had to give up on it. This kind of unreliability is unacceptable, and it ruined what was otherwise an incredible day-to-day experience.

But the Pixel 4a 5G is the opposite of the OnePlus 8T: It doesn’t wow with an incredible modern design, blistering performance, an ungodly-good display, or unbelievable fast charging. It just shows up and gets the job done.

You have to respect that. I certainly do.