Google's brand-new Pixel four just launched — but here'southward why yous should consider buying the Pixel 3a instead

Google Pixel 4

The Pixel four.
Crystal Cox/Business Insider
  • When Google unveiled the $800 Pixel 4 earlier this calendar month, it highlighted the phone's advanced camera and move-sensing capabilities every bit main selling points.
  • But the less expensive Pixel 3a, which starts at $400, offers a similar feel — similar a quality photographic camera that tin accept smashing photos in the dark — for hundreds of dollars less.
  • The Pixel 4 does include some impressive new features, similar faster facial recognition and a better camera that can capture photos of stars in the night heaven. Just those additions may not justify spending twice as much on a new phone.
  • Visit Business Insider'south homepage for more than stories.

Later an avalanche of leaks, Google finally unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the Pixel iv, earlier this month. The phone officially started shipping on October 24 and starts at $800.

Google's Pixel 4 brings a handful of improvements, such every bit a motion-sensing system that can discover when you lot're near the phone to unlock it faster, and a camera that lets you suit the highlights and shadows in real time every bit you're shooting.

But if you're in the market for a new phone and don't want to spend $800 or more than, it'due south worth looking at the $400 Pixel 3a, a cheaper version of the Pixel that Google launched this spring. The Pixel 3a may not have all the bells and whistles that come with a premium device like the Pixel iv, but for those seeking a reliable Android phone with a great camera and expert battery life, it'll certainly fit the bill.

The biggest difference betwixt the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3a is the more advanced photographic camera on the Pixel 4.

Pixel 4.
Crystal Cox/Business organization Insider

Google'southward latest phone has a second telephoto lens with a 16-megapixel sensor in add-on to the standard 12.2-megapixel camera. That boosted lens gives the Pixel 4 more sophisticated zooming capabilities compared to the Pixel 3a.

Google too introduced some new camera tricks to the 4 that aren't available on the 3a, similar the ability to tweak both the highlights and shadows in real time as you're setting up your shot and a feature that learns the faces of people y'all photo most often and then information technology tin can prioritize them in photos.

The Pixel 4 can also show you what photos will look similar after HDR+ effects accept been applied to them fifty-fifty earlier you take the shot. Night Sight on the Pixel 4 has gotten an upgrade as well that enables it to capture photos of stars in the night sky — a feat that'due south ordinarily challenging when shooting on a smartphone.

But the Pixel 3a still has a great camera.

Pixel 3a.
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Like the Pixel 4, Google's cheaper smartphone also supports features like Dark Sight for taking clear photos in the night.

The Pixel 3a lacks the secondary 16-megapixel telephoto camera found on the Pixel iv, simply it does take a 12.2-megapixel primary camera that's similar to that of the pricier Pixel 3 and Pixel 4. When I tested the Pixel 3a Xl's camera alongside that of the much pricier iPhone XS Max several months agone, I found it to be merely virtually on par with Apple'southward previous-generation flagship.

How valuable those features are will depend on what you lot're looking for from a smartphone. But if you lot aren't a photography enthusiast and don't intendance much about the extra flexibility you get when shooting with the Pixel four, you tin however expect to get a smashing camera with the Pixel 3a.

The Pixel 4 has Google's new Motion Sense technology.

Pixel iv.
Crystal Cox/Business Insider

Move Sense lets you perform tasks such equally switching between songs or lowering the volume of your alarm without actually touching the phone.

Since this radar-powered tech can detect when you're nearby, the Pixel 4 also unlocks slightly faster than its cheaper sibling.

The faster face unlock is useful, but in its current state, it's also not equally secure as alternatives like Apple's Face up ID. The Pixel four may unlock even if someone were to hold the phone up to your face while you were sleeping, for example, although Google says a fix for this is coming soon.

The ability to unlock your phone slightly faster is Motion Sense'southward best and most applied employ case, merely it's not a must-have feature that drastically changes the experience of using your phone. The Pixel 3a too has a fingerprint sensor on its dorsum dissimilar the Pixel 4, providing another ways of unlocking your device if y'all cull not to use facial recognition.

The larger version of the Pixel 3a — the Pixel 3a XL — has improve battery life than the Pixel iv.

Pixel 3a.
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

While the Pixel iv generally lasted for one unabridged twenty-four hours during my regular daily usage, the Pixel 3a XL would terminal a whole day and well into the side by side.

That may exist because the Pixel 3a XL has a larger iii,700 mAh battery compared to the Pixel four'due south ii,800 mAh battery, but it'southward important to remember that there are many factors that can affect battery life.

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