Google Announces Low-Cost 5G Pixel 5a Smartphone, Plans to Nix Chargers in Box Going Forward

[bousozoku]

5G, 6,3" display, dual camera... No way I would choose the SE over this.

Performance doesn't matter? How will a midrange Snapdragon perform?

The 2400 x 1080 OLED display, if true, will be a huge deal for US$449. 5G service possibilities might be a draw.

I want a better display, but I'd still be hesitant considering my other Android experiences. My 2020 iPhone SE is good and a 2022 would be good, as well.

 

[WilburMercer]

I might consider getting one of these and installing grapheneOS on it.

My thoughts also, although this phone probably won't be sold in Hong Kong where I am.

 

[Ethrem]

There is no mmWave, contrary to what basically every article has said including this one, because that’s part of how they get the cost savings over the Pixel 4a 5G. This means it’s a terrible phone for Verizon long term but great for T-Mobile. AT&T is probably neutral since their LTE network tends to be quite good and their mmWave 5G is insanely limited even compared to Verizon.

I am still on the fence. I am going to end up with my first Pixel this year, just not sure if it will be a 5a or a 6 Pro. Waiting for Black Friday so I can see a) what deals there are, b) how the 6 Pro is faring with reviewers and users, and c) if the 6 Pro can still have its bootloader unlocked and how custom ROM support is with the SoC. C is a dealbreaker which would push me to the 5a.

People going on and on about the SoC. It’s between a Snapdragon 835 and 845 on the CPU and a touch under the 835 for GPU. Not the best but plenty capable. They could have gone with the newer 780G but doing so would have cost them in availability (it’s a 5nm chip where TSMC is totally backed up while the 765G is a 6nm chip) and it would have been a weird move to give an “a” series a better chip than the 5 itself has.

For $450 I’m not demanding top of the line, especially since unlike the iPhones there isn’t a sacrifice made in the display technology. Both the SE and XR have LCD panels, 5a is OLED with HDR support. I can’t ever go back to an LCD after having OLED for so long.

I would be excited about the headphone jack but I switched to Sony WH-1000XM3’s and am pretty happy with them. Can’t see myself going back to being tethered by a cord.

Battery life should be phenomenal with that massive battery.

 

[bluecoast]

I’d love Apple to produce something like the LCD iPhone 11 (or at the size of the X), with 5G but leave out the faceId sensor array & bring it in for under $500.

The problem is, loads of people would buy that model over their expensive ones.

Which will likely say something about the features/ cost ratio that those have.

 

[Zalmox]

Cant wait to get one and install calix os on it. Its time to let go the apple ecosystem.
Cant stand being treated as criminal by my own payed hardware everyday

 

[H2SO4]

Definitely not! The phone price remains the same even though you now get less stuff! ZOMG! How dare they!

But let's be clear... that $30 charger that Apple or Google wants to sell you later didn't cost them $30 to include in the first place.

So no one should expect the retail price of a smartphone to drop by exactly $30 since a $30 charger isn't included in the box anymore.

I say leave them out. I already have PLENTY of charging solutions in my home, at my desk, in my car, etc.

I was buying 3rd-party chargers anyway... even though smartphones came with chargers in the box for all those years. I simply prefer other brands of chargers.

So if Apple, Google, Samsung, etc want to exclude their own chargers... it's fine by me!

I know it cost peanuts to produce but it would be nice to try and give a little more value to customers sometimes.

 

[Michael Scrip]

I know it cost peanuts to produce but it would be nice to try and give a little more value to customers sometimes.

They either include a charger... or they don't.

They did the former for a long time... and now they're doing the latter.

Who knows... maybe the peanuts reduced cost of excluding a charger is exactly offset by the increased price of some other internal component.

Maybe you're actually getting a better Taptic Engine motor or better earpiece speaker now than you would if they kept including a charger like the old days.

I guess we'll never know...

PS... magnets aren't cheap!

 

[d686546s]

I could save myself a lot of money if I could stomach Android. Or something as small and dated looking as the SE.

I really tried to use Android 11 on a Pixel 5, but I'm just too stubbornly set in my ways. I had a few genuine issues, like the Pixel not playing as well with the Mac as I wanted, but overall it was a great software experience.

Despite all the hate, I loved the Pixel 5 hardware. The size (although on the edge, prefer the 12 mini), the weight, the non-glass material, the battery. If it ran iOS I would love to keep using it, frankly I'd prefer it over the iPhone 12 despite the snazzy flat edges etc.

 

[Quackington]

But we here, on MacRumors, are, of course, all the most discriminating power users.

I’m actually curious to know about what a discriminating power user would do on their phone? Full disclosure: I’m an iPhone 11 user that uses it for calls/texts/pictures (not lots)/browsing.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Preordered. 🤣 Now what watch to get…

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Seems like many people aren’t reading an article. An 18W charger comes in the box with the Pixel 5a. The next Pixel model will remove chargers from the box.

 

[Gherkin]

Well. It is a funny little toy for the americans and a few other countries, but not a real thing for the rest of the world.

Yey.

100% classist trash. Do you spit on homeless people?

 

[sdz]

And a proper processor.

Why? Maybe it is zippy enough

 

[jlocker]

Android operating system has come a long way over the last 10 year. I just got a Pixel 4a for work and it is not bad. If you really want to see something cool look at the new HP Chromebase desktop. It is half the price of a iMac desktop with a touch screen, rotating display and other cool features.

Still like my iPhone with the find my feature for things that I can not find.

 

[boswald]

Hope I find a pot of gold soon so I could grab one of these too!

 

[satchmo]

Ironically, this is what the rumoured 2022 SE will look like, with a hole-punch.

But this all screen Pixel 5a could certainly steal sales away from the current iPhone SE...especially if you're platform agnostic.

 

[nquinn]

I just wish they'd reduce the price of the 4a. It was $350 brand new one full year ago.

Need something cheap for my dad - but feels horrible to pay full price on a one-year old device.

 

[bobenhaus]

Hard to argue with that if you were looking for an Android phone.

I’m more interested to read what the Fandroid excuses will be for the lack of charger…

What are you talking about? $pple started this removing of chargers nonsense .

 

[bobenhaus]

I could save myself a lot of money if I could stomach Android. Or something as small and dated looking as the SE.

How's the photo scanning coming along with your $pple devices ?

 

[GeneralChang]

And you left out the part where said companies make fun of Apple, calling Apple out in their keynotes and advertising, for said unpopular choice, before then making that same choice themselves.

Personally, I'm happy Apple got chargers out of the box, given than in many cases (not all, but quite a few*), those chargers never come out of the box, or sit in a drawer or some such. I'd be happier if they made it an easy-to-bundle option, with a discount, basically, "so, you're mid-check-out on your new iPhone, would you like to add a charger for $REDUCED_PRICE, or do have a suitable one already?"

*: (No need for people to counter that to they use the charger from the box every time - I said many, I didn't say you or every - I freely concede that many do use it. Make it available to those that need it at a modest cost.)

Re: the charger in box thing, I'm actually pretty happy the charger itself is gone. Same for the crap-tier headphones. Apple pulled them out because profit, but them framing it as an environmentally friendly move is still technically correct. That'll reduce the e-waste their products generate for the vast majority of users, and to me that seems like overall a good thing.

That said, they should absolutely still give people an option to bundle in the charger if needed, and it should cost basically nothing to do so. Like maybe 3-5 bucks. A little sting to let people know they should skip out on this if they can, but still minor enough that it won't actually hurt the people who need it.

 

[GeneralChang]

I wish that Apple would make the Mini or SE the same physical footprint of the 5/5s/1st gen SE. That was a perfect sized phone.

Have you held the Mini? It's shockingly close already. Personally I feel like it's the perfect blend of the excellent 5 design and the modern features you expect an iPhone to have. I'm genuinely bummed it apparently hasn't sold very well.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Performance doesn't matter? How will a midrange Snapdragon perform?

The 2400 x 1080 OLED display, if true, will be a huge deal for US$449. 5G service possibilities might be a draw.

I want a better display, but I'd still be hesitant considering my other Android experiences. My 2020 iPhone SE is good and a 2022 would be good, as well.

I have never owned an iPhone and I concede that Apple does make some of the best phones. However I do own a Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G and I can say in all honest truth, they are really good phones if you like or prefer Android, which I do. My preference for Android boils down to their Core Apps such as the Google Assistant, GMaps, Android Auto, Gmail, Keep Notes, Messenger, Google Phone and it's Call Screener which is also part of G Assistant.

Hardware wise there isn't a whole lot wrong with the Pixel line. I can't say the same for the Pixel 6 line but from my experience with both Pixel phones from last year, they are both fast and fluid.

 

[nquinn]

Seems like many people aren’t reading an article. An 18W charger comes in the box with the Pixel 5a. The next Pixel model will remove chargers from the box.

This is a little more reasonable to me. With USB-C and fast charging more common, companies should at least get a baseline stock of these chargers out into the public before discontinuing including them (cough...apple...cough)

 

[jk1221]

The 5a will have 3 years of system updates... half as many as the SE.

Many people overlook this! They also try to say oh it’s fine you can get another Android OS like LineageOS, etc. nothing comes close to the OS support of iOS and Apple devices.

To clarify Google's official position is "at least 3 years." Not 3 years on the dot and poof.

I suspect you will see longer than 3 years, especially from Google directly, as more Android manufacturers are pushing that date out

But let's be real in 6 years the SE will look like an antique too. It already looks like one in 2021 with a tiny LCD and big ole forehead and chin.

 

[jk1221]

Definitely not! The phone price remains the same even though you now get less stuff! ZOMG! How dare they!

But let's be clear... that $30 charger that Apple or Google wants to sell you later didn't cost them $30 to include in the first place.

So no one should expect the retail price of a smartphone to drop by exactly $30 since a $30 charger isn't included in the box anymore.

I say leave them out. I already have PLENTY of charging solutions in my home, at my desk, in my car, etc.

I was buying 3rd-party chargers anyway... even though smartphones came with chargers in the box for all those years. I simply prefer other brands of chargers.

So if Apple, Google, Samsung, etc want to exclude their own chargers... it's fine by me!

Technically the 5a is $50 cheaper ($449) than the 4a 5G ($499 at launch) for a very similar but upgraded phone (water resistance, slightly bigger screen, etc). So 🤷‍♂️ They did drop the price so there is really no legit price gripe that can be raised in this specific instance.