Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

bobob said:
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see Android fans hailing a lack of system and security updates as a feature, but it's still impressive to see the mental gymnastics.
Click to expand...
Stability matters more to me. I prefer older versions of apps because they were better and had no ads. Older apps works better with older versions of Android. I have never had any issues with security breaches or malware. It helps that I avoid shady apps and websites.

My phone never slows down, my battery life doesn't get cut in half. Apple has done a bang up job with with their updates to insure older phones don't get throttled or have battery issues, haven't they? No scam apps can pass Apple's scrutiny, can it?:rolleyes:

As I ways preach, the best security is between the ears. It also resolves the biggest issue customers had back when I was a computer tech: PEBCAK.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M3gatron, JMStearnsX2, jk1221 and 1 other person
bobob said:
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see Android fans hailing a lack of system and security updates as a feature, but it's still impressive to see the mental gymnastics.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what we are doing. Hahahaha. Three guaranteed years with likely more... LOL.

I hope I wasn't this way when I was defending Apple?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk1221
Ethrem said:
Engadget is a joke. Also, the processor isn’t old. It’s just upper midrange. Believe it or not, it’s going to cover the needs of the vast majority of people. Not everyone needs Instagram to load five milliseconds faster.
Click to expand...
No good mate 😬 better off with a SE.

D4F66A3F-582D-4279-B206-1871DD5B393C.jpeg
7D5E4C91-CBDA-4661-9DD2-3806280735C7.jpeg
539B64E5-D64C-4D71-A4CB-6C926BD8F707.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobob
LFC2020 said:
No good mate better off with a SE.

View attachment 1820434View attachment 1820435View attachment 1820436
Click to expand...

Benchmarks aren’t everything. People focus way too much on them. Go watch actual reviewers who spend more than a day or a week with a device who say that it’s not even noticeable in day to day usage. It slows down with heavy games in the loading department but it’s not severe. People are acting like it’s going to perform like a $100 phone and that’s just not the case. The 700 series is just one product tier down from the flagship 800 series. It’s not a flagship but it’s not priced like one either.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk1221 and eltoslightfoot
Ethrem said:
Benchmarks aren’t everything. People focus way too much on them. Go watch actual reviewers who spend more than a day or a week with a device who say that it’s not even noticeable in day to day usage. It slows down with heavy games in the loading department but it’s not severe. People are acting like it’s going to perform like a $100 phone and that’s just not the case. The 700 series is just one product tier down from the flagship 800 series. It’s not a flagship but it’s not priced like one either.
Click to expand...
They are everything when the phone is stuttering straight out of the box, I’d give google $20 for that phone because of the processor.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: BMox81
LFC2020 said:
They are everything when the phone is stuttering straight out of the box, I’d give google $20 for that phone because of the processor.
Click to expand...

It’s stuttering out of the box because like all phones it has background tasks it’s doing. Not really a fair comparison when the same crap happens on an iPhone. Even my 12 Pro Max was running hot and slow out of the box because it was downloading all my crap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
Ethrem said:
It’s stuttering out of the box because like all phones it has background tasks it’s doing. Not really a fair comparison when the same crap happens on an iPhone. Even my 12 Pro Max was running hot and slow out of the box because it was downloading all my crap.
Click to expand...
Nope, they said the same thing about the previous pixels that had the same processor, it’s happening because of the processor.
 
LFC2020 said:
Nope, they said the same thing about the previous pixels that had the same processor, it’s happening because of the processor.
Click to expand...

Engadget is terrible. I stopped following them many years ago. I don’t ever believe anything they say. Many reviewers are happy with the 5, 4a 5G, and 5a. Some even switched from the 4 to the 5 and don’t miss the faster processor so…
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk1221 and eltoslightfoot
Ethrem said:
Apple makes their own SoCs with their own architecture. They’re not forced to pay the Qualcomm tax beyond the modems. That cuts their costs significantly. Watch what happens now that Google makes their own SoCs too.
Click to expand...
The sooner everyone leaves qualcomm the better, can’t see google making their own chips, the chip in the upcoming pixel 6 is a Samsung exynos chip. 🤦‍♂️
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
LFC2020 said:
The sooner everyone leaves qualcomm the better, can’t see google making their own chips, the chip in the upcoming pixel 6 is a Samsung exynos chip.
Click to expand...

It’s not a Samsung Exynos chip, it’s a customized ARM SoC like Exynos and Snapdragon are that’s fabbed by Samsung and has Google Tensor ML cores in it. Exynos chips use off-the-shelf ARM designs now and Google presumably is doing the same, just adding their ML tech.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk1221 and eltoslightfoot
Ethrem said:
It’s not a Samsung Exynos chip, it’s a customized ARM SoC like Exynos and Snapdragon are that’s fabbed by Samsung and has Google Tensor ML cores in it. Exynos chips use off-the-shelf ARM designs now and Google presumably is doing the same, just adding their ML tech.
Click to expand...
Might want to double check that, apparently they’re using a exynos 990 chip customized to their liking.

Dave2D explains it perfectly in this video 👇

 
Wired: https://www.wired.com/review/google-pixel-5a/

From the article:

"The OLED screen is bright and colorful with inky blacks—many sub-$500 phones use LCD panels, so this is most definitely a visual treat. The display is slightly bigger than the one on the 4A 5G, and the resolution (2,400 by 1,080 pixels) and aspect ratio (20:9) have been bumped to match."

"Regardless, one of the biggest reasons I can recommend you buy this phone is the performance. Like previous A-series Pixels, you can comfortably run pretty much any app or game, and you'll rarely encounter any slowdowns. I was able to play one of the most graphically demanding mobile games, Genshin Impact, and it was hardly frustratingly slow. (Granted, I had to play it with the Low graphics option, but the game still looked fantastic.) "

IGN: https://www.ign.com/articles/google-pixel-5a-review

From the article:

"Here’s where the Google Pixel 5a is a little bit surprising. It comes built around the same Snapdragon 765G chipset that powered the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5, but it’s the cheapest of the three. It also has 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. While the Snapdragon 765G isn’t quite the Snapdragon 865 or 888 that has powered the last two generations of top-tier Android flagships, it’s just about the next best thing.

Throughout testing, I never noticed the phone running slow. Navigating the OS, launching apps, browsing Twitter, watching videos – it all stayed smooth and snappy. The camera app could stand to launch faster, and it’d be peachy if the post-capture processing on photos finished before I tried viewing the results, but those are small unfulfilled desires for a $450 phone.

The Google Pixel 5a doesn’t have any special features that make it extra well suited for gaming, like a fast refresh rate or shoulder buttons, but the Snapdragon 765G and large display certainly help it keep up with more mainstream smartphone competitors. The Pixel 5a could handle Call of Duty Mobile with smooth visuals and consistency at high settings, and it only got a little bit warm in the process. The only shortcomings I noticed were in loading, as navigating the menus to customized weapons could be a bit slow pulling up each new item."

Others seem to be saying similar things?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk1221
LFC2020 said:
Might want to double check that, apparently they’re using a exynos 990 chip customized to their liking.

Dave2D explains it perfectly in this video

Click to expand...

Exynos 990 isn’t a 5nm chip so it literally can’t be the 990. It would not make sense to port the chip to 5nm when there is a 5nm design already in the 2100. The 2100 is an off-the-shelf ARM design so it’s not actually an Exynos beyond the branding.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LFC2020
eltoslightfoot said:
Wired: https://www.wired.com/review/google-pixel-5a/

From the article:

"The OLED screen is bright and colorful with inky blacks—many sub-$500 phones use LCD panels, so this is most definitely a visual treat. The display is slightly bigger than the one on the 4A 5G, and the resolution (2,400 by 1,080 pixels) and aspect ratio (20:9) have been bumped to match."

"Regardless, one of the biggest reasons I can recommend you buy this phone is the performance. Like previous A-series Pixels, you can comfortably run pretty much any app or game, and you'll rarely encounter any slowdowns. I was able to play one of the most graphically demanding mobile games, Genshin Impact, and it was hardly frustratingly slow. (Granted, I had to play it with the Low graphics option, but the game still looked fantastic.) "

IGN: https://www.ign.com/articles/google-pixel-5a-review

From the article:

"Here’s where the Google Pixel 5a is a little bit surprising. It comes built around the same Snapdragon 765G chipset that powered the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5, but it’s the cheapest of the three. It also has 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. While the Snapdragon 765G isn’t quite the Snapdragon 865 or 888 that has powered the last two generations of top-tier Android flagships, it’s just about the next best thing.

Throughout testing, I never noticed the phone running slow. Navigating the OS, launching apps, browsing Twitter, watching videos – it all stayed smooth and snappy. The camera app could stand to launch faster, and it’d be peachy if the post-capture processing on photos finished before I tried viewing the results, but those are small unfulfilled desires for a $450 phone.

The Google Pixel 5a doesn’t have any special features that make it extra well suited for gaming, like a fast refresh rate or shoulder buttons, but the Snapdragon 765G and large display certainly help it keep up with more mainstream smartphone competitors. The Pixel 5a could handle Call of Duty Mobile with smooth visuals and consistency at high settings, and it only got a little bit warm in the process. The only shortcomings I noticed were in loading, as navigating the menus to customized weapons could be a bit slow pulling up each new item."

Others seem to be saying similar things?
Click to expand...

These are much more real reviews than the chip-on-their-shoulder Engadget one. People really don’t complain about the 765G being slow. The biggest complaint I have heard about the 765G is that it can overheat if you use the camera heavily, especially if you’re using 5G at the same time. The X52 modem has the same heat problems the X55 does and since it’s actually integrated into the SoC rather than a separate module like the X55, the heat affects SoC performance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
Ethrem said:
These are much more real reviews than the chip-on-their-shoulder Engadget one. People really don’t complain about the 765G being slow. The biggest complaint I have heard about the 765G is that it can overheat if you use the camera heavily, especially if you’re using 5G at the same time. The X52 modem has the same heat problems the X55 does and since it’s actually integrated into the SoC rather than a separate module like the X55, the heat affects SoC performance.
Click to expand...
I don’t notice over heating so much as battery drain. The 4a 5G produces 4K video that is fine (not close to iPhone 12 Pro standards, from what I’ve seen) but taking it drains the battery at a fair old rate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
eltoslightfoot said:
Wired: https://www.wired.com/review/google-pixel-5a/

From the article:

"The OLED screen is bright and colorful with inky blacks—many sub-$500 phones use LCD panels, so this is most definitely a visual treat. The display is slightly bigger than the one on the 4A 5G, and the resolution (2,400 by 1,080 pixels) and aspect ratio (20:9) have been bumped to match."

"Regardless, one of the biggest reasons I can recommend you buy this phone is the performance. Like previous A-series Pixels, you can comfortably run pretty much any app or game, and you'll rarely encounter any slowdowns. I was able to play one of the most graphically demanding mobile games, Genshin Impact, and it was hardly frustratingly slow. (Granted, I had to play it with the Low graphics option, but the game still looked fantastic.) "

IGN: https://www.ign.com/articles/google-pixel-5a-review

From the article:

"Here’s where the Google Pixel 5a is a little bit surprising. It comes built around the same Snapdragon 765G chipset that powered the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5, but it’s the cheapest of the three. It also has 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. While the Snapdragon 765G isn’t quite the Snapdragon 865 or 888 that has powered the last two generations of top-tier Android flagships, it’s just about the next best thing.

Throughout testing, I never noticed the phone running slow. Navigating the OS, launching apps, browsing Twitter, watching videos – it all stayed smooth and snappy. The camera app could stand to launch faster, and it’d be peachy if the post-capture processing on photos finished before I tried viewing the results, but those are small unfulfilled desires for a $450 phone.

The Google Pixel 5a doesn’t have any special features that make it extra well suited for gaming, like a fast refresh rate or shoulder buttons, but the Snapdragon 765G and large display certainly help it keep up with more mainstream smartphone competitors. The Pixel 5a could handle Call of Duty Mobile with smooth visuals and consistency at high settings, and it only got a little bit warm in the process. The only shortcomings I noticed were in loading, as navigating the menus to customized weapons could be a bit slow pulling up each new item."

Others seem to be saying similar things?
Click to expand...

Gee, it's almost like neutral real hands-on reviews is a better gauge of real life than Macrumor Apple-biased user speculation. Ya don't say!

The 765G has been out for a long time now; it's not some new chip that needs a new deep dive. I have never seen anything negative that it is some terrible chip to avoid or warrant the mid-ranger phones it is in.

For the most part, no one should EVER take advice on competition from an enthusiast site of any brand as biases abound.

You are going to get very few reasonable level-headed opinions here. The minority. Which is incredibly sad because tech fans should be fans of all good tech regardless of who makes it.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: M3gatron and eltoslightfoot
Internaut said:
I don’t notice over heating so much as battery drain. The 4a 5G produces 4K video that is fine (not close to iPhone 12 Pro standards, from what I’ve seen) but taking it drains the battery at a fair old rate.
Click to expand...

4K has always been a bit of a battery drain. Watching, recording, it’s always taxing. I’m not surprised in the least.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot
Ethrem said:
4K has always been a bit of a battery drain. Watching, recording, it’s always taxing. I’m not surprised in the least.
Click to expand...
For some reason my brain said 4g instead of 4K…I was like wha??????? Then I figured it out. 🤣
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back