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again and again and again. Google does not sell „your data“. They put you in a bucket of interests etc that companies can target. For example you may look up fish tanks a lot so you get ads for fish food but it’s not like google is handing „your data“ to companies. It’s not gonna be like „Mr XY Living in Street XY. Do you want to buy his data?

literally any postal service is worse cuz they actually do sell your data
I'm not sure where you're located, but it's certainly not Earth.
 
Arrived at a new bank today, with a lineup outside. The process was to scan a QR code that takes you to a website where you enter your information, and then text messages arrive telling you what your position is in line and when you can proceed to the next teller. This was a sweet tech-driven experience!

On my iPhone, the process was smooth and quick. No hoops to jump through, since the camera scans QR codes automatically.

The Android guy behind me fumbled around, and eventually they had to do a "manual" method of entering the guy into the lineup.

Hardware-wise, both of these phones are decent. Software-wise, nothing beats iOS in pure elegance and simplicity. iOS has continued to set the bar that Android reaches for.

Are you serious? That feature has been around for years even on $60 Moto E4/E6 phones. The guy is probably unfamiliar with the new process vs phone not supporting it. Have had to explain to people too when I go to Micro Center which has the same queue/QR code/SMS notification process.
 
Pixel 4a
+ modern design vs rehash
+ better hardware future proofing with 6GB DRAM and 128GB base storage vs iPhone SE 3GB/64GB
+ 1080p OLED vs iPhone SE 750p LCD
+ mask friendly fingerprint unlock vs pulling down mask with Face ID on iPhone SE
+ Night Mode vs none
+ Built in Titan M 2FA security key
+ better smarts and more advance features like Duplex AI, live transcription, split screen multitasking, etc.
+ longer battery life

SE2 uses the front home button finger unlock.

I'd add in OS/security updates - Valid concern for cheapskate buyers who hold the same phone for years. Google is better than most Androids but Apple still reigns here.
 
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but this is a sloppy review.

Does the battery on the Pixel actually last longer, or is the author only comparing their mAh ratings? Because the way this review is written, the author is only comparing mAh ratings.

You missed that the Pixel doesn’t have wireless charging, but does have USB-C instead of a lightning port.

You missed the the iPhone SE costs $399 for 64GB storage, while the Pixel 4a costs $349 for 128GB storage

I wish you could pull down the iOS notifications menu using a gesture on the TouchID sensor, as you can with the luxe (swiping down on the fingerprint sensor)

It's not really an in-depth review, more of just a hands-on comparison. The battery lasts longer according to Dan, and I'll make that clearer in the article, and it does mention the storage differences. I'll add a wireless charging mention, we did leave that out.
 
Good review as always. Kinda pro Apple but this is macrumors so totally understandable. Still quite a fair review.

Only issue I had, and a huge one:- your assertion that the SE LCD screen is very close to the OLED on the pixel. Like common, you had me until them.

The SE screen is a meh screen at best, even for LCD standards. To say its close to an oled screen should be a crime ;)
 
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Agreed - this review is sloppy.

"You might think the Pixel 4a would be leagues better with the OLED panel, but both are close in quality. The 4a wins out, but the iPhone SE is not too far off."​
"Touch ID beats out most other fingerprint sensors when it comes to accuracy and phone unlocking time, and there's no exception here. Google's fingerprint sensor is fine, but Touch ID is better."​

These are almost meaningless statements. How is it better? Give us some examples to qualify these statements.

This article is meant to accompany the video, and the video has better comparisons of the displays.
 
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What a sloppy comparison. Several statements with no data to back up the claims.

Sorry this hands-on has been interpreted as sloppy, you guys should definitely watch the video for a more complete picture because the article is based on the video content. I'll try to make sure these kinds of comparisons are less ambiguous and casual in the future, at least when it comes to the article. I've made some updates to address the comments here on the parts that were not clear enough.
 
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A budget shopper will choose Pixel 4a for the simple fact that it costs $100 less than a comparable iPhone SE with 128GB storage. Hardly any budget shopper will be buying AppleCare+.

You're right.

The "budget shopper" is wrong, really... But you, unfortunately, are right.
 
I'd add in OS/security updates - Valid concern for cheapskate buyers who hold the same phone for years. Google is better than most Androids but Apple still reigns here.

iOS might get longer updates but that's kind of irrelevant since user experience over time suffers primarily from low DRAM spec relative to rest of industry then storage which is the case with all my older Apple devices. It's fine out of box with shipped iOS but suffers around two year point after multiple iOS updates and apps becoming more bloated.

More frequent updates don't mean better security. There's a jailbreak for nearly every release of iOS which is a result of an iOS vulnerability. And, more frequent updates also don't mean it's not behind in features. iOS still doesn't allow split screen multitasking or even basics like placing icons anywhere on the home screen like towards the bottom for ergonomics.
 
Sorry this hands-on has been interpreted as sloppy, you guys should definitely watch the video for a more complete picture because the article is based on the video content. I'll try to make sure these kinds of comparisons are less ambiguous and casual in the future, at least when it comes to the article. I've made some updates to address the comments here on the parts that were not clear enough.
I appreciate your responsiveness, and understand that part of your goal is pushing content out quickly, which I also appreciate.
 
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Pixel 4a

+ modern design vs rehash
+ better hardware future proofing with 6GB DRAM and 128GB base storage vs iPhone SE 3GB/64GB
+ 1080p OLED vs iPhone SE 750p LCD
+ mask friendly fingerprint unlock vs pulling down mask with Face ID on iPhone SE
+ Night Mode vs none
+ Built in Titan M 2FA security key
+ better smarts and more advance features like Duplex AI, live transcription, split screen multitasking, etc.
+ longer battery life

iPhone SE

+ iOS !!!

You can't ignore the platform and operating system when comparing products.

That's like listing all the features of the Dell XPS 15... but none of those matter if you need a Macintosh running MacOS.

:p
 
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iPhone SE

+ iOS !!!

You can't ignore the platform and operating system when comparing products.

That's like listing all the features of the Dell XPS 15... but none of those matter if you need a Macintosh to run MacOS.

OS is a preference and not a requirement. From using both ecosystems, arguing about OS is like arguing over what color of food tray to use when it's the food that matters which are the apps and services that are common on both ecosystems. As for the Dell XPS 15, smart consumers would hackintosh it and multiboot Windows, Linux and MacOS.
 
Google should’ve put Snapdragon 765 on it and make the price $399. Please keep in mind even though the 4A produces a better result photos, iPhone SE produces much better result in video recording.
 
OS is a preference and not a requirement.

True... but it can be a BIG preference.

If someone is happy using a Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch... with all the interaction between them... they probably won't be thrilled by switching to a Dell laptop, Samsung smartphone, Galaxy Tab, and WearOS smartwatch.

My point was... platform does matter to a lot of people.
 
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but this is a sloppy review.

Does the battery on the Pixel actually last longer, or is the author only comparing their mAh ratings? Because the way this review is written, the author is only comparing mAh ratings.

You missed that the Pixel doesn’t have wireless charging, but does have USB-C instead of a lightning port.

You missed the the iPhone SE costs $399 for 64GB storage, while the Pixel 4a costs $349 for 128GB storage

I wish you could pull down the iOS notifications menu using a gesture on the TouchID sensor, as you can with the luxe (swiping down on the fingerprint sensor)
From the article “and MacRumors videographer Dan felt that the Pixel 4a had noticeably better battery life in his testing. The Pixel 4a also sports 6GB RAM and 128GB base storage, while the iPhone SE has 3GB RAM and 64GB base storage, so you're getting more storage for a lower price point with the Pixel.”
 
Mmm you really think Apple doesn’t do a thing with you information? Ha ha ok

Yes, I really think that. Why? It's in their terms of service and privacy statement...which is legally actionable if they were to actually do that. Which is also why people hold their feet to the fire when something happens like them saying they sometimes listen in on Siri requests to gauge accuracy. There's lawsuits on that now, and Apple has stopped doing that.

Google says in their terms of service basically "yeah, we're watching everything you do and we're monetizing it because that's the main way we make our money". Their whole business model is based on seeing what you do and where you do it. Apple's is to sell hardware. Both their terms and privacy statements reflect that. Now, you can be cynical and throw around that "Apple does the same thing", but this doesn't make it so.
 
I don't understand the "OS lock-in" argument. I do use MBP and iPhone, but there's nothing about either of them that lock me into to sticking with the iPhone. If anything, the need to use iTunes to download apps to the phone is a major pain in the butt. The only thing locked in about that is that it's locked in to the annoying walled garden stupidity. I put up with it because of the predictable quality of an iPhone, rather than the random guess of wondering if anything other than the flagship models will work properly and not slow down horrendously after a short time of use, which is what happened the first and last time I tried to own an Android, and had to return it two weeks later due to taking 5s to load my text messages each time.
Huh? Why would you need iTunes to download apps to your phone? What am I missing?
 
OS is a preference and not a requirement. From using both ecosystems, arguing about OS is like arguing over what color of food tray to use when it's the food that matters which are the apps and services that are common on both ecosystems. As for the Dell XPS 15, smart consumers would hackintosh it and multiboot Windows, Linux and MacOS.

Hackintosh all you want but you will get zero support when the **** hits the fan. Macs support Windows via Boot Camp natively.

With Hackintosh you don't get any custom chips. No T2. No security. If you use Hackintosh for a production environment you're an idiot.
 
They don't. They've stated that publicly.

They may analyze the information internally for their own purposes, but they don't sell the data to other companies. Google does.
Wow, Apple’s marketing has really worked on you. How about this - on your iPhone, open Settings, then go to Privacy, then to Advertising. See that on the bottom? Yep! Apple is tracking you in Apple News, Stocks, and the App Store, for interest based advertising, unless you turned it off manually. Guess what? That’s the exact same thing Google does. I know right? Crazy.
 
I've been considering buying an Android phone just to try the OS and get familiar with it. I don't like that when I hold one of my friends android phones I have absolutely no idea what I need to do to navigate. I'd also like to review all the features they promote. This could be the phone for me to buy and keep around for a few years.
 
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