I've heard about those, phones in the old days used to have them,, they are called bezels! Cool that Google went retro, likely that's why prices are so very high.
During the earliest smartphone generations, reducing the bezel space was a worthy goal because it actually improved the user experience. But for the last four years it's been apparent that the "OMG must have no bezels" drive no longer has anything to do with user experience and is just for satisfying the snob influencer groupthink. I'm not bothered by the existence of a notch on my phone, but I am bothered that manufacturers prioritized gimmicky ways of trying to minimize bezels over actually doing anything about battery life or camera image noise.
Similar trends of fashionable bullcrap seem to dominate much smartphone 'innovation.' Essentially, nobody really benefits from having a 4K screen, 8+GB of memory, and 512GB of built-in space. Human-sized eyes and hands and ears and pockets are disadvantaged by having phones with a flipping 7" diagonal. And it's outrageous that we're talking about a $479 phone as "midrange" and that we hear of $299 phones being called "budget."
I guess the problem is that idiots with money to blow for vanity purposes are more likely to be buying a new phone every year than are people who just need a functional and reliable tool.
Agreed. I'd so much rather have a bezel than a notch or a gimmicky camera arrangement. If Google made a Pixel 4 that looked just like my Pixel 2 XL I'd be perfectly happy.
I have an S8. The bezels at the top and bottom are a little ugly compared to newer phones but when you realise that on the S10 you lose the iris scanner and go back to very poor facial recognition, it's a trade off I'm more than happy to make. My biggest issue is the "edge" screen. It makes accidental presses too easy, makes holding it properly hard. So you put it in a case which makes it hard to touch the edge parts and use certain swipe gestures. I prefer bezels to a stupid hole in the screen for a camera. The notch didn't annoy me too much as you could pop time and notifications either side. Frankly, just keep a damned bezel.
I think the main problem is that the majority of buyers go to a shop and choose a new phone and so that immediate in hand feel and looks make a massive difference. To people like us, who read Anandtech reviews and compare spec sheets and care deeply that UFS is being shunned for eMMC, these things get weighed up carefully. For most people (let's call them.... normies) these small design features which are form over function make a big difference as to whether they choose to buy a particular phone.
I'd be perfectly happy with these base specs... have they included SD card slot (or, maybe, just offered 128GB version as well) and, say, wireless charging. Wireless charging is somewhat personal choice, but I have been used to it since Lumia 920. Storage... for phone with great camera and 3.5mm jack, it comes natural that many users will use it as music player and shoot a lot of stills and videos... media files = storage. Not that 64GB is completely useless, but I'd feel better with more.
S10e 142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 mm P3a 151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2 mm
They are nigh the same size, the 9mm height is primarily split between top and bottom bezels - while visually less appealing, actually might help usability.
9 mm is too much and does not help it to fit into pockets, and weight. $400 for 2xA7 in 2019 is just poor. So is eMMC. It is not Nexus, the line which was as cheap but always included top of the line internals. The SOC also includes weaker ISP, isn't it?
Bezels are designed to protect the screen if the phone is dropped. Getting rid of bezels is an insane idea. I wish that every reviewer who waxes eloquent about the new bezelless wonders would be forced to do a review of the phone after the screen was cracked. Then, they should be forced to follow the instructions at iFixit to try and fix the cracked screen. Now that would be a phone review that I am willing to read.
"odd to see Google go with the Snapdragon 670, given that Qualcomm offers a slew of other newer options such as the Snapdragon 675"
No its not. The 670 has a faster GPU and made on a small NM process. The difference between the 75 and 76 is not that large enough for most to notice, but a slower GPU and more power draw/shorter battery life will be. Let alone the 670 may be cheaper.
You are hanging up on the wrong thing. 675 *is* newer, and on top of that, there's also 730 which is better in every way - both are part of "other newer options".
They all (S67x, S7xx) have same GPU just differently clocked. Difference between lithography is neglect able (14 nm UHD and 10 nm second gen). Google whose slow in development process, the phone is to much retro and overpriced...
Would this be a significant upgrade over a Galaxy S8? I'm mostly content with my phone, a bit annoyed at the Samsung ecosystem being pushed on me. Better performance and better camera compared to S8 would be main drivers.
Don't forget the storage problems. You might get a better camera but there is nowhere to put your photos and videos. 64GB just isn't enough especially if you record a few videos.
Google steals enough information from you every time you touch a google device, but why would anyone want to give their photos up to the AI (Tensor Flow)?
They use your photos to track where you are/have been, who you associate with (and those that you might not know but are in the same location), and all that goes into a dossier on you tracking your behavior.
IMO it's sick, creepy, and google needs to be reeled in hard and stopped from the privacy abuse. I've used google phones for many years, but I give them as little as possible. They're too creepy for me (as is all "social media")....
That is the most silly thing i have ever heard someone complain about. You do know that every digital platform can do that right if they want? Besides, you can literally disable what you said in settings. Also its not stealing when you are giving it to them. lol
No one is recording that much video on a phone legit without offloading it anyways to edit it. File manager, transfer to home device. tata. unlimited space.
What if you want to view it later? Storage is so cheap there really is no excuse for not having a card slot. We are only talking about a few cents for the adapter here.
Wow, this seems like a game changer. Google just remembered the success they had with their Nexus Lineup when it was priced appropriately. With some deals and sales the prices will drop to $350/$400 for both phones and Voila!
Well if Google Pixel 3a is listed with the same price of 399 in US dollars, pound sterling and euro, which don't have the same exchange rate, then I say it should cost this seemingly arbitrary value of 399 in ALL CURRENCIES of the World.
I assume you are going to do a full review once this is released. I hope you can include a Nexus 5x in the comparison lineup. Given that they are both roughly in Qualcomm's same performance bracket, it would be nice to see what 3.5 years of improvements has created.
its using eMMC in 2019 :-( Unless you are obsessed by latest OS these are no good at this price. One Plus 7 or may be Galaxy A70/80 would be interesting. may be Nokia could come up in 2019 something interesting as well using vanilla Android.
Yeah, it is ridiculous that they spend any time on the world's second largest and soon to be largest smartphone manufacturer, who has some of the best hardware out there....
3a is slower where it matters (app launch and browsing, probably games too). Which is so pathetic. Pichai is incompetent and killing the former monster.
I can't help but wonder if Google's developing the imaging algorithms to try to make a profit out of selling smartphones or if the Pixels are just prototypes for something else.
A camera-centric smartphone with comparably little on-board storage, no way to expand, and slow memory tech for the built-in storage to boot - fail! Typical Google phone: great potential, spoiled by contradictory bean-counter engineering, all for too high a price.
IMO all of these "top tier smartphone" makers should be getting minimum battery size to 4k or above at this point, especially when the top end chips are getting faster speeds (for the BIG) cores as well as higher clocks for the little and gpu and modems etc.
so, basically everything faster, but battery have been sitting in the 2500-3500 range (max avg) for so called "premium" models and yet many "budget" offerings have pushed above 10k while offering nearly identical other specs.. so why go with the "big brand" and have to replace that much more often because of battery being burned out constantly.
4k or better battery and not so much damn glass everywhere, and would it really truly "hurt" anything to always have a damn 3.5mm jack (include bluetooth etc as well) there are many many uses for the 3.5m jack beyond superior sound options it provides.
I have a checklist for every new phone that arrives on the market. Let's see how the Pixel 3a does: 1. Removable battery: fail 2. MicroSD slot: fail 3. 3.5mm audio jack: pass 4. Case made of material that won't break easily if dropped: pass 5. Bezels actually protect screen if dropped: not sure 6. Can it be opened and repaired: not sure 7. Unlockable bootloader: pass 8. No screen notch: pass 9. Manufacture publishes code to make a decent LineageOS port: pass 10. Decent camera and mic that works in LineageOS: not sure
Oh well, as long as the phone industry keeps making planned obsolescence garbage, I will keep using the LG V20, because it was the last decent flagship I can find, and I will keep waiting for the Purism Librem 5 to finally arrive, so that I can use a phone that actually confirms with my ethical standards and isn't designed to spy on me.
For Moblie Phone prices in Australia, Canada, India, Pakistan, UK, USA and Specifications such as Camera, Battery, Waterproof, Storage, Processor, RAM Visit https://phonespecy.com
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jjj - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
I've heard about those, phones in the old days used to have them,, they are called bezels!Cool that Google went retro, likely that's why prices are so very high.
BedfordTim - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
I was all excited about the smaller screen until I saw the bigger bezels.pixelstuff - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Bezels are good and it's why most photo frames include them. They help separate the image from the background.jensend - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
During the earliest smartphone generations, reducing the bezel space was a worthy goal because it actually improved the user experience. But for the last four years it's been apparent that the "OMG must have no bezels" drive no longer has anything to do with user experience and is just for satisfying the snob influencer groupthink. I'm not bothered by the existence of a notch on my phone, but I am bothered that manufacturers prioritized gimmicky ways of trying to minimize bezels over actually doing anything about battery life or camera image noise.Similar trends of fashionable bullcrap seem to dominate much smartphone 'innovation.' Essentially, nobody really benefits from having a 4K screen, 8+GB of memory, and 512GB of built-in space. Human-sized eyes and hands and ears and pockets are disadvantaged by having phones with a flipping 7" diagonal. And it's outrageous that we're talking about a $479 phone as "midrange" and that we hear of $299 phones being called "budget."
I guess the problem is that idiots with money to blow for vanity purposes are more likely to be buying a new phone every year than are people who just need a functional and reliable tool.
Megatomic - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Agreed. I'd so much rather have a bezel than a notch or a gimmicky camera arrangement. If Google made a Pixel 4 that looked just like my Pixel 2 XL I'd be perfectly happy.philehidiot - Thursday, May 9, 2019 - link
I have an S8. The bezels at the top and bottom are a little ugly compared to newer phones but when you realise that on the S10 you lose the iris scanner and go back to very poor facial recognition, it's a trade off I'm more than happy to make. My biggest issue is the "edge" screen. It makes accidental presses too easy, makes holding it properly hard. So you put it in a case which makes it hard to touch the edge parts and use certain swipe gestures. I prefer bezels to a stupid hole in the screen for a camera. The notch didn't annoy me too much as you could pop time and notifications either side. Frankly, just keep a damned bezel.I think the main problem is that the majority of buyers go to a shop and choose a new phone and so that immediate in hand feel and looks make a massive difference. To people like us, who read Anandtech reviews and compare spec sheets and care deeply that UFS is being shunned for eMMC, these things get weighed up carefully. For most people (let's call them.... normies) these small design features which are form over function make a big difference as to whether they choose to buy a particular phone.
nikon133 - Sunday, May 12, 2019 - link
I'd be perfectly happy with these base specs... have they included SD card slot (or, maybe, just offered 128GB version as well) and, say, wireless charging. Wireless charging is somewhat personal choice, but I have been used to it since Lumia 920. Storage... for phone with great camera and 3.5mm jack, it comes natural that many users will use it as music player and shoot a lot of stills and videos... media files = storage. Not that 64GB is completely useless, but I'd feel better with more.piroroadkill - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Yeah. 5.6" almost seems reasonable today.. but no, the phone is still huge. S10e is the phone I've been eyeing up most these days.Spoelie - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
S10e 142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 mmP3a 151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2 mm
They are nigh the same size, the 9mm height is primarily split between top and bottom bezels - while visually less appealing, actually might help usability.
BedfordTim - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
If you want a small phone then that 1cm is significant.peevee - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
9 mm is too much and does not help it to fit into pockets, and weight.$400 for 2xA7 in 2019 is just poor. So is eMMC. It is not Nexus, the line which was as cheap but always included top of the line internals. The SOC also includes weaker ISP, isn't it?
notashill - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Weight is lower than the S10e though, 147g vs 150g.porcupineLTD - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Diagonals stopped having meaning when the aspect ratio changed.amosbatto - Sunday, May 12, 2019 - link
Bezels are designed to protect the screen if the phone is dropped. Getting rid of bezels is an insane idea. I wish that every reviewer who waxes eloquent about the new bezelless wonders would be forced to do a review of the phone after the screen was cracked. Then, they should be forced to follow the instructions at iFixit to try and fix the cracked screen. Now that would be a phone review that I am willing to read.eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Wait until you see their coal-burning steam-powered model - that's the one to get!Marlin1975 - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
"odd to see Google go with the Snapdragon 670, given that Qualcomm offers a slew of other newer options such as the Snapdragon 675"No its not. The 670 has a faster GPU and made on a small NM process. The difference between the 75 and 76 is not that large enough for most to notice, but a slower GPU and more power draw/shorter battery life will be. Let alone the 670 may be cheaper.
levizx - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
You are hanging up on the wrong thing. 675 *is* newer, and on top of that, there's also 730 which is better in every way - both are part of "other newer options".Dug - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
I find it odd that they keep spending time and energy producing chips so close to each other.ZolaIII - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
They all (S67x, S7xx) have same GPU just differently clocked. Difference between lithography is neglect able (14 nm UHD and 10 nm second gen). Google whose slow in development process, the phone is to much retro and overpriced...peevee - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
"The difference between the 75 and 76 is not that large"Actually it is huge, especially given that there are only 2 of them.
alin - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
No wide camera? So retro indeed. Good try Google. Pass.peevee - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
No wide, no tele, slow SOC, slow flash. $200 phone priced at $400. FU Google, Nexus line was great and you managed to screw that!Foeketijn - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
I can just say "Thank you for listening".euler007 - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Would this be a significant upgrade over a Galaxy S8? I'm mostly content with my phone, a bit annoyed at the Samsung ecosystem being pushed on me. Better performance and better camera compared to S8 would be main drivers.Andrei Frumusanu - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
You would get a better camera, but otherwise the rest would be side-grades.oRAirwolf - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Yes because stock Android.BedfordTim - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Don't forget the storage problems. You might get a better camera but there is nowhere to put your photos and videos. 64GB just isn't enough especially if you record a few videos.andychow - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
You can put all you pictures and videos on your google account. Unlimited space. And if you break your phone, you lose nothing.Round - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Google steals enough information from you every time you touch a google device, but why would anyone want to give their photos up to the AI (Tensor Flow)?They use your photos to track where you are/have been, who you associate with (and those that you might not know but are in the same location), and all that goes into a dossier on you tracking your behavior.
IMO it's sick, creepy, and google needs to be reeled in hard and stopped from the privacy abuse. I've used google phones for many years, but I give them as little as possible. They're too creepy for me (as is all "social media")....
jordanclock - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Then turn off location permissions? You can also delete your location history.imaheadcase - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
That is the most silly thing i have ever heard someone complain about. You do know that every digital platform can do that right if they want? Besides, you can literally disable what you said in settings. Also its not stealing when you are giving it to them. lolBedfordTim - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Local storage is so much faster for viewing and so cheap.imaheadcase - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
No one is recording that much video on a phone legit without offloading it anyways to edit it. File manager, transfer to home device. tata. unlimited space.BedfordTim - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
What if you want to view it later? Storage is so cheap there really is no excuse for not having a card slot. We are only talking about a few cents for the adapter here.cheshirster - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
This thing dosn't look like and upgrade from S8.S8 camera is exactly the same and it has much better hardware.
patel21 - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Wow, this seems like a game changer. Google just remembered the success they had with their Nexus Lineup when it was priced appropriately. With some deals and sales the prices will drop to $350/$400 for both phones and Voila!cheshirster - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Don't think so.Galaxy S8 is available for the same price now and has better hardware.
Speedfriend - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
S8 has a crap/unusable fingerprint sensor, versus Google's great one. Plus S8 has crap Bixby instead of the squeeze to activate Google Assistant.fangdahai - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Like it. Hopefully it's less than AU$600 in Auystralia.Gastec - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Well if Google Pixel 3a is listed with the same price of 399 in US dollars, pound sterling and euro, which don't have the same exchange rate, then I say it should cost this seemingly arbitrary value of 399 in ALL CURRENCIES of the World.Death666Angel - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
VAT.jordanclock - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
If that price includes VAT (which I think it always has to?), then that doesn't seem like an arbitrary price when you consider VAT and logistics.neothe0ne - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Are you sure the speakers are both front-facing? I've read elsewhere that one of the speakers fires downward, not forward.phoenix_rizzen - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Top speaker is front-facing, sharing the grill with the earpiece.Bottom speaker is bottom-facing, next to the USB port. There's two "speaker" grills on the bottom; one for the speaker, the other for the mic.
XDA has a hands-on review of the 3a, with pictures of all sides.
nicolaim - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
No wireless charging: fail.imaheadcase - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
yah the dozens of people will miss it.jordanclock - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Small correction: The 3a XL has a 2160x1080 display, not 2220x1080 like the smaller 3a.quiksilvr - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
eMMC. OOFshabby - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
It can't be that bad... right?zeeBomb - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
That's the only thing that is concerning me...if its even the 5.0 standard or not.Ironchef3500 - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
My thought exactly. They couldn't "splurge" on UFS?shabby - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Also seems the screen glass is dragontrail not gorilla glass.zeeBomb - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
You know which version?shabby - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
No idea, the verge video review just mentioned dragontrail.Ashinjuka - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
What do you folks think VS a Pixel XL 128? Here's my thoughts:3a XL Pros vs Pixel XL:
Better camera
Bigger battery (possibly more efficient SoC as well)
OS Updates (Up to Android 11 "R")
3a XL Neutrals vs PXL:
Similar SoC performance (Unclear - CPU benchmarks bit faster while GPU seems the same or slower)
Similar size and weight
3a XL Cons vs PXL:
Smaller storage
Lower resolution x bigger screen = much lower PPI (402 vs 534)
pixelstuff - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
I assume you are going to do a full review once this is released. I hope you can include a Nexus 5x in the comparison lineup. Given that they are both roughly in Qualcomm's same performance bracket, it would be nice to see what 3.5 years of improvements has created.Andrei Frumusanu - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
We currently have no plans for a review.Xex360 - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Ironically these mid-range Pixels have more features and are better looking than the Pixel 3xl....trivik12 - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
its using eMMC in 2019 :-( Unless you are obsessed by latest OS these are no good at this price. One Plus 7 or may be Galaxy A70/80 would be interesting. may be Nokia could come up in 2019 something interesting as well using vanilla Android.SanX - Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - link
Gooogle got lazy and tired and completely lost to China. Back to soap boxed mobile and landline rotary phones. World is probably laughing hard todaynot_anton - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Is this a $500 plastic phone? Not even aluminium?leo_sk - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Is it just me, or anandtech appears to favour huawei quite a lot?Speedfriend - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Yeah, it is ridiculous that they spend any time on the world's second largest and soon to be largest smartphone manufacturer, who has some of the best hardware out there....Probably work for the Chinese government....
porcupineLTD - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
Also they receive review units even thou they outed Huawei for cheating, while Samsung and (apparently) Google send them nothing.ksec - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
It would be interesting to see how this compare to iPhone 7.peevee - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
3a is slower where it matters (app launch and browsing, probably games too). Which is so pathetic. Pichai is incompetent and killing the former monster.s.yu - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
I can't help but wonder if Google's developing the imaging algorithms to try to make a profit out of selling smartphones or if the Pixels are just prototypes for something else.eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, May 8, 2019 - link
A camera-centric smartphone with comparably little on-board storage, no way to expand, and slow memory tech for the built-in storage to boot - fail! Typical Google phone: great potential, spoiled by contradictory bean-counter engineering, all for too high a price.etamin - Thursday, May 9, 2019 - link
lost me at eMMCDragonstongue - Friday, May 10, 2019 - link
IMO all of these "top tier smartphone" makers should be getting minimum battery size to 4k or above at this point, especially when the top end chips are getting faster speeds (for the BIG) cores as well as higher clocks for the little and gpu and modems etc.so, basically everything faster, but battery have been sitting in the 2500-3500 range (max avg) for so called "premium" models and yet many "budget" offerings have pushed above 10k while offering nearly identical other specs.. so why go with the "big brand" and have to replace that much more often because of battery being burned out constantly.
4k or better battery and not so much damn glass everywhere, and would it really truly "hurt" anything to always have a damn 3.5mm jack (include bluetooth etc as well) there are many many uses for the 3.5m jack beyond superior sound options it provides.
amosbatto - Sunday, May 12, 2019 - link
I have a checklist for every new phone that arrives on the market. Let's see how the Pixel 3a does:1. Removable battery: fail
2. MicroSD slot: fail
3. 3.5mm audio jack: pass
4. Case made of material that won't break easily if dropped: pass
5. Bezels actually protect screen if dropped: not sure
6. Can it be opened and repaired: not sure
7. Unlockable bootloader: pass
8. No screen notch: pass
9. Manufacture publishes code to make a decent LineageOS port: pass
10. Decent camera and mic that works in LineageOS: not sure
Oh well, as long as the phone industry keeps making planned obsolescence garbage, I will keep using the LG V20, because it was the last decent flagship I can find, and I will keep waiting for the Purism Librem 5 to finally arrive, so that I can use a phone that actually confirms with my ethical standards and isn't designed to spy on me.
Johny Lattan - Monday, May 13, 2019 - link
For Moblie Phone prices in Australia, Canada, India, Pakistan, UK, USA and Specifications such as Camera, Battery, Waterproof, Storage, Processor, RAM Visit https://phonespecy.com