Google Pixel 5a 5G is official: few new features, targeted, compared to last year at a lower price, but availability is a problem.
It was presented yesterday without too much fanfare Google Pixel 5a 5G, the smartphone 5G "economic" of the multinational Mountain View. Expected and anticipated for some time, the Pixel 5a 5G has some new elements compared to the past generation: not too many to tell the truth, just a few targeted improvements in a difficult time for the technology industry and its entire production chain.
The crisis of the chips that since the outbreak of the pandemic creates huge problems in the world of technology, in fact, probably did not allow Google to design the Pixel that would have come out under normal conditions, so Pixel 5a 5G could be (and seems) a compromise solution. However, it's best not to mistake it for the successor to Pixel 4a: Pixel 5a 5G picks up the legacy of Pixel 4a 5G. Last year there were two "cheap" Pixels, one with 4G connectivity, the other with the more advanced 5G, with the latter never arriving in Italy. For 2021, Google is reducing the "a" range to just one smartphone, the Pixel 5a 5G to be exact, which like its predecessor will remain outside Italian and even European borders, unless the company decides to retrace its steps, which is highly unlikely.
Google Pixel 5a 5G technical specifications
Google Pixel 5a 5G has a large but not too large OLED display, so of sufficient size to represent a valid support for multimedia but not excessively bulky when you use it with one hand or have to store it in your pocket: it is a 6.34-inch unit with Full HD+ resolution and, unfortunately, refresh rate of just 60 Hz. By now the standard on mid-range smartphones, such as this Pixel 5a 5G, is no less than 90 Hz.
There is the Always on Display to check at a glance time and any notifications, and the display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 from Corning, and it is good to know that unlike many of the competitors does not integrate the fingerprint reader that remains, as last year, physical on the rear surface. Identical to last year there is also the "heart" of the device, which continues to be the Snapdragon 765G, an octa-core chip made at 7 nanometers with a maximum frequency of 2.4 GHz, Adreno 620 GPU and with the popular security chip Titan M.
One choice in terms of memory, moreover not expandable: 6 GB of RAM type LPDDR4x and 128 GB of storage space. Connectivity side 5G Sub-6, 5G mmWave+Sub6, Dual SIM (with virtual SIM), Wi-Fi 5 dual band, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, NFC, 3.5 mm jack, GPS, Glonass, Galileo, QZSS. Stereo system speakers, two microphones for noise suppression on the call, there is the 3.5 mm audio jack and IP67 certification against water and dust.
On the camera front, the Pixels boast a long tradition, which Pixel 5a 5G tries to respect by not varying at all the equipment of last year. The cameras are identical, starting with the 8 MP, f/2.0, 83° angle-of-view front selfie camera, and the two rear cameras: the 12.2 MP dual-pixel wide-angle, f/1.7, OIS, EIS, FOV 77° and the 16 MP, FOV 107°, f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle. Video up to 4K at 60 fps.
The battery grows and by quite a bit: 4,680 mAh available with 18-watt wired fast charging. The operating system is Android 11 with at least 3 years of guaranteed software and security updates. Dimensions of 154.9 x 73.7 x 7.6 mm for 185 grams.
Google Pixel 5a 5G pricing and availability
Google Pixel 5a 5G will not arrive in Italy. It will be available from August 26 in the US and Japan for $449, which is $50 less than its predecessor: a little less, for a little more.