Google
- Google kicked off its annual developer conference on Tuesday with the announcement of new smartphones: the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.
- The new phones are less expensive versions of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL: The Pixel 3a starts at $400, and the Pixel 3a XL starts at $480.
- Though the Pixel 3a models have similar internals to their predecessors, they’re made of less expensive materials.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Google just unveiled two brand new smartphones: the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.
The phones were unveiled during Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O 2019, in Mountain View, California on Tuesday morning.
The new Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are very similar to the Pixel 3, except in one crucial way: Price.
Google
The Pixel 3a starts at just $400, and the Pixel 3a XL starts at $480 — a major drop in price over the $800 Pixel 3.
Above all else, this marks the biggest difference between the standard Pixel devices and the new Pixel 3a models.
There are three colors for the Pixel 3a models, and two of those models come with offset colors on the power button:
Google
So, other than price, what are the main differences between the Pixel 3 models and the Pixel 3a models?
First and foremost, the screen on the base model Pixel 3a is slightly larger than the Pixel 3 at 5.6 inches. On the flipside, the screen on the Pixel 3a XL is slightly smaller than the Pixel 3 XL at 6-inches instead of 6.3-inches.
The internals of the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are similar to those found in the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, but slightly less capable — the 3a and 3a XL have a mid-range Snapdragon 670 processor, whereas the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL use the more capable Snapdragon 845.
All of that, of course, is jargon — what it means for you is that the Pixel 3a and 3a XL are slightly less powerful than the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.
Another major difference: A headphone jack! Both the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL come with a built-in headphone jack on the top, whereas the port was absent on the Pixel 3 models.
Google
In terms of cameras, the new Pixel 3a models are nearly identical to the Pixel 3 models.
The rear-facing camera is 12.2 megapixels, and the front-facing camera is 8 megapixels. Notably, there’s only one front-facing camera in the Pixel 3a models.
There’s one other huge difference between the Pixel 3 models and the Pixel 3a models: Material.
Google
While the Pixel 3 models were made with aluminum, the Pixel 3a models are polycarbonate — a hard plastic, in so many words. That means no wireless charging, unfortunately.
Both the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are available starting on Tuesday from Google’s digital storefront.
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Ben Gilbert)