Google Pixel 4a finally announced – Same great Pixel camera, new lower price

After an extended delay Google has today finally announced the Pixel 4a, a phone which offers the great Pixel camera experience we’ve come to know and love, but at a lower price.

At $599 the much leaked Pixel 4a fits neatly at the entry level in the range of 2020 Google Smartphones, with Google also announcing the 5G enabled Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 will be arriving in Australia ‘this spring’ with pricing starting from $799.

The Pixel 4a will be available for sale on September 10th, but is now available for pre-order in Australia on the Google Store as well as through bricks and mortar stores JB Hi Fi and Harvey Norman, with Vodafone on-board as well. It will also go on-sale online through Officeworks on September 10th, with in-store stock arriving from mid-October.

For $599 you get a lot of hardware, as well as the much vaunted Pixel Camera features which include HDR+ with dual exposure controls, Portrait Mode, Top Shot which lets you view an array of shots taken before and after you depress the shutter, and of course Astrophotography mode to get some stunning shots.

The Pixel 4a has a 5.81-inch FHD+ resolution bezel-less, OLED display running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor, and comes with a generous 6GB DDR4 RAM with 128GB storage.

A single 12.2MP Dual-Pixel camera sensor is on the rear with an 8MP front-facing camera in a re-designed hole punch which Google has incorporated into some new custom wallpapers.

The phone is powered by a 3,140mAh battery which supports 18W charger via USB-C and for audiophiles, the stereo speakers and 3.5mm headphone jack included are great news.

• 5.81-inch FHD+ (1080×2340) OLED display with HDR support
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G
• 6 GB LPDDR4x
• 128 GB storage
• 12.2 MP dual-pixel rear camera
  • 1.4 μm pixel width
  • Autofocus with dual pixel phase detection
  • Optical + electronic image stabilization
  • ƒ/1.7 aperture 77° field of view

• 8 MP front-facing camera
  • 1.12 μm pixel size
  • ƒ/2.0 aperture
  • Fixed focus
  • 84° field of view
• Sensors
  • Proximity / Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer / Gyrometer
  • Magnetometer
  • Pixel ImprintTM – back-mounted fingerprint sensor for fast unlocking
  • Barometer
  • Android Sensor Hub
• 3,140mAh battery
  • USB-C 18W adapter with USB-PD 2.0
  • 18W fast charging
• Physical
  • USB Type-C® 3.1 Gen 1
  • 3.5 mm audio jack
  • Power button
  • Volume controls

The Pixel 4a has access to all the Pixel features you’ve heard about previously including Recorder which lets you save and share transcriptions and recordings easily, and Live Caption which provides real-time captioning (English only) for your video and audio content.

As a Pixel phone you get Android 10 and you’ll be kept up to date with Google promising a ‘Minimum 3 years of OS and security updates’.

The phone comes in Black only, called ‘Just Black’, which has a matte finish to make it easy to grip, and comes with a mint green power button to add a pop of colour to the phone. If ‘Just Black’ isn’t for you, there will be new Fabric Cases going on-sale on the Google Store in three new colours: Blue Confetti, Static Grey and Basically Black.

Google is offering bonuses for new users which includes a YouTube Premium trial for three months, Google One for three months and Google Play Pass for three months. You also get unlimited photo and video storage in high quality with Google Photos. Learn more at g.co/pixel/4aoffers. 

We’ve only just gotten hands on with the Pixel 4a, but a review will be coming shortly, so you’ll have plenty of time to decide on the pre-order. If you’ve already decided to wait for a 5G enabled Pixel, Google will be telling us more about them, and their approach to 5G soon. In the meantime you can sign up for updates on the Google Store.