DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 85scale. You get a
dual-camera array that
pairs Google’s
traditional 12.2MP,
f/1.7 camera with a
16MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide
lens.
As usual, the
hardware doesn’t tell
the whole story. This is
the first time Google
has shipped a
phone with a rear
ultra-wide lens, and
I’m not sure it’s an
improvement over the
2X telephoto lens in
the Pixel 4. The
107-degree field of
view is certainly wider
than the 77-degree
FOV on the main wide
lens, but smaller than
the iPhone 12’s 120
degrees and the
Galaxy S20 FE’s 123 degrees. There aren’t
even any cool camera tricks that take
advantage of it.
Elsewhere, the Pixel 4a 5G’s camera is
everything you'd expect from a Pixel phone.
Portraits are sharp, and portrait lighting is
super-impressive. Night Sight has gotten a
boost thanks to enhancements to its
computational exposure bracketing, which
preserves subtle shadows and lowlights
while still brightening the scene. As you
can see below, the Pixel 4a 5G (left)
preserved more of the “spookiness” of the
scene compared to the 5 (center), while
the 4a (right) merely brightened everything,
especially the house in the background.
Overall, however, the Pixel camera
seems to have stalled. While Samsung andThe Pixel 4a 5G has a new ultra-wide lens that can capture 107 degrees to fit
more of the shot.