Computer Shopper – September 2019

4646 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379

JUSTASTHEPixel 3a (Shopper 378) is the

mid-rangeequivalent of the Pixel 3, the Pixel

3a XL takes its cues from the Pixel 3XL

(Shopper372).

However,there are more visible differences

here than betweenthe smallerphones.For

instance,there’s no notch on the Pixel 3a XL:

the camerasimply sits inside abezel, the

old-fashionedway. As aresult, the phone is

slightlytaller than the Pixel 3XL, despitealso

having asmaller (6in to 6.3in) screen.

Fortunately,this absolutely doesn’t feel

like an overly bulkyhandset,nor acheap

one –even the plastic back panel is

sufficientlyevocativeof the flagshipPixel 3

family’s glass backs. That said, the Pixel 3a

XL loses any kind of IP-rated water resistance,

so you’ll have to be more careful where you

drop it. The upside is an included3.5mm

headphonejack, somethingthe IPX8-rated

Pixel 3XLlacks.

NATURAL ORDER

While the materials used in manufacturing

the phone are of aslightly cut-price nature,

the Pixel 3a XL doesn’t scrimp on display

quality.Itmay not be the sharpestin the

world at 2,160x1,080,but it uses the same

OLED panel technologyas the Pixel 3XL

and it looks great as aresult.

Peak brightnessreachesadecent

415cd/m2,contrastis perfect and sRGB

coverage reaches96.2% in the Natural

profile.This sneaks up to 100% in both

the Adaptive and Vibrantprofiles, although

these make colourslook somewhat

oversaturated next to the more muted

‘natural’setting.This is confirmedby it

scoringthe best average

delta-Eof just 1.34.

Overall,it’s agreat

showingfrom the Pixel

3a XL so far. It’s only

when you look at the

performance-critical

componentsthat we begin

to see amajor difference

betweenit and the more

expensiveGooglephones.

Instead of the powerful

Snapdragon845, inside the

Pixel 3a XL is aSnapdragon

670, aprocessorthat sits in

Qualcomm’s upper-mid-

range tier of smartphone

chipsets.It’s an octa-core

chip and runs at 2GHz, so

GOOGLEPixel3aXL

★★★★★

£469•From http://www.currys.co.uk

VERDICT

Anothercut-pricesuccessforGoogle,withallthe

cameraqualityandfeaturesofthePixel3XL

ANDROID9.0 SMARTPHONE

it’s still very capable.

When push comes to

shove,however,it’s not

quiteasquick as the

Snapdragon845, and

especiallynot the

newer Snapdragon855.

The Pixel 3a XL’s

Geekbench4scores of

1,619 in the single-core

test and 5,168 in the

multicoretest aren’t

even close to those of

the Pixel 3XL.

Still, they’re not

indicativeof aslow

smartphone,either.With

the Pixel user interface at

the helm, the Pixel 3a XL

feels just as snappyand

responsiveas you’d hope

aPixel phone to feel and, despitethe

slight lack of power,itwill playmost games

smoothlywithouttoomuch frame chop.

That’s judgingby its respectableGFXBench

Manhattanscores of 27fps in the onscreen

test and 29fps in the offscreen test.

Conversely,and perhapsin part because

of its less intensive hardware,the Pixel 3a XL

has better battery lifethan the Pixel 3XL: it

lasted 16h 58m in our video test, abig step up

from the premiumversion’s 13h 8m.

IMITATION GAME

Cleverly,Google has also made up forthe lack

of aPixel Visual Core image signal processor

–the bit of hardwarethat enablesthe main

Pixels’ fancier camerafeatures, such as Night

Sight and HDR+ Enhanced

modes –byreplicating

these features through

software engineering.

The 12.2-megapixel

cameramoduleitself

remainsunchangedfrom

the Pixel 3and Pixel 3XL.

To our eyes, the Pixel 3a

XL’s photos therefore look

every bit as sharp,colour-

accurateand detailedas

theydoonthese high-end

phones.Night Sight is a

particularlyvaluable

inclusion:there’s nothing

else below £500, except the

Pixel 3a, that takes such

good picturesin low light.

As with the Pixel 3a,

4K video recordingis

limited to 30fps, but

footage still looks good,

and benefits from

Google’s brilliantimage

stabilisationtech.

Having massively

helped out the camera,

the influenceof

software engineering

extends to pretty

much every part of

the Pixel 3a XL’s

interface.It’s stuffed

with clever features,

includinganew

augmented-reality

walkingnavigation

feature,while Google

Lens and Google

Assistantare both baked in. The best part of

the Pixel LauncherUI has always been its

incrediblyresponsivefeel and, despitethe

slower processor,the 3a XL feels just as good

to use here as its more powerfulsiblings.

A-GRADE

All of this goes together to produceavery

impressiveoverall package.This is a

smartphonethat’s not only farmore

reasonablypriced than most modernflagship

phones,but also looks good, feels just as

responsive(even if it won’t run games or

multitaskas well) and takes photos that are

equallystunning.It’s ameasure of its quality

that the worst thing we can think to say

about it is that it doesn’t have waterproofing.

Betweenthis and the smallerPixel 3a,

we’d still saythe latter is abetter buy,if

mainly becauseit’s even cheaper.For those

who’d preferalarger display, however,this

is an exemplaryphablet.

JonathanBray

Batterylife

0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100

Seepage108forperformancedetails

PROCESSOROcta-core2GHzQualcommSnapdragon670•

SCREENSIZE6in•SCREENRESOLUTION2,160x1,080•

REARCAMERA12.2megapixels•STORAGE64GB•

WIRELESSDATA4G•NFCYes•DIMENSIONS

160x76x8.2mm•WEIGHT167g•OPERATINGSYSTEM

Android9.0•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•

DETAILSstore.google.com•PARTCODEPixel3aXL

SPECIFICATIONS

16h58m