Yesterday, Google hosted its keynote speech for this year's I/O developers conference. The company had a lot to talk about, including improvements to Google Assistant, and a variety of features baked into its services that aim to help people in their every day lives. It also made some time to announce, and launch (!), new hardware.
Enter the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.
These aren't flagship smartphones, per se, but they do have some features that blur that line a bit. The display, for instance, is OLED and not garbage, which is nice. (Even if some could blame for putting a less-than-great OLED display in their flagship smartphones in the past.) But, more than anything else there is the camera on the back of the Pixel 3a and 3a XL.
The same 12.2 MP dual pixel camera that's present in the standard Pixel 3/3 XL is present in the Pixel 3a/3a XL, too. It's a feature that has been called out a ridiculous number of times in the early reviews. The Pixel 3a has a great camera and doesn't come attached with an expensive price tag. As a result, this could be a smartphone for most people, thanks to its relatively cheap price tag and standout features.
But is it? We'll have to wait and see how that shakes out. Google might break it down for us, or we might be left to the analysts to see how well the Pixel 3a is doing out in the wild. The handset went up for sale today, online-only, with in-store units landing on store shelves soon. Will the Pixel 3a's camera be enough to sway some potential customers?
The camera is great, but what about those bezels? Is that a trade that you're willing to make? There are a variety of different phones out there with great cameras, but don't have the big bezels above and below the display. Google seems to be perfectly okay with that particular design decision, and I've seen a lot of back-and-forth on social media so far. Some people are okay with the bezels because it means the Pixel 3a doesn't have the notch.
Others, though, feel like it's 2019 and maybe even a phone like the Pixel 3a shouldn't have bezels. I am firmly in both camps. I don't like the notch, but I also don't like bezels anymore, either. But it's also safe to say that the bezel-less design is fairly new, and it is leaning towards the more expensive handsets because they have to change around hardware under the hood. So I can understand why the Pixel 3a lineup has bezels, and why maybe we should be okay with that even in 2019.
But I want to hear from you. We've been learning about the Pixel 3a for many months ahead of its official unveiling, but now that it's available are you planning on buying one? Or are you waiting until you can check it out in a store before making a decision? Let me know!