Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O 2019 kicks off tonight. And though the arrival of the first stable beta of the next flavor of Android is ordinarily the highlight of the event, there’s a new hardware unveiling happening this time around and it’s going to be the showstopper this year. Yeah, we’re talking about the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, which will be the first smartphone launch at I/O ever, making it a center of attraction for everyone.
Pixel-Grade Cameras FTW!
From what we can all deduce, Google is going to bank on ‘one significant thing’ to market its upcoming mid-range smartphone – the cameras. The Pixel 3 flagship is known to offer a camera experience like none other in the smartphone market, even if its performance is sometimes a little finicky. Google is expected to take this proven formula and replicate it on their mid-range offering that’ll officially be unveiled at I/O 2019.
What this entails is that the mid-range Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL are going to deliver a much-appreciated flagship camera performance for almost half the price. All the bells & whistles of Google’s flagship experience will be on board and that’s impressive, however, value for money users see beyond just the camera.
Let’s talk about the performance first as that’s going to be one of the major things that’ll tick people off about the Pixel 3a series even though they’re the mid-range offering from Google.
This means the Snapdragon 670 may not be on equal footing in processing power when compared to Snapdragon 675, now being popularised by the Redmi Note 7 Pro, but it’s going to be more power efficient. And it does have a superior GPU in tow. Snapdragon 670 is backed by Adreno 615 GPU as compared to the Adreno 612 GPU on the Snapdragon 675, so better gaming performance can be expected out of the Pixel 3a.
The Pixel moniker itself is enough to make users realize that you will be getting a pure Android experience, free of any bloat or ads that have come to plague a ton of custom Android ROMs like Xiaomi’s MIUI and Samsung’s Experience UI, out of the box. This is possibly the reason a lot of users are making a switch to Android One phones or OEMs who’re promising an ad-free experience.
Ummm, not really. This is a really tough question to answer. I mean, users do prefer and appreciate a good camera experience out of the box. We cannot deny that Pixel 3 set the bar too high and is still regarded as having one of the best cameras on a smartphone by most. However, Google porting the same experience to its mid-range Pixel 3a lineup, I believe, won’t be enough to grab the attention of the majority of users — especially in an uber-competitive market like India.
The processor, benchmark scores, and the performance are a priority for the users here and offering a Snapdragon 670/Snapdragon 710 chipset at Rs 32,999 would come as the biggest disappointment to most. The precedence of “camera performance is lower than a performance powerhouse”, and why wouldn’t we worry about it when we’ve seen Pixel 3 riddled with issues since its launch last year.
Such is the case also because of Snapdragon 800-series chipset-powered smartphones becoming available at a similar or lower price in the Indian market. This is leading most phone makers to adopt an even aggressive pricing model to stay locked in the game & ultimately, Google will need to understand the same.
Well, Google itself will bank on Pixel 3a’s camera prowess to sell the smartphone and it’ll certainly find a niche in users who’ve been longing an affordable Pixel experience. I mean, they get one of the best camera quality, a no-frills Android experience with timely updates and latest features, a modest performing mid-range processor all packed inside a handy-dandy device to boot. I also feel users would point out that it’s not up to the standards of modern devices with notches or smaller bezels. Thus, the Pixel 3a would again cater to a niche market and not the masses which Google is aiming to capture with it in India.
With only a few hours to go until the Google I/O 2019 keynote, where the Pixel 3a series will finally be unveiled officially, all that remains to be seen is whether Pixel 3a would be a saving grace for Google’s hardware division or not. We’re skeptical of the fact whether the camera and software experience be enough to satiate the masses — especially in India. I know Pixel 3a would certainly appeal to the international audience as a perfect alternative (if slightly underpowered) to the Galaxy S10e or iPhone XR because of the cameras.
