Google’s latest cut-price smartphone has been announced, but the lack of significant upgrades mean that its absence is no great loss to prospective UK customers.
Google has just unveiled its Pixel 5a smartphone, its lower-cost option for customers on a budget who still want a classy camera and 5G connectivity. However it seems that the device will unfortunately miss out on a UK release, currently being available exclusively in the United States and Japan; there seem to be no plans for it to be launched in Britain or Europe.
Introducing the budget-friendly #Pixel5a with 5G 👋
— Made By Google (@madebygoogle) August 17, 2021
🎮 Play games
📹 Take amazing video
🎬 Watch HD movies
🔋 Power all day
🔒 Keep your stuff secure
Available exclusively in 🇺🇸 and 🇯🇵. Pre-order at the Google Store https://t.co/GrPuLV3rvk pic.twitter.com/AFfFOFN1iB
Related: Everything you need to know about the Google Pixel 6
While it might initially seem like a shame that we won’t get to see the latest Google goodness on this side of the pond, the specs sheet shows that actually there haven’t been all that many upgrades made over the Google Pixel 4a 5G. In fact, due to the lack of any major upgrades the device will be relatively cheap at just $449 (£325), a fifty dollar decrease compared to its forerunner’s starting price.
To start with, the camera hardware (so often the star of the show for Pixels) is exactly the same as its predecessor, with a 12-megapixel main snapper and a 16-megapixel ultra wide lens on the rear, and an 8-megapixel selfie camera at the top of the screen. Even more surprisingly, there hasn’t even been an upgrade to the processor: it’s still the same Snapdragon 765G, which is respectable but not class-leading.
There’s been a slight increase in screen size (which now spans 6.34-inches rather than just 6.2-inches), but rumours of an enhanced refresh rate have been quashed – it still will be stuck at the standard 60Hz.
Nonetheless, there are still two incontestable improvements to the new Pixel. The first is the introduction of an IP rating for the first time in the budget “a” series, and the Pixel 5a’s IP67 rating means that it could survive being dunked underwater for 30 minutes. The second is the bigger battery, which has been boosted from 3,885mAh to a beefier 4,680mAh.
With these being the only significant upgrades, it doesn’t look like the Brits are missing out on much.
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