Google just took the wraps off its latest smartphone: the Pixel 3A, a cheaper version of its flagship Pixel phone that starts at just $400, or roughly half of what the more powerful Pixel 3 costs.

First off, let’s get to the biggest difference: the processor. Simply put, the Pixel 3 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, a flagship-class Android processor (even if it is last year’s model). The Pixel 3A has a Snapdragon 670 chipset — it’s good, but it’s not the best, and the Pixel 3 will be faster to launch apps, load webpages, and process more effect-laden pictures. If that’s $400 worth of a dealbreaker for you, stick with the Pixel 3.

The screens on the pricier Pixels are also better, using Corning’s higher-quality Gorilla Glass instead of the Dragontrail glass on the Pixel 3A. And the build quality on the more premium phones is nicer too: the Pixel 3A is largely made of polycarbonate. It’s also not water resistant, and lacks wireless charging (although it does have a headphone jack, which its pricier sibling lacks).

And of course, there’s the rear camera, which is nearly the same for the Pixel 3A as the Pixel 3, including Google’s much vaunted Night Sight feature — probably the Pixel 3A’s biggest sell, and undoubtably the best smartphone camera on a phone in this price range.

If you’ve got a Pixel 2, we’ve included that here as well, should you be considering an upgrade. Unless you really miss a headphone jack, though, you’re probably better off just waiting for Google to release an updated flagship Pixel in the fall (especially if you’re on a two-year installment plan and bought your Pixel 2 in October 2017 when it first launched).

Ultimately, though, hard specs won’t ever tell the whole story, but at least at a bird’s-eye glance, there’s a lot more in common between the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3A than is different. And for a device that costs half as much, that’s a pretty good place to start.

The Verge

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