Does anybody have interest in these 3a Pixels?

mustang7757

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I'm not against plastic either , had few devices with plastic back , one of them being plastic and water resistant my Samsung s5 .
 

rhea

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I actually wanted the plastic back. I like the lighter weight of plastic. The whole time I had a Nexus 4, I was paranoid about the glass back shattering. It never did. Still have the phone which still works but only LTE on T-Mobile. I bought a MOTO Z3 Play. It's my "tank." It's as sturdy as they come; heavy; and maybe a bit too big for me--although it does have the one-handed mode. Excellent battery life (5X wouldn't last 8 hrs) even without the mod. I really wanted to get back the fingerprint reader on the back. That was the best aspect of my 5X. The Z3 side reader is not anywhere as convenient for this lefty. The main reason I ordered the 3a exactly 2 months after getting a new Z3 Play is the AT&T wifi calling. I had hoped AT&T would allow my Z3 to have it. It's not a guarantee at this point, but I've read more posts about those who have it than those who don't. We have one phone (iphone SE--whose fingerprint reader sucks! just saying) that uses wifi calling. I ordered my white 3a from B&H (no tax) + $100. gift card on Fri so I have to wait until their inventory catches up to my order which could be a couple of weeks. Then I'll try wifi calling. I get back to the Google environment I'd had from GNex (still have it with it's hdmi-out capability) through every phone (except N6) and tablet until the Pixel priced them out of my comfort zone. (My MOTO is sitting on Feb security update with "blah, blah, blah" from MOTO for P upgrade.) Yes, I have interest in this phone. I think my son is going to replace his 6P with the 3a XL rather than the OnePlus 6T. For the $$, it will meet his needs well AND keep him in the Google environment--for both the good and the bad.
 

Morty2264

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Just a PSA... IP68 certification on a device does not account for (and therefore does not apply when there are) chemicals it other contaminants in the water, such as chlorine, fluoride, or salt water. Those can damage the gaskets and seals which provide the ingress protection.

While you would probably be fine with a submersion in such a few times, I would definitely recommend a similar level of caution as you would exert if your phone had no such rating when taking it to the pool, lake, beach, etc.

As to the 3a, 3a XL, they do not have a rating but I suspect they have some level of ingress protection, regardless of it's lack of an IP rating. Google may have simply abstained from certifying it to keep costs down.

You are right! I still try to keep my phone away from water because it may not only be pure water that can spill on it. I never bring it near pools or salt water. I'm even afraid of getting it near sand... Yup, I'm fussy! 🤣
 

Mike Dee

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I've never been one to pooh-pooh plastic backs, as long as they have a nice texture that makes the phone less slippery. Glass is slippery and cracks easily, while metal is usually quite slippery as well.

The only caveat is that soft-touch or rubberized plastic can sometimes deteriorate over a few years, where it starts to feel overly sticky.

Best was Droid Ultra Maxx with Kelvar back
 

Mike Dee

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To be honest I'm actually mad at Samsung for removing the water resistance in the A series. I mean at least being there it might have eventually compelled other manufacturers to have midrange IP rated devices. As of now I think there are none at that price range.
They only did it for like a year. You'd wonder if they kept at it longer maybe we'd have seen 300USD IP68 devices from Google and Huawei.

It would have increased cost
 

Ten Four

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I absolutely prefer the plastic back! My phones instantly go into a case and almost never emerge, except for occasional cleanings, so the beauty of the back is irrelevant to me. Note how many glass-backed phones you see in the wild without cases, and then note how many of them are cracked. Nearly 100%. Metal backs are OK, but still I'm going to immediately put my phone into a plastic case, so the beauty or lack thereof of the material doesn't matter to me.
 

Morty2264

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I absolutely prefer the plastic back! My phones instantly go into a case and almost never emerge, except for occasional cleanings, so the beauty of the back is irrelevant to me. Note how many glass-backed phones you see in the wild without cases, and then note how many of them are cracked. Nearly 100%. Metal backs are OK, but still I'm going to immediately put my phone into a plastic case, so the beauty or lack thereof of the material doesn't matter to me.

You're right. My phones always live in a case. If I like the back, I get a translucent or even a transparent case. But I still protect it.
 

Jeremy8000

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You're right. My phones always live in a case. If I like the back, I get a translucent or even a transparent case. But I still protect it.

Yep, that's the 'case' for most people - at which point the appearance a design done in glass (3) or similarly in plastic (3a) becomes nearly indistiguishable.

The big difference is that it never bothered me to carry a phone with a plastic back without a case, whereas I wouldn't dream of it with a glass-backed
 

Mike Dee

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Yep, that's the 'case' for most people - at which point the appearance a design done in glass (3) or similarly in plastic (3a) becomes nearly indistiguishable.

The big difference is that it never bothered me to carry a phone with a plastic back without a case, whereas I wouldn't dream of it with a glass-backed

It sucks that most went to glass but you'll hear complaints that plastic doesn't feel premium. It's absurd really.
 

Jeremy8000

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It sucks that most went to glass but you'll hear complaints that plastic doesn't feel premium. It's absurd really.

Part of it likely has to do with the weight of the device when built with heavier materials like glass or metal, with greater heft often being perceived as a an indicator of quality. Maybe they should have taken a page out of Beats Headphones' playbook and put metal plates inside just to give off that perception :-X
 

Mike Dee

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Part of it likely has to do with the weight of the device when built with heavier materials like glass or metal, with greater heft often being perceived as a an indicator of quality. Maybe they should have taken a page out of Beats Headphones' playbook and put metal plates inside just to give off that perception :-X

Glass feels slicker and looks more expensive....not that I'm promoting it. I personally hate glass which is why I went with Ceramic version of the S10+
Much more durable so I can get away a slimmer case.

I think it's great that Pixel is providing a plastic option....too bad we won't see it on the flagships. The solution to keep everyone happy would be offer plastic or glass options.
 

Vega007

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Part of it likely has to do with the weight of the device when built with heavier materials like glass or metal, with greater heft often being perceived as a an indicator of quality. Maybe they should have taken a page out of Beats Headphones' playbook and put metal plates inside just to give off that perception :-X

Apple phones are heavy and because of that, they do feel like a more premium device. I've been using a Pixel 3 lately and the difference is pretty shocking.
 

Golurk

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Thing is that most people with metal/glass phones use cases that mean you can’t feel the metal sides most of the time either, so much of the ‘expensive feel’ is lost when you use a case. The pixel 3a series should feel no different with a case on that more expensive phones.
 
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Mike Dee

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Thing is that most people with metal/glass phones use cases that prevent wireless charging and you can’t feel the metal sides most of the time either, so much of the ‘expensive feel’ is lost when you use a case. The pixel 3a series should feel no different with a case on that more expensive phones.

Most cases allow wireless charging
 

Golurk

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Ok, my bad (most protective and battery cases still prevent it)

Doesn’t change the original point I made though, which is much of the expensive feel of the phone is lost as you can rarely feel the metal sides and glass back with most cases.
 

B. Diddy

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Doesn’t change the original point I made though, which is much of the expensive feel of the phone is lost as you can rarely feel the metal sides and glass back with most cases.

I'm always hoping for a nice real-leather case that's not wallet/folio style, but they're virtually nonexistent for Android phones. It's always fake leather using TPU or hard plastic.:(
 

mogelijk

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I'm always hoping for a nice real-leather case that's not wallet/folio style, but they're virtually nonexistent for Android phones. It's always fake leather using TPU or hard plastic.:(

Nomad makes leather cases for the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, you might let them know you'd like them for the 3A. The same with Bellroy, they also makes leather cases for the Pixel 3. With the 3A being so new, hopefully someone will make a genuine leather case for it.
 

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