Anyone else feel kind of cheated by Google?

[AKFL3TCH3R]

Why would they release a premium phone, then turn their backs to release a mid ranger with better battery life and the same camera? Am I missing something? Sure, some people really care a lot about water resistance, and a high-res display.. ultimately it feels like the premium is a rip off at this point at least lower the price or something?

 

[uw]

Pixel 3A/XL price rant

I still don't get it. Why is the Pixel 3a/XL being lauded as an "affordable" phone? People might categorize it as a mid-range, but it screams budget phone to me. Only thing it has going is the camera and regular updates. But are those two enough to justify it's price and then call it "affordable"? No water resistances, no expandable storage, slow processor (per The Verge review), not even gorilla glass 3, no wireless charging and plastic build. Some might prefer plastic, but at that price, they could've gone metal. Even Moto G7 has better build.

If you look at BestBuy, you can get these unlocked phones (with activation)
- Galaxy S8: $399
- Galaxy S9: $399
- LG G7 Fit: $299
- LG G7: $449
- Moto G7: $199
- Moto X4: $49

It feels like they are trying to be like Apple, price up everything because of their name. Looks like they are having big discounts and promotions for the 3a/XL, but they should've priced it at $299 to begin with and then added the discounts.

 

[B. Diddy]

A few things to remember about the camera on the 3a:

1. There's no Visual Core, so all of the photo processing is done by the main CPU. This means the processing will take longer for each shot, and probably will bog the phone down if you're taking a lot of pictures in succession.

2. Since the CPU is doing all of the work, this will also probably increase overall battery usage if you're taking lots of pictures, so any improvement in battery size over the flagship 3 would be offset.

3. From what I've seen everywhere, you won't get unlimited Original Quality photo storage on Google Photos -- only High Quality (which is still fine, but if you're a real photo enthusiast, you'll probably want the Original Quality).

4. Overall performance for the phone sounds very​ midrange, so you'd have to be prepared for somewhat sluggish app opening/switching, etc.

 

[AKFL3TCH3R]

A few things to remember about the camera on the 3a:

1. There's no Visual Core, so all of the photo processing is done by the main CPU. This means the processing will take longer for each shot, and probably will bog the phone down if you're taking a lot of pictures in succession.

2. Since the CPU is doing all of the work, this will also probably increase overall battery usage if you're taking lots of pictures, so any improvement in battery size over the flagship 3 would be offset.

3. From what I've seen everywhere, you won't get unlimited Original Quality photo storage on Google Photos -- only High Quality (which is still fine, but if you're a real photo enthusiast, you'll probably want the Original Quality).

4. Overall performance for the phone sounds very​ midrange, so you'd have to be prepared for somewhat sluggish app opening/switching, etc.

Oh.. well interesting. I've read people not telling a difference.

 

[chezm]

I have a Pixel 3 and love it, but if i were buying a phone today id probably go for the Pixel 3a XL. I dont feel cheated, i know my current device is premium and works flawless but not being as tech hardcore as most people on this forum i think the 3aXL would fit my needs fine. Plus, i came from iPhone and miss quite a lot about it and could have held onto my 7+ and just bought a 3aXL instead of having to sell my 7+ to help pay for the Pixel 3.

If anything i think people considering a phone now are very lucky to be given the choice, i dont have an entitlement issues being an early adopter and Google owes me nothing.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: Pixel 3A/XL price rant

but it screams budget phone to me.

Budget is a Snapdragon 400 series, this is a 600 series.

no expandable storage

On a Google phone? I wish.

slow processor

Thus the midrange rating.

not even gorilla glass 3

Dragontail glass is the equivalent (in Vickers Hardness) of Gorilla Glass 5.

plastic build

Midrange. And plastic doesn't shatter if not perfectly annealed.

It feels like they are trying to be like Apple, price up everything because of their name.

Or just "price everything up" - everyone but the Chinese manufacturers are. (And if the US economy takes a dump against the Yuan, Chinese phones will be priced out of the market.)

but they should've priced it at $299 to begin with and then added the discounts.

That would have put them in the Moto G6 range, and they're a lot more phone than that.

 

[B. Diddy]

Oh.. well interesting. I've read people not telling a difference.

Not being able to tell the difference in overall performance, or photo processing, or something else? I'd say it's probably too early to tell what the overall experience is like. You tend not to notice these things until you've been using a phone for a little while. (Granted, I'm making some assumptions myself, but this is based on what I'd expect from hardware limitations.)

 

[Jeremy8000]

Re: Pixel 3A/XL price rant

If you look at BestBuy, you can get these unlocked phones (with activation)
- Galaxy S8: $399 Discounted 2 year old phone
- Galaxy S9: $399 Discounted 1 year old phone
- LG G7 Fit: $299 Discounted 1 year old phone, 1/2 the storage, 2016 processor, IPS display
- LG G7: $449 reasonable competitor, but bloat, lesser camera, IPS
- Moto G7: $199 slower processor, lower res display (IPS), bloat
- Moto X4: $49 $349.99 retail, I don't even know where to begin....

Couple of highlights inserted. Nobody is saying this is the be-all, end-all of the non-premium-tier phones, but it absolutely merits its price if you value what it offers. It's new, will have the latest software in 3 years (some of the others above will be lucky to get Q, much less R or S, or the security updates along the way), has a camera better than anything remotely close to its price point and actually better than many selling for 300-400% higher, is very easy and intuitive to use without the confusion generated by bloated app duplication...

Edit - given you're talking about with activation pricing, well, one can pick up a Pixel 3a for an effective price of $199 (after $100 instant rebate and $100 eGift card from Best Buy if you count yourself as adequately served by Sprint's network.

The 3a also includes CDMA support which can be significant for some networks use.

 

[Martin_F]

3. From what I've seen everywhere, you won't get unlimited Original Quality photo storage on Google Photos -- only High Quality (which is still fine, but if you're a real photo enthusiast, you'll probably want the Original Quality).

I don't quite understand this argument; High quality means everything bigger than 16MP will get resized to 16MP, right?
The camera on the the Pixel 3 and 3a is 12MP. Why would any pictures taken on the phone not be original quality?

 

[B. Diddy]

That's true -- but I believe there's still some file compression going on. See this discussion: https://support.google.com/photos/thread/232779?hl=en

And this article: https://www.phonearena.com/news/Goo...ts-the-difference-and-should-you-care_id93938

 

[Jeremy8000]

Why would they release a premium phone, then turn their backs to release a mid ranger with better battery life and the same camera? Am I missing something? Sure, some people really care a lot about water resistance, and a high-res display.. ultimately it feels like the premium is a rip off at this point ?????? at least lower the price or something?

The 3 and 3 XL are just over 1/2-way through their product lifecycle ag just over 6 months. In another 5 months we'll have the 4, which will make the 3 seem like even more of a ripoff.

There's a whole lot to like about the 3a and 3a XL, but even beyond the points B. Diddy made, the 3 / 3 XL have more powerful processors, more premium construction (though candidly I'd rather have the plastic body), wide angle selfie, better AR support, Daydream, more and faster wireless bands, better display, better speakers... Whether all of those things make it worth twice the price depends on the value you place on them and on your money.

Personally I'd still get the 3 XL as I do a lot of gaming and media consumption on my phone, but I'd be calling myself a darn fool the entire time, and would recommend the 3a or 3a XL to 90% of the people who might ask my opinion.

 

[uw]

Re: Pixel 3A/XL price rant

"it absolutely merits its price if you value what it offers."

I guess that's the real question. Does a buyer value what Pixel 3a offers. For some, the camera and the timely updates might be enough and will see this as a cheaper alternative to the regular Pixel 3/XL. However, for me (and I might be in the minority), it's a Moto G7 competitor and the camera and the software update isn't enough to justify the price. If they added IP rating, then I can see the price being justified.

I understand the compromises that needs to be made to hit the mid-range/budget price points, but it feels like Google was sleepwalking designing/developing this phone. They just went "Hey, let's design a phone using the Pixel 2 design language, but use cheap plastic body, but we'll throw them a bone with our camera. But we'll charge them premium mid-price because it's a Pixel phone!".

Or maybe it's just me thinking $399 isn't really "affordable". Damn you apple/samsung for making $999 the norm and $750 "cheap".

 

[ScottsoNJ]

Re: Pixel 3A/XL price rant

"it absolutely merits its price if you value what it offers."

I guess that's the real question. Does a buyer value what Pixel 3a offers. For some, the camera and the timely updates might be enough and will see this as a cheaper alternative to the regular Pixel 3/XL. However, for me (and I might be in the minority), it's a Moto G7 competitor and the camera and the software update isn't enough to justify the price. If they added IP rating, then I can see the price being justified.

I understand the compromises that needs to be made to hit the mid-range/budget price points, but it feels like Google was sleepwalking designing/developing this phone. They just went "Hey, let's design a phone using the Pixel 2 design language, but use cheap plastic body, but we'll throw them a bone with our camera. But we'll charge them premium mid-price because it's a Pixel phone!".

Or maybe it's just me thinking $399 isn't really "affordable". Damn you apple/samsung for making $999 the norm and $750 "cheap".

The processor in the Moto can't hold a candle to the Snapdragon 670. That and the oled vs the the lcd are probably the 2 biggest things for the difference in price

 

[ncfanboy]

The only thing I wish you that the pixel 3 XL at the same large battery as the 3A XL but other than that I'm happy with the 3XL

 

[cwbcpa]

I only paid $450 for my Pixel 3 about two months ago so maybe that has an impact on my feelings. I am glad to see Google going this direction with the Pixel 3a. Focus on the features that really matter to most and charge a reasonable price for it. I think it will be a good seller for them or at least it should be. The Pixel 3 is one of my favorite phones, if not my favorite phone of the last 6-9 months. Definitely my favorite "small" phone. If I were buying now, I'd probably get the 3a.

 

[o4liberty]

The processor in the 3 compared to the “a” is much faster so no it doesn’t bother me. The pixel line of phones are awesome and probably the best devices on the market. People are still using the original pixel devices today which says a lot about the quality and performance of the pixel devices. Look at the photo comparison with the new Samsung s10 devices the pixel blows them away in every review battle.

 

[Golurk]

The processor in the 3 compared to the “a” is much faster so no it doesn’t bother me. The pixel line of phones are awesome and probably the best devices on the market. People are still using the original pixel devices today which says a lot about the quality and performance of the pixel devices. Look at the photo comparison with the new Samsung s10 devices the pixel blows them away in every review battle.

That last sentence simply isn’t true. I love the Pixel line of devices, but I have to say the S10 is slightly in the camera department...and wins in many review battles. I’m not sure what kind of reviews you read...

The Pixel 3 might have better low light photos and selfies but the S10 is far more versatile, boasting an ultra wide angle AND telephoto lens...the latter of which definitely beats Google’s High Res Zoom, as good as it is.

And finally, Samsung’s camera app itself is also better. It opens and reacts faster than the Google one if you pay attention, and the autofocus is especially quick.

I currently use an S7 Edge, but I am very tempted to get a 3a XL if/when the prices go down a bit.

 

[ptkelly]

No regrets for me and if I had a choice between the two I'd go with the Pixel 3 today.

Waterproofing
Better photo processing
My Pixel 3 battery lasts me for two days so I'm not complaining.

All things considered, I'm very happy with my Pixel 3.

 

[Fred98TJ]

That last sentence simply isn’t true. I love the Pixel line of devices, but I have to say the S10 is slightly in the camera department...and wins in many review battles. I’m not sure what kind of reviews you read...

The Pixel 3 might have better low light photos and selfies but the S10 is far more versatile, boasting an ultra wide angle AND telephoto lens...the latter of which definitely beats Google’s High Res Zoom, as good as it is.

And finally, Samsung’s camera app itself is also better. It opens and reacts faster than the Google one if you pay attention, and the autofocus is especially quick.

I currently use an S7 Edge, but I am very tempted to get a 3a XL if/when the prices go down a bit.

Also the Huawei P30 Pro’s camera system is “better” than the Pixel, even in low light.
Not trying to start a “my daddy’s bigger ‘an your daddy” war on cell phone cameras. I, personally, think that whole bit of chicken scratching is hilarious anyway. .

 

[mustang7757]

How much better is Huawei night shot compared to the pixel? Like blew the pixel out the water no comparison?

Also the Huawei P30 Pro’s camera system is “better” than the Pixel, even in low light.
Not trying to start a “my daddy’s bigger ‘an your daddy” war on cell phone cameras. I, personally, think that whole bit of chicken scratching is hilarious anyway. .