Top 5 reasons why we’re excited for the Google Pixel 4a

With the Google Pixel 4a right around the corner it's looking like one of the most anticipated phones of the year. The regular Pixel 4 was a bit disappointing, but last year's Pixel 3a set the budget market on fire. The Pixel 4a seems like it can do the same for a few very good reasons.

Cameras

The Pixel line of phones gets its namesake from camera quality. The original Google Pixel was a heavy hitter in the mobile photography space thanks to some magic Google software voodoo, and that's been the selling point ever since.

Even the Pixel 3a had a great camera, especially relative to its $399 price tag. The Pixel 4a should keep that trend up, delivering image quality that rivals phones almost 3x as expensive.

If you're looking for the cheapest way to take great photos, the Pixel 4a is going to be on your radar very soon.

Android 11

Android 11 isn't out yet, but Google phones tend to get those updates the quickest. Google does an excellent job of updating their phones nearly simultaneously with new Android releases, and the phones are guaranteed some of the longest update support in the industry.

With the Pixel 4a releasing just a few months before Android 11, it's bound to be one of the first phones to taste the latest version of Android. It'll also likely be one of the few supported phones for the Android 11 beta, if that's more your speed.

You'll still be kept up with Android 12 and 13 in the next couple years, too, and this might be one of the only phones in that price range that can say that.

5G

5G has been an expensive endeavor for 2020 smartphones. It's great to have the latest form of connectivity on your phone for better speeds and future-proofing, but the processors that work with 5G modems aren't cheap. We've already seen ballooning prices from phones that use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 CPU.

But the Pixel 4a might be using a more affordable Snapdragon 765 (Update: it's been confirmed that it's the Snapdragon 730). Since the a line of Pixel phones are cheaper, that could mean that Google will launch one of the cheapest 5G phones on the market, undercutting some very expensive alternatives from OnePlus and Samsung.

Storage

Some early rumors have pointed at the Pixel 4a picking up a storage upgrade compared to other Pixel phones. 64GB seems to be the standard, which was the default option for both the Pixel 4 and last year's Pixel 3a.

But now the internet is abuzz talking about the Pixel 4a launching with 128GB as the base model. That's basically a free storage upgrade from other Pixels, and considering none of them support microSD cards, having that extra space is a game changer.

Price

Lastly, price. But this might be a little more exciting than you were originally thinking.

$399 was the default price for the Pixel 3a before any discounts or specials, and it's what we expected the Pixel 4a to launch at. That's a great price, but some other rumors make it seem like Google might be getting even more aggressive this year.

So aggressive, in fact, that we might see the Pixel 4a debut at just $349. Less than $400 for a phone with these cameras and 128GB of storage? Sign us up, please.

• Everything you need to know about the Google Pixel 4a
• Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless review
• The Pixel 4a should ship on May 22nd