Google's pixel lineup of phones have always been what I believe to be the closest to a "pure" android experience as someone could find. This year's google pixel 5A, A budget friendly version of the pixel. Is exactly that.

Amazon Affiliate Links to Gear I use:
Sony A7S III: https://amzn.to/3jD0fxC
Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB Tripod: https://amzn.to/2O7V8Yn
M1 Macbook Air: https://amzn.to/3rV5Zru
Philips Hue Light Strip: https://amzn.to/2VZq2EV
Godox SL-60W: https://amzn.to/37LsdT0
Rode VideoMic NTG:https://amzn.to/2RKHVrL
Shure SM7B: https://amzn.to/30Dxji7
Logitech MX Master 3: https://amzn.to/30G1GV2
Logitech MX keys: https://amzn.to/3bHytQ8yo

0:00 Introduction
0:27 Disclaimers
1:00 Physical Features
2:47 User Experience
4:17 Camera
5:23 Battery
6:00 Summary
7:48 Closing Thoughts

When you open the box, you get the pixel 5a itself, a sim card ejector tool, a power brick, charging cable, and usb 3 to usb c adapter. When you hold this phone, you'll realize that it's much bigger than the pixel 4a by a lot. The Google Pixel 5a is more similar to the Google Pixel 4a 5g than a pixel 5 or pixel 4a. It has a 6.3in display, stereo speakers with one on the earpiece and the other on the bottom speaker. There’s a headphone jack and fingerprint sensor on the phone. The screen is a 1080 by 2400 resolution OLED display, it has a snapdragon 765G with 5G but no Ultrawide band 5g. That's the gigabit speed 5G. It also has 128 GB of storage, 6GB of ram, WiFi AC, a 8MP front facing camera, and 2 cameras on the back. The phone is water resistant, which is honestly a nice feature to have especially considering the price tag of the device.

It has a premium unibody and it feels like that when you tap on it, you can tell its solid but the outer coating almost makes it feel like hard and smooth plastic instead of metal. While the color is named Almost black. It's more of a really really dark olive-like green. The power button and volume buttons are both on the right hand side of the phone. And the power button is textured. Scrolling around the ui and menus is smooth. The only time I could get it to stutter is when I'm scrolling really fast for things that need to be loaded through the internet. The camera on the front is still a hole punch type design. But with it being in the corner, it stays out of the way 99% of time. The quality of the front facing camera is acceptable for a mid range phone. The speakers from the Pixel 5a sound pretty good and gets plenty loud.

Under load and charging at the same time, the phone does get pretty warm, but never enough to make it uncomfortable to hold. Other tasks, like watching youtube videos, and surfing the web runs without a hitch. Photos look good coming out of this phone. But do keep in mind that like previous pixel phones. When you take a picture, and try to look at it right away, there is a slight delay for the image to process. Overall, though. I love what google does with their Camera app. They have features that I love in my full blown dslr or mirrorless camera. If you keep the phone still, it will give you a level, so you can get that perfectly level or angled shot.

The Pixel 5a can shoot up to 4k 60 fps video and does it decently. Not as well as their photos, but good enough for a mid-range phone. The 4600mAH battery is fantastic. I've been using the pixel 5a with moderate usage and have gotten a day and a half of usage. After setup and downloading all your apps, you could expect a light user to go 2 days before this guy dies on you. This is a good thing, because over time when batteries degrade, you'll be happy to know that the battery will still be enough to get you through the day.With how well this phone does with battery, you'd think there would be wireless charging on the Pixel 5a but it doesn't have it.

So, I guess it's conclusion time. When looking at a phone, we have to consider the features you're getting, the price you're paying for it and its competition. The Google Pixel 5a does not have a ton of flashy features. But what it can do, it does really well. Battery, ease of use, storage, durability, and camera quality. And within this under $500 price range. The Pixel 5a excels in almost all of them. It has a massive battery considering its price, has stock android apps to avoid overloading the user with a bunch of different apps that do the same thing, it has an okay amount of storage, has water resistance for added durability, and has a fantastic camera for the price. And to top it all off Google guarantees 3 years of software updates. So you know you can use this phone for a few years with no problems. When you look in this price range, it's hard to find a smartphone that not only ticks all these boxes. The Pixel 5a improves upon last year's fantastic Pixel 4a and 4a 5G and costs less than the 4a 5G did last year. It's not a "revolutionary" upgrade, but this year's Pixel 5A is better than ever.

#TeamPixel #GiftFromGoogle