Google Announces Low-Cost 5G Pixel 5a Smartphone, Plans to Nix Chargers in Box Going Forward

Google today announced the launch of the low-cost 5G Pixel 5a, a follow up to the Pixel 4a that debuted last year. At its $449 price point, the Pixel 5a most closely competes with the $399 iPhone SE, which is $50 cheaper, though it has a similar feature set to Apple's $699 iPhone 12 mini thanks to the inclusion of 5G.

google pixel 5a
Apple is rumored to be working on a new version of the ‌iPhone‌ SE that will also include 5G, with the device set to launch in 2022. The updated ‌iPhone‌ SE will be positioned as Apple's cheapest 5G iPhone, and based on the $449 price point of the Pixel 5a, it could be priced similarly to keep it competitive with lower-cost Android devices.

In addition to 5G mmWave and sub-6GHz connectivity, the Pixel 5a brings a bigger 6.3-inch hole punch display that offers more available screen space than the prior Pixel 4a, so it may still have an edge over Apple's upcoming 2022 ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new ‌iPhone‌ SE is rumored to feature a design that's "roughly the same" as the current ‌iPhone‌ SE, which is modeled after the ‌iPhone‌ 8.

Other Pixel 5a features include IP67 water resistance, a dual camera setup with wide and ultra wide lenses, a 4,620mAh battery, 6GB RAM, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip.

Google is selling the Pixel 5a with an 18W adapter that supports fast charging, but Google is taking a page from Apple's playbook. The Pixel 5a will be the last Pixel phone that will include a charger, according to The Verge. Google says that because most people already have a charging brick, its future phones, including the upcoming Pixel 6, will not ship with one.

Apple stopped providing a 5W charger with ‌iPhone‌ models in 2020 and in most countries, iPhones no longer come with a charger.

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Top Rated Comments

Paul_a Avatar
54 months ago
Seems to have become standard practice for companies to let Apple make unpopular choices, take the heat and hate for it, and when things cool down make the same choice themselves.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrjetsondc Avatar
54 months ago
Smart Me: wow that pixel is a great value and price. I should get one now.

Irrational me: I will go ahead and pay Apple a thousand bucks bc I like my messages blue
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
54 months ago
lol quick, someone scrape all the tweets from pixel fans laughing at a lack of an iPhone charger
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vagos Avatar
54 months ago
5G, 6,3" display, dual camera... No way I would choose the SE over this.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lpolarityl Avatar
54 months ago
Great price for a pretty good device. The Pixel cameras in the 4a/4a 5G and now this, all compete with the best phone cameras out there. If mobile photography is a priority with a reasonable budget in mind, it is really hard to ignore the Pixel 4a/4a5G/5a phones. Google's variant of "Vanilla" android is also the best (IMO). Being that this is MacRumors, don't think many folks here are interested in the slightest. ?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jk1221 Avatar
54 months ago

The A12 chip in the XR and A14 chip in the SE makes the pixel a terrible choice.
If you want a huge forehead and chin from 2015, baby-size battery, and tiny 4.7" LCD, then sure....

The processor is the only arguable metric there. The rest is hilariously outdated.

It sold well because it is the cheapest Apple phone you can buy; if you wanted an Apple phone and didnt have a lot of money, that was it. Not because it was good "value" to anything comparable in the price range.

A huge percent of the world uses lower-spec processor phones just fine every day. Apple is around 1/4 worldwide market share and the VAST VAST majority of that 75% of phones sold are low to mid-rangers; not including the older iphones out there that fit into that and slower than 2021 Snapdragons/etc.

Data doesn't lie. The incredibly slim margin of people real-world care about processor specs.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)