Pixel 5a leak shows a headphone jack, flat screen, and a familiar design

The Pixel 5a design is a case of "if it's not broke, don't fix it."

Read the whole story

 

[PhaseShifter]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

It takes up internal space next to the battery that could instead house a bigger battery. I'm not a Bluetooth apologist, I am on the 3.5mm or bust train too, but there is a trade-off.

How much battery capacity do you lose vs the power wasted every day keeping Bluetooth running, though?

 

[dcdp]

In my eyes the only weak area for the Pixel line is battery life. Put a 5000 mAh battery in it and it's my next phone. Battery life has stopped me buying a Pixel since the 3a after watching my brother's Pixel run out of battery everyday with only mild use. The camera was amazing, everything else was good, but needing to be tethered to a power point to last a single day is a no go for me.

What's your brother running to kill the battery in less than a day? My 4a lasts a day with moderate to heavy usage. GSMArena rates the 4a as having 74 hours of endurance, which is on the lower side of current phones but not abnormally so.

His was a 3a which is marginally worse than a 4a I think. I don't know what he was doing, but it seemed like everyday by about 4-5pm he needed to charge it, whereas my phone (Moto G7 Power - 147h in same gsmarena test) was still around 60-70% battery. We were away from home at the time and the location didn't have Wifi or and patchy phone reception which tends to drain battery faster, it was also during the period leading up to my other brothers wedding so he was taking lots of photos (amazing camera compared to mine) as well. Not great conditions, but also when you need a phone to still have charge at the end of the day so you can order an Uber/cab

 

[Papageno]

BTW, did they ever sort out the quality issues with the 4a and 4a 5G? I'm super happy with my 3a XL but the non-expandable 64 GB of space is rather limiting.

My housemate's had a 4a since launch and I've been using a 4a 5G since November, neither have had any issues thus far. I dunno if it would be worth upgrading from a 3a XL, but it seems like the issues have been fixed since last month, at least according to a quick google search.

I'd actually read about some physical build problems, like the glass separating from the body, but maybe I'm misremembering and it was another phone.

 

[Vincent294]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

It takes up internal space next to the battery that could instead house a bigger battery. I'm not a Bluetooth apologist, I am on the 3.5mm or bust train too, but there is a trade-off.

How much battery capacity do you lose vs the power wasted every day keeping Bluetooth running, though?

One of the many reasons to keep a 3.5mm jack, the mAh gained is marginal. But Apple did it and I want to look like a hip trendy phone company!

 

[PrionDX]

And still no reason to update from the average 4 or 5 year old midrange smartphone.

Other than planned obsolescence of the non-removable battery and a total lack of OS and security updates.

 

[PhaseShifter]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

I'm curious why the headphone jack seems to be important to lot of people? Not criticizing your choice at all, just genuinely curious.

I personally do not miss it at all, I find bluetooth far more convenient for all my use cases. My headphones, home music system and my cars all connect to bluetooth and work flawlessly for the most part. And I don't miss having to deal with this mess:

Oh, look! The buds are tethered together so it's harder to lose one!

Maybe this will catch on.

 

[Vincent294]

BTW, did they ever sort out the quality issues with the 4a and 4a 5G? I'm super happy with my 3a XL but the non-expandable 64 GB of space is rather limiting.

My housemate's had a 4a since launch and I've been using a 4a 5G since November, neither have had any issues thus far. I dunno if it would be worth upgrading from a 3a XL, but it seems like the issues have been fixed since last month, at least according to a quick google search.

I'd actually read about some physical build problems, like the glass separating from the body, but maybe I'm misremembering and it was another phone.

https://www.androidauthority.com/google ... e-1138848/

You remember.

 

[Steve-D]

Sure. But you are a member of a shrinking minority.

The dam has sprung leaks even here, on the front page of Ars Technica.

(edit: does the downvote mean I'm wrong? Or that you're grumpy because I'm right? My money would be on the latter. )

It means that plenty of people disagree with you. I don't use the jack on my current phone often, but I do use it occasionally and I don't want to lose a feature I occasionally use. As others have said, it isn't as if losing the jack means major boosts elsewhere to a phone, it simply means that a potential feature is missing.

I'm in the market for a new phone myself, and the two main requirements is that is must have a headphone jack and an SD card slot. I use both of them at the moment and I don't want a new phone with less functionality than my old one. Unfortunately, I expect this 5a to still come without the SD card slot - which is a pity when it is so easily added as part of the SIM tray.

Ditto to What Trippynet said and I will add Wireless Charging to the must-have list.

I occasionally use the headphone jack, usually if I am watching TV while my wife is working. With the sound routed through the Roku App on my phone the connection is just more reliable than over Bluetooth. I don't NEED the jack but I would miss it if it wasn't there as an option.

 

[Fatesrider]

I won't buy a phone without one. And I'm not alone in that resolution.

Sure. But you are a member of a shrinking minority.

The dam has sprung leaks even here, on the front page of Ars Technica.



(edit: does the downvote mean I'm wrong? Or that you're grumpy because I'm right? My money would be on the latter. )

No, MY downvote isn't because of grumpiness. It's because I think you're wrong.

I have 60 plus years of seeing how technology has evolved. We still WIDELY use steam power. It's not all evolution to the next gen of whatever.

One rather distinguishing feature is that the simplest of solutions tends to be carried forward, if not in one fashion then in another. Steam isn't often used for locomotion today, but it's still used to generate power (among other uses that have changed NOT AT ALL since first used for those purposes, like heating and manufacturing). I can see a day when cell phones don't have a dedicated headphone jack, but will still be used through the charging port (same idea, same level of technology, different implementation).

So, there will NEVER be a time when all cell phones don't come with a way to use a wired headphone. That's just not how technology evolves. More to the point, it's not how businesses work. If there's a demand, businesses will fulfill it. The demand for being able to use wired headphones will continue to exist, so the demand for the availability of that feature will continue to be met.

 

[OrangeCream]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

funny enough ive barely used mine on the 3a XL since i bought it back in dec of 2019. I think im gonna be ok if the next phone i buy doesnt have one. Mind you Ill be happy if it does, but it wont be the selling point it was when i bought the 3a XL.

I think the world (maybe except for us Ars front page commenters) has moved on.

Whoever called the presence of the headphone jack an anachronism is probably right.

I disagree. The headphone jack appeals to those who don't want to babysit yet another electronic charging system. The sound quality is better, too, and more reliable overall at a much lower price point through a jack than via Bluetooth.

You pay more for NOT having a jack than you do with one, which for price-conscious people is a big thing. If smartphones lasted for a decade or more and could have their software upgraded and updated in a reliable manner, then it might make more sense to ditch the plug. But the phones that these show up on tend to be made to last for only a couple of years before something glitches that necessitates a new phone. The level of complexity involved in a bluetooth connection is higher, too, meaning more things can go wrong with it, leaving you without any way to listen except through the speaker (which the others in your waiting room, shopping line, commuter train will hate you for!).

There's still a need for the headphone jack. I won't buy a phone without one. And I'm not alone in that resolution.

Have you considered a phone that:
1) Is upgraded and updated in a reliable manner?
2) Last for more than a couple years without glitches?
3) Works reliably with bluetooth?

The only reason I can't say the iPhone is perfect for you is that it doesn't last for a decade. My oldest smartphone still in continuous use is my sister in law's iPhone 6S after a battery replacement, at 5 years old. It's CPU is slow enough that I don't think it could last another three years.

That said, and iPhone 11 might last 7 years, assuming you replace the battery after 4 or so years.

 

[CrustaceanSoup]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

I'm curious why the headphone jack seems to be important to lot of people? Not criticizing your choice at all, just genuinely curious.

I personally do not miss it at all, I find bluetooth far more convenient for all my use cases. My headphones, home music system and my cars all connect to bluetooth and work flawlessly for the most part. And I don't miss having to deal with this mess:

Spoiler

It's obviously really different for everyone. For me:

I have a couple pairs of wired earbuds that I just carry around in case I forget or run out of charge on my wireless ones; one lives in my bag, one lives in my jacket. This can be invaluable on my commute, at least back before the pandemic when I had a commute.

I have a pair of really comfy and nice sounding open cans that I like to use at home and sometimes when out on a walk in a park (I can hear everything around me). I could connect these to a phone as long as it has an adapter and wouldn't lose much functionality, although I'd be annoyed at having to remember an extra dongle.

I've connected my 3a to stereos when no one else had a phone with a headphone jack available.

I have a pretty nice, cheap boom microphone attachment that uses a wire, quality's a lot better than the awful microphones in any of my wireless headsets and I can still use my preferred, high-quality headphones.

Bluetooth latency to my Sony noise cancelling headphones is ~300-400 ms which is enough to make lip sync really bad, so if I'm watching Netflix on a plane or something I go wired.

 

[Dikano]

While I do like the idea of a headphone jack, gambling on a new Google product seems straight up stupid at this point.

 

[sam_I_am_not]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

To sell more stuff. Look at the guy above who now has a whole bunch of wireless buds headphones and adaptors, so doesn't find the lack of a jack annoying. I still use my 15 year old Etymotic buds on my Galaxy Note 9, he will need to replace his multiple times in 15 years.

 

[Vincent294]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

To sell more stuff. Look at the guy above who now has a whole bunch of wireless buds headphones and adaptors, so doesn't find the lack of a jack annoying. I still use my 15 year old Etymotic buds on my Galaxy Note 9, he will need to replace his multiple times in 15 years.

I'm pretty confident that's most of why OnePlus ditched the jack.

 

[Deleted member 174040]

So, there will NEVER be a time when all cell phones don't come with a way to use a wired headphone.

I actually agree with that.

I was only ever talking about the disappearance of the headphone jack.

Other methods such as lightning and USB connected earbuds will always be around.

 

[Automatic_Jack]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

No reason for the customer. Plenty reasons for the manufacturer. Even if it only costs 10c to buy and install a headphone jack in a phone; over 10 million phones that is still a million dollars of extra profit. It is even better if you sell wireless headphones with leeeetle-tiny batteries in them that die in a couple years that cost $100-250 to replace. Replacing something that is cheap and lasts a long time with something is expensive and needs to be replaced regularly is brilliant from a business standpoint as long as you can get away with it.

 

[IsbellDL]

My wife had a Pixel 3a for a bit. Just replaced it with a Moto G Power (2021). I liked the 3a on paper, but the speakerphone volume was excessively quiet, & the battery life fell off quicker than is reasonable. As much as I want to like them, I don't see us buying another Pixel series phone without confirmation of major changes.

For reference, I currently use a CAT S60, though I've ordered a Ulefone Armor 9 to replace it. She previously had an iPhone SE, & before that we both had the original Moto G (2013). The iPhone SE has had the most usable speakerphone of the bunch to the point where we still use it plugged in for Discord party chat. The CAT S60 has great speakerphone volume, but has too much echo & doesn't pick up your voice well enough. The Moto G (2013) & Moto G Power (2021) were both reasonable.

On that note, I feel like phone reviews have done a poor job reviewing call quality, which is the core functionality of a phone.

 

[FuelledByCoffee]

The Pixel 5a design is a case of "if it's not broke, don't fix it."

Underrated and underutilized design philosophy I think many here would agree.

 

[mpetty423]

In my eyes the only weak area for the Pixel line is battery life. Put a 5000 mAh battery in it and it's my next phone.

I've owned a lot of phones. I am hard on battery life, and haven't ever had a phone that I truly thought that the battery life was "good" on, even when I had some of those 5,000mA monstrosities.

My Pixel 4a 5G is the only phone that I've ever owned that I've been happy with the battery life on. It is "good".

The thing idles like crazy. If I'm busy at work and don't end up touching my phone (messages up on my browser, respond through there), I can end the work day at the same percentage I started at, or like 1-2% lower. If you're not touching it, it just doesn't use battery.

If you are using it, you can cash it in a day, but it's fairly hard....you really need to be using it pretty extensively -- I browse (almost no video streaming), which is one of the hardest things on a phone's battery life, so much so that I usually get half of what even Ars says I'll likely get as screen-on time, but this phone handles it.

Honestly, I always did the plug-in-before-bed routine after a couple of weeks for every phone despite knowing it wasn't healthy for it because I was already unhappy with the battery and knew that I'd be replacing the phone before that seriously impacted battery life.

With the Pixel 4a 5G, I'm still many months in keeping it off the charger overnight, then just plugging it in while showering (typically getting to ~75%), and using it all day before I put it on the nightstand at ~25% overnight.

Seriously good phone. I was going iPhone until Google offered ridiculous trade-in deals (got the 4a 5g for like $199), and I'm happy enough I plan on having this for quite a few years...

 

[Automatic_Jack]

My wife had a Pixel 3a for a bit. Just replaced it with a Moto G Power (2021). I liked the 3a on paper, but the speakerphone volume was excessively quiet, & the battery life fell off quicker than is reasonable. As much as I want to like them, I don't see us buying another Pixel series phone without confirmation of major changes.

For reference, I currently use a CAT S60, though I've ordered a Ulefone Armor 9 to replace it. She previously had an iPhone SE, & before that we both had the original Moto G (2013). The iPhone SE has had the most usable speakerphone of the bunch to the point where we still use it plugged in for Discord party chat. The CAT S60 has great speakerphone volume, but has too much echo & doesn't pick up your voice well enough. The Moto G (2013) & Moto G Power (2021) were both reasonable.

On that note, I feel like phone reviews have done a poor job reviewing call quality, which is the core functionality of a phone.

Loved my S60!!! Unfortunately, there was no software support and the battery eventually went to crap. It lives in a tool box now in case i need the FLIR for something. If they had supported that thing I probably would have stuck an external battery to it and used it until the heat-death end of the universe.

 

[Deleted member 1]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

It takes up internal space next to the battery that could instead house a bigger battery. I'm not a Bluetooth apologist, I am on the 3.5mm or bust train too, but there is a trade-off.

strictly speaking, i have not seen a single phone tear down that showed a headphone jack could somehow occupy the space that would otherwise be used by battery. the headphone jacks are typically on the same side as the USB interface and speaker, so it is not like you could place a battery against that side of phone anyway.

and the debate of removing 3.5mm can lead to increase in battery capacity is just wrong (remove of 3.5mm lead to thinner phones, which actually DECREASE battery size, as seen on the first generation iPhone 7 vs iPhone 6)

https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/new ... k-0181462/

 

[Vincent294]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

It takes up internal space next to the battery that could instead house a bigger battery. I'm not a Bluetooth apologist, I am on the 3.5mm or bust train too, but there is a trade-off.

strictly speaking, i have not seen a single phone tear down that showed a headphone jack could somehow occupy the space that would otherwise be used by battery. the headphone jacks are typically on the same side as the USB interface and speaker, so it is not like you could place a battery against that side of phone anyway.

and the debate of removing 3.5mm can lead to increase in battery capacity is just wrong (remove of 3.5mm lead to thinner phones, which actually DECREASE battery size, as seen on the first generation iPhone 7 vs iPhone 6)

https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/new ... k-0181462/

It could lead to more battery life. The gain is not worth the sacrifice, and as always, phone engineering is guided not by analysis of what benefits the user, but what looks flashiest in the marketing material for rich people to pay thousands of bucks for. Hence the race to thinnest phones, curved edges, and other gimmicks only rich people like.

 

[Boskone]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

I'm curious why the headphone jack seems to be important to lot of people? Not criticizing your choice at all, just genuinely curious.

I personally do not miss it at all, I find bluetooth far more convenient for all my use cases. My headphones, home music system and my cars all connect to bluetooth and work flawlessly for the most part. And I don't miss having to deal with this mess:

<snip photo>

Reliability, simplicity, and durability. And security.

I can plug my phone into anything with an audio jack, and it works. Including my noise-cancelling headphones, so I can listen to audiobooks or whatever while mowing.

I don't have to go through menus to add BT devices, re-add it when I get my truck serviced, add it to rented or borrowed vehicles; just plug in and go.

My main travel headphones have never needed replacement; they have a removable cord, which is the only part that's been replaced. I had a pair of BT earphones, the batteries were noticeably degraded after a couple years of semi-regular use.

There's nearly zero risk of data from an audio jack, and any black hats would require physical access to my phone.

And, hell, if I used wired earbuds and one fell out I don't lose the thing.

Bluetooth has it's place, but it's expensive and often fiddly. Audio jacks are a stable, proven technology.

 

[IsbellDL]

My wife had a Pixel 3a for a bit. Just replaced it with a Moto G Power (2021). I liked the 3a on paper, but the speakerphone volume was excessively quiet, & the battery life fell off quicker than is reasonable. As much as I want to like them, I don't see us buying another Pixel series phone without confirmation of major changes.

For reference, I currently use a CAT S60, though I've ordered a Ulefone Armor 9 to replace it. She previously had an iPhone SE, & before that we both had the original Moto G (2013). The iPhone SE has had the most usable speakerphone of the bunch to the point where we still use it plugged in for Discord party chat. The CAT S60 has great speakerphone volume, but has too much echo & doesn't pick up your voice well enough. The Moto G (2013) & Moto G Power (2021) were both reasonable.

On that note, I feel like phone reviews have done a poor job reviewing call quality, which is the core functionality of a phone.

Loved my S60!!! Unfortunately, there was no software support and the battery eventually went to crap. It lives in a tool box now in case i need the FLIR for something. If they had supported that thing I probably would have stuck an external battery to it and used it until the heat-death end of the universe.

My battery is definitely not as good as it used to be, but it's still sufficient to get me through the day. The primary reason I want to upgrade (besides it just looking ragged) is that it's just too slow. The low/midrange processor was fine 4 years ago, but it is a bit frustrating to use at times today. If they made a US version of the S62 with a headphone jack, I'd already own it. My S60 has survived multiple concrete drops, a few swims, & regular indirect spray from shower use without issue. The edges are scratched, the bottom grill peeled off, & the back button is a bit wobbly, but the screen looks new (even without using a screen protector), & it functions basically the same as it did day one. It's just old. Oh, & I've superglued the decorative USB cover back to the actual rubber plug a few times over the years. Unsurprising considering the regular use.

Edit to add: The screen working with regular gloves on has really been the killer feature. It's so nice to not need to remove your gloves in the middle of winter to use the phone. That & being waterproof are must haves for phones for me now.

 

[amarant]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

That's why the price increases with 50 bucks for each generation

 

[Rambie]

BTW, did they ever sort out the quality issues with the 4a and 4a 5G? I'm super happy with my 3a XL but the non-expandable 64 GB of space is rather limiting.

My housemate's had a 4a since launch and I've been using a 4a 5G since November, neither have had any issues thus far. I dunno if it would be worth upgrading from a 3a XL, but it seems like the issues have been fixed since last month, at least according to a quick google search.

I too got a 4a at launch, totally happy with the phone but I miss wireless charging.

 

[rabidchaos]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

I'm curious why the headphone jack seems to be important to lot of people? Not criticizing your choice at all, just genuinely curious.

I personally do not miss it at all, I find bluetooth far more convenient for all my use cases. My headphones, home music system and my cars all connect to bluetooth and work flawlessly for the most part. And I don't miss having to deal with this mess:

My existing accessories still work.
Replacement accessories are cheap.
The same headset works with my phone, Switch, tower, and work laptop.
I can see what is connected to what.
Changing connections takes barely more time than thinking about it.

In addition to the headset, I also have a pair of wired earbuds for going out and about. I'm not going to lose half of them, and for storage I roll the wires into a neat bundle and then rubber band it. This makes a tiny package that lives in a bag pocket while not in use. If I lose them, they're way less expensive than anything with Bluetooth, and I've had them for years. If they were Bluetooth, they probably would have died during one of the extended periods they sat unused.

I'm happy you found a setup that makes you happy. For me, Bluetooth would introduce more problems than it solves.

 

[OrangeCream]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

It takes up internal space next to the battery that could instead house a bigger battery. I'm not a Bluetooth apologist, I am on the 3.5mm or bust train too, but there is a trade-off.

strictly speaking, i have not seen a single phone tear down that showed a headphone jack could somehow occupy the space that would otherwise be used by battery. the headphone jacks are typically on the same side as the USB interface and speaker, so it is not like you could place a battery against that side of phone anyway.

and the debate of removing 3.5mm can lead to increase in battery capacity is just wrong (remove of 3.5mm lead to thinner phones, which actually DECREASE battery size, as seen on the first generation iPhone 7 vs iPhone 6)

https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/new ... k-0181462/

The iPhone 7 is a bad faith argument because they didn't redesign the phone, it was a recycling of the iPhone 6S basic design.

You can look at the iPhone X design, the first from the ground up without a jack, to see your argument is wrong.

iPhone 6S has to sacrifice space for both the home button and the speaker (Step 13) and fits in a 1715 mAh battery

iPhone 7 replaced the space used by the jack (Step 19) with a barometer and a larger taptic engine and a larger 1960 mAh battery

iPhone X, a ground up design without a headphone jack, not only uses the space where the jack and Touch ID is but also throws an even larger 2716 mAh battery into the phone.

The OLED XS battery shrank at 2658 mAh but went back up with the 11 Pro at 3046 mAh; it's likely the XS sacrificed battery size for the larger camera and ram, but the 11 Pro got space back with the removal of 3D Touch

The LCD XR has a much larger 2942 mAh battery, the 11 even larger at 3110 mAh, again because Apple got rid of 3D Touch

 

[sawdawd]

I won't buy a phone without one. And I'm not alone in that resolution.

Sure. But you are a member of a shrinking minority.

The dam has sprung leaks even here, on the front page of Ars Technica.



(edit: does the downvote mean I'm wrong? Or that you're grumpy because I'm right? My money would be on the latter. )

I suspect you're getting downvoted because you're drawing a contrary line in the sand without justifying your argument. From the perspective of someone who had a headphone jack in his last phone and lost it by upgrading, and who is also generally averse to wireless solutions to problems with wired solutions (aka anti-Bluetooth), I can legitimately say I don't miss the headphone jack. If I'm interested in listening to music on my phone using wired headphones, I can plug a DAC into the USB-C charging port on my phone and get better audio fidelity than I would have gotten with a headphone jack anyway. If for some reason I don't want to deal with connecting a DAC or I want to listen to something on my phone while I also need to charge my phone, I always have Bluetooth to fall back on.

On the other hand, the original justification for removing headphone jacks was to address other design constraints of cell phone design, such as facilitating a smaller design, higher water resistance, better impact resistance, etc. In my case specifically, I'd gladly trade out the headphone jack for a slimmer/smaller phone that fits more comfortably in my pocket since there are substitutes for a headphone jack, but there aren't substitutes for making a large phone into a smaller phone.

 

[MikeAlbers]

In my eyes the only weak area for the Pixel line is battery life. Put a 5000 mAh battery in it and it's my next phone. Battery life has stopped me buying a Pixel since the 3a after watching my brother's Pixel run out of battery everyday with only mild use. The camera was amazing, everything else was good, but needing to be tethered to a power point to last a single day is a no go for me.

Absolutely agree. My Pixel 3A is discharging faster and faster. 5,000 mAh battery would clinch the deal

 

[Qaz`]

Capacitive finger print readers are just better. I just switched from a pixel 1 to a oneplus nord. It works okay but the in-screen fingerprint reader just isn't good enough.

 

[OrangeCream]

I never quite understand the trend of removing 3.5 mm headphone port. it is not like removing that port increases battery capacity or provide better water resistance, or have to pay a license fee. why remove it for the sake of removing it?

It takes up internal space next to the battery that could instead house a bigger battery. I'm not a Bluetooth apologist, I am on the 3.5mm or bust train too, but there is a trade-off.

strictly speaking, i have not seen a single phone tear down that showed a headphone jack could somehow occupy the space that would otherwise be used by battery. the headphone jacks are typically on the same side as the USB interface and speaker, so it is not like you could place a battery against that side of phone anyway.

and the debate of removing 3.5mm can lead to increase in battery capacity is just wrong (remove of 3.5mm lead to thinner phones, which actually DECREASE battery size, as seen on the first generation iPhone 7 vs iPhone 6)

https://smartphones.gadgethacks.com/new ... k-0181462/

It could lead to more battery life. The gain is not worth the sacrifice, and as always, phone engineering is guided not by analysis of what benefits the user, but what looks flashiest in the marketing material for rich people to pay thousands of bucks for. Hence the race to thinnest phones, curved edges, and other gimmicks only rich people like.

A good comparison might be the iPhone 6s vs iPhone 12 mini, since both are nearly identical in size (actually, the 12 mini is smaller by 0.2" in width and 0.1" in height)

They removed Touch ID, 3D Touch, and the headphone jack, and stuffed a 2227 mAh battery as well as a larger 5.4" screen, a second rear facing camera, and wireless charging.

The 6S, with Touch ID, 3D Touch, and headphone jack, has a smaller 4.7" screen and smaller 1715 mAh battery

Oh, and they also didn't make the 12 mini thinner nor added curved edges to the display.

So you tell me, does it benefit the user to have a faster CPU, faster GPU, better and more cameras, larger display, OLED display, larger battery, and wireless charging?

 

[A.Felix]

The headphone jack on the Pixel a-series keeps getting more and more valuable as time goes by.

I'm curious why the headphone jack seems to be important to lot of people? Not criticizing your choice at all, just genuinely curious.

I personally do not miss it at all, I find bluetooth far more convenient for all my use cases. My headphones, home music system and my cars all connect to bluetooth and work flawlessly for the most part. And I don't miss having to deal with this mess:

Spoiler

You just trade that mess with the "where did I leave the case?", "are these charged?", pairing from different devices, more battery usage and tracking, etc. However, one of the biggest gripes I have with people who advocate for wireless earbuds, like in your case, is that there isn't really a mutually exclusive choice happening. You can have all the wireless audio you want without removing the port. It's not "either you use wired or you use wireless". Bluetooth is always there, with or without the jack. The cost of the port as something you don't want to pay for is negligible. The benefits of removing it are, so far, negligible as well. So what's the argument for taking it out? It seems to be "I just don't want others to have the option".

Another reason is the convenience factor in an out of usual situation. You're on a trip, you forgot your headphones. This can happen for both wired and wireless. However, with wired you can use the cheap ones (sometimes free) from the plane, or buy a $5 pair at the airport or gas station and start using them right there, no waiting, no charging, no problem. If you use an external battery pack, with wired there's only one device to charge. With wireless you need two devices, the pack needs two ports and you need two cables if you want to charge simultaneously, or you need to charge one and then the other. Even if you never use this port, the mere fact of not losing anything by having it, and being sort of an audio insurance just in case, should be enough to want to keep it. I personally do use it, as an owner of a Pixel 4a, but even if I didn't, I do see the value it gives to those who do if there's essentially zero tradeoff for me.

The reason Apple had for removing it was profits from licensing fees of the remaining proprietary port (and their own wireless protocol). Google, and mostly everyone else except Samsung, had no reason to do this. They just jumped on the bandwagon for what I can only guess was a fashion trend and gave nothing to users in exchange. Absolutely nothing. Now Google puts the port back into a couple of phones (3a and 4a) and they were the best sellers. Coincidence? Maybe because they were also cheap so they'll sell more, but still. Good that it's back.

 

[FxzlmS]

I had a 3A and the battery life was quite decent.

However, now I have a Pixel 5 and I don't even worry about charging overnight when I'm out. And I use all the bells and whistles. I just checked, it's around 11 pm here, and the phone has 77% with about 2.5 hours screen on time.

 

[LoveIt]

That has to be the 4a5G looks just like it.

 

[Zorba]

I've had my Pixel 4a for a month and I understand why they kept the same design - it's very good. I wouldn't say that it's perfect, though. Ron's review complained about its featureless back, and I partly agree. Without a ridge of some kind to mark the fingerprint reader, the phone is harder to unlock than it needs to be.

Apparently not enough people complained about that, because the 5a looks identical.

 

[LoveIt]

BTW, did they ever sort out the quality issues with the 4a and 4a 5G? I'm super happy with my 3a XL but the non-expandable 64 GB of space is rather limiting.

My housemate's had a 4a since launch and I've been using a 4a 5G since November, neither have had any issues thus far. I dunno if it would be worth upgrading from a 3a XL, but it seems like the issues have been fixed since last month, at least according to a quick google search.

I'd actually read about some physical build problems, like the glass separating from the body, but maybe I'm misremembering and it was another phone.

That is the 3a and the Pixel 4 with the reported front glass separating.

 

[thunderbird32]

RE: Phones without headphone jacks. My current Xperia doesn't have one, and it's a fucking pain in the ass for a two reasons. One, I have to worry about losing the headphone adapter and two, I have to have an adapter to charge my phone while it's plugged into the aux jack in my car (no Bluetooth). I've had bad luck finding adapters that work correctly with the phone, I don't know what it is. I know the first complaint could be rectified by buying new bluetooth headphones, but I have a great set of wired headphones already. I don't want to have to deal with yet another thing I have to charge.

EDIT: Also, my wired headphones are over 10 years old. How long are the batteries in those bluetooth headphones going to last? Can I use the same ones for that long without the battery life cratering? I'd suspect not.