Save £70 on the superb Google Pixel 3a
A fine phone at a super price
Google’s rather excellent Pixel 3a is going cheap again. The cut-down version of the Pixel 3 usually sells for £399, but Currys PC World is currently selling the phone for £329 – a not insubstantial £70 saving.
For those that don’t know, the Pixel 3a is a truly exceptional midrange smartphone, where Google has made cuts from the original Pixel 3 in sensible places for a compelling product. So while it loses the glass back, wireless charging, one of its front cameras and a fair bit of processing speed, it maintains the Pixel family’s main selling points: superb camera performance and a clean version of Android that’s first in line for upgrades.
As Nathan wrote in his review: “Google’s Pixel 3a is the antithesis of what we’ve come to expect from cheaper variants of much-loved flagship phones.”
Noting that “lite” versions of phones tend to be full of unpleasant compromises, he added that Google has bucked the trend here, as “the Pixel 3a successfully provides the same top-shelf experiences as its flagship counterparts, only with a softer impact to your wallet.”
There are undoubtedly cheaper handsets out there. The Realme 3 Pro, for example, uses the same processor and starts at £179 but, as Nathan says: “very little else displays as intelligent and well-rounded an approach” as Google manages here.
The elephant in the room is what Google’s plans are in the near future. The Pixel 3a, lest we forget, first came out on 8 May – so will those who hold out be rewarded with a Pixel 4a?
Well, bluntly, there’s a good chance of that. Smartphone production waits for no one, after all, but a) it won’t be as cheap as this, and b) any new handset is probably at least four months away. If you’re constantly waiting for the next best thing, you’ll never buy.
Given the Pixel 3a is guaranteed new versions of Android and security updates until May 2022, you’re probably okay to buy now if you think the price is right.
