Save £50 on the brilliant Pixel 4a 5G

If you’re looking for a solid new Android phone, but don’t want to spend the earth, Google’s Pixel 4a 5G is an excellent bet. At its launch price of £499, it offered performance comparable to the £599 Pixel 5 without sacrificing any features that most people would consider vital.
 
And now it’s even cheaper. As part of its January sales, Currys has knocked £50 off the 128GB handset, letting you have one for just £449.
 
I’ve always had a soft spot for Google Pixel phones, ever since I reviewed the Pixel 2 back in 2017. My fondness for the brand is quite hard to define – yes, the camera processing is second to none and it’s guaranteed the latest, cleanest version of Android, but it’s more than that. Somehow it’s more than the sum of its parts, and that still applies even though Google is no longer including Qualcomm’s fastest Snapdragon processor.
 
As our mobile technology editor Nathan Spendelow wrote in his glowing review, the phone is far better than we imagined it would be. “Smashing clear through my expectations, the middle child of the new Pixel family is tremendous value for money, and Google has somehow stumbled on the secret ingredient when it comes to offering high-level features at the fraction of the cost of pricey flagships,” he wrote.
 
For what it’s worth, Nathan saw the differences between the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 as pretty marginal. But these are the differences that somehow add up to a £100 saving: you’re getting a slightly lower battery capacity, 2GB less RAM, no wireless charging, no IP68 rating and a screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz rather than the Pixel 5’s 90Hz. Not every advantage goes to the Pixel 5, mind: the Pixel 4a 5G is 0.2in larger and comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
 
Whichever you buy, I’m pretty confident you’ll be happy. But with £50 off, the Pixel 4a 5G is what I’d be adding to my cart right now. 
 
Buy now from Currys