Customers love the Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) for its camera, price, and battery life. They appreciate the phone's compact size and user-friendly interface. While some customers have expressed concerns about the lack of wireless charging and water resistance, overall, the phone has been well-received.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 2,564 reviews
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Camera, Price
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Pleasantly surprised.
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Overall this phone has everything that I'm looking for.
Pros
Great camera for photos.
Good battery life.
Snappy performance.
Size is good for those who like a one handed phone.
$350 asking price for an unlocked phone.
Cons
Not waterproof.
Ok camera for video.
Speakers while loud, can suffer from distortion.
*Photos of my dog and nature all taken with Pixel 4A camera*
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera, Price, Size
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
My other 'car' was a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The Google Pixel 4a is on the smaller side of the new Android smart phone world, which is exactly why I picked it. The body is pretty solid, with an audio jack and a USB-C charging outlets, and comes in the very boring colour black (some places also have blue available).
I purchased this on my own, and simply added my T-Mobile nano-SIM, and was all good to go, straightaway, no calls needed to the service provider.
You'll receive it charged above 50%. Comes with a USB-C - to USB-C cable (male / male, so you won't be getting a USB-C to USB-A; also comes with a wall charger that utilizes that cable) which enabled me to plug it in directly to my old Sony phone and took about 30 minutes to do a complete transfer of apps, contacts, photos, etc. (Note: I had less than 300 photos). You are prompted at initial set-up (once you turn on) to do this, aided by a built-in programme, or can do it later, on your own.
At 128GB it's got plenty of memory for me. It does not have a memory card slot, so no more having to move files or change setting on where to save apps or media.
Runs Android 11, but comes with 10, which automatically updates to 11 once you get it running.
It's pretty quick/responsive, and quite snappy. You can opt to use gestures, so there is no notch/band at the top; gestures removes the 3 button navigation at the bottom, and invokes being able to swipe from the bottom to access opened apps, etc. - at first I hated it, but I gave it another chance, and am definitely sticking with gestures. My last phone stopped updating at Android 8, so this was new to me.
The screen is quite vibrant, with 3 settings to fit your needs, and the photos come out great, crisp, and lots of colour depth with the 12MP camera, @ 2160p (compare to most LED TVs, which run at about 1080p). My Sony had a 20MP camera but its lower resolution screen made them look almost pale, when viewed on that phone. 12MP is deal, and you can read about that online. The 8MP front camera is great, though there is no flash, though it is low-light adaptable, to a degree.
I am using a full body cover on it, which you can get on bidding sites quite cheaply. The phone is slim, though wide, and can be held with one hand well enough for thumb Swyping. I know that this being larger than my Sony was initially weird to hold, but the buttons are well placed and easy to use, with a hand appropriately sized to a 5'4" female.
Note: I'm not reviewing Android 11 in this review, just the phone. But, the OS seems to work very nicely with it.
Overall I give it a 4 (a!) for its price, durability, and specs/usage. I prefer smaller phones, so that's why I'm not giving it a full 5.
Summary - This phone came out in August of 2020, is on the latest Android, has a great camera and the screen to go with it, and opens apps quickly, including browsing. Recommended to those of us who don't like having tablets and not being able to fit them in women's jean pockets (and this one does!).
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera, Size
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
surprisingly great phone at affordable price!
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
overall this is a great little phone, I bought this as a replacement for my galaxy note 9 which had a cracked screen, I wasn’t sure how I would like going from a bigger phone with a stylus to a smaller phone without, but I can honestly say I haven’t missed it yet..
software experience and camera
I really like the vanilla or pixel android experience vs what Samsung puts on their phones.
The exclusive pixel features such as call screening and call hold are great, I have used the call screening feature and it really helps block those unwanted calls, especially the one about the car warranty. I have not used the call hold feature yet, but I am sure that will come in handy, as I do not like to wait on hold.
The camera is great on this phone, I have done some astrophotography shots and they come out great and even regular shots in the camera also come looking incredibly good.
the portrait shots really look good too. I am incredibly surprised with this budget friendly phone just how good the camera is.
Now I do not consider myself a light user, but I do not game heavily on my phone, occasionally I play a light game here or there.
I do use apps like tasker and join to automate different things and even with these apps I haven’t had any lag or slowdown on the phone, the only time I see any stutter is when I open the Google play store and go into “my apps”, when that’s opening it sort of pauses with the navigation pane on the left, but I think that’s cause its loading the apps that have updates, but otherwise no problems with this phone.
Hardware and size
I did by a unicorn beetle pro case for this, as it isn’t dust or water resistant, no IP rating on the phone, so I needed a decent case so I wouldn’t worry so much about breaking this phone.
The fingerprint reader on the back works great and fast, not much else to say about that. I never got into face unlock and have always preferred the fingerprint to unlock.
The size of the phone is actually quite nice, I didn’t realize how much I missed having a smaller phone in my day to day life, I can put this in my pocket, even with the case, and barely notice I have it on me, with my previous phone it would bulge out of the pocket so if I sat down I would have to finagle the phone otherwise it would jab me.
Battery
The battery hasn’t been exactly that consistent, also neither am I, so that could be part of the problem, a few days I have gotten straight through from when I unplug in the morning until I go to bed and plug back in with somewhere in the neighborhood of between 10-20 percent remaining. There have been some nights where I had to plug in before that, but I think the adaptive battery setting is still learning my usage, and I also did find some apps that were using battery in the background and restricted them from being able to, that has also helped improve the battery life on this phone.
Conclusion
I would highly recommend this phone to anyone who is in the market for a new phone but isn’t looking for all the bells and whistles. This checks most the boxes for the average user, if you are a gamer or more of a power user looking for more features, you most likely wont even be considering this phone anyway.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera, Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazed
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
(This is a review from from my Google account, I bought this phone from bestbuy so I thought might as well put it here to with some picture comparison, two night mode pictures from both and one normal picture. The first 3 pictures are the galaxy s10+.)
I bought this phone for my father, just arrived today, I wanted to see if the hype about the cameras were true....boyy I'm shock at how a $350 phone blew my galaxy s10+ to the side, I bought this galaxy for 1k+ and for it to be blown away by a phone thats only 350 is kind of disappointing, the pixel is such a simple phone straight to the point, being pretty isn't its objective, put a case on it and it look just like any other phone, ill update this review later with a speed test
Update: Did a speed test and they were almost identical in opening apps and searching for something on the web, this was an average consumer speed test no milliseconds analysis that you wouldn't even be able to perceive the difference if you were really using these phones on a separate basis.
Also did a quality test of the screen, the galaxy s10 plus gets brighter and thats about it, the pixel colors are accurate and blacks looks deep. On YouTube the samsung is able to hit 1440p the pixels maxed is 1080p, when turning my samsung brightness up standing next to the pixel i never realized how saturated some colors were on the samsung I did this test on the Weeknd song "binding lights" the red suit looked so saturated on the samsung, the pixel also does an amazing job at contrasting colors.
My last test was a sound test and the pixel 4a won by a landslide won't even get into detail, the pixel almost sound like a little speaker.
I'm still shock at the difference, a flagship phone from 2019 should still be able to outperform a mid 350 dollar phone of 2020 that's really a huge disappointment, for this price range this phone is the best you can get. On the other hand the galaxy still beats the pixel in raw power, so if you're a gamer the pixel wouldn't be the best option, though it still performs well.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Camera, Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
I'm loving it
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Posted . Owned for 2 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I love my decision to buy this awesome affordable google pixel 4A
I have plenty of memory
It has an great camera that's good enough for me an average photographer
Easy to use and I get the latest updates plus as an bonus it's an unlocked phone so I can take it to any carrier
I love it so much I'm really thinking about upgrading to one of the bigger brothers 4a 5G or the pixel 5
Almost forgot it also has fast charging with great battery life
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera, Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great phone,great price.
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Awesome phone. My daughter loves it. It's fast, pictures are high quality, touch screen is responsive.. I have a pixel 3 which I paid almost double the price when it was new. This phone is so much phone for the money. For everyday users like me, movies, texting, games and of course calls it's perfect. When I upgrade,. I'm not getting the 6, I'm getting the 4a or the new version. I can't stop thinking how much you get with this phone. Its not water proof and the case is plastic, however I got a good protective case. As far as water proof, we really haven't had an issue. I also was able to add her to my google 1, so we share cloud storage and apps. It backs up without any effort. I got so fed up of paying so much money for apple products and feeling wanting. The pixels phones are affordable enough to replace and not so expensive you need insurance, considering most deductibles are about as much as a new pixel 4a. Just an awesome Google product.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great phone and reasonable priced!
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Posted . Owned for more than 2 years when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Love my phone, not to heavy, fits well in my pocket and in my wallet. Has held up for me now going on 2 years stii charges up and not over heated. Well worth the money that I spent on it.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera, Price
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
A good first camera
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is a competent, functional camera attached to a mid-market phone. And that's okay. As I get older, I am less inclined to carry 5 pounds of camera equipment around my neck for hikes or sightseeing. The Pixel's camera is no match for a high-end point and shoot, let alone a DSLR. But it stomps anything this side of an iPhone 8. Funny thing, most phone camera modules cost about $25. The optics are cheap and the sensors are tiny. The secret sauce is in the image processing engine. And Google has added a ladle of that sauce to this camera module. Don't expect it to replace a dedicated camera for critical work, but at least it won't embarrass you the way my LG's camera did. The price was acceptable, thanks to BB's rewards program. And, obviously, it works great with Fi. All boxes checked.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Camera, Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Indeed the best affordable smart phone you can get
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This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Google did a great job on this phone from several corners... Starting with the price, about $350! It is indeed a very good price for what you are getting. This phone has an amazing "Portable" size without compromising the screen real size or the usability of the device. The phone is made out of plastic! I bet 99% of people put their phone in cases... Why to pay extra for something you will put a cover on?
Battery life is ok. It lasted the whole day with moderate to sever use! I can't complain about it. It charges really fast as well (using the original charger USB-C). I don't need to talk about the camera, how amazing it is! The camera on this phone is really beyond what I expected! Very good photos and I love the night sight photos! The phone is very light weight, small to carry (unlike my other giant devices) and doing the job correctly. If tested with other phones, It is way faster than the Pixel 3a (normal) and also faster than my old iphone X (possibly normal as well). The screen is very crisp. Selfie camera is very good. Not really bothered by the punch hole.. I like the finger print in the back (the best place I guess) and the feel (mechanical response) of the side buttons. Phone sounds are loud! Loud enough... I watched some Youtube videos on it (and also Youtube TV) with no issues or complain. The screen size is fine for me! Still can manage all my daily tasks on it. Its refresh rate is OK (for what you pay)...
Wireless coverage is not bad at all, I used it on ATT and Google Fi. With both I have very good coverage everywhere and very good voice call quality. Internet speed not bad at all whether on 4G or WiFi... Very good. Google added in the box a Google brand phone case (I've already got an aftermarket one) and honestly, the Google phone case is very nice! It gives characters for the device. I never saw it this way... My work has some harsh environment, I swap to Google phone case whenever I am off work. I am really considering buying more cases.
The Android OS when directly from Google (on Google devices) is amazing. No bloatware or crapwares... Just pure Android experience with still a lot of nice features... With the low specs on paper, the device is still blazing fast..
In conclusion about the phone:
- You really get more of a device for what you pay
- Fast, small and good battery device in one package
- Plastic built is honestly not a big deal! Still high quality device.
- Screen size is OK. Small in size but big in resolution
- Good batter and charging fast
- Amazing cameras (front and back)
- Good Android experience. Always up to date.
In the box, there is also a USB-C to USB adapter for connecting external storage device. Nice from Google to add it
I recommend this if you are looking for affordable but still very good phone that you can rely on for your daily use.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Best Budget Phone !!
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
1. Great camera performance
2. Best Budget Phone.
3. Colorful & Sharp Display
4. Compact & Comfortable Size.
Everything about this phone appears uniquely relaxing. There's only one camera on the rear, the same 12.2-megapixel sensor you'll find on the 2019 flagship Pixel 4, and frankly, that's all you need. One real good camera is better than several average ones. The new Pixel 4a has a clean Android interface with three years of guaranteed updates. And in terms of design, the Pixel 4a seems like a much more advanced version of its predecessor. The bezels have been trimmed down significantly.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Amazing product, but not the shipment...
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Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The phone is of great value and quality. Though plastic built, it feels very sturdy in hand. The 1080p OLED screen is beautiful, and the overall user experience of the interface is smooth and enjoyable; although it takes a bit of getting used to, that's completely normal when switching to a different branded phone. I know that there are phones out there with much more performance per buck, but what this phone nail is the user experience and simplicity due to the pure Android OS coming straight from Google. There is so much stuff you can do with the Google Assistant and it's so much fun messing around with it. Not to mention what Pixels are known best for, their camera, performs just as expected and takes fantastic night photos. Overall, this phone is a strong competitor to any other phone in its category of the market and is a wonderful companion and daily-driver.
Ps. Deducted one star because the delivery was delayed for 3 days when I crucially needed a new phone for work as my old phone completely died.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Awesome little phone!
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I've always purchased the so-called flagship cell phones.But after my Samsung S7 Edge's camera stopped working,i did some research on the cheaper,but stll good phones.The Pixel 4a is everything the reviews say.Nice display,snappy performance,best battery life i've ever had with a phone,and that awesome camera!I'm never spending crazy amounts of money again on a phone.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Just Right with a case
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
It's alright gets the job done. It's pretty fast for 60 hz screen. The back feels a little cheap but with a case you would never notice a difference between this and the galaxy s10 from the front. Pictures are pixel 4 xl quality.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great Phone With an Amazing Camera
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great phone and amazing camera! When everyone is making larger and larger phones, the Pixel 4a stands out as a smaller, but very capable phone. You not only get an amazing camera, but also peace of mind knowing that the phone is free of bloatware and will receive continuous security updates via Google.
The camera takes amazing photos, even at night. The "astro photography" feature can even take amazing shots of the night sky. See my included photo for an example of a night shot of the milky way.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Pixel 4a
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
My new phone has so many cool features. Especially the camera, which is really important to me. Everything works perfectly. And the battery is so much better than my previous Pixel.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazing camera & the price is perfect!
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Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I purchased this phone for my mom as a Mother's Day gift. It was definitely time for her to upgrade her LG Aristo 2 phone. She absolutely loves it, but especially the awesome camera it has. Her photos come out so nice! I have had Samsung phones for many years and really thought of switching to the Google Pixel 5 for the camera itself. The only reason I didn't is because it doesn't have expandable storage. However, my mom's Google Pixel 4a has 128gb and that is plenty for her. Highly recommend this phone.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
What a BARGAIN!!!
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Posted . Owned for 2 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is a quality phone and has taken over from my OnePlus 6. Although the screen is not huge, the color is vibrant and of high quality. The camera is famous for its amazing pictures and I'm delighted to have it. The storage in very high quality is still included with this phone. That alone makes this incredibly well-priced phone an absolute winner!
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Save yourself some money and get this phone
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I upgraded from the original Pixel phone and it was seamless and easy. I have been a fan of Pixel phones from the beginning so I might be bias, but these phones are the best for the price. The camera takes amazing photos. It even takes a short video when you take pictures so you can choose the very best shot without spamming the camera.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great phone has everything most people need.
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Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I have had my Pixel 4A for almost a month. It is worlds better than my old Samsung Prime. I can zip thru my email accounts much faster. No lag, no waiting for pages to recycle. Getting used to using gestures to navigate the system. Shooting photos is great. Very easy to setup the home screen. It's the right size for one hand operation.This phone has everything that I wanted in a phone and for a reasonable price.
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Camera, Price
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Nice phone.
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Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Simple phone and good price .Camera takes a good photo good full screen reading
This review is from Google - Pixel 4a 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black