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Transcript
00:00So, Google finally announced their Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL phones.
00:08These are phones that start at $400, they're new mid-tier phones, which on paper, when
00:13you first look at it, the reaction might be like, these are not particularly impressive
00:16phones, right?
00:17If you look at the market right now in 2019, there are a lot of really competitive phones
00:22at that price point.
00:23For $400 you get stuff like the Redmi Note 7, you can get the Pocophone, both of those
00:27are quite a bit cheaper than $400.
00:29Even the Samsung S10e, if you go on eBay right now, you can get this thing for like
00:33$480, which is not that far away from $400.
00:37And if you look at the paper specs of any of these phones, they just wipe the floor
00:40with the newly announced Pixel 3a.
00:42But this new Google phone is doing something a little bit different.
00:45So Google, this time around, they made a phone that kept manufacturing costs as low as they
00:49could.
00:50So instead of a metal and glass body, it's using plastic, it doesn't have IP water resistance,
00:54it's still probably water resistant to some degree, like it's not going to melt when you
00:58use it in the rain.
00:59But they didn't spend the money to get that thing officially certified for an IP rating.
01:03It has no stereo speakers, it has no wireless charging, and it also has a very mid-tier
01:07processor.
01:08So if you care a lot about specs, you probably aren't interested in this phone.
01:12Because the moment you start looking at the gigahertz, the gigabytes, the gigaflops, the
01:16giga-anything, the moment you look at those specs, this phone is done.
01:20If you live in Asia, you're probably not interested in this phone.
01:22Because a lot of the options out there in that $400 or $500 range are just so much better
01:27on paper than the Pixel 3a.
01:29It really does have a lot of mediocre features.
01:31It does have a headphone jack, and it does have Google's super clean software.
01:35But most importantly, the thing that Google's banking on is that it has the famous Pixel
01:393 camera in a $400 phone.
01:42This is a device that has a killer camera in a relatively inexpensive package.
01:46See, in this mid-tier market, in that $400 to $550 price point, there are a lot of phones
01:52that have kind of flagship features in a very nice looking package, often with glass and
01:56aluminum.
01:57And they finish off the package with a camera that's kind of good to very good.
02:01It still takes very respectable photos, but it's not a camera that's best in class.
02:05And that type of model, where they do that kind of setup with the mid-tier pricing and
02:10kind of great features and all that stuff with a mid-tier camera, that's a very common
02:14model.
02:15A lot of phone companies have done that.
02:17Some companies out there have built their entire business around flagship killing, right?
02:21They take these really high-end specs, and they price it for a mid-tier price point,
02:25and then they package it with that not-so-perfect camera.
02:29The Pixel 3a does the opposite.
02:31Mid-tier specs, simple aesthetics, but it's rocking the best all-round camera, or at least
02:35arguably the best all-round camera in the smartphone market right now.
02:38It delivers an amazing camera experience for $400.
02:41And for some people, that's really the most important thing on their phone.
02:45Like now, instead of spending $600, $700, $800 to get a top-tier camera on a smartphone,
02:51they can now spend $400.
02:52They don't care about the specs, they don't care about any of that stuff, they just want
02:55a really good camera for that money.
02:58And that's Google's idea, right?
03:01You deliver a phone like this for $400.
03:03The problem, however, is that the market is shifting quite rapidly.
03:08So in January of 2019, when there were first rumors of this device, I thought that the
03:13price point of around $450 would have cut it.
03:16Like I thought at $450, if Google can sell it for that price, they'd be good.
03:20But the market has shifted.
03:21In the six months or so, a lot of the flagship phones have come down in price.
03:25Now I still think the Pixel 3a is going to do really well, at least a lot better than
03:29the original Pixel devices could have done, just because the price is just, it's quite
03:33attractive.
03:34And you do get two or three relatively unique features with this phone.
03:38You get the great camera, obviously, but you get a headphone jack, which is increasingly
03:41rarer in 2019, and you also get Google's software.
03:45Like the fact that they update quickly, the fact that it's relatively lightweight.
03:49It's a great package, in my opinion, for a lot of people.
03:51Anyways, I'm excited for the Pixel 3a.
03:54It's not like something that I want to purchase personally, but I think it's going to move
03:57a lot.
03:58I think a lot of people will enjoy the phone, but if you're interested in buying one, you
04:02got to know what you're losing and you got to know what you're gaining for that $400.
04:06Okay.
04:07Hope you guys enjoyed this video.
04:08Thumbs if you liked it.
04:09Subs if you loved it.
04:10See you guys next time.