After a lot of rumours and leaks, the Google Pixel 5a has been unveiled. Though unlike most launches the Pixel 5a was introduced without much buzz. Even the semi-unveiling of the Pixel 6 created more buzz than the launch of this new affordable Pixel 5a.
Design-wise Google wasn’t keen on putting in any effort. As a result, Pixel 5a can be called boring when compared to the Pixel 6 lineup, it also doesn’t look any different than its predecessor. Though the phone does have a slightly bigger display and improved internals that will pitch the phone right up against the likes of Nord 2 from OnePlus or the affordable flagships from Samsung and Apple.
Talking about the internals, the phone comes with a Snapdragon 765G processor with 5G connectivity and comes with Titan M security module to keep the data on the device secured. Like its predecessor, the Pixel 5a comes in a single storage and memory option of 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
The phone runs on Android 11 out of the box and according to Google’s promise, it will get updates for three years at least. Though, its premium and flagship siblings, on the other hand, will have a way longer life thanks to 5 years of updates.
With a display size of 6.34-inches, the Pixel 5a is the biggest Pixel device currently available in the market. Though this will change once the Pixel 6 lineup arrives. The display is a 1080p OLED with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. On the optics front, the Pixel 5a has a better camera setup than the Pixel 4a and comes with a 12MP main camera, a 16MP ultra-wide one, and an 8MP selfie camera. There is a 4680 mAh battery that comes with 18W fast charge support.
Pixel 5a price and availability
As mentioned above, the Pixel 5a is only launched in limited markets right now. These are – US and Japan and the ongoing chipset shortage could be a reason behind this decision.
There is no word about its availability in India. In terms of pricing, the Pixel 5a has been introduced at USD 449 which roughly translates to Rs. 33,000.
Though this is a direct conversion and might have additional taxes, however, the base price is similar to the retail price of Pixel 4a in India. With the upgrades that the Pixel 5a has over its predecessor, a slight increment in retail, if any, will make sense.
Opinion: India is too big a market to ignore
After introducing all the Pixel phones in India on time, the company decided to skip the costlier flagship Pixel phones for India and instead introduced the affordable variants – Pixel 4a last year. Coupled with aggressive pricing and other Pixel benefits, the Pixel 4a was received well, however, its supply was limited and the phone wasn’t readily available to purchase.
This might have hurt the numbers, however, reports suggested that Google was keeping a tab on this. An ET report suggested that the company is not only planning to get more units for the next device that it launches but it states that Google sees India as a key market and this is planning to double down its focus.
Though the company wasn’t keen on launching 5G capable phones in the country because of the non-existent network and additional costs which beats Google’s aim to offer affordable Pixel phones.
While the additional cost part holds, this could also mean that the Pixel 5a – like the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G will never come to India. And since the Pixel 6 series is going to be a flagship lineup, Google might decide against bringing it to India as well. TechRadar India reached out to Google’s representative agency and the response we got for our query regarding Pixel 5a’s India launch reads, “It hasn’t been launched in India and there’s no update yet.”
Not launching the 5a in India could prove costly for Google as it will only create an impression amongst the users that the company isn’t serious about India as a market. It will also force users to compromise on their experience by purchasing a year-old device while the market is flooded with a plethora of phones from Chinese OEMs with superior hardware and aggressive pricing.
And in a market where brands update flagships in three months, not updating its lineup for two years could be considered a perfect move to go out of sight and out of mind as well.
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