Google has finally stopped teasing us and has officially unveiled both the Google Pixel 5 and Google Pixel 4A 5G to the world. The Google Pixel 5 is Google’s next flagship model, while the Google Pixel 4A 5G will slot into the budget smartphone market alongside rivals like the iPhone SE and OnePlus Nord.
We’ll be reviewing both of these handsets soon, and we’ll let you know exactly how they stack up against the best smartphones currently on the market, but for now we’ll run you through the impressive spec sheets of both devices, starting with the Google Pixel 5.
Google Pixel 5 release date and specs
The Google Pixel 5 comes with a 6-inch Full HD 90 Hz OLED screen and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and 8GB of RAM. This isn’t the top-end chipset that we’ve seen in other flagship models like the Samsung Galaxy S20 - that’s the Snapdragon 865. It looks like Google is banking on beating the competition on price, not power, with prices starting at just $699.
Now in theory that’s a worthwhile tradeoff when you consider that the S20 has an MSRP of $999, but it’s been consistently on sale for $699 for a while now, which makes the Google Pixel 5 a tougher sell.
The Google Pixel 5 will be launching in the US on October 29 through Verizon and Google Fi, or you can buy the unlocked handset for $699 from Google. Verizon Wireless is currently sitting at the top of our best cell phone providers rankings thanks to its reliability, speed, and coverage, so we’d recommend checking out the Google Pixel 4A 5G on Verizon.
Google Pixel 4A 5G release date and specs
While the Google Pixel 5 takes on the flagship smartphone market, the Google Pixel 4A 5G is wading into the trenches to battle for the budget 5G smartphone crowd. This is a 5G update to the Google Pixel 4A, which was released back in August.
So what’s new in this 5G revision, apart from the obvious addition of 5G compatibility? Well the Google Pixel 4A 5G has a slightly larger screen at 6.2-inches, compared to the Google Pixel 4A’s 5.8-inch screen. It’s also running on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip that the Pixel 5 is and has a slightly chunkier battery than the basic model.
The camera has seen an upgrade too, with a dual lens (12.2MP and 16MP ultrawide) replacing the single lens camera of the original. Beyond that, this is largely the same phone that we saw a few months back (which mercifully also means it still has a 3.5mm headphone jack).
The Google Pixel 4A 5G costs $499 - $150 more than the standard version. That’s quite a jump, and it puts the Google Pixel 4A 5G at the top end of what we’d consider a budget smartphone, but it is a significant upgrade over the base model. It will be launching in the US in November, but we have no firm date or carrier information at this time. You can join the waitlist here.
