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  • Google, the granddaddy of Android, just released the Pixel 3a, a much cheaper version of their

  • flagship Pixel 3.

  • This is the purplish color.

  • At a price of $399, the phone is hundreds of dollars less expensive than most flagships.

  • But does cheaper price mean cheaper build quality?

  • Does the 3a stand foraffordableorabsolutely breakable”?

  • There's only one way to find out.

  • Let's get started.

  • [Intro]

  • Google has done really well on my durability tests for the past few years, but pulling

  • the 3a out of the box makes me wonder if this phone will continue at the durable trend or

  • not.

  • It's got a plastic body, but still maintains that Pixel vibe with the glossy top section

  • and matte body.

  • With everything being plastic though, this is going to be interesting.

  • Let's start with the scratch test.

  • Google has gone with Dragon Trail glass this time around, instead of Gorilla Glass.

  • It's just a different glass manufacturer.

  • I have a super interesting sapphire video coming out in the near future, so watch out

  • for that.

  • We normally would see tempered cellphone glass, branded or generic, start scratching at a

  • level 6, with deeper grooves at a level 7.

  • And that's still true with this Pixel 3a.

  • Keys and coins won't cause any damage to the surface, but anything harder than a level

  • 6 will cause damage, so a screen protector is still always a good idea.

  • The front facing camera is an 8 megapixel little guy, also protected under that same

  • front glass.

  • The earpiece is wide and open up here in the large top bezel.

  • It's a metal mesh screen.

  • The metal mesh is glued to the bottom side of the glass display, and with enough force

  • can be removed.

  • Obviously nobody is going to do this with their own phone, but over time with temperature

  • fluctuations, the adhesive on the mesh screen can lose it's grip since that's the only thing

  • holding it in place.

  • So after a few years of owning the phone, this might come loose.

  • It is just aesthetic though, so losing it probably isn't a big deal.

  • The sides of the Pixel 3a are made from plastic.

  • It is a super hard plastic though, with a glossy finish.

  • The plastic underneath the finish is basically the same color as the outside, so any dings

  • or scratches in the surface should just blend in for the most part.

  • The bottom of the phone has it's USB-C port and loudspeaker.

  • The phone might be plastic, but it still feels good.

  • I personally would have no complaints about using a plastic phone as long as it got the

  • job done.

  • The right side of the phone has more plastic, along with the plastic volume rocker and plastic

  • neon power button.

  • It's not textured.

  • And what is this?

  • A head phone jack?

  • Thumbs up for that.

  • Google previously killed the jack, which was pretty wack.

  • They got a bunch of flak/borderline attacks for following Apple's pack and lacking the

  • jack.

  • But it's good to see it now back.

  • Google should get a stack of lilac plaques for that.

  • Having the jack back is a borderline aphrodisiac.

  • The dual LED flash is made from plastic, and the single 12 megapixel camera lens is protected

  • with a layer of glass.

  • The rear fingerprint scanner follows the same plastic flow with everything else on the phone,

  • and is made from scratchable plastic filling material.

  • I scratched it up pretty heavily though with my razor blade.

  • And even with that damage, the phone was able to register, recognize my fingerprint, and

  • unlock every single time.

  • One thing the Pixel 3a does not have though, is a wireless charging coil like the one you

  • can see here inside my custom clear Pixel 3.

  • Wireless charging can function through plastic, but I imagine Google left it out of their

  • new phone to keep the price down, which is fine.

  • Wireless charging is a slightly convenient gimmick that I do enjoy having, but is not

  • totally mandatory.

  • [Scratching sounds]

  • The frosted portion of the Pixel 3a is made from plastic, so it's a level 3, slightly

  • abrasive textured surface, instead of the frosted glass panel of the Pixel 3...which

  • was a level 6 slightly abrasive textured surface.

  • So we won't see the same material transfer on the plastic version of the phone that we

  • saw on the more expensive glass version.

  • The value Google is giving us with this phone is pretty incredible.

  • Apple's cheapest phone, the iPhone XR, is still nearly double the price, yet comes with

  • a lower resolution and no headphone jack.

  • If you buy a Pixel 3a instead of the iPhone XR, you can also go get yourself an Xbox and

  • still have money left over.

  • The difference in price is insane.

  • I'm all about making good financial decisions and keeping money in my piggy bank.

  • Speaking of poor financial decisions, I asked dbrand if they wanted to sponsor this video

  • and maybe send over some Pixel skins I could show off, but instead of sending me Pixel

  • skins, they sent over pixels skinned...like a lot of them.

  • Weird flex dbrand.

  • I really am capable of applying your colored phone stickers on my own.

  • I'll leave a link in the description if you want to customize your own phone and help

  • dbrand recover a bit from their poor financial decision.

  • The Pixel 3a has a 5.6 inch 1080p display, and is using an OLED panel, which means that

  • after about 20 seconds we start seeing permanent white marks displaying on the screen as the

  • pixels get hot and they never recover.

  • This doesn't really mean anything specific, mostly it's just a reminder that holding a

  • lighter to your phone is probably a bad idea.

  • The ultimate test of structural durability though is the bend test.

  • This is the place where you find out if saving hundreds of dollars on a phone makes it weaker

  • or not.

  • If a phone can't survive a bit of stress, then maybe it's not worth purchasing.

  • Let's see if this little plastic piggy makes it home or not.

  • The first flex of the Pixel 3a is rather unnerving, bending like a stack of Post-It Notes.

  • The whole phone yogas into a “u” position, but then straightens back out like nothing

  • happened.

  • When bent from the opposite direction we get the same result, the phone flexing quite a

  • bit but then locking out and returning back to normal, with no permanent damage done to

  • the frame or the screen.

  • The Dragon Trail glass holds up even with the scratches and imperfections we introduced

  • into the surface, so that's definitely good.

  • The phone creaks like a wooden boat in the middle of the ocean, but still totally survives

  • my durability test.

  • If you want a solid budget phone with a fantastic camera and headphone jack, this might be the

  • best cheap phone of the year.

  • I'll be checking it out from the inside to see if there's water resistance in there.

  • Do you care if your phone is made from plastic?

  • Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already.

  • And who do you think flexed more in this video: dbrand or the Pixel 3a?

  • Let me know down in the comments.

  • Thanks a ton for watching and I'll see you around.

Google, the granddaddy of Android, just released the Pixel 3a, a much cheaper version of their

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