Pixel smartphone variants offer better value
文章：Brian Dipert
凭借其“ A”变体，Google似乎完善了Pixel智能手机成功的食谱。
就像我一样first mentioned three years ago， 和until fairly recently, I’ve been toting two first-generation Google Pixel smartphones in my pocket (one on Verizon for work, the other on A&T for personal use). And my wife used another (this a大屏幕像素XL）一会儿，然后返回苹果的“围墙花园”。像素线背后的指导原则，这是较早的Nexus系列的概念扩展心爱的Nexus One十年前，我总是很吸引我：
- 从硬件的角度来看，（故意）（故意）的“旗舰”电话不是其他制造商的，但也没有带有四位数的价格标签
- （近年来）主流产品家族变体，这些变体为美元带来了更高的价值，同时又不使巨大的功能设定了折衷方案以达到较低的价格，
- features implemented in (increasingly deep learning-based in recent years) software versus hardware whenever possible,
- a “pure” Android experience devoid of additional OEM- and third-party-developed “bloatware” (a benefit that might seem superfluous or even counterintuitive to some of you until youread stories like this, that is), and
- （我的理论）发展动力，微软及其表面移动计算机, not only to be market successes in their own right, but (even more importantly, I’d argue) to use them to push Google’s Android partners, such as Samsung, to make similar-to-better advancements over time.
资源：Wikimedia, Maurizio Pesce
The first-generation Pixel/XLlaunched in October 2016; I picked up my units on sale late the next summer (knowing as I did that this was probably an inventory-purging promotion) just prior to the像素2启动。而且，通过多个Android O/S世代升级（从Android 7.1基金会开始）以及在抵抗Pixel 2和Pixel 2和像素3升级诱惑。
Last December, however, the Pixels got their last security patches:
Do the math and you’ll realize that this was a several-month extension to the “official” three-year support cycle; it even enabled Google to squeeze in the Android 10 update. Still, it was clearly time to upgrade to something within the support window. And anyway, my units were beginning to exhibit notably degraded between-charges battery life, one of them in particular. When I took it out of its case for the first time in who-knows-how-long, I realized why:
（提示：显示器不应该在中间弯曲，这是您看到的OLED和底盘之间伸展的胶水。）
难怪我experiencing diminished battery life, and no wonder this particular unit had (seemingly spontaneously) been cracking its tempered glass screen protectors across the middle in recent months! The other handset wasn’t quite as bowed, but obviously also had a swollen battery. I’ve kept both units on hand for future-teardown purposes, of course.
那我用什么代替它们？Google首次跟进了2018年10月的“旗舰”第三代设备的介绍“budget” Pixel 3a and 3a XLthe following May (2019):
Pixel 3A的SoC的规格，而在我的Google Pixel前体中，如果您唯一看过的是他们各自的Qualcomm产品名称，则可能是欺骗性的。但是，更接近同行，您会很快意识到，2018年的“ 6”系列处理器仍然是其两岁的“ 8”系列的前身：
| 高通Snapdragon 821(Google Pixel) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 (Google Pixel 3a) |
|
| CPU (64-bit ARMv8) | 2 + 2核（2.15 GHz + 1.593 GHz Kryo） | 2 + 6核（2.0 GHz Kryo 360金 - Cortex-A75衍生物 + 1.7 GHz Kryo 360银 - Cortex-A55衍生物） |
| GPU | Adreno 530 | Adreno 615 |
| DSP | Hexagon 680 | Hexagon 685 |
| ISP（成像信号处理器） | Spectra (first-generation) | 光谱250 |
| Bluetooth support | 蓝牙4.1 | Bluetooth 5 |
| QuickCharge support | QuickCharge 4+ | QuickCharge 5 |
The system-level advancements delivered by these SoC improvements, especially in less than three years from what was originally a $649 (32GB) or $749 (128GB) Google Pixel to the $399 (64GB-only) Google Pixel 3a are equally if not more impressive. Only one evolution gave me a bit of pause, however:
| Google Pixel | Google像素3A | |
| 屏幕 | 5英寸OLED，1920×1080（441 ppi） | 5.6″ OLED, 2220 × 1080 (441 ppi) |
幸运的是，较新的手机的屏幕最终只有longer，也不宽；这两款手机的底盘宽度几乎相同（彼此0.02英寸），因此它们仍然适合我的裤子和短裤的前口袋。另一方面，Pixel 3a XL宽0.24英寸，比其较小的兄弟姐妹长0.34英寸，没有“适合”这个特别的（至少对我来说）标准。
Stellar reviews at sites I trusted, likeArs Technica,焊接， 和Wired, sealed the deal. Now, speaking of which, I just needed to wait for a good deal to show up. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long. In mid-December, timed for last-minute Christmas shoppers, Best Buy promotion-dropped the price on the Pixel 3a to $279.99. I snagged two, one for each network (about a month later, in fact, I picked up a第三，这次是从亚马逊出发的，如果我的主要单位死亡，则以249美元的价格持有“备件”储备。
和what am I going to move to in mid-2022 (or earlier, if I’m unable to resist the警笛的歌tempting a replacement), when the Pixel 3a’s three-year’s support cycle draws to a close? The像素4a, introduced inearly August（之后大量的故意或不介入泄漏） 至同样狂欢的评论作为其前身, would seemingly be a prime candidate. And check out its feature set and other advancements over that predecessor:
| Google像素3A | Google Pixel 4A | |
| 价格 | $399 | $ 349 |
| Storage | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| 德拉姆 | 4 GB | 6 GB |
| 屏幕 | 5.6″ OLED, 2220 × 1080 (441 ppi) | 5.81英寸OLED，2340×1080（443 ppi） |
| Soc | Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 730g |
（有趣的是，这次没有超大尺寸的“ XL”变体； Google对其越来越认真cost-slimming aspirations）
Then again, though, a move to the Pixel 4a would only give me ~1 incremental year of “runway” until its support cycle would end, too. And anyway, there’s a5G版本的像素4a仍将到来， 和probably a Pixel 5a following that, and …
Google’s “flagship” phones subsequent to the first-generation Pixel haven’t done particularly well in the market; the像素4家庭lastedless than a year，例如，即使他们的Pixel 5继任者尚未登场。With its “a” variants, however, Google’s seeminglyperfected the recipe for success。I’m curious to see what’s coming down the pipe from the company, as well as to see how its Android partners and Apple competitor respond to its moves. Your thoughts, readers? Sound off, as always, in the comments!
This article was originally published onEdn。
—Brian Dipert是Edge AI和Vision Alliance的总编辑，也是BDTI的高级分析师，以及公司的在线新闻通讯Insiderssp的总编辑。
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