<story><title>Pixel 3a</title><url>https://blog.google/products/pixel/io-pixel-3a/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tw04</author><text>The 670 is a far bigger downgrade than you indicate.  Yes it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;only&amp;quot; 20% slower from a pure clock speed perspective, but performance is more like half.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s also missing the IP68 certification - after having a waterproof-ish phone, I would never go back.</text></item><item><author>manfredo</author><text>The tech specs between the 3a and 3 don&amp;#x27;t show too much of a downgrade:&lt;p&gt;* Screen is smaller, but on the Pixel 3a XL version the screen dimensions excluding the notch appear to be the same.&lt;p&gt;* Same 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, but no 128GB persistent storage option on the 3a. 64GB is usually plenty anyway, though.&lt;p&gt;* Processor is somewhat slower: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 670 2.0GHz + 1.7GHz, 64Bit Octa-Core on the 3a. vs a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 845 2.5GHz + 1.6GHz, 64Bit Octa-Core on the pixel 3.&lt;p&gt;* 3a removes wireless charging. Never used it on my Pixel 3 XL.&lt;p&gt;* Under the sensors section, the normal Pixel 3 has &amp;quot;Advanced x-axis haptics for sharper&amp;#x2F;defined response&amp;quot; whereas the 3a does not.&lt;p&gt;* 3a only has one front facing camera instead of dual front cameras.&lt;p&gt;* 3a has a headphone jack. Personally, I adjusted pretty well to Bluetooth headsets but some people really appreciate the jack.&lt;p&gt;Overall seems like a modest downgrade for a big drop in price. Most of the stuff cut out seems like premium features where the dollar-to-user-value ratio isn&amp;#x27;t very good. The only significant downgrades seem to be processor speed and dropping the second front facing camera. It&amp;#x27;s probably also safe to assume more economical build materials and fabrication. Specs taken from Google Play store:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3a_specs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3a_specs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3_specs?hl=en-US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3_specs?hl=en-US&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>manfredo</author><text>Do most mobile users encounter applications where processor speed is the limiting factor? Almost all smartphone usage in my experience is bottle necked by network IO. I don&amp;#x27;t really use my phone for gaming or anything intensive - I guess people expect their phones to run Fortnite these days so maybe processor speed is more important.</text></comment>
<story><title>Pixel 3a</title><url>https://blog.google/products/pixel/io-pixel-3a/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tw04</author><text>The 670 is a far bigger downgrade than you indicate.  Yes it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;only&amp;quot; 20% slower from a pure clock speed perspective, but performance is more like half.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s also missing the IP68 certification - after having a waterproof-ish phone, I would never go back.</text></item><item><author>manfredo</author><text>The tech specs between the 3a and 3 don&amp;#x27;t show too much of a downgrade:&lt;p&gt;* Screen is smaller, but on the Pixel 3a XL version the screen dimensions excluding the notch appear to be the same.&lt;p&gt;* Same 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, but no 128GB persistent storage option on the 3a. 64GB is usually plenty anyway, though.&lt;p&gt;* Processor is somewhat slower: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 670 2.0GHz + 1.7GHz, 64Bit Octa-Core on the 3a. vs a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 845 2.5GHz + 1.6GHz, 64Bit Octa-Core on the pixel 3.&lt;p&gt;* 3a removes wireless charging. Never used it on my Pixel 3 XL.&lt;p&gt;* Under the sensors section, the normal Pixel 3 has &amp;quot;Advanced x-axis haptics for sharper&amp;#x2F;defined response&amp;quot; whereas the 3a does not.&lt;p&gt;* 3a only has one front facing camera instead of dual front cameras.&lt;p&gt;* 3a has a headphone jack. Personally, I adjusted pretty well to Bluetooth headsets but some people really appreciate the jack.&lt;p&gt;Overall seems like a modest downgrade for a big drop in price. Most of the stuff cut out seems like premium features where the dollar-to-user-value ratio isn&amp;#x27;t very good. The only significant downgrades seem to be processor speed and dropping the second front facing camera. It&amp;#x27;s probably also safe to assume more economical build materials and fabrication. Specs taken from Google Play store:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3a_specs&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3a_specs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3_specs?hl=en-US&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;store.google.com&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;pixel_3_specs?hl=en-US&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>akhilcacharya</author><text>How does it compare to the OG Pixel or the Nexus 5?</text></comment>