The Google Pixel 3A was a mid-range smartphone that made some crucial compromises such as a plastic build and a mid-range processor, but it gained the valuable headphone port, which was software-wise a significant advantage. The Pixel 3A retained Google's class-leading image processing and Pixel Experience software skin that pixel fans had loved since the start, bringing Pixel features to the mainstream with a reasonable price tag and making for a great deal in the mid-range sector.

The Google Pixel 4 was an upgrade over the Pixel 3A, sharing the same pricing but making some notable changes to the design. The series introduced Project Soli, Google's face recognition and radar tech, improved design brought in new colors and a 90Hz display, an extra rear camera, and removed the notch. However, the Pixel 4 series suffered from a "Polish Like" design that felt dated when many phone makers had switched to a punctual or motorized camera mechanism layout.

The Google Pixel 4a was Google's second mid-range entry into the Pixel series, priced at $50 less than the Pixel 3A. It brought an updated processor with better image processing capabilities, a new Edge-to-Edge OLED display with a Punctual Camera, and kept the fast capacitive fingerprint reader and valued headphone port.

Google released the Pixel 4a 5G for $499, which increased the size of the device but added in a faster 5G capable Snapdragon 765G processor, an ultrawide camera on the back, and kept the headphone port. The functionality-wise is very similar to the next entry on this list, Google Pixel 5.

The Google Pixel 5 is only marginally more expensive than the Pixel 4, but that price cut comes at a cost, dropping the flagship processor for the same mid-range 765G as the Pixel 4a 5G. It has a 1080p 90Hz display which whilst again incredibly well calibrated isn't the most impressive spec-wise. The camera stack is also unimpressive from a hardware perspective.

Google's focus on software might be at its peak with this device, the camera quality hinges on Google's incredible computational photography and the super clean software seems to be more of a priority than speed and performance. The Pixel 5 is a mid-ranger with some flagship features sprinkled in, the price decrease makes sense given the rumors of subpar Pixel 4a sales and the great reception of the Pixel 3A series.

Google has pivoted and is now more focused on the mid-range market than producing the best of the best smartphones. Take a look at this graph, you'll see that Google Pixel pricing increased over the first three years but it never got to $1000 at least for the base model instead, at its peak Google decided to pivot and started focusing on the mid-range and upper mid-range markets.

This is likely due to a potential lack of sales from its flagship tier, there's speculation about such a thing after all, but it means a more affordable entry into the Google Pixel experience. I'd personally love to see a Pixel Ultra with like 120Hz Quad HD OLED and the best specs possible when a really powerful camera set up with bigger sensors and more versatility across the board maybe even a periscope camera, but for now, it seems like Google's abandoned that $1000 smartphone and is now focusing on that mid-range.

It's a shame, but there is scope for improvement in the future.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe legendary google nexus series wasn't known for being the most ultra premium smartphones with bleeding edge designs and all the hardware bells and whistles found in other phones it was more about that super clean software and frequent software updates that got us to buy them when google introduced a google pixel device the name wasn't the only thing to change the shift in google strategy brought about a focus on camera quality and a significant price increase but today's pixel lineup from 349 to 999 usd is a far cry from the original google pixel today we want to take a look at specifically google's pixel pricing over the past few years google pixel at 649 us dollars the google pixel might seem like a bargain in 2021 but back in 2016 this was a fairly expensive smartphone for context the far prettier galaxy s7 was 689 and the swanky edge variant was 779 so the original pixel was hanging with the big boys from day one the max spec 128 gigabyte google pixel xl was actually 869 dollars which was more than the ill-fated galaxy note 7. despite this relatively high price tag the google pixel didn't actually have that greater hardware feature set sure it had the fastest processor adequate ram and then impressive charging speeds but it lacked the increasingly standard ip68 water and dust resistance rating ois on its rear camera and the design was pretty polarizing to say the least google banked on its software being the driving factor to buy a pixel its clean interface impressive software support and industry-leading hdr plus camera processing won over the fans but of course this wasn't a one-hit wonder and the software is the reason even in 2021 to buy a google pixel google pixel 2 the pixel 2's entry point remained at 649 for the base model but doubled the storage of that base model to 64 gigabytes you'd be paying 100 on top of that for the 128 gigabyte version but with the pixel 2 xl google hiked up the price to 849 for the base model and 949 for the 128 gigabyte option that's 80 more than the first generation equivalent this put the pixel 2xl right up against the 850 galaxy s8 plus which had a better display better battery life wireless charging in certain regions and kept that headphone port that google was teasing other brands about just a year before in its original pixel ad the pixel 2 vastly improved on the pixel 1. this time there was ip67 water and dust resistant front firing speakers and included the pixel visual core for the first time which aided in the phone's image processing capabilities the hardware was better for sure but the software was still the main reason to buy a pixel this one got three years of os updates and held its position at the top of camera quality charts thanks to that fantastic camera processing google pixel 3. the big g waited until the third iteration to bump up the pricing of its base model the pixel 3 went from 649 to 799 the xl model saw a price like two though this was by fifty dollars instead of a hundred and fifty dollars if you wanted the 128 gigabyte three xl the top spec model you'd be paying 999 yes a thousand dollars for a phone with four gigabytes of ram and a single rear camera that was and still is an awful lot of money this is the year that apple and samsung started normalizing a thousand dollar smartphones and so maybe google had a reason like a justification for wrapping its pricing here but we don't know the phone's quality increased but not by enough to justify its increase in price in my opinion it got ip68 water and dust resistance and added ultra wide selfie camera wireless charging for the first time and a glass back however its design tradeoffs and subpar battery life almost cancelled out these improvements google pixel 3a 2019 saw google release the first mid-ranger in the pixel series the 399 pixel 3a made some crucial compromises such as a plastic build and a mid-range processor but it gains the valuable headphone port software-wise the pixel 3a retains google's class-leading image processing and pixel experience software skin that pixel fans have loved since the start it brought pixel features to the mainstream with a reasonable price tag and made for a great deal in the mid-range sector though the 479 3axl might have been a little expensive for a device with a snapdragon 670 google pixel 4 the pixel 4 shared the same pricing with the pixel 3 though made some marker changes to the design the series introduced project soli google's face recognition and radar tech the improved design brought in new colors and 90 hertz display an extra rear camera and removed the notch the pixel 4 series like polish like previous pixel devices is project solely drained the battery unnecessarily the 90s display whilst incredibly calibrated wasn't a chart topper when it came to responsiveness and the design felt dated when many phone makers had switched to a punctual or motorized camera mechanism layout google pixel 4a google's second mid-range entry into the pixel series the pixel 4a came in at 50 less than the pixel 3a and made some modernization changes it brought an updated processor with better image processing capabilities a new edge-to-edge oled display with a punctual camera and kept the fast capacitive fingerprint reader and valued headphone port by the time the pixel 4a came about it had a lot of mid-range competition from the iphone se to the oneplus nord to the galaxy a51 to the huge range of bbk and xiaomi mid-ranges there's a lot to choose from google's pixel 4a manages to bring value to the table with its stellar software instead of an xl model google released the 499 for a 5g which increased the size of the device but crucially added in a faster 5g capable snapdragon 765g processor an ultrawide camera on the back and keeps the headphone port and plastic design in fact the pixel 4 a5g functionality wise is very similar to the next entry on this list google pixel 5. at 699 dollars the google pixel 5 is only marginally more expensive than the pixel and the pixel 2. it's way cheaper than the pixel 3 and 4 but that price cut comes at a cost it drops the flagship processor for the same mid-range 765g as the pixel 4a 5g it has a 1080p 90hz display which whilst again incredibly well calibrated isn't the most impressive spec wise its camera stack is also unimpressive from a hardware perspective you see google's focus on software might be at its peak with this device the camera quality hinges on google's incredible computational photography and the super clean software seems to be more of a priority than the speed and performance the pixel 5 is a mid-ranger with some flagship features sprinkled in the price decrease makes sense given the rumors of subpar pixel 4a sales and the great reception of the pixel 3a series google has pivoted and is now more focused on the mid-range market than producing the best of the best smartphones take a look at this graph you'll see that the google pixel pricing increased over the first three years but it never got to that 1000 mark at least for the base model instead at its peak google decided to pivot and started focusing on the mid-range and upper mid-range markets this is likely due to a potential lack of sales from its flagship tier there's speculation about such a thing after all but it means a more affordable entry into the google pixel experience i'd personally love to see a pixel ultra with like 120 hertz quad hd oled and the best specs possible when a really powerful camera set up with bigger sensors and more versatility across the board maybe even a periscope camera but for now it seems like google's abandoned that thousand dollar smartphone and is now focusing on that mid-range it's a shame but there is scope 4-1 in the future and that about wraps up today's video guys if you want to check out the original please do check out the link in the video description to the original article by robert triggs there'll be a link down there and whilst you're down there please do let us know in the comments if you want to see an out and out flagship pixel again or if you're pretty happy with the pixel 5 because it's not a bad device please do hit like and subscribe to never miss a video like this one i've been ryan thomas with android authority and i'll catch you laterthe legendary google nexus series wasn't known for being the most ultra premium smartphones with bleeding edge designs and all the hardware bells and whistles found in other phones it was more about that super clean software and frequent software updates that got us to buy them when google introduced a google pixel device the name wasn't the only thing to change the shift in google strategy brought about a focus on camera quality and a significant price increase but today's pixel lineup from 349 to 999 usd is a far cry from the original google pixel today we want to take a look at specifically google's pixel pricing over the past few years google pixel at 649 us dollars the google pixel might seem like a bargain in 2021 but back in 2016 this was a fairly expensive smartphone for context the far prettier galaxy s7 was 689 and the swanky edge variant was 779 so the original pixel was hanging with the big boys from day one the max spec 128 gigabyte google pixel xl was actually 869 dollars which was more than the ill-fated galaxy note 7. despite this relatively high price tag the google pixel didn't actually have that greater hardware feature set sure it had the fastest processor adequate ram and then impressive charging speeds but it lacked the increasingly standard ip68 water and dust resistance rating ois on its rear camera and the design was pretty polarizing to say the least google banked on its software being the driving factor to buy a pixel its clean interface impressive software support and industry-leading hdr plus camera processing won over the fans but of course this wasn't a one-hit wonder and the software is the reason even in 2021 to buy a google pixel google pixel 2 the pixel 2's entry point remained at 649 for the base model but doubled the storage of that base model to 64 gigabytes you'd be paying 100 on top of that for the 128 gigabyte version but with the pixel 2 xl google hiked up the price to 849 for the base model and 949 for the 128 gigabyte option that's 80 more than the first generation equivalent this put the pixel 2xl right up against the 850 galaxy s8 plus which had a better display better battery life wireless charging in certain regions and kept that headphone port that google was teasing other brands about just a year before in its original pixel ad the pixel 2 vastly improved on the pixel 1. this time there was ip67 water and dust resistant front firing speakers and included the pixel visual core for the first time which aided in the phone's image processing capabilities the hardware was better for sure but the software was still the main reason to buy a pixel this one got three years of os updates and held its position at the top of camera quality charts thanks to that fantastic camera processing google pixel 3. the big g waited until the third iteration to bump up the pricing of its base model the pixel 3 went from 649 to 799 the xl model saw a price like two though this was by fifty dollars instead of a hundred and fifty dollars if you wanted the 128 gigabyte three xl the top spec model you'd be paying 999 yes a thousand dollars for a phone with four gigabytes of ram and a single rear camera that was and still is an awful lot of money this is the year that apple and samsung started normalizing a thousand dollar smartphones and so maybe google had a reason like a justification for wrapping its pricing here but we don't know the phone's quality increased but not by enough to justify its increase in price in my opinion it got ip68 water and dust resistance and added ultra wide selfie camera wireless charging for the first time and a glass back however its design tradeoffs and subpar battery life almost cancelled out these improvements google pixel 3a 2019 saw google release the first mid-ranger in the pixel series the 399 pixel 3a made some crucial compromises such as a plastic build and a mid-range processor but it gains the valuable headphone port software-wise the pixel 3a retains google's class-leading image processing and pixel experience software skin that pixel fans have loved since the start it brought pixel features to the mainstream with a reasonable price tag and made for a great deal in the mid-range sector though the 479 3axl might have been a little expensive for a device with a snapdragon 670 google pixel 4 the pixel 4 shared the same pricing with the pixel 3 though made some marker changes to the design the series introduced project soli google's face recognition and radar tech the improved design brought in new colors and 90 hertz display an extra rear camera and removed the notch the pixel 4 series like polish like previous pixel devices is project solely drained the battery unnecessarily the 90s display whilst incredibly calibrated wasn't a chart topper when it came to responsiveness and the design felt dated when many phone makers had switched to a punctual or motorized camera mechanism layout google pixel 4a google's second mid-range entry into the pixel series the pixel 4a came in at 50 less than the pixel 3a and made some modernization changes it brought an updated processor with better image processing capabilities a new edge-to-edge oled display with a punctual camera and kept the fast capacitive fingerprint reader and valued headphone port by the time the pixel 4a came about it had a lot of mid-range competition from the iphone se to the oneplus nord to the galaxy a51 to the huge range of bbk and xiaomi mid-ranges there's a lot to choose from google's pixel 4a manages to bring value to the table with its stellar software instead of an xl model google released the 499 for a 5g which increased the size of the device but crucially added in a faster 5g capable snapdragon 765g processor an ultrawide camera on the back and keeps the headphone port and plastic design in fact the pixel 4 a5g functionality wise is very similar to the next entry on this list google pixel 5. at 699 dollars the google pixel 5 is only marginally more expensive than the pixel and the pixel 2. it's way cheaper than the pixel 3 and 4 but that price cut comes at a cost it drops the flagship processor for the same mid-range 765g as the pixel 4a 5g it has a 1080p 90hz display which whilst again incredibly well calibrated isn't the most impressive spec wise its camera stack is also unimpressive from a hardware perspective you see google's focus on software might be at its peak with this device the camera quality hinges on google's incredible computational photography and the super clean software seems to be more of a priority than the speed and performance the pixel 5 is a mid-ranger with some flagship features sprinkled in the price decrease makes sense given the rumors of subpar pixel 4a sales and the great reception of the pixel 3a series google has pivoted and is now more focused on the mid-range market than producing the best of the best smartphones take a look at this graph you'll see that the google pixel pricing increased over the first three years but it never got to that 1000 mark at least for the base model instead at its peak google decided to pivot and started focusing on the mid-range and upper mid-range markets this is likely due to a potential lack of sales from its flagship tier there's speculation about such a thing after all but it means a more affordable entry into the google pixel experience i'd personally love to see a pixel ultra with like 120 hertz quad hd oled and the best specs possible when a really powerful camera set up with bigger sensors and more versatility across the board maybe even a periscope camera but for now it seems like google's abandoned that thousand dollar smartphone and is now focusing on that mid-range it's a shame but there is scope 4-1 in the future and that about wraps up today's video guys if you want to check out the original please do check out the link in the video description to the original article by robert triggs there'll be a link down there and whilst you're down there please do let us know in the comments if you want to see an out and out flagship pixel again or if you're pretty happy with the pixel 5 because it's not a bad device please do hit like and subscribe to never miss a video like this one i've been ryan thomas with android authority and i'll catch you later\n"