Google Pixel 5a Review and Unboxing!

This morning, with the Google Pixel 5a 5G official, we aren’t making you wait to find out the deal with this new phone. Not only is our unboxing here, but we’ve coupled it with a review that touches on the important details you need to know before buying Google’s latest phone.

To quickly recap, the Pixel 5a 5G drops in at $449, is up for pre-order now, and arrives August 26. The phone is very much a minimal upgrade to the Pixel 4a 5G from last year and really feels more like a placeholder until Google brings out the Pixel 6 and a new push for the Pixel line of phones. Not that the Pixel 5a is a phone to ignore if your budget is limited, just know that if you’ve read about or used a Pixel 4a 5G, you’ll very much know the situation here.

Note: In the review video I mentioned the phone being plastic, but it is indeed a metal-unibody design with a soft-touch coating. Sorry about the confusion.

During the past 7 days, I spent a good amount of time with the Pixel 5a and came away feeling like this would be a solid choice for those with a sub-$500 limit on phone spending. The upgrades here (IP67, bigger display, and bigger battery) along with the $50 price drop from last year, create a package that runs well, lasts a long time, and can still take a good picture. There may not be anything incredibly exciting about the Pixel 5a, but I’m not sure there is supposed to be. Again, the Pixel 6 is coming and Google is expected to go big there.

In the video below, you’ll see what’s in the box before we fast forward in life to 7-days of usage. From there, you’ll get an overview of my time with the Pixel 5a, what the improvements have done for it, and who should buy it.

• Shop Pixel 5a 5G from Google