Google took everyone by surprise with the launch of Google Pixel 5a 5G. That’s right ladies and gentlemen! Not the Pixel 6 but the often rumoured “definitely” not cancelled. Earlier Google had maintained that the Pixel 5a will not be cancelled but they never really gave any definite date. While keeping its users guessing, it went on to preannounce the Pixel 6 and ended with Pixel 5a making its debut.
Pixel “a” series has been great so far. Amazing software, excellent camera output and a great bargain for the bucks offered. Pixel 5a is no different. It has an uncanny resemblance with its predecessor Pixel 4a that was released in September nearly a year ago.
The major difference is surprisingly the price tag. Google Pixel 5a is priced at $449 over 4a’s(5G) price tag of $499. If you are looking for a pretty great overall phone with a price tag of around $500ish, other than not having a higher fresh rate it is a pretty safe bet to take.
Now, let us talk about the Pixel 5a 5G issues users are reporting after using for a week or so.
Pixel 5a 5G display protection
Google Pixel 5a offers an FHD+OLED screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz locked. The size of the display is 6.34 inches with a resolution quality of 1080 x 2400 px, 413ppi. Pixel 5a has an aspect ratio of 20:9.
It has no black clipping meaning a marvellous near-black tone control with moderate colour accuracy and contrast. The device has an exceptional grayscale and white point precision with a superb HDR10 reproduction.
The Pixel 5a display which claimed to have 800 nits of brightness turns out to be only 501 nits during the testing of reviewers. 501 nits falls behind the similarly priced competition. The contrast and saturation have also been found to deteriorate with low brightness. There is more black smearing when compared to the other OLED phone with the emission of AmbientEQ. But the biggest problem one can foresee is the absence of the best display protection!
To speak in layman’s terms the Google Pixel 5a display does not offer state of art display protection per se. Although there were leaks of using Corning Gorilla Glass 6, Google has opted to release with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 front.
Now, this is quite hapless as Corning Gorilla Glass 3 has become grey-haired. Gorilla Glass 3 was something which was released in 2013 and is not in the same ballpark as the bettered versions of Gorilla Glass 5, Gorilla Glass 6, or Gorilla Glass Victus.
This is quite downhearted as other phones in the same price range offer better display protection. When Gorilla Glass 3 is used without any tempered glass, it tends to be broken when fallen from high heights. This issue was focused in the later versions as Gorilla Glass 4 and 5 were invented with special concern to durability.
Can Screen Protectors save?
Many tend to remove their pre-installed screen protectors and it has already become a habit for a bunch. The practice has turned to be a good one as it is advised to apply a screen protector. If not applied, it is warned that the micro scratches may affect the resale price.
In order to become drop-resistant, the display glass has to become softer and hence using Gorilla Glass 3 might produce micro scratches. It is feared that Pixel 5a 5G will follow the suit of Pixel 4a and will be swarmed with micro scratches. These are generally not visible on normal use but can be noticed when the light gets reflected at a certain angle which can turn out to be disturbing.
Hence, it is advised to go for Gorilla Glass 6 as it is more lightweight and much stronger than the previous version. It also has the better touch sensitivity, optical clarity and also is efficient with wireless charging.
Pixel 5a Overheating Issues
The heating issues in Google Pixel 5a when attempted to capture 4k 60fps videos have been reported. The display appears to have bugs or is legit facing heating issues. This is not something new to the Pixel community as Pixel 5 had faced similar issues last year.
There are reports of some dedicated camera overheating whilst attempting to shoot 4k60 but with recent firmware updates, they have fixed the heating issues. So, it can be hoped for Pixel 5a to fix the overheating issue faced when taking videos with new firmware updates.
That’s pretty much all the information about the Pixel 5a display on our end. Did we miss anything about the Pixel 5a issues? Let us know in the comments. For more similar content click here.
