5 ms·

What makes the form factor better than others in the series? I'm curious since I've only owned a Pixel 3a and a Pixel 6a

Zak 2y ago
No current phone from any manufacturer that's reasonably desirable is as small as the 4a, and few of any size have a headphone jack.
- rolfvandekrol 2y ago
  Pixel 8a is fairly similar in size. Headphone jacks in phones are (sadly) gone forever i'm afraid.
  - Zak 2y ago
    The 8a is 3mm wider, 8mm taller, and 45g heavier. Perhaps that's not a huge difference, but I already consider the 4a too big. I will likely continue not upgrading as long as LineageOS and the hardware remain usable.
    - jakub_g 2y ago
      FWIW I was on Pixel 3a until last month; bought Pixel 6 in the meantime, but it was too big and heavy to carry around, so I only used it as a "tablet", only at home. Just updated to Pixel 8 and it fits the hand very well (including Spigen Liquid Air cover), and doesn't feel too heavy. Have a few friends who got Pixel 8 last month on sale as well and they all confirm.
    - dns_snek 2y ago
      I switched from 4a to 8a. The weight difference is substantial and really noticable at first. I've gotten used to it now and it runs great with GrapheneOS, but it marked an end of an era of smaller, lighter phones for me.
      - tetris11 2y ago
        I thought about the 8a, but the PostmarketOS support wasn't the best, so I opted for a safer chip
  - toast0 2y ago
    > Headphone jacks in phones are (sadly) gone forever i'm afraid. Maybe from Google phones, for now? Possibly on smaller phones. But Best Buy sells 7 models with 5g and a headphone jack. There's almost certainly more if you shop a retailer with more variety, using Best Buy because they have decent filtering. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-8&browsedCategory=pcmcat311200050005&id=pcat17071&iht=n&ks=960&list=y&qp=condition_facet%3DCondition~New%5Efeatures_facet%3DFeatures~5G%20Enabled%5Efeatures_facet%3DFeatures~Headphone%20Jack&sc=Global&sp=-displaydate%20skuidsaas&st=categoryid%24pcmcat311200050005&type=page&usc=All%20Categories https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-...
    - Zak 2y ago
      GSMArena has a great parametric search: https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3 https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3 Unfortunately, unlockable bootloader isn't one of the parameters available, and I consider it essential.
      - toast0 2y ago
        I like the parametric search, but searching a US retailer helps me focus on phones that are reasonable to source and use in the US. I could manage when GSM was two bands in the US, and usually two bands overseas and if you wanted a really neat phone you hoped it was quad band or at least tri band, because the really neat phones that were dual band were dual band on EU frequencies... now GSM Arena inevitably points me at phones intended for use in Japan and usually have a pretty poor match up with bands I'm likely to use while remaining flexible for use on other carriers in case it becomes a hand me down and the recipient isn't on the same carrier as me.
        Zak 2y ago
        The GSMArena search does let you filter by bands, though I can imagine that getting tedious.
- beretguy 2y ago
  5.81" is not small. Even 4.7" iPhones are not small. 4" is the perfect size for a smartphone.
- keyringlight 2y ago
  I looked into this because I find I want something I can stuff into a trouser pocket. The only reasonably viable android option was a Sony Xperia XZ2 compact, from 2018 on android 10. You can put lineage on it which is currently maintained, but that has the downsides of not passing device integrity which some apps will check, or being willing to constantly play cat and mouse to spoof it. Sony also apparently wipe a partition with a little DRM blob for the camera, which degrades some aspect of its post processing capabilities so image quality might be less. There's also the iPhone SE3 which is currently in support I ended up getting a 'regular' sized samsung only slightly larger than the one it's replacing, but at least modern phones seem to be getting longer software support periods (assuming there's no nasty surprises included).
  - iggldiggl 2y ago
    > Sony also apparently wipe a partition with a little DRM blob for the camera, which degrades some aspect of its post processing capabilities so image quality might be less. I think they no longer do that since a while (a few years) ago, but don't ask me which phone model exactly was the last one affected.

Zak 2y ago

No current phone from any manufacturer that's reasonably desirable is as small as the 4a, and few of any size have a headphone jack.

rolfvandekrol 2y ago
Pixel 8a is fairly similar in size. Headphone jacks in phones are (sadly) gone forever i'm afraid.
- Zak 2y ago
  The 8a is 3mm wider, 8mm taller, and 45g heavier. Perhaps that's not a huge difference, but I already consider the 4a too big. I will likely continue not upgrading as long as LineageOS and the hardware remain usable.
  - jakub_g 2y ago
    FWIW I was on Pixel 3a until last month; bought Pixel 6 in the meantime, but it was too big and heavy to carry around, so I only used it as a "tablet", only at home. Just updated to Pixel 8 and it fits the hand very well (including Spigen Liquid Air cover), and doesn't feel too heavy. Have a few friends who got Pixel 8 last month on sale as well and they all confirm.
  - dns_snek 2y ago
    I switched from 4a to 8a. The weight difference is substantial and really noticable at first. I've gotten used to it now and it runs great with GrapheneOS, but it marked an end of an era of smaller, lighter phones for me.
    - tetris11 2y ago
      I thought about the 8a, but the PostmarketOS support wasn't the best, so I opted for a safer chip
- toast0 2y ago
  > Headphone jacks in phones are (sadly) gone forever i'm afraid. Maybe from Google phones, for now? Possibly on smaller phones. But Best Buy sells 7 models with 5g and a headphone jack. There's almost certainly more if you shop a retailer with more variety, using Best Buy because they have decent filtering. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-8&browsedCategory=pcmcat311200050005&id=pcat17071&iht=n&ks=960&list=y&qp=condition_facet%3DCondition~New%5Efeatures_facet%3DFeatures~5G%20Enabled%5Efeatures_facet%3DFeatures~Headphone%20Jack&sc=Global&sp=-displaydate%20skuidsaas&st=categoryid%24pcmcat311200050005&type=page&usc=All%20Categories https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=UTF-...
  - Zak 2y ago
    GSMArena has a great parametric search: https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3 https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3 Unfortunately, unlockable bootloader isn't one of the parameters available, and I consider it essential.
    - toast0 2y ago
      I like the parametric search, but searching a US retailer helps me focus on phones that are reasonable to source and use in the US. I could manage when GSM was two bands in the US, and usually two bands overseas and if you wanted a really neat phone you hoped it was quad band or at least tri band, because the really neat phones that were dual band were dual band on EU frequencies... now GSM Arena inevitably points me at phones intended for use in Japan and usually have a pretty poor match up with bands I'm likely to use while remaining flexible for use on other carriers in case it becomes a hand me down and the recipient isn't on the same carrier as me.
      - Zak 2y ago
        The GSMArena search does let you filter by bands, though I can imagine that getting tedious.
beretguy 2y ago
5.81" is not small. Even 4.7" iPhones are not small. 4" is the perfect size for a smartphone.
keyringlight 2y ago
I looked into this because I find I want something I can stuff into a trouser pocket. The only reasonably viable android option was a Sony Xperia XZ2 compact, from 2018 on android 10. You can put lineage on it which is currently maintained, but that has the downsides of not passing device integrity which some apps will check, or being willing to constantly play cat and mouse to spoof it. Sony also apparently wipe a partition with a little DRM blob for the camera, which degrades some aspect of its post processing capabilities so image quality might be less. There's also the iPhone SE3 which is currently in support I ended up getting a 'regular' sized samsung only slightly larger than the one it's replacing, but at least modern phones seem to be getting longer software support periods (assuming there's no nasty surprises included).
- iggldiggl 2y ago
  > Sony also apparently wipe a partition with a little DRM blob for the camera, which degrades some aspect of its post processing capabilities so image quality might be less. I think they no longer do that since a while (a few years) ago, but don't ask me which phone model exactly was the last one affected.