The only reason I wouldn't buy the Samsung is because of their software. Their hardware is great but their version of Android is its own beast, which is great if you like it, but if you just want vanilla Android or to replace it with something custom then they're often a bit more of a faff.

The Samsung is missing LTE bands 14, 18, 25, 26, 29, 30, 39, and 71.

The Samsung is larger, which I view as a negative, but that explains how they can have a larger battery capacity.

And it looks like the Samsung does not have the pull tabs for the adhesive underneath the battery[1]. We don't yet have a tear-down of the Pixel 4a but google has been reliably including pull tabs in their phones for years.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMP0LFVpFpg

Size shouldn't be a reason for the battery size. Devices like the redmi 3s had 4k mAh in a smaller device in 2016

The catch is that you'll be lucky to get a full year of software updates for the A71. Google committed to 3 years for the Pixel line.

On a hardware-level, though, I agree, the A71 is a much better value.

Even then, the number of cameras doesn't mean much, Pixel 4a still takes better photos than most 800$+ phones with 3-4 lenses. Also, it really depends on your use case, but most people don't need extra storage with 128GB base storage.

Not sure if you meant to reply to me, but I agree with you about the cameras.

Not sure I just about the storage, though. I have a Pixel 2 with 128 gigs, and I occasionally find myself having to go through and delete some things to make room for whatever new thing I want. If they're not going to include a micro SD slot (which I would prefer), then they really do need to put a generous amount of flash on the device.

It was mostly a reply to:

> On a hardware-level, though, I agree, the A71 is a much better value.

Just because it has better hardware "specs" doesn't mean much. For example, there are phones nowadays with 112MP cameras that still take worse photos than Pixel's 12MP camera. Similarly, 12 or 16GB ram which a lot of phones flaunt makes absolutely no difference.

I'm not saying you're falling for that, but unfortunately a lot of people do direct spec sheet hardware comparisons without understanding what the numbers even mean.

Aah, fair enough, I see you point.

$30 more, plus you have to buy through a no-name Amazon seller. Maybe other people are okay with that, but I feel much more secure buying from Google directly (in terms of whether or not you feel secure having a Google device is a whole other story, of course...).

Checking on best buy (as a US user), the A71 actually goes for $600 if you want it unlocked and without activation [1]. So a more fair comparison is that for Americans the A71 is $250 more than the 4a, but you could get it for cheaper if you activate or buy it locked, or are willing to buy from a 3rd party on Amazon.

The A51 does seem to be available from Best Buy for $400, unlocked and unactivated, or $300 from an Amazon 3rd party, but the specs there are of course not as good as the a71.

Posting as I was excited to buy something non-Google and fully featured, but I personally don't feel the same confidence buying from some 3rd party on Amazon as I would from Best Buy or Google.

1) https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-galaxy-a71-5g-128gb-unl...

Yep, at the very least, I've found Google Store very good when I had to RMA my phone. 5m talk with support and they sent me a new device, and I only needed to ship back the old one after receiving the new one and transfering my data over.

Samsung phones are a POS with their bloatware. I used to own Samsung phones before I switched to the Pixel line. It's not comparison. The extra RAM and battery are not enough to deal with the bloatware not to mention that it doesn't get updates on time.

How does the Galaxy's camera and computational photography compare to Pixel's? That's basically been the killer-app for me on my Pixel 3.

Yes but is the bootloader unlocked? The rootability is also one of my factors in choosing Pixels for my last two phones (Pixel XL and Pixel 3a XL)