In the Indian smartphone market, the ₹10,000-₹20,000 ($135-270) price bracket is extremely popular. Many folks get their first or second handset in that range. However, when they are upgrading, they might have to look for devices beyond the ₹35,000 ($470) mark to get a good value for money products.
However this year, because of plenty of noteworthy launches, the ₹20,000-₹35,000 ($270-470) price bracket is filled with great options for consumers.
For the past couple of months, I’ve used the OnePlus Nord, the Poco X3, and the Google Pixel 4a for a few weeks each, one after another. Mind you, these phones offer different things, so if you’re certain about your choices, it’s easy to pick a device between them. And we’ll talk about that more, but first, specifications.
Specs
Design
If I am comparing phones, usually, I club design with features. However, these are drastically different phones. While the Poco X3 is a chonk with a sizable screen, the Pixel 4a’s small size and easy-to-hold structure make it an appealing choice for anyone who loves compact phones; the OnePlus Nord lies somewhere in between.
The Poco X3 is a huge phone with 6.67-inch screen, and you’ll have to use both your hands to get around the interface. But hey, if you love big screens, this one offers a bright and colorful LCD display.
The fingerprint scanner is on the right side, mounted on the top of the power button. I usually hold and pick up my phone with the left hand, so the unlocking process didn’t trouble me much. If you use the right hand primarily, you might have to adjust your grip a bit.
The Nord, being a smaller phone than the Poco X3, feels more comfortable in your palm. It’s still a big phone, so, don’t expect one hand usage all the time. Another noticeable difference is that the Nord sports a glass protected back compared to the Poco X3’s plastic — so it feels nice in the hand.
OnePlus’ new affordable offering uses an under-the-screen fingerprint scanner for authentication. It’s reliable most of the time, but not comparable to the speed of the physical sensor.
Despite its brushed plastic finish, Pixel’s size makes it an attractive choice. It’s a tiny phone compared to the other two and snuggles into your pocket easily. Its signature rear fingerprint is super-fast and unlocks the device in no time. Google’s phone also has the advantage of dual stereo speakers.
Screen and performance
On paper, the Poco X3’s screen looks impressive with its size and refresh rate. However, the OnePlus Nord’s screen takes the cake with its color accuracy and responsiveness. Its 90Hz refresh rate is sufficient for most applications.
I experienced a few delays on the X3’s 120Hz display. I’d rather have a smooth display with a slightly lower refresh rate. The X3’s screen is not bad; for its price, it delivers the goods. But AMOLED screens have great contrast and that shows when you watch videos.
The Pixel 4a’s screen doesn’t have any fancy refresh rate number. But its OLED screen has the highest pixel density amongst these three (443 pixels per inch). It doesn’t make a huge difference because of the screen size. But it makes content consumption pleasant.
Apart from Apple’s iPhone, we’ve seen manufacturers resort to punching hole cameras. OnePlus’ phone has a capsule-shaped hole on the front to host two selfie cameras. The Poco X3 has a punch-hole in the top-center of the screen, while the Pixel has hoisted its front camera on the top-right corner. These cameras didn’t really bother me in my daily usage, but they will cut your screen size by a bit when you’re watching videos.
All three CPUs are close to each other in terms of architecture. You won’t notice the difference in your day to day usage. You can switch between apps, browse the internet, watch some videos, and take photos with ease on all the phones.
If you go by the numbers, Snapdragon 765G is the most powerful of them all. But I didn’t really see a huge uptick while using the OnePlus Nord. I did face a few arbitrary app crashes while using the Pixel 4a. So, you wouldn’t want to strain the phone too much.
Battery
Despite all other specifications, this is the deciding factor a lot of times. The Poco X3 is certainly the winner when it comes to battery life.
While I’m using the international version of the phone with a 5,160mAh battery, the phone in India ships with a massive 6,000mAh battery. Plus, it’s compatible with a 33W fast charging brick for quick refills. It’ll definitely last you more than a day even after heavy usage.
OnePlus’ mid-range phone has a bit smaller battery than Poco’s offering. But you can carry it through the day with ease. What’s more, the company offers its famous dash charging solution rated at 30W.
Pixel 4a is a tricky customer in this area. I wouldn’t recommend this phone if you currently plug your phone in multiple times every day. Because of its size, the battery is small. Sure, Google’s software optimizations will often give you one-day usage. But’s it’s not built for battery-draining tasks.
If you play games on your phone for hours or attend calls most of the day, you might want to carry a power bank with you.
Camera
It’s a Pixel camera, do I need to say more? Google is still using the Sony IMX363 sensor — that’s the one used in the Pixel 3. But it doesn’t lose out on details in the day time and takes great portrait shots. Images are still punchy and pleasant to look at. Its digital zoom is impressive to an extent, and you’ll get good low-light photos because of Night Sight.
Google’s affordable phone doesn’t offer the versatility of the other two phones. Having said that, those ‘extra’ cameras on either phone aren’t out of this world. With Pixel’s picture quality, you aren’t really missing out on those. Here are some samples from the Pixel 4a camera:
The OnePlus Nord is a great phone, but its camera isn’t the best of the lot. Sure, it takes good photos in daylight, and you’ll be able to get some decent portrait shots in suitable conditions, but that’s about it.
You can use a wide-angle camera in daylight to take shots of landscapes or buildings but mind the distortion and noise. It also has a macro camera, but it misses the mark in a lot of shots.
The front camera takes selfies that are often dull and washed out. And to get nice results out of the Night mode, you’ll have to keep your phone very still. Here are a few samples from the OnePlus Nord camera:
The Poco X3 is a rather surprising phone in the photography section. For its price-point, it has a rather impressive main camera that takes vibrant shots in most lighting conditions. As GSMArena’s review of the phone points out, you might face purple fringing (a purple hue around some objects) in some photos of high-contrast scenes.
The wide-angle camera snaps some acceptable images when you use it to capture vast landscapes. The 20-megapixel front camera can churn out amiable selfies if you turn off the beautification — it makes you look terribly unnatural. You can see some samples below:
The X3 doesn’t score high points in low-light photography but you can use it to get better details during the evening. I am yet to understand the point of a 2-megapixel macro lens that’s going to give you muddy photos most of the time.
Conclusion
Between these three phones, it might come to your choice of the size rather than the price. People who want that smaller form factor would gravitate towards the Pixel 4a. Plus, there’s an excellent camera and neat software experience to look forward to.
OnePlus phones have proven good workhorses over the year, and the Nord is no exception. You get a great screen and a nice build along with it.
The Poco X3 would probably give you the best value for money if you like big phones. It has a good processor, a nice camera, fast charging, and a headphone jack. That’s an attractive combination for the price.
The Pixel 4a is available in India for ₹31,999 ($432). Meanwhile the Poco X3’s top model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage costs ₹19,999 ($270). The OnePlus Nord starts from ₹24,999 ($338) for the 6GB+64GB variant. Choose your fighter.
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Published November 24, 2020 — 11:15 UTC