Google Pixel 4a
Shares rank 19 of 60 smartphones by recommenders
People praise its light, compact size, one-hand use and LineageOS support. Common caveats are battery wear and updates ending early.
People praise its light, compact size, one-hand use and LineageOS support. Common caveats are battery wear and updates ending early.
28 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 14
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Light, compact, fits one hand
“Light, screen exactly the right size to navigate with a single thumb whilst holding the phone in one hand”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e” “So thin and light, and even a headphone jack.”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “LineageOS 24” “love how light and compact the phone was”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “LineageOS 24” Runs well on LineageOS
“it works beautifully running a supported version of lineage it's very likely that the modem baseband has a significant vulnerability that Google isn't patching”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Your Phone Is About to Stop Being Yours: 70 Days Until Lockdown” “my Pixel 4a 5g (w/ LineageOS + microG) is still going strong”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Minimal Phone 2” Still fine for everyday use
“it's still completely fine for all my purposes”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “DRAM pricing is killing the hobbyist SBC market” “it's a perfectly fine phone”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “A low-carbon computing platform from your retired phones”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Battery wears out fast
“They intentionally make the battery life so short after 400 charge cycles”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Googlebook: Designed for Gemini Intelligence – Coming Fall 2026 – Googlebook” “the battery is pretty much dead and it's too much money to replace it”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “LineageOS 24” “the battery problems that the Pixel 4a, 6a, and 7a have had”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “iPhone 5s Gets New Software Update 13 Years After Launch” Software update crippled battery
“they shipped an update for Pixel 4a that crippled the battery”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Googlebook: Designed for Gemini Intelligence – Coming Fall 2026 – Googlebook” “A software update killed my friend's 4a”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Pixel 10a” “If Google had not killed the battery.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “RAM is so expensive, Samsung won't even sell it to Samsung”
Updates ended, security patches stopped
“perfectly fine hardware, but crippled in functionality due to the lack of software updates”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple” “Both were abandoned within two years of me buying”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “iPhone 5s Gets New Software Update 13 Years After Launch” “well, it isn't receiving security updates”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Motorola GrapheneOS devices will be bootloader unlockable/relockable” Unpatched modem vulnerabilities
“it works beautifully running a supported version of lineage it's very likely that the modem baseband has a significant vulnerability that Google isn't patching”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Your Phone Is About to Stop Being Yours: 70 Days Until Lockdown” “the modem and the baseband firmware have several unpatched vulnerabilities on that model”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “LineageOS 24”
Other smartphones people recommend
The four most recommended other smartphones, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone | 706 | 882 | 44% | 13 | 7 yrs107 owners | — |
| Fairphone | 168 | 107 | 61% | 13 | 3 yrs19 owners | — |
| Apple iPhone Pro | 144 | 155 | 48% | 12 | 4 yrs26 owners | — |
| iPhone 13 mini | 141 | 51 | 73% | 12 | 1.5 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Google Pixel 4aThis page | 14 | 14 | 50% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
28 of the 29 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it works beautifully running a supported version of lineage it's very likely that the modem baseband has a significant vulnerability that Google isn't patching”
“So thin and light, and even a headphone jack.”
“the modem and the baseband firmware have several unpatched vulnerabilities on that model”
“love how light and compact the phone was”
“the battery is pretty much dead and it's too much money to replace it”
“broke a couple due to water infiltration in rainy conditions”
“my Pixel 4a 5g (w/ LineageOS + microG) is still going strong”
“it's a perfectly fine phone”
“They intentionally make the battery life so short after 400 charge cycles”
“Communication wise, the whole thing (4a in my case, but the others seemed similar) was a disaster.”
“they shipped an update for Pixel 4a that crippled the battery”
“If Google had not killed the battery.”
“it's still completely fine for all my purposes”
“the movement from my leg called 911 (which I would only find out when the police would call me back to ask if everything is OK)”
“I'm sure it was a noble device.”
“well, it isn't receiving security updates”
“Light, screen exactly the right size to navigate with a single thumb whilst holding the phone in one hand”
“replacement to malfunctioning Pixel 4a”
“they managed to physically break other parts of the phone over the course of multiple visits”
“they had a couple updates even after support officially ended”
“A software update killed my friend's 4a”
“perfectly fine hardware, but crippled in functionality due to the lack of software updates”
“had the fingerprint unlock sensor on the back which is the only meaningfully differentiating feature”
“had problems with getting unduly warm”
“Both were abandoned within two years of me buying”
“the battery problems that the Pixel 4a, 6a, and 7a have had”
“and so did my Pixel 4a, even with the worse hardware of the latter”
“until Google busted the battery”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.