The Black Friday sales season is here! The best deals are often not on Amazon. The prices shown below are the best available now, though you may need to buy quickly as some deals will sell out.
The Pixel 4a and 4a 5G are on sale now. Google staggered the release of its latest mid-range phones, with the 4a available from 1 October, before the 4a 5G finally arrived on 19 November. To complicate matters, the regular model was out in the US on 20 August.
Despite what the name suggests, there are plenty more differences between the two models besides 5G connectivity. The Pixel 4a 5G comes with a larger 6.2in display (compared to 5.81in), and a more modern Snapdragon 765G instead of 830. There’s also a dedicated ultra-wide rear camera lens and a bigger battery.
That’s reflected in the price, with the 4a 5G costing £499 while the regular 4a starts at £349. All this is not forgetting the Pixel 5, which was announced alongside the 4a 5G and released on 15 October.
Here’s all you need to know if you’re considering picking up a phone in the Pixel 4a range, including contract and SIM-free deals.
How much do the Pixel 4a and 4a 5G cost?
The Pixel 4a costs £349/US$349 with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, while the 5G version is available to pre-order for £499/US$499.
The regular 4a phone is only available in black, so keep it looking sharp with one of these top cases. You can also check out our full review, with our 8/10 rating making it one of the best mid-range phones you can buy.
In our review of the 4a 5G it also gets an 8/10 rating.
Best Google Pixel 4a deals
You can buy the Pixel 4a directly from Google, where it’s been discounted to £319. Other retailers offering the 4a SIM-free include:
However, you can get the phone even cheaper if you buy via eBay. Currys PC World has listed the phone for £319, but entering the code ‘PRICE8‘ at checkout will save you an additional £25.52 until 18 November.
Check out more of the best deals below:
US SIM-free offers – $50 off from BestBuy
US customers can buy the Pixel 4a directly from the Google Store. It’s also available from Amazon and BestBuy, with the latter dropping the price to $299.99 if activated straight away.
If you’d prefer, you can pick up the Pixel 4a from the following carriers in the UK:
- Carphone Warehouse – Best plan: £24.99 per month for fully unlimited (in iD)
- EE – Best plan: 10GB data for £30 upfront, £37 per month, plus choice of free subscription
- iD Mobile – Plans start at £29.99 upfront, £21.99 per month for 500MB data
- Mobiles.co.uk – Best cashback plan: £22 per month, no upfront cost for 54GB data; plans start at £19 per month, £35 upfront – offers choice of different carriers – Virgin Media, Vodafone or iD Mobile
- O2 – Plans start at £30 upfront, £26.67 per month for 1GB data with 6 months of Disney+
- Three – Best plan: 12GB data for £29 upfront, £27 per month with 3 months YouTube Premium, Google One and Google Play Pass
- Vodafone – Cheapest plan: £34 per month, £29 upfront for 6GB data; also available on Unlimited data plans (Unlimited Lite, Unlimited and Unlimited Max)
- Virgin Mobile doesn’t have any Pixel 4a deals on its website, but contracts are available via Mobiles.co.uk – Plans start at £21 per month with £60 upfront for 1GB of data
We would also recommend looking at the following phone retailers for cashback contract deals, though some offer non-cashback plans as well:
We’ll be updating this article with more deals and UK availability as and when it becomes available.
US contract availability
In the US, carriers include Verizon, U.S. Cellular, and Google’s own Google Fi, which works with T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular to switch seamlessly between the strongest network in any given area.
Best Google Pixel 4a 5G deals
Google and Vodafone’s pre-order offer, which bundled the Pixel 4a 5G with free Bose QC 35 II wireless headphones, has now expired, but we expect there to be plenty more great deals available.
Here’s where you can buy the phone on contract in the UK:
- EE – from £43 per month with £50 upfront
- Vodafone – from £51 per month with £29 upfront. Vodafone is also offering a free pair of Bose QC 35 II headphones (usually worth £299.95) if you pre-order by 18 November
- Carphone Warehouse – from £29.99 per month with £29.99 upfront
- iD Mobile – from £27.99 per month with £29.99 upfront
- Mobiles.co.uk – from £30 per month with £50 upfront – available on Vodafone only
For great offers on Google’s other 2020 phone, check out the best Google Pixel 5 deals.
When is Black Friday 2020 – should you wait for a better deal?
Amazon Prime Day has come and gone, meaning Black Friday is the next big sales event of the year. It will take place on Friday 27 November, immediately followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November. However, a number of retailers have already launched their own early Black Friday sales, with discounts available weeks ahead of time.
There are still expected to be some great tech deals around on the big day, bt but with so much uncertainty around finance and retail, and no guarantees regarding what discounts we will see, we advise you not to wait. If you see a deal you like, on a product you need, and you can afford the outlay, buy it today.