The 3a looks very much like its older brother, the Pixel 3, but with fewer seams. Ours also came in a rather distinctive color, which Google dubs "Purple-ish," but which we dub "Thanos Edition."

That seamless enclosure points to a screen-first entry on this phone—we're hoping this will mean easier screen replacements than what we saw on the Pixel 3.

Google also managed to fit a headphone jack in here—which weirdly feels like a luxury feature on this budget phone.

From the back, it's hard to tell the 3 and 3a apart. Supposedly that brittle glass cover makes for a more premium handset, but we can't see the difference from here.

The iPhone XR and Galaxy S10e would also like to take your budget smartphone dollars—but at $700+, they're not trying that hard. The Pixel 3a packs a slower processor and plastic construction, among other changes, to bring the price down a ton.