Benzinga | Aug 17, 2021 06:06PM EDT

Will Google's Latest Product Move Threaten Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi?

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is targeting price-conscious shoppers with a smartphone that has a larger screen, water resistance, and a bigger battery, Bloomberg reports.

The $449 Pixel 5a is $50 cheaper than the 2020's Pixel 4a 5G.

The latest smartphone retained the dual-camera system, on-device security chip and Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) processor of its costlier sibling and the 4a.

The 5a's screen size is 6.3 inches versus the 6.2-inch 4a. The extended battery mode can keep running for a total of 48 hours. However, it lacks support for mmWave 5G, a faster standard promoted by carriers like Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ).

The 5a includes a voice recorder app for converting speech to text, car crash detection, smart filtering of spam calls and text messages, CNBC reports.

New versions of Android come to Pixel phones directly, and the updates have three years' guarantee.

Google pitted the 5a against Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) similarly priced iPhone SE and cheaper Android phones like the Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (OTC:SSNLF) Galaxy A42 5G and Xiaomi Corp (OTC:XIACF) (OTC:XIACY).

Google is also consolidating its A-series devices. It previously offered a $349 Pixel 4a model without 5G, which had a smaller 5.8-inch screen, a slower chip and a minor camera system.

Alphabet will sell the Pixel 5a directly in the U.S. and Japan from Aug. 26 and via SoftBank Group Corp's (OTC:SFTBY) (OTC:SFTBF) carrier stores.

GOOG Price Action: GOOG shares were down 1.16% at $2,746.01 at the close Tuesday.