A co-worker picke up a P3a last week and I set it up for her. It's ok, but doesn"t feel as "nice" as the P3, IMO. But, she digs it.
That's basically literally what it is, which is the point and the appeal.
Its close to being great. I feel like there's no reason we shouldn't have multiple devices that offers what this does (with some offering things it doesn't, like a telephoto camera, microSD, maybe waterproofing, bigger battery), for equal price though.
The 3a is interesting, but I feel like its mostly a "good enough" phone for people still using like 3 year old phones, or if you really value stock Android and Google's Camera processing while being price limited. For people on T-Mobile rocking older Pixel phones (but not interested in upgrading beyond to say a new Samsung or Apple device), its basically a no brainer to trade in your Pixel 1 or probably 2 even.
I'll be interested in seeing where things go from here. Its priced low enough that Google could drop the 3 to like $500-600, keep the 3a at $400, and then bring out a new phone at $800+. I'm hoping it actually goes more like the 3a drops to $300/375, the 3 gets punted to $450-550, and Google brings out a worthwile new phone at $650/750, where it'll have at least telephoto (and go to 128/256 for storage), being waterproof, slim (but not curved) bezel. I'd love if they took LG's second display (the one they showed instead of a folding phone not the little one from the V10/20), using it as a cover, battery boost, control for games, and bolstering multi-tasking.
Not that this is a deal breaker or anything, but will the 3a support 5G when it gets rolled out? I'm on AT&T right now but am seriously considering moving to GoogleFI. And is GoogleFI going to have access to 5G once it gets rolled out?
The 3a won't be able to support 5G, as it requires entirely new modems and antennae, which currently requires Qualcomm's highest end SoC, a separate modem chip, and space for the antennae (minimum). That will change in the future, but not for this phone.
Google Fi will assuredly support 5G in the future (well unless Google cancels it...), as 5G will become the standard for newer devices and all the major carriers (which Google leases from) will support it (but of course will have to have compatible device). How good that support is is anyone's guess (don't be surprised if carriers limit it to their own customers only for a few years - its gonna take awhile before you should be caring about 5G).