I reckon the newly announced Google Pixel 4A would make an excellent burner phone for travel.
What exactly do you need from a smartphone when you are in a foreign country anyways? For me, it boils down to two things: be able to take excellent photographs, and be a competent Internet communications device. All other apps and features we’ve grown accustomed to, such as digital payments or access to Netflix, become superfluous once I am outside of the States. i mean, you really shouldn’t be binge watching shows during those precious vacation hours, should you? Might as well just say home at that point.
What I use a phone for when I travel to China is taking many pictures, and accessing the Internet for maps and keeping contact with friends. While my regular carry - an iPhone 11 Pro - indeed can and does both of those things splendidly, that phone also contains a lot of private information that would be rather cumbersome to carry through border crossings. Unfortunately, I am not a stranger to having my phone searched when coming back into America, and I think getting a burner unit with only a minimal amount of necessary information put on it is worthwhile for my own protection.
Mind you that’s not because I am some criminal mastermind, but rather I am hoping to avoid as much extraneous hassle as possible at customs and immigration. Agents want to search my phone? Go right ahead: there’s nothing but vacation photos and records of places I’ve searched for on Google maps.
This brings us perfectly to the Pixel 4A: at $349, it’s just compulsive enough of a price for me to buy one without much further justification. Google’s Pixel phones are renowned for their photographic capabilities, and the Pixel 4A reads like it does not deviate from the lineage. I wouldn’t be missing out on the equally awesome cameras on the iPhone (except for the 2X zoom). From looking at the specs I presume the 4A is a competent Internet device as well, so that’s my other travel need taken care of. It doesn’t matter the 4A doesn’t have fancy aluminum and glass construction, or it can’t do wireless charging: for a such a relatively cheap price, you don’t expect it to.
But heck, it’s got an OLED screen!
While I don’t suppose I’ll be travel anytime soon (thanks, COVID), it’s never too early to be prepared, right? Let’s see if the price of the Pixel 4A gets even lower come Black Friday (or whatever semblance of that may be this year).
Ready for action.