Google is about to unveil the Pixel 4a any day now, and it has further confirmed evidence of this in the form of a significant price cut for the Pixel 3a. And it arrived just in time to compete with Apple's affordable iPhone SE 2020.

Currently, Best Buy is selling the Pixel 3a at a $150 price cut, bringing it down from $399.99 to $249.99. In that case, the 64GB model is available in Clearly White, Just Black, Not Pink, and Purple. [With the small caveat that it must be activated immediately by Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint. If you want to hold off on activation, Best Buy will sell the Pixel 3a for $299.

With the Pixel 4a on the horizon, purchasing the Pixel 3a may seem like a backward move. But the Pixel 3a is an impressive phone, albeit a successor, with smooth performance and a great camera that rivals high-end flagships thanks to Google's AI smarts.

Google has included a rear camera in the Pixel 3a that is nearly identical to the Pixel 3, just without the dedicated signal processing chip. However, it still produced very impressive phone-shooting results that rivaled the Pixel 3.

The Pixel 3a also has a powerful "Night Sight" low-light shooting mode, which the Pixel 3a's rival, the iPhone SE 2020, does not. the Pixel 3a has a 5.6-inch OLED display, at least in size, which is 4.7 inches larger than the iPhone SE's inch display.

The Pixel 3a also has the advantage of running a pure version of Android 10. This means that not only is the phone much easier to use compared to the complex Android skins of other handset makers, but the mid-range Snapdragon 670 with 4GB of RAM is not plagued by extra UI elements.

It also retains the great design touches that have eluded other models. The fingerprint scanner on the back is super fast and reliable. And while the flagship-grade Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 have wireless and USB-C headphone connectivity, this Pixel phone retains the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The only downside to the Pixel 3a is that the chassis looks a bit dated compared to more modern phones with bezel-less displays; the Pixel 3a has a reasonably chunky forehead and chin. However, this makes the Pixel 3a a rather practical design. It is not a sheet of glass that you have to constantly worry about dropping or scratching.

The $249 Google Pixel 3a remains a thoroughly excellent phone, with access to some of the best software and camera features Google has created.