This is a question from a Pixel 3a owner and I really do not mean this to sound negative or condescending but: Why would anyone buy a $1000 flagship phone when something like the 3a does 95% of the same work? Is opening youtube 1 frame faster worth a 3x price increase? The current state of phones does not warrant such a large price increase (minus, well, people pay for it). This isn't even an LCD / OLED situation that the TV market has.
I have a Pixel 3a as well and I've made my peace with it, but it has a poor OLED panel, won't be supported past Android 11, is very slow to render webpages, has a limited camera, lacks water resistance, feels cheap in hand, runs demanding games/apps poorly, has poor speaker(s), and has limited storage capacity and slow storage technology. I only use it for calls/messaging/mail, banking apps, podcasts, navigation, browsing Era, and taking photos of my kid, so I'm okay with those limitations, but plenty of people won't be.
I mean, some people here are fine with a $150 Intel Atom netbook for the better part of a decade and others spend $1500 on graphics cards alone every couple years. Some people make do with four to a room dorm-style accommodation and others want a five bedroom house for two people. Some people are okay with their 20 year old Dodge Neons and others lease new luxury cars every year.
