I run postmarketos on my old pixel 3a, and it works great as a linux device, but I haven't used it for calls/sms. The wiki says sms should work but calls are only partially supported.

If yours is just sitting unused, postmarketos is definitely worth a try.

edit: apparently postmarketos changed its name to nura three days ago, and that link redirects to their rebranded wiki

I'm using a pixel3a with postmarketOS (now Nura) and sxmo as my daily driver (but I hardly ever call).

Calling and SMS works but there is indeed no echo cancellation so people complain they hear themselves if the volume is not low. I have a more reliable calling experience on the pixel3a than I had on the more powerful oneplus 6 where call audio was often broken.

Web browsing and podcasts should be no problem. The battery also holds well and suspend works. Wifi and mobile data work fine.

I am the same - was using PinePhone Pro (though I was daily driving it), and after the screen cracked, I tried Pixel 3A and now daily drive it.

TLDR; I think it's worth giving it a go. No regrets here.

While it still has Android, you need to update to the latest version (from ~June 2022), as that enables VoLTE. VoLTE is required where I live, and the wiki page shows some complicated extra 81voltd process for using VoLTE, but none of that was required for me.

Calls, SMS, MMS work (though need to switch the APN like on Pinephone).

Both cameras work.

GPS works.

Battery is quite good compared to Pinephone Pro. A call does not wake from suspend, so I don't suspend the phone, and it definitely lasts the day and more, no problems. (I thought I did have my Pinephone Pro waking from suspend with a call a while ago, but then I upgraded Mobian and that disappeared...)

Processor is snappier to load things, and the phone runs cooler.

Mobian release wouldn't boot for me. PostmarketOS/Nura works.

Audio is a bit funny, in that there are no separate phone call vs normal profiles. There is only one profile, which has a weird setup of the main speaker as the L channel and ear speaker as the R channel. This would likely be a Postmarket quirk, and I am curious how Mobian does it (I hadn't tried the weekly builds, but that have hope). So you do need to manually lower the volume to ~15% during a call, and the phone call quality is reasonably good then (probably will be better when the audio output is only on the ear speaker).

Bluetooth audio works great for podcasts, more reliably than Pinephone Pro.

Haven't tried NFC.

The notification LED doesn't work, so you need to turn the screen on to see if you missed a call.

We were spoilt with the USB-C, but Pixel 3A's only works for charging and using as a fake ethernet device - not plugging in any devices or a monitor.

It's a lot more effort to flash an OS to play around with, since there's no SD card. It was nice being able to play around with a Plasma Mobile release to see how it is, then reboot and go back to normal.

Running Nura (PostmarketOS) on Pixel 3a XL.

Texting and calling work perfectly fine. Angelfish is pre-installed, and as far as Linux mobile browsing goes, it seems to be my favorite. Don't listen to podcasts, but there are podcast apps available. The battery life is superb. Ability to SSH into the phone is awesome.

That said, the phone feels a little sluggish. It doesn't freeze, no, but it's just not as snappy as my Android phone. Since I took Pixel 3a specifically to install Nura, I can't tell whether it's Nura, Linux overall or just the fact Pixel 3a is quite old.

Speaking more of experience, the Linux phone is exciting as a project, but overall it feels very...boring. For some, in a good way. It's there to do exactly what you want, but entertainment options are somewhat limited, and the phone isn't there to entertain you, either. I found myself just shelving my Pixel to barely remember about it.

I've ported Mobian to it and use that. Runs well on it.

But the battery is hard to replace on those and it might be cheaper to get another used one, sadly.

I've used it on a few things and maybe I'm being a brat but it's pretty anemic when it comes to power and it showed for me at least on droidian and ubports