Google Pixel 8a Review

The Google Pixel 8a is the newest mid-range providing in Google’s standard Pixel lineup. Launched in Might, the Pixel 8a goals to convey lots of the premium options from its higher-end siblings, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Professional, right into a extra reasonably priced package deal.

At a look, the Pixel 8a shares a really comparable design language and have set because the Pixel 8. It has a 6.1″ 120Hz OLED show, is powered by Google’s Tensor G3 chip, and runs the newest Android 14 out of the field. The principle variations are a plastic again as a substitute of glass, a barely downgraded digicam system, and some minor spec modifications to hit the lower cost level.

So, does the Pixel 8a ship the core Pixel expertise at a wallet-friendly worth, or do the cost-cutting measures maintain it again?

Pixel 8a vs 8 vs 8 Professional Specification

Pixel 8a vs 8 vs 8 Professional Specification

Google has made every of the fashions incrementally completely different, so there’s not an enormous distinction between this and the Pixel 8. As compared the Pixel 8a has:

• Barely smaller physique
• Thicker bezels with a smaller screen-to-body ratio
• Plastic again
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3 vs Victus
• A decrease spec 64 MP 1/1.73″ major digicam vs 50 MP 1/1.31″
• A barely completely different selfies digicam
• No WiFi 7 help
• No Aptx HD
• No multi-band GNSS (GPS)
• Smaller battery
• Slower charging

Whereas that will appear to be a whole lot of variations, I feel most of them would go unnoticed by most individuals. The thicker bezel does make it look a bit old school, however it’s hardly a deal breaker. As I exploit my digicam lots, the primary factor I miss is the very good major digicam; nonetheless, the Pixel 8a does a good job.

Design and Show

The Pixel 8a follows the identical design language because the Pixel 8 with a minimalist aesthetic that includes a two-tone again panel. Nonetheless, as a substitute of glass, the 8a opts for a plastic again to scale back prices. The plastic has a matte end that also feels top quality. The aluminium body gives a sturdy really feel to the hand.

The entrance is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, a step down from Victus on the 8 and eight Professional. The bezels are barely thicker than the Pixel 8, leading to a screen-to-body ratio of 81.6% in comparison with 85.5%. It’s noticeable side-by-side and does make the cellphone look a bit quaint however doesn’t detract a lot from the viewing expertise.

Talking of the show, you get a 6.1″ FHD+ (1080 x 2400) OLED panel with a easy 120Hz refresh fee. The display screen has good brightness ranges of as much as 2000 nits peak and helps HDR content material. The colors are vibrant, and the viewing angles are wonderful. Whereas not fairly as spectacular because the Pixel 8 Professional’s LTPO panel, that is nonetheless probably the greatest shows you’ll discover within the sub-£500 worth vary.

Biometrics

For safety, the Pixel 8a options an under-display optical fingerprint sensor. The setup was fast, and the sensor was quick and dependable for unlocking the cellphone. Face unlock can be accessible utilizing the entrance digicam, although it’s not as safe because the fingerprint technique.

Digital camera

Pixel telephones are recognized for his or her wonderful digicam efficiency, and the 8a largely delivers right here, although with some caveats in comparison with the costlier fashions.

The principle rear digicam is a 64MP f/1.9 shooter with a 1/1.73″ sensor. That’s a step down in decision and sensor measurement from the 50MP 1/1.31″ sensor within the Pixel 8 and eight Professional. Nonetheless, due to Google’s superior picture processing, the Pixel 8a nonetheless captures wonderful pictures in a wide range of lighting situations. Photographs have nice dynamic vary, correct colors, and loads of element.

Low gentle efficiency can be strong due to Evening Sight, although the smaller sensor means it will probably’t fairly sustain with the Pixel 8 within the darkest situations. The dearth of a devoted telephoto lens additionally means zoom pictures depend on digital crop and gained’t be as sharp because the optical zoom on the 8 Professional.

The ultrawide is a 13MP f/2.2 in comparison with 12MP f/2.2 on the 8 and 48MP f/2.0 on the 8 Professional. Ultrawide pictures from the 8a have good colors and low distortion, however the narrower area of view and decrease decision sensor means much less element captured in comparison with the higher-end fashions.

For selfies, you get a 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide digicam. Selfies are detailed with good pores and skin tones. The ultrawide lens makes it straightforward to suit extra individuals or background into the shot.

Video recording tops out at 4K 60fps from the primary rear digicam and 4K 30fps from the selfie digicam. The footage is stabilised properly, and the audio high quality from the stereo mics is sweet.

Total, the Pixel 8a cameras carry out very properly for the value and are solely bested by costlier flagships. Most customers will probably be greater than happy with the picture and video output.

Pictures Samples

Efficiency and Benchmarks

Powering the Pixel 8a is Google’s Tensor G3 chip, the identical one discovered within the Pixel 8 and eight Professional. This can be a 4nm octa-core SoC with 2 Cortex-X3, 4 Cortex-A715 and 4 Cortex-A510 cores, together with an Immortalis-G715s MC10 GPU.

The Tensor G3 is a reliable chipset with loads of efficiency for all my wants. Though it had loads of efficiency once I benchmarked this on the Pixel 8 Professional again in October 2023, the chipset carried out poorly in comparison with chipsets on different flagship telephones. The general efficiency fell wanting each the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Nonetheless, whenever you take a look at the value level of each the Pixel 8a and Pixel 8, the chipset appears extra spectacular. Benchmarks present it performing higher than the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, which is used on the £350 Redmi Word 13 Professional, however not in addition to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 used on the costlier £600 Honor 200 Professional.

It’s an fascinating technique by Google. Utilizing the identical chipset for all its telephones would appear to point that Google is much less bothered about uncooked efficiency than many different manufacturers. The argument for this is able to be that Google focuses on the general consumer expertise reasonably than simply utilizing the very best {hardware} doable to make the specs look good.

• Antutu (Complete / CPU / GPU / Reminiscence / UX)
  • IQOO 12: 2084308 / 446149 / 906269 / 400131 / 331759
  • Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: 1945797 / 445818 / 817997 / 373210 / 308772
  • Honor Magic6 Professional: 1874472 / 342053 /897742 / 378460 256217
  • Honor 200 Professional: 1131832 / 274520 / 435213 / 209805 / 212294
  • Pixel 8 Professional: 1144447 / 355374 / 381544 / 177818 / 229711
  • Pixel 8a: 1029553/ 301201/ 389963/ 145661/ 192728
  • Redmi Word 13 Professional: 563813 / 180551 / 116119 / 120390 / 146753
• Geekbench
  • IQOO 12: 2250/6909
  • Honor Magic6 Professional: 2220 / 6897
  • Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: 2103/6640
  • Honor 200 Professional: 1926 / 4932
  • Pixel 8 Professional: 1763/4409
  • Pixel 8 Professional: 1549/3637
  • Redmi Word 13 Professional: 1030 / 2984
• 3Dmark
  • Honor Magic6 Professional: 18160 excessive, 11867 low, 65.4% stability, 672mAh/12percentpts
  • IQOO 12: 18346 excessive, 12144 low, 66.2% stability, 700mAh/14percentpts
  • Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely: 17580 excessive, 9828 low, 55.9% stability, 650mAh/13percentpts
  • Honor 200 Professional: 11855 excessive, 8442 low,71.2% stability, 572mAh/11percentpts
  • Pixel 8a: 8453 excessive, 5974 low,70.7% stability, 449mAh/10percentpts
  • Pixel 8 Professional: 8434 excessive, 5599 low, 66.4% stability, 555mAh/11percentpts
  • Redmi Word 13 Professional:

In real-world use, the Pixel 8a feels snappy and responsive. Apps open shortly, the UI is fluid, and demanding video games run easily.

The bottom mannequin comes with 128GB of quick UFS 3.1 storage paired with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM. That is a lot for multitasking and working a number of apps within the background. A 256GB storage choice can be accessible.

5G help is superb with compatibility for each Sub-6 and mmWave networks. Name high quality can be nice and the twin audio system get impressively loud and clear. Nonetheless, there’s no headphone jack so that you’ll want to make use of Bluetooth or USB-C audio.

Battery Life

Contained in the Pixel 8a is a 4492mAh battery, barely smaller than the 4575mAh cell within the Pixel 8. In my testing, the cellphone simply lasted by means of a full day of average to heavy use. Display on time averaged round 7-8 hours, which is strong for this class of machine.

Charging speeds max out at 18W wired and seven.5W wi-fi. That’s slower than the Pixel 8’s 27W wired and 18W wi-fi speeds. A full cost takes slightly over 90 minutes. Whereas not the quickest on the market, it’s nonetheless cheap and helps maintain prices down.

The 7.5W charging can be a bit sluggish, however many telephones at this worth lack it fully and it’s helpful to have for issues just like the automobile, permitting you to maintain your cellphone topped up whereas driving.

Android 14

The Pixel 8a launches with Android 14 and can get 3 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches instantly from Google. Android 14 brings a number of latest options and enhancements like enhanced privateness controls, higher pill optimizations, and smarter residence display screen widgets.

The Pixel-exclusive options are additionally nice. The Recorder app can transcribe audio recordings, and the Private Security app can detect automobile crashes and alert emergency contacts. Stay translation is scarily correct, and the brand new Magic Eraser software in Google Photographs can take away undesirable objects from photos with a faucet.

Google’s tackle Android is clear, intuitive, and freed from duplicate apps and bloatware, which another Android skins have. The Pixel 8a is without doubt one of the greatest methods to expertise the newest Android model and is right for individuals who need quick updates and an extended help lifespan.

Worth and Different Choices

The Pixel 8a has an RRP of £499 and was accessible from the Google retailer for £449 on the time of writing.

The Pixel 8 has an RRP of £699 and was accessible for £549.

The Pixel 8 Professional has an RRP of £999 and was accessible for £699.

These costs had been additionally mirrored on Amazon.

Different telephones I’d think about:

• Motorola Edge50
  • Other than the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, this has a superior spec than the Pixel 8a however lacks long-term help.
• POCO X6 Professional
  • This has a superior chipset, larger battery, sooner charging, however an inferior digicam and a whole lot of bloat with HyperOS
• Xiaomi 13T
  • Identical worth and a superior spec as many of the cellphone, however it’s nearly a 12 months outdated and Xiaomi doesn’t help telephones for so long as Google.
• Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
  • It’s a good specification compared to the Pixel 8a, however it was launched in October 2023.

Total

The Pixel 8a efficiently distils the core Pixel expertise right down to a extra reasonably priced worth. It gives an incredible 120Hz OLED show, snappy efficiency from the Tensor G3, wonderful cameras, and a clear Android 14 construct with quick updates. Battery life is strong, and wi-fi charging is a pleasant bonus.

The plastic construct and slower charging do remind you it is a mid-range cellphone. These wanting the very best cameras and efficiency are nonetheless higher off with the Pixel 8. And a few competing telephones do provide higher specs for the cash, although they sacrifice software program help.

However for the typical consumer who needs a dependable, bloat-free Android cellphone with nice efficiency, cameras and long run help, the Pixel 8a is simple to suggest. It’s not essentially the most thrilling or flashy cellphone, however it nails the basics and is a superb worth.

If you happen to’re a Pixel fan on a funds or are searching for the very best mid-range Android cellphone, the Pixel 8a must be on the prime of your shortlist. Simply remember that the Pixel 9 is probably going coming in just a few months in the event you’re prepared to attend.

I’m James, a UK-based tech fanatic and the Editor and Proprietor of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Obsessed with all issues expertise, my experience spans from computer systems and networking to cell, wearables, and sensible residence gadgets.

As a health fanatic who loves working and biking, I even have a eager curiosity in fitness-related expertise, and I take each alternative to cowl this area of interest on my weblog. My various pursuits permit me to convey a novel perspective to tech running a blog, merging life-style, health, and the newest tech tendencies.

In my tutorial pursuits, I earned a BSc in Data Techniques Design from UCLAN, earlier than advancing my studying with a Grasp’s Diploma in Computing. This superior research additionally included Cisco CCNA accreditation, additional demonstrating my dedication to understanding and staying forward of the expertise curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has constantly ranked Mighty Gadget as one of many prime expertise blogs within the UK. With my dedication to expertise and drive to share my insights, I goal to proceed offering my readers with participating and informative content material.

Final replace on 2024-07-01 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Photographs from Amazon Product Promoting API