Google’s Pixel lineup has long been one of the best ranges of Android phones available. While the top models aren’t cheap, the line is more affordable than many other brands. TheGoogle Pixel 8a, in particular, has caught up to the Pixel 8 this year, but while it may be the better purchase at full price, it’s no easy decision.
Google Pixel 8a
The Google Pixel 8a features the same Tensor G3 chipset as the other Pixel phones, a battery that will easily last you all day, and a great camera. Combine that with smart AI features and seven years of updates, and that’s a bargain considering the price.
Price and Availability
The Google Pixel 8a retails for $499 and is available directly from Google or other retailers. There are four different finish options: Aloe, Bay, Obsidian, and Porcelain. Oddly enough, not everything is the same across color options.
The Pixel 8a’s base model has 128GB of onboard storage. If you want 256GB, you must buy the phone in Obsidian, which costs $559 retail. Since the phone’s launch in May 2024, the Aloe, Bay, and Porcelain models are still only available with 128GB of storage.
It’s worth mentioning that if you’re put off by the price, it may be worth waiting a while. I’ll touch on this later in the review, but both the Pixel 8—the 8a’s older, slightly higher-spec’d sibling—and the Pixel 7a are frequently on sale. I’m not finding many deals at the time of this writing, but they’re likely just around the corner.
Specifications
Familiar Design and a Good Feel
Ireviewed the Google Pixel 8in 2023, and when I pulled it out of the box, it was a fairly familiar sight. It doesn’t look exactly the same, mainly thanks to the different color choices and the size of the bezels around the screen. That said, I was immediately aware that I was looking at a phone from the same series.
The brighter colors that manufacturers tend to favor for more affordable phones over their flagship models somewhat give away the Pixel 8a’s mid-range nature. The use of plastic in the build is also a culprit, but only in that the Pixel 8a doesn’t have the same feeling of heft as the Pixel 8.
On the other hand, the plastic on the back of the phone has a matte texture. This helps it match the metal frame and camera bar better, but it also has a nice feel. You likely won’t think you’re holding the latest flagship phone, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a budget phone.
Perhaps due to the plastic, the Pixel 8a isn’t quite as tough as its siblings. While the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro offer IP68 dust and water resistance, the Pixel 8a is only rated IP67. This means less protection against water specifically, so be aware it’s not as water-resistant as the other models.
Sharp Display With Smooth Motion
Like the 7a, the Pixel 8a has a 6.1-inch display, but this time around, the screen has seen some much-needed upgrades. The phone uses a new display, which features the same 1080 x 2400 resolution but brings 120Hz variable refresh rate support. This provides extra smoothness to motion, which you’ll notice more than any resolution increase if you’re upgrading from an older phone.
This new screen is also brighter than that found on the 7a, with a max average brightness of 1400 nits and a peak of 2000 nits. This is more than enough for indoor use but only seems to be about the bare minimum for using the phone outdoors on a sunny day. While taking photos, I occasionally had trouble seeing what I was capturing.
Much of this is due less to brightness and more to the limited viewing angles, as the Pixel 8 had the same brightness, and I had no issues. The Pixel 8a’s screen seemed more reflective, as even indoors, I noticed quite a bit of glare reflecting off the screen.
I didn’t notice this on the Google Pixel 8, and this could be because that phone uses Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, while the 8a uses Gorilla Glass 3.
Performance On Par With Other Pixels
The Pixel 8a is powered by the same Tensor G3 chipset that powers the other two models in its range, and like the Pixel 8, it features 8GB RAM. This should mean roughly equivalent performance. The phone certainly never felt slow during my testing.
Turning to 3DMark for testing, the phone performed respectably on the Wild Life benchmark, with an average score of 8,500 over multiple runs. The Wild Life Extreme test wasn’t as kind, with an average score of just 2,370 (theSamsung Galaxy S24+scored 4,730 for comparison’s sake), but this isn’t a flagship.
When just using the phone, the performance feels just as snappy as the Pixel 8, and for good reason, considering the hardware. While it may not be a gaming powerhouse, it handled the few games I threw at it without a problem.
That said, like the Pixel 8, I did notice that the 8a would warm up after playing a game like Real Racing 3. It never felt hot enough that it was disconcerting, but I could definitely tell the phone was working. Fortunately, as with the Pixel 8, I never noticed any thermal throttling during my testing.
Great Software That Will (Hopefully) Age Gracefully
Google’s Pixel phones provide the most bloat-free, stock Android experience you’ll find straight out of the box, which is a selling point for many. I found Android 14, which the Pixel 8a ships with, quick and responsive, with subtle animations that make it a joy to use. The keyboard also deserves high marks.
You aren’t stuck with Android 14 either, as in a move similar to Samsung with its flagships, the Pixel 8a offers seven years of support. That includes security updates and Android updates, though it’s likely that the Pixel 8a may not support every new feature that comes to future Android versions.
Of course, the Android version isn’t the star of the software show with the Pixel 8 lineup; it’s the AI features. Circle to Search is probably the most advertised, and it’s impressive how well it works. That said, I never found myself reaching for it unprompted, but instead, I tried it out just for testing purposes.
My time with the Google Pixel 8a came a short while after its release, but that ended up being a good thing, as I was able to try out some of the new Gemini AI features. Initially only available on the Pixel 8 Pro, these features are now coming to the entire line. How useful they are to you at the moment likely depends on how much you currently uselarge language models (LLMs)like ChatGPT or Google Gemini outside your phone.
I’m not much of an LLM user currently, so most of my testing was just that. Even so, moving more AI operations off of Google servers and onto the Tensor G3 directly benefits almost anyone, regardless of how consistent your data connection may be. While it’s still early days for these features, there’s promise, and it seems there is plenty more to come.
Google could have limited AI features on the Pixel 8 and 8a to position the Pixel 8 Pro as more of a premium device. While that was originally the plan, the company changed course, and that is for the better. That also means that as more AI features come to the other Pixel 8 series phones, you can expect to see them in the 8a.
Are You Sure This Camera Is From a Mid-Range Phone?
The camera was one aspect of the Google Pixel 8 that impressed me, so I wanted to see if the Pixel 8a could hold its own. Looking at the specs on paper, the Pixel 8a looks impressive enough. Like the Pixel 8, it has a dual rear camera system with wide and ultrawide lenses.
On paper, it even looks like the Pixel 8a may have some better specs, with a 64MP main sensor to the 50MP option in the Pixel 8. That said, the Pixel 8a’s pixel width isn’t as large, so those extra megapixels aren’t doing you much good. The ultrawide and selfie cameras are 13MP, albeit with different focal lengths.
While the camera hardware may not be the same as that in the Pixel 8, the performance is very similar. After spending time with the Pixel 8a, I’m as impressed with this camera as I was with the camera on the Pixel 8. While the more expensive phone’s camera may capture some extra detail, the 8a remains impressive.
The colors are bright and saturated without being overly so—something that seems easy to encounter in smartphone cameras. As long as you’re shooting without zoom of any kind, images are sharp and crisp. Using the built-in zoom can add anywhere from subtle blurring to noticeable pixelation and is best left untouched.
It seems like Google has put plenty of work into making the camera easy to use without thinking. Especially compared to other phones in its price range, it’s easy to quickly pull the phone out of your pocket and take a quick shot with confidence that it will look good later on.
Google’s AI photo tools have already debuted in other Pixel phones, but seeing them all here is still nice. Magic Eraser and Magic Editor may not always be necessary, but they’re great to have when you need them, as is the Unblur tool.
Good Battery Life, but Charging Is a Letdown
While the battery in the Pixel 8a is technically smaller than that in the Pixel 8, it’s not by a large margin. The Pixel 8a is equipped with a 4,492mAh battery, while the Pixel 8 boasts an ever-so-slightly larger 4,575mAh battery. Given the other hardware similarities, you’d expect the two phones to have largely similar battery life.
Google claims the same “24+ hour battery life” as the other two phones in this range. In my testing, the battery life of the Pixel 8a lined up pretty closely with my experience from testing the Pixel 8. Even when running benchmarks and pushing the hardware, I didn’t notice a sharp decline in battery life.
The differences between the Pixel 8a and the Pixel 8 are immediately apparent when it comes to charging. The Pixel 8a doesn’t charge nearly as quickly, and compared to other modern phones, wired charging feels needlessly slow.
Battery Share, the feature that lets you use your phone as a wireless charger for other devices, is also missing here. That isn’t nearly as big a deal as the lack ofQi2 wireless charging. Granted, this is also missing on the Pixel 8, but it still feels like a missed opportunity.
A Great Phone With Great Competition
If you compare the Pixel 8a to other phones, starting with the Pixel 8 only makes sense. While, yes, the pricier phone does have a few more features, in many cases, they aren’t differentiating enough to make the Pixel 8 worth recommending over the 8a—at least, not when it comes to features alone.
While the retail price of the Pixel 8 is higher than the Pixel 8a, starting at $699, that’s only part of the story. As with many Google phones, the company has sold the Pixel 8 at a significant discount on multiple occasions. If you’re able to buy the Pixel 8 for $549, the Pixel 8a doesn’t look as impressive by comparison.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 FEcosts slightly more, but could be worthwhile if you’re a bigger fan of that company’s software and designs. When the S23 FE is on sale, you can find it for just a little more than the retail price of the Pixel 8a.
Should You Buy the Google Pixel 8a?
Looking at theGoogle Pixel 8aby itself, it’s a great phone. The performance is snappy, battery life is plentiful, and the camera takes photos that you’ll rarely, if ever, find yourself disappointed with. The only problem with the Pixel 8a isn’t even competing with the Pixel 8—it’s competing with the Pixel 8’s price when it’s on sale, which is fairly often.
We’ve already discussed prices and the competition, so let’s examine the areas where the Pixel 8a might let you down. While the battery life is solid, it charges slowly. It also looks like a budget phone, though this is somewhat more the case with the more colorful models. This doesn’t matter to everyone, but it may matter to you.
The bottom line is that the Google Pixel 8a is a great phone for the asking price, but it will be even better if you get a deal on it. Just remember to keep the Pixel 8 in the back of your mind while you’re searching.
