Google Pixel 6a Review: Less is More

Price When Reviewed

$449

Best Prices Today: Google Pixel 6a

Phones aren’t as small as they was once however the Google Pixel 6a is about as compact an Android phone as you’ll get at the moment. This is one of the crucial absolute best issues about it, in conjunction with its superb efficiency, digital camera, and its reasonably priced worth.

The Pixel 6a is Google’s inexpensive model of its October 2021 Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro telephones. The 6a assists in keeping a few of the ones gadgets’ dearer options however ditches others to power the fee proper all the way down to an excessively palatable $449/£399/€459.

A couple of corners were reduce and there are different mid-range telephones in the market that supply upper specifications, however having used the Pixel 6a day by day as my major phone, I believe it’s one of the crucial absolute best telephones you’ll purchase for the cash – and the Pixel most of the people must purchase as a substitute of the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro.

Design & Build

• Two-tone color choices
• Plastic again simply scratches
• Solid top class really feel
• IP67

If you don’t just like the glance of the unique Pixel 6 then you’re out of good fortune with the 6a, which looks as if any individual clicked and dragged the highest nook of it down in Photoshop and reduced in size the entire thing a little bit.

If it’s the smallest phone to be had that you wish to have, the 6a isn’t it. At 152.2mm (to be actual) it’s taller than the 138.4mm iPhone SE 2022 and the 131.5mm iPhone 13 mini.

The 6a is nonetheless a big phone, it’s simply now not as massive as maximum different slab smartphones in the market, particularly the big Pixel 6 Pro. Its angular and boxy design nonetheless feels just right to carry because of rounded aluminium edges, however I nonetheless can’t succeed in the highest of the display screen with a thumb when the usage of one-handed (I do have relatively small fingers, however nonetheless).

The display screen is flat reasonably than curve edged, and my black evaluation unit is in large part unremarkable save for that digital camera ‘bar’ design at the again identical to the Pixel 6 and six Pro. It protrudes a lot lower than its larger brothers, which is a aid.

The distinction at the 6a is the 2 digital camera sensors are housed in a small pill-shaped blob at the left of the black bar that’s camouflaged through additionally being black, with a round flash at the proper. On the opposite Pixel 6 fashions, the lenses are unfold out around the period of the bar.

You can select from 3 color choices that experience two-tone designs with the small strip above the digital camera a unique color to the bigger phase beneath. I reviewed the charcoal color which is darkish gray at the backside and lighter gray at the most sensible.

A large problem to the 6a is the sturdiness of the rear panel, which is made from a composite plastic reasonably than sturdy glass. My charcoal unit picked up a huge collection of scratches after lower than per week. Two weeks in and the article seemed extra battered than telephones I’ve had for over a yr, and I’m particularly cautious with my telephones. I consider the golf green (Google calls it sage) color will even display scratches, however possibly the white (chalk) would cover them higher. The white would additionally higher cover fingerprints and smears, which the charcoal does now not.

I wasn’t despatched a case, so I used the phone with out one in London and on vacation in another country. Google says there’s Gorilla Glass 3 at the show and this were given no scratches, however the again seems a bit of of a large number. It’s additionally very exhausting to {photograph} this to turn you:

The phone scratching simply is a minor niggle with what is differently an excessively well-built phone that feels extra top class than it prices and packs in IP67 mud and water resistance.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.1in AMOLED
• Only 60Hz refresh fee
• Excellent color and brightness
• Stereo audio system

The display screen is a 6.1in AMOLED, striking this phone within the ‘small’ phone camp – now not in fact small like telephones was once, however extra compact than most current Android slabs.

That display screen sadly simplest has a 60Hz refresh fee. Other telephones at this worth have upper refresh charges that make content material scroll smoother, such because the £399 Nothing Phone (1) with 120Hz and the £369 OnePlus Nord 2T with 90Hz. Google may just indubitably have stretched to this however most definitely needs to upsell patrons after this type of characteristic to its 90Hz-toting Pixel 6.

Thankfully the show of the 6a is superb with excellent brightness, with issues simplest exhausting to peer within the cruelest direct daylight. I overlooked a better refresh fee to start with, however I quickly forgot that it was once a 60Hz display screen. It’s an excellent panel with superb color replica and sharpness that’s miles higher than the 720p show at the $429/£419/€529 iPhone SE 2022.

There’s a black bezel all of the means across the flat panel with a marginally extra to the chin than the highest of the phone, and a selfie cut-out digital camera within the centre on the most sensible of the display screen.

The stereo audio system can play audio at a good readability and quantity and are just right sufficient for podcasts within the kitchen or making video calls.

Specs & Performance

• Same Tensor chip as Pixel 6
• Superbly speedy
• 6GB/128GB simplest

Where the Pixel 6a shine is in efficiency. That’s as a result of Google determined to cram its Tensor processor into it, the similar chip used within the Pixel 6 and six Pro.

Paired with 6GB RAM, the 6a completely flies thru the whole lot and is a mid-range phone with authentic flagship efficiency. It’s the primary time Google has opted to place the chip from its major telephones into its A chain style the similar era, and it’s well worth the trade-off somewhere else, reminiscent of within the 60Hz display screen.

There’s just one style to be had with 6GB RAM and 128GB garage. This is masses sufficient for my utilization however there’s no microSD slot for expandable garage must you ever fill it up. As with each different Pixel, this is additionally just a unmarried SIM phone, which is a problem – such a lot of Android telephones have twin SIM slots and so must Pixels. That stated, there is an possibility so as to add a 2nd line as an eSIM, which is midway there when you do need or want two numbers.

We generally run benchmark exams on all telephones we evaluation at Tech Advisor the usage of apps reminiscent of Geekbench 5, however the Pixel 6a unit I gained would now not obtain them. In the Play Store, they confirmed as now not appropriate.

Google advised me it had blocked benchmarking apps at the evaluation devices forward of release “to steer clear of benchmark and instrument spec leaks”. A spokesperson stated I used to be unfastened to sideload the apps as a substitute, which I did for Geekbench 5 and GFXBench, which measure CPU and normal efficiency respectively. The beneath chart displays how the Pixel 6a stacks up towards telephones of a identical worth.

A beautiful improve from the Pixel 6 and six Pro is the in-screen fingerprint sensor, which I discovered to be way more responsive. It works each time with out fail, and I didn’t need to retrain it with my thumbprint in any respect.

Battery Life & Charging

• Charges scorching
• Limited to 18W
• No wi-fi charging

The Pixel 6a has superb battery lifestyles however fees relatively slowly at a most of 18W. I say most as a result of there’s no charger within the field, just a USB-C to C cable, so that you’ll have to shop for a charging brick with a USB-C output, or use every other charger (there’s no wi-fi charging). The Pixel 6 and six Pro additionally send with out chargers however have a most pace of 30W. From empty, the 6a fees to 22% in quarter-hour, 42% in half-hour, and to 100% in a single hour and 50 mins.

The OnePlus Nord 2T is inexpensive than the Pixel 6a however comes with an 80W charger within the field that fees to 100% in half-hour, which makes Google glance stingy on each integrated equipment and pace.

I juiced the 6a with more than a few chargers and located it constantly fees relatively scorching. I don’t know if this is as a result of one of the vital chargers may just output greater than 18W, but if a phone ships and not using a charger and with out a instruction within the field or within the phone’s tool about what sort of cable or brick to make use of, this is the revel in most of the people gets after they take hold of the closest (or most cost-effective) charger.

A phone shouldn’t be this scorching when charging. Over time such warmth may just result in battery degradation, however this is unattainable to inform at the moment. At the instant, the 6a has cast, all-day battery lifestyles. Even roaming in another country on 4G all day whilst taking heaps of footage by no means noticed me dip beneath 20%.

Cameras & Video

• 12.2Mp major digital camera
• 12Mp ultrawide
• Superb stills processing

While Google gave the Pixel 6a the Tensor chip from its top class telephones, the similar can’t be stated of the digital camera. In reality, it’s the primary time an A-series Pixel is now not getting the similar major sensor because the corresponding common Pixels, and that is a disgrace – the 50Mp sensor at the Pixel 6 is exceptional.

Instead, the 6a has a 12.2Mp f/1.7 Sony IMX363 sensor with optical symbol stabilisation. This is the similar sensor Google used from the Pixel 3 to Pixel 5 generation.

I in my view would have reasonably had the more recent 50Mp lens and a lower-powered processor, however Google has modified its method. The just right information is the primary digital camera at the 6a is nonetheless phenomenally just right – it simply isn’t relatively as just right because the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro within the element it could seize, however Google’s post-processing in tool is so just right, that variations are slightly noticeable.

In much more just right information, the ultrawide 12Mp f/2.2 Sony IMX386 lens is the similar one used within the pricier 6 fashions.

As anticipated, nonetheless footage are most sensible drawer and simply compete with telephones 3 or 4 instances the fee. I in comparison a number of identical photographs I took on vacation with the ones taken on my spouse’s iPhone 13, and I constantly most well-liked the sunlight photographs of the Pixel. They game the contrasty processing Pixels are recognized for the place the iPhone has leant extra just lately into herbal sun shades, every so often to a fault.

In low mild, the iPhone was once a lot better than the Pixel, higher at dealing with tricky sundown scenes and rendering element higher. The Pixel’s Night Sight for pitch black footage is nonetheless just right, however it’s a couple of generations in the back of the iPhone now, specifically at the 6a with the older major sensor.

But the iPhone 13 prices much more than the Pixel 6a. I’d thankfully use the 6a as my simplest digital camera on a daily foundation – it’s that just right. Add to that the very succesful ultrawide that doesn’t fish-eye scenes like inexpensive telephones do, and it’s an excessively succesful setup for a mid-range smartphone (miles higher than the iPhone SE 2022).

There’s no zoom lens, so you must depend on virtual zoom from the primary sensor however that’s same old for mid-range telephones. Google’s Super Res Zoom characteristic can zoom in as much as 7x, however effects are relatively blotchy and grainy on inspection as all virtual zoom has a tendency to be, however the 2x zoom is cast and satisfactory for social media photographs.

The 8Mp f/2.0 selfie digital camera has a good 84 stage box of view and takes cast selfies, although the portrait mode struggles to select up strands of hair and doesn’t appear to be as in line with effects because it is from the primary rear digital camera.

Aside from fundamental nonetheless picture taking pictures (which, let’s face it, is 99% of all cell images for 99% of folks) the 6a additionally has each unmarried digital camera tool characteristic from the Pixel 6 apart from for the lengthy publicity movement mode.      

Magic Eraser can cleverly erase folks or issues from footage even though it does require a little bit persistence as every so often it will get it flawed. It’s absolute best to have a simple background or the smarts get at a loss for words and blur the flawed colors in combination, however it’s nonetheless spectacular at the entire.

A brand new characteristic is Camouflage, which reasonably than deleting issues from photographs as a substitute adjustments their color to higher mix right into a scene. Big orange seashore ball distracting from smiling faces at the seashore? Turn it the color of sand. It’s a rather bizarre characteristic however it does paintings properly.

Built in too are excellent options like Face Deblur, which does precisely what it says rather well. The digital camera works through taking a number of photographs each side of while you in fact faucet the shutter button. If your topic strikes their head a little bit leading to blur, the phone can inform this and mechanically makes use of all of the symbol knowledge to right kind it.

This is additionally a part of the characteristic Top Shot, which information a brief video to head in conjunction with your symbol if the phone reckons it’s value it, autoplaying of which may also be toggled off within the Photos app when taking a look thru footage.

Real Tone is additionally an excellent characteristic that higher reproduces pores and skin tones correctly because of Google’s paintings to track its processing algorithms. Other telephones overprocess some pores and skin tones inaccurately, so the Pixel is a good selection on this regard.

Throw in 4K video recording at 60fps and it’s a well-featured digital camera app. There’s even a speech enhancement mode that isolates vocal audio and cuts out background noise, although simplest works at the selfie digital camera, so it’s a to hand characteristic in case you are recording a video message for any individual along side a highway. Or one thing.

Software & Updates

• Clean Android 12
• Three years of Android updates
• Five years of safety updates

Google gives 5 years of safety updates for the phone, so its ultimate replace will land in July 2027 in idea. There’s simplest 3 years of Android platform updates although, so the 6a will simplest get the ones till July 2025 – most probably Android 15, because the 6a is launching with Android 12, now not Android 13.

You gets new variations of Android sooner than third-party producers although.

Android 12 is a pleasure to make use of. It seems nice and plays simply in addition to on a Pixel 6 Pro – no imply feat. The integrated new ‘Nature swept’ wallpapers are proper up my side road (see one in motion beneath), and the color picker that takes 4 colors from no matter wallpaper you may have and allows you to make a selection it because the icon and accessory color for the entire OS is very good.

It’s rolling out to extra Google apps like Gmail too, so there’s an actual solidarity to the entire aesthetic. I favor operating the phone in darkish mode.

The at all times on show is my favorite of any phone, with simplicity the most productive factor about it. It displays time, date, and climate, with complete notification banners when you so select too. There’s additionally the superb Now Playing characteristic that cleverly listens to no matter song is taking part in and shows the monitor and artist, all from an offline database saved at the phone. You can faucet the tune and get started streaming it from a number of streaming products and services, now not simply Google’s personal YouTube Music.

Google’s voice-to-text smarts and the Live Transcribe characteristic in its Recorder app are provide and superb in a space Google trumps Apple, which is taking part in meet up with its dictation characteristic in iOS 16.

Price & Availability

The Pixel 6a prices $449/£399/€459 and is to be had to pre-order from Google in the United States, UK, and Europe. Pre-orders made sooner than the phone is going on normal sale on 28 July additionally get you a unfastened pair of Pixel Buds A-series value $99/£99/€99.

It’s additionally on sale unlocked in the United States now at Best Buy and Amazon.

In the United Kingdom you’ll select it up from Amazon, Carphone Warehouse, Mobiles.co.uk, EE, and John Lewis with maximum doing the similar Pixel Buds deal.

The 6a prices the similar because the 2021 $449 Pixel 5a that was once simplest to be had in the United States and Japan, however greater than the $349/£349/€349 Pixel 4a from 2020.

I like to recommend it over the $429/£419/€529 iPhone SE 2022, which trumps the 6a with wi-fi charging and tool OS replace improve however that’s about it. Everything in regards to the Pixel is higher – display screen, digital camera, design.

Samsung’s Galaxy A53 5G is £399/$449/€449 however has horrible efficiency, whilst the £399/€469 Nothing Phone (1) has exceptional design however show problems and an inferior digital camera to the Pixel. It’s a crowded worth bracket, however the Pixel comes out on most sensible.

Check out your entire choices in our absolute best mid-range telephones chart.

Verdict

Despite the upper worth than earlier A-series Pixels, you’re simplest paying rather extra for the Pixel 6a, a very good mid-range phone with a flagship-level processor, in point of fact exceptional major digital camera, 5G, the newest model of Android, 5 years of safety improve, and a extra pocket-friendly design.

Downsides are the gradual charging speeds on a phone that fees scorching, the simply scratched rear plastic subject material, and the 60Hz show lagging in the back of in a similar fashion priced telephones. Yet, this is a Pixel, because of this it has a superlative Android revel in and digital camera with a tool polish and top class {hardware} really feel you gained’t to find on different manufacturers on this worth differ.

Specs

• Android 12
• 6.1in 60Hz gOLED show
• Google Tensor chip
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB garage
• Rear cameras:
  • 12Mp IMX363 major lens with OIS
  • 12Mp IMX386 ultrawide lens
• 8Mp IMX355 selfie digital camera
• 4400mAh battery
• 18W stressed charging
• 5G
• Stereo audio system
• Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.2
• NFC
• IP67
• Gorilla Glass 3 show
• 71.8 x 152.16 x 8.85mm
• 178g