 "Google Pixel 8a Long-term Review: An excellent midrange phone under Rs 35,000")
Pros:
- Looks premium despite the plastic back
- Compact design with IP67 ingress protection
- Excellent main camera, good ultra-wide and selfie cameras
- Sharp and vibrant 120 Hz OLED display
- Smooth and clean Android experience
- 7 years of software updates promised
- Good overall performance for the segment
Cons:
- Very slow charging; no bundled charger
- Unnecessarily thick bezels around the display
Price: Rs 34,999 onwards
Rating: 4/5
A Pixel smartphone with an ‘a’ suffix after the number was always meant to be a relatively affordable option from Google. I say relative because the company almost always gets the pricing wrong at launch, and it was no different with the Google Pixel 8a either. The ‘a’ suffix also gives the company the licence to cut corners in order to keep the price down. We have been keenly following the last three generations of Pixel phones launched in India, and I can safely say that fewer corners were being cut with every passing generation.
Going by that logic, the Pixel 8a gets a lot of bells and whistles of the Pixel 8, barring a couple, which makes it a highly lucrative option. But let’s not forget that the ‘a’ phones are typically launched six to seven months after the main series, when the higher variant also sees a price drop, and the previous generation Pixel phones can be spotted for even more attractive prices. So in order to give the Pixel 8a a fair run, we waited a little extra for the prices to normalise and a few updates to arrive to polish off its rough edges.
Before we tell you what’s good about the phone and what’s not, let’s compare the Pixel 8a to the Pixel 8 as well as its predecessor to give you a quick idea about where this phone truly fits into the Google portfolio. By the time you read this, the Pixel 9 series will already be out, but that should have no bearing on this Google Pixel 8a long-term review.
Google Pixel 8a vs Google Pixel 8: What corners did they cut?
The good news is - not many; in fact, very few that matter. Couple of things of note would be the absence of auto-focus on the ultra-wide camera of the Pixel 8a and even slower charging. The former may seem like a trivial thing but it takes away the macro capabilities of the phone. So you cannot get too close to the subject you are looking to capture. As for the latter, the charging speed of the Pixel 8 wasn’t great to begin with and it is even slower here. We will discuss it at length in a bit.
As for aesthetics, the glass back on the 8 is replaced by a plastic one on the 8a, like all other Pixel ‘a’ phones. It actually may not be a bad thing if you are prone to dropping the phone often, and a non-issue if you use a case anyway. The good part is most of the key features of the Pixel 8 from the processing hardware to display quality to battery life to camera quality have been retained on the Pixel 8a making it a solid midrange device.
Impact Shorts
View AllGoogle Pixel 8a vs Google Pixel 7/7a: What’s new?
For starters, the Pixel 8a gets the newer and more powerful Google Tensor G3 chip with one extra core and enhanced AI capabilities. The display is much brighter and now offers a proper 120 Hz refresh rate as opposed to 90 Hz earlier. The camera department has pretty much been copy-pasted from the Pixel 7a, and the enhancements are largely software-based. The battery capacity sees a tiny jump of 107 mAh but the battery life seems better on the 8a.
One of the biggest gains is the massive commitment on the software updates front. While you still get the purest form of Android on all the Pixel phones, the Pixel 8a will receive far more updates than the Pixel 7 or 7a. While one can safely expect at least 3 major Android updates on the Pixel 7 series since launch, Google has promised a whopping 7 years of OS and security updates for the Pixel 8a and other phones in the Pixel 8 series. That will keep the phone relevant and secure for a lot longer.
Time to get to know the Google Pixel 8a a little better.
What we liked about the Google Pixel 8a
The design feels premium despite being a budget phone
The Google Pixel 8a is a good looking phone, and probably looks a tad better than the Pixel 8 too, thanks to its matte-finish back (even though it’s plastic) and shallower camera band. The camera band at the back of Pixel phones has been a signature design element but has often polarised opinions. The one on the Pixel 8a protrudes a lot less as compared to the 8 or 8 Pro and feels a lot less obtrusive. The aluminium frame adds to the sturdiness as well as premiumness, and this compact phone with IP67 ingress protection feels great in hand.
Sharp and fairly colour-accurate 120 Hz OLED display
Yes, Google has graced this phone with a 120 Hz display too. Though the refresh rate isn’t as dynamic (one that adjusts to different apps or content being displayed on the screen) as on several phones in this segment, 120 Hz is a welcome change. And that’s not all, the OLED screen is bright (2000 nits peak) and well calibrated for colour accuracy. Barring the usual two modes - Adaptive and Natural, you don’t get many screen adjustments here, but most users won’t need them.
The screen is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3; well, not exactly Victus but something is a lot better than nothing. The placement of the in-display optical fingerprint scanner is spot on as you don’t need to stretch your thumb to reach it, and it is responsive too. One thing we did not like are the thick bezels around the screen, which we will talk about later.
Camera performance that transcends the segment
Just like the Google Pixel 7a, this phone too has a 64MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and a 13MP ultra-wide camera with fixed focus and 120 degrees FOV. You get a 13MP ultra-wide selfie camera too that does a good job with its broad FOV and accurate skin tones. Interestingly, the megapixel numbers for each camera are higher than that of the Pixel 8’s. But past experience has taught us that the number of pixels do not necessarily translate into better image quality. Having said that, the photography department on the Pixel 8a delivers impressive results.
The main camera captures some excellent shots in bright conditions as well as low light with fairly accurate colours, ample detail and excellent dynamic range. The contrast is quite impressive too; it is a Pixel phone afterall. When the light drops below a point, the phone automatically switches to Night Sight mode that brightens up the image just enough without going overboard or compromising on the detail. You can switch to it manually too. The Pixel 8a’s low light performance is among the best in this segment.
There is no dedicated telephoto camera here but the camera app does give you a 2X zoom toggle, which is pretty much hybrid/digital. While the captured images aren’t lossless, the 2X zoomed shots come out pretty good and are perfectly usable even in low light. You can keep zooming in till 8X, but you start losing detail fast beyond 5X.
The 13MP ultra-wide camera does a pretty good job and the results are as impressive as that of the main camera in good light. While it is more than decent in low light too, it would be best to stick to the main camera. Void of autofocus, one cannot use it as a macro camera like the one on the Pixel 8. Having said that, while you cannot capture images from too close, shooting from a little further away and cropping the image does yield good results.
All cameras can record videos at 4K resolution, however, the main camera can do so at 60 fps while the other two are limited to 30 fps. You get OIS in videos when using the main camera and the captured footage is crisp and well-stabilised. You can record 1080p slow-motion videos at up to 240 fps. The overall camera performance is quite impressive, and given that the phone now retails at 35K, one can safely term it as arguably the best in this price range.
You can check some of the unedited camera samples shot on the Google Pixel 8a here.
The Tensor G3 chip is a great option in this budget
The Pixel 8a is powered by the same Google Tensor G3 chip found in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. While it doesn’t have the muscle power of competing Qualcomm chips like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or even Gen 2, and also throttles under load, it is an excellent option for a phone priced under Rs 40,000. And let’s not forget its AI capabilities that might just get better with time.
Coupled with 8 GB RAM and either 128 GB or 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage, it delivers a robust performance in day-to-day activities as well as demanding tasks like photo editing or gaming. You can play most of the current games on it but may have to lower the graphics settings in some cases for better frame rates.
Fluid Android experience, 7 years of major updates
You get the cleanest and the best Android UI on this phone. You get the pure Android experience without any bloatware or ads and with the Material You design language. The user interface is fluid, totally lag free and now void of any major bugs on Android 14. The Android 15 update for the Pixel 8a is expected any day now. Speaking of updates, Google has promised 7 years of OS and security updates for this phone, which is a huge plus as it will keep the phone secure and relevant for a long time.
You get a bunch of useful AI tools on this phone to play around with, along with the popular Google apps and services that are seamlessly integrated and camera tricks like Magic Eraser and Camouflage to edit or enhance your images. We don’t expect full blown Gemini integration on this phone as on the Pixel 9 series, but won’t be surprised to see some more AI goodness trickling down here over time.
What we did not like about the Google Pixel 8a
Horribly slow charging speed for 2024
If you have read any of our Pixel phone reviews, one constant criticism has been of the charging speeds. While the other Pixel 8 phones have taken a baby step forward in this department, the 8a has taken two giant ones backwards. To compare, the Pixel 8 takes about 88 minutes to charge from 1 to 100%. The Pixel 8a gets there in well over two hours, despite having a slightly lower capacity battery, and even when using some of the fastest USB-PD chargers available. The main culprit being the drop of support for 27W fast charging in favour of much slower 18W.
This wasn’t exactly a corner available to be cut in the first place to create a differentiator between the two phones. To put things into perspective, a lot of phones these days manage to charge their higher capacity batteries fully in about 45 minutes or less. An hour would be acceptable too. Over two hours makes the Pixel 8a one of the slowest charging phones around. However, the battery life is fine with the Pixel 8a lasting a shade over a full day of moderate use. It supports wireless charging too.
Hard to unsee the thick bezels around the display
While one can live with them, it seems like a deliberate ploy from the designers to make the Pixel 8a look inferior to the Pixel 8. Let’s make the bezels a lot thicker even if we don’t need to as the rest of the phone looks as good. Who would shell out a premium otherwise for the 8, right? Yes, the bezels around the screen are a bit too prominent for our liking and not just the one below. Several more affordable phones from a year ago have leaner bezels than that, and Google could have easily done a better job if they wanted to.
Google Pixel 8a: Price and verdict
The Google Pixel 8a debuted at Rs 52,999 in India for the 128 GB variant, and like most Pixel phones at launch, it wasn’t the most lucrative deal. Just months later, it can now be purchased for Rs 34,999, which is a great price for what it offers. In addition to an impressive camera performance for the segment, you get powerful processing hardware in the Tensor G3, the most fluid and clean Android experience around and 7 years of updates to follow. All this makes the Pixel 8a a compelling buy at its current price if fast charging is not a requirement.
Pro tip: In case you are looking for a phone with 256 GB storage, do not buy the Pixel 8a for Rs 41,999. For just Rs 3,000 more (Rs 44,999 currently on Flipkart), you can get the 256 GB variant of the Pixel 8 with more versatile cameras, slimmer bezels and faster charging.
 "Zelenskyy calls Alaska summit ‘personal victory’ for Putin, says it delays sanctions, ends Russian leader's isolation")
 "National Guard moves into DC as Trump’s law-and-order push sparks backlash from mayors")
 "Perplexity offers $34.5bn for Google’s Chrome in bid to challenge search dominance")
 "Foreign ministers of 25 countries urge Israel to let aid into Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens")
 "Zelenskyy calls Alaska summit ‘personal victory’ for Putin, says it delays sanctions, ends Russian leader's isolation")
 "National Guard moves into DC as Trump’s law-and-order push sparks backlash from mayors")
 "Perplexity offers $34.5bn for Google’s Chrome in bid to challenge search dominance")
 "Foreign ministers of 25 countries urge Israel to let aid into Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens")
