Small, mighty and cheaper too

I’m starting to think the ‘A’ in Google’s Pixel A-series phones stands for ‘assassin’ because every time Google launches one, it absolutely kills the company’s baseline flagship. The Pixel 6a was just a cheaper, smaller Pixel 6, and the Pixel 7a totally usurped the Pixel 7.

And now, the Pixel 8a has come for the Pixel 8.

I’ve alternated between the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro a few times since they launched and have plenty of experience with both phones. But after a few days with the Pixel 8a, I struggled to come up with reasons to return to the 8 or 8 Pro. It isn’t that the Pixel 8a is a better phone – it arguably isn’t – but it does enough right that using it doesn’t feel like I’m missing out on a better experience. And the few gripes I did have are easily offset by the savings.

Despite the Pixel 8a getting an $80 price bump in Canada this year ($679 to the Pixel 7a’s $599), the 8a remains significantly cheaper than the $949 Pixel 8. That’s a difference of $270, which is more than the difference between the Pixel 7 and 7a. The Pixel 8 Pro clocks in at an even higher $1,349, though arguably it’s not as comparable to the 8a as the Pixel 8. And this doesn’t even count the $140 in Google Store credit you can get by purchasing the Pixel 8a before May 19th.

That leaves me with one big question: is the Pixel 8 really worth $270 more than the Pixel 8a? The answer, unsurprisingly, is no.

Specs

Feels great in my hand

Phones with plastic backs get a bad rap because the material often makes handsets feel very cheap. Not so with the Pixel 8a, which doesn’t really feel like plastic. Google says the back panel is made of 76 percent recycled plastic, but it has this matte, almost soft-touch finish that feels surprisingly premium. I prefer it to glossy materials, like the plastic back of the Pixel 7a or even the glass back of the Pixel 8. While the Pixel 8a doesn’t feel as premium as the soft-touch glass back of the Pixel 8 Pro, it feels good enough that I’d happily use the 8a. My one gripe about the back panel on the 8a is that you can feel slight flexing if you press in the centre of the back panel, but it’s not super noticeable and wasn’t something I experienced in regular use.

The Pixel 8a’s “satin aluminum frame” also feels great, and I’d say it is on par with the frame of the Pixel 8. Speaking of the Pixel 8, the 8a is almost the exact same size. That’s great for me because the Pixel 8 felt fantastically small while still offering a larger 6.2-inch display. The 8a’s screen is a little smaller at 6.1-inches, and it has larger bezels that look less premium beside the Pixel 8. But I found the bezels weren’t that noticeable unless I was directly comparing the handsets. If it were my money, I couldn’t justify spending almost $300 more for a phone that has ever so slightly smaller bezels.

Pixel 7a display (left) and Pixel 8a display (right).

Moreover, the Pixel 8a sports rounder corners that contribute to the great hand feel. I love the big, clicky power and volume buttons too. Overall, the design of the Pixel 8a is great, especially for a more affordable phone like this. As someone who prefers not to use a case, I actually found the Pixel 8a preferable to the slippery Pixel 8 and the too-big-for-my-hands Pixel 8 Pro.

Really, the only thing I’d say could use significant improvement is the haptics, which feel abrasive compared to the more subtle bumps and nudges of the Pixel 8.

Runs like Tensor G3

On the performance side, the Pixel 8a is also decent, but nothing to get excited about. It’s got a Tensor G3 chip that’s mostly the same as the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. The main difference is the chip in the 8a uses a slightly different, cheaper packaging, similar to how the Pixel 7a’s Tensor G2 was slightly different from the G2 in the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. It shouldn’t have a huge impact on performance, though it could affect the Pixel 8a’s thermals. I found the Pixel 7a ran very warm in my testing, but so far, the Pixel 8a has been significantly better, though it still gets a bit warm after heavy use.

In classic Pixel fashion, I couldn’t download Geekbench 6 from the Play Store – Google has a history of blocking benchmarking apps on Pixel devices, with the company claiming it does so to avoid leaks. Instead, I sideloaded the Geekbench 6 APK and ran it that way, with the Pixel 8a posting the following scores: 1,640 single-core and 4,193 multi-core.

Those scores put the Pixel 8a ever so slightly below the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, but not enough to warrant any real complaint. Tensor G3 still lags most of the competition in performance, but that delta becomes more of a problem with the flagship Pixels that are trying to compete with flagship Samsungs and iPhones.

Benchmarks aren’t everything, of course. In my day-to-day usage, which involved chatting with friends and coworkers across various messaging platforms, streaming music and podcasts, taking pictures to test the camera, playing games like Diablo: Immortal and browsing the web and social media, the Pixel 8a held up well. Gaming was definitely the phone’s weak link, but then Immortal doesn’t exactly run great on the Pixel 8 or 8 Pro either. Less graphically intense games will likely perform better. Realistically, if mobile gaming is your top priority, the Pixel line is not for you.

The real benefit of Tensor is the various smart machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities the chip enables. The Pixel 8a sports almost all of the smart features available on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, and while I didn’t try all of them, the ones I did use worked just as well.

I also found the Pixel 8a’s battery life was much better than the Pixel 7a, though it isn’t a battery champion by any means. The Pixel 8a easily got me through the day, even on heavier usage days, like when I commute into the MobileSyrup office and tether my laptop to my phone so I can work on the train. On the heaviest usage days, I’d plug in when I went to bed with 20-30 percent charge left. The phone wasn’t ever able to last me more than a day, even after lighter use.

Competent camera

There’s not much to say about the Pixel 8a’s camera that hasn’t already been said. On the hardware side, the Pixel 8a’s cameras are the same as the Pixel 7a’s cameras, which is fine because the Pixel 7a took pretty good pictures. On the software side, all the new stuff Google highlighted are AI and ML features that debuted on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.

For example, the Pixel 8a supports Best Take, which uses AI to swap faces in group photos so you can actually get a shot where everyone’s looking at the camera and smiling, Magic Editor, and improved Magic Eraser, along with other staples like Photo Unblur, Super Res Zoom, Night Sight and Real Tone on Video. Speaking of video, the Pixel 8a also supports Audio Magic Eraser for reducing distracting sounds like wind in videos.

If you’re curious about how these features work, I recommend checking out the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro reviews, where we go over them more in-depth. Nothing has really changed with these features on the Pixel 8a, so there’s nothing to say beyond that they’re on the phone, which is great if you want them. I don’t really care for them – Best Take and Magic Editor didn’t impress me on the Pixel 8 and they remain unused on my Pixel 8a.

The camera hardware is perhaps the biggest differentiator between the Pixel 8a and Pixel 8. On paper, the Pixel 8’s hardware is better, and the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera setup is definitely the best. But Google’s camera software does so much work behind the scenes that, in most snaps, the Pixel 8a put out comparable results.

That being said, the Pixel 8a wasn’t perfect. I noticed in a lot of my camera tests that the Pixel 8a struggled more in sub-optimal lighting than the Pixel 8. When the light wasn’t great, the 8a shots were often noisier and sometimes lost a lot of detail. Generally, the Pixel 8’s shots were sharper, especially in sub-optimal conditions.

If having the best camera hardware is important to you, it might be worth spending more for the Pixel 8. But then, why stop there? Go for the 8 Pro, which is even better with a telephoto lens and extra features like pro controls. The 8 Pro is better for video, too.

For the way that I use my phone and take photos with it – which is almost entirely just snapping pictures of my daughter doing cute stuff – the Pixel 8a is great. It was rare that I came away disappointed with a picture it took.

Everything else

Outside of the camera, the Pixel 8a sports AI features like support for Gemini and Circle to Search. Again, there’s nothing really new here – it’s just more Pixel 8/8 Pro features coming down the budget Pixel.

More notable is Google’s software promise. Like the other Pixel 8 devices, the 8a will get seven years of software support, including OS upgrades, security updates, and feature drops. It remains to be seen if Google can keep its seven-year promise. Still, it’s a notable benefit, especially for someone who plans to keep their phone for a long time. There aren’t many devices in this price range that will still get updates in 2031.