Serious Bang For Your Buck – Review Geek

With the Pixel 6a, we’re getting the same overall look, feel, and design as the flagship Pixel 6 series. Meaning Google delivered the same minimal yet modern style with the huge camera visor on the back. At first, I didn’t like the camera bar look, but it allows the phone to lay flat on a table without wobbling, which is a big plus. It’s almost flat and not nearly as pronounced as the Pixel 6.

The thought behind the “A” series is delivering the basics of a phone at an affordable price tag while keeping the Pixel experience. A watered-down Pixel, if you will. In that sense, the Pixel 6a is perfect.

You’ll still enjoy the same overall style, but Google made a few adjustments to keep the price down. This phone has a plastic back, not glass, but you wouldn’t notice just by looking at it. And while that’s a downgrade for some, it means you won’t have to worry about cracking the back glass.

Taking a look around the phone, you’ll find a USB-C port and dual speaker ports on the bottom, but only one is an actual speaker. On the right side of the Pixel 6a, we’re getting the power button and volume rockers, while the left side houses the SIM slot. It’s a clean, slim, and minimal look, but we do have antenna lines on both sides of the otherwise aluminum housing and a pinhole microphone at the top. The fingerprint sensor is inside the screen, and so far, it’s arguably better than the Pixel 6, but more on that below.

Just like the bigger Pixel 6 series, this is a slippery phone. That’s ok, though, because most people use a case anyway. The smaller 6.1-inch screen is not massive, so whether you use a case or not, it’ll be easy to hold and operate one-handed.

My only real complaint regarding the design is sometimes you can feel where the aluminum sides meet the plastic back, which is bothersome. It’s not a sharp edge, but it’s noticeable enough that I feel it whenever I use the Pixel 6a without a case.

That said, the hardware, design, and build quality are all pretty great at this price point.

One of the biggest differences between the Pixel 6 and the new Pixel 6a is the display. Google gave the Pixel 6a a smaller 6.1-inch FHD+ screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. The bezels around the screen are relatively large, colors are vivid, but the brightness could undoubtedly be better. As for protection, this screen has Gorilla Glass 3 to prevent scratches and damage, compared to the durable Victus glass on the Pixel 6.

The Pixel 6 packs a 6.4-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. And the Pixel 6 Pro is even bigger and sports a 120Hz screen. If those are too big, the Pixel 6a will be refreshingly compact. And while it makes sense that Google’s affordable phone drops things down a notch when it comes to size and specs, we’ve seen high refresh rate displays in several midrange devices.

Going from a 120Hz display on my daily phone to the Pixel 6a made the refresh rate highly noticeable. If you’ve never owned a 90 or 120Hz phone, this won’t matter, but it’s still a bummer.

Google went with a flat display on the Pixel 6a, and I prefer it over the curved glass on many other phones. The look and feel are great, especially while using Android 12’s gesture navigation controls.

Like previous phones from Google, the Pixel 6a has a warmer natural look, rather than the oversaturated colors you’ll find on something from Samsung. The colors are nice and vibrant, the blacks look great, and my only real complaint is the brightness, which is a reoccurring problem. Even the more expensive Pixel 6 had brightness issues, and the glitchy auto-brightness certainly doesn’t help.

The screen is a bit dim indoors. During daily use, I have it set around 70% brightness. That’s far more than my regular setting on other phones. Thankfully, things are better outdoors, as Google still has its high brightness mode to boost display brightness in direct sunlight. That’ll drain the battery, though, so use it sparingly.

What about the camera, though? The other significant cost-saving change Google made was reusing the old 12MP Sony IMX363 primary sensor from the Pixel 3-5 in this new Pixel 6a. It doesn’t have the 6’s 50MP camera, but that’s not a deal-breaker. It did, however, get the same 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera as its more expensive sibling, and they both perform great.

As expected, the Pixel 6a has a fantastic camera thanks to all of Google’s computational photography magic. And because it’s running the Tensor chip and upgraded ISP, all of Google’s fancy features are along for the ride. We’re talking about Google Photos Magic Eraser, Real Tone, Portrait Light, Face Unblur, Top Shot, Portrait Mode, SuperRes Zoom, and Live HDR.

We’re all well aware of what Google’s camera hardware and software can do. Unfortunately, this old camera needs software help in dim-lit environments, and moving subjects could be a little better. However, I did snap quite the excellent photo of my pup in a dark room, which you can see in the gallery above.

The Pixel 6a cameras are capable, but they’re not quite as good as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Even the front-facing camera is still 8MP instead of 10MP, but it’ll certainly get the job done. As for video, you’ll get both 1080p or 4K video recording at 30/60 FPS, slow-mo up to 240 FPS, and 5x digital zoom. And again, many of the Pixel 6’s video features are here, thanks to the processor on the inside.

Basically, the affordable Pixel 6a has the same solid camera experience we’ve all come to know and love. It might not be the absolute best considering the aging sensor, but this phone produces consistent results.

That does bring me back to those mixed feelings I mentioned at the beginning. The Pixel 6a is solid, but for only $150 more, you could get the Pixel 6 (or less on sale) with things like a better screen and camera—two important aspects of a smartphone.

So should you buy the Pixel 6a? Probably! It’s one of the best budget phones and follows the same recipe as previous A-series phones. It looks good, runs fast, takes sweet photos, and you know it’ll always have the latest software. It’s a Pixel A experience through and through.

Yes, the screen could be brighter, and I’d love a higher refresh rate, the latest cameras, or wireless charging, but this is still a solid package. Someone that constantly buys budget devices likely won’t miss those extras.