Customer Ratings & Reviews

Good for little task and battery life also good simple and smart mobile

I have 2 other phones. One is a newer android folding phone and the other is an old iPhone 6. I love the folding phone with 2 screens for multitasking. I can read the instructions for doing something on one screen and then do the steps on the other screen. Or I can be following directions in Maps and searching for something at the same time. But it takes lousy close up pictures. I keep the iPhone just for that purpose. The folding phone is the equivalent of 2 phones so it is very heavy (11 ounces) and using it to take and make phone calls is awkward. My goal in acquiring the Google Pixel 8a phone was to have a phone that is lighter, takes good close up pictures and can easily perform the functions that I routinely use. The initial setup with all the Google disclaimers and permissions seemed more like setting up a PC than a phone. It comes with the Gemini AI assistant. The assistant can be used to summarize emails, create content and even turn the phone off. During setup there was the option to copy contacts, settings and apps from a previous phone. Some copying was done by having the phones close to each other. Copying the apps required a connection with the charging cord. An adapter is included to connect an iPhone if needed. My 50+ apps copied over quickly - plus some extras. They transferred to the Pixel 8a in a long alphabetical list. I’m used to 6 pages of apps that are organized by category. I can change the order on the Pixel phone, but it will always be more difficult to find the one I’m looking for. Especially when I can’t think of the name of the app. 22% of the available storage is taken up with the apps. The next step was to create a PIN. A PIN was required and there was no option to skip it. Fingerprint unlock and facial recognition were next. I couldn’t get it to recognize my fingerprint, even after several tries. The facial recognition worked on the first try. Navigation can be done by gestures or 3 button navigation. Gestures didn’t take me where I needed to go most of the time and I switched to the 3 button navigation. There are 3 cameras - Wide, ultra wide and front. The camera software is pretty extensive. When Top Shot is active, each picture automatically becomes a short video. Pixel suggests the best frames to save. Best Take uses AI to edit sequential images to create a perfect one. Magic Editor, Magic Audio Eraser, Photo Unblur and Magic Eraser are other options. A person could keep themselves entertained playing with pictures all day long! Magic Eraser comes with suggestions. Taking (tapping) the suggestion worked well, but ignoring the suggestion and erasing with my finger or a pen was very imprecise. I haven’t been successful in completely erasing something without erasing more than I intended. The good thing is that each edit is saved as a copy so the original remains untouched. The downside is the memory required if a lot of pictures are taken and edited. Another feature is Circle to Search. If there is something on a screen that you want to search for, long press the Navigation bar or Home button and then circle, tap or scribble on the words or picture to search. Car crash detection is also included. You can select what the response should be if the car the phone is in detects a crash. It can be set to text location and updates to selected emergency contacts. The default pictures as viewed on the camera itself look dark, but if you have lots of time, there are ways to edit the brightness, contrast, HDR effect, warmth, etc., etc., etc. of each picture. All the features of a photo editor and more are available. Even though they looked dark, when downloaded to email and posted on a selling site, the color, brightness and contrast were quite good. Anything that wasn’t quite right I could edit with a photo editor after downloading - which to me was easier than editing on the phone itself. The problem I did have was getting the camera to take a picture when it thought the lighting wasn’t right or I was too far away or too close. I’d press on the button and nothing would happen. Sometimes if I went into settings and changed to “flash” (even in bright daylight) the picture would take. Sometimes it wouldn’t. Another annoying thing is taking pictures under fluorescent lighting. The lighting creates a rolling motion which prompts the camera to take a video rather than a still picture. The battery life seems good to me. I’ve been using it for 5 days now and will have to charge it tonight for the first time. It’s relatively difficult to turn off compared to a swipe on the iPhone or a one button push on my android, but there is the option to tell Gemini to do it for you. To manually turn the Pixel phone off, both the power and the volume buttons have to be pressed simultaneously. It usually takes me a few tries to get it right. Part of the problem is that the phone is very slippery. I’ll need to get a case so that I don’t drop it accidentally. I think this phone is a good starter phone that is appropriate for a child or young adult. Family Link can manage privacy settings, establish screen time limits and stay connected with a shared location feature. The optional blue color is nice. The phone editing features are entertaining and could be fun to use. For my purposes it works fine for phone calls and texts, but is unnecessarily complicated for taking pictures. I'm spoiled by having the two screens and it will be difficult to go back to one, although Pixel's Circle to Search does facilitate some navigation without the need to switch apps.

• Design – One of the notable differences is the matte finish. I much prefer this over any gloss finish as fingerprints are much less noticeable; although, I ended up putting a skin on the device to make it more personalized. The Pixel 8a has a plastic back panel which feels less premium but is not unexpected for a “budget” device. The camera bump is small and the device is light making it comfortable to hold. The bezels are still quite noticeable which hurts user immersion but is not a deal breaker. • Camera – The Pixel 8a has the same camera hardware specs as the Pixel 7a. The main wide back camera is 64 MP f/1.89 aperture with the ability to record 4k @ 30 and 60 fps. The back ultrawide camera is 13 MP f/2.2 aperture. The front selfie camera is 13 MP f2.2 aperture. Any noticeable improvements in picture quality are likely due the new Google Tensor G3 processor. After taking several pictures and comparing them to my alternative iOS device one of the big things I noticed is the lighting always seemed to look slightly better on the iPhone. I even did a blind comparison test with my wife and she was often able to pick out which photo came from the Pixel vs the iPhone. It isn’t to say the photos on the Pixel were bad, in fact the colors are rich and vibrant. Instead, this may be due to the iPhone having a warmer color balance. The Pixel 8a also has some great software features including Best Take, Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and Real Tone on Video. • Screen – The 6.1-inch 1080x2400 OLED Actua display with up to 120 Hz refresh rate is great; however, make sure you go into settings and enable smooth display as it is off by default. The always on display with At a Glance is awesome allowing for content to be displayed on your lockscreen (weather, date, notification from apps, etc). The device cover glass is Corning Gorilla Glass 3, a slight downgrade when compared to the Pixel 8 Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, but totally fine for day to day use. There is HDR support with up to 1400 nits (HDR) and up to 2000 nits (peak brightness). • Internal specs – It features 8 GB LPDDR5X RAM and both 128 GB/256 GB storage options with the 256 GB option new from the Pixel 7a. My opinion is with how cheap storage is there is no reason to ever offer a 128 GB option. The device should start at 256 GB and go up to 512 GB. The Pixel 8a has Wi-Fi 6E, a downgrade compared to the Pixel 8 Wi-Fi 7. While this is unlikely to make any real-world difference currently, Google promises 7 years of software updates to this device and it just makes it less “future proof”. The battery is slightly larger than the Pixel 7a and I was able to average around 6 hours of screen time per charge with fairly heavy use. • AI – Gemini is a great AI assistant. While I am still learning all of its abilities, so far I am impressed. I signed up for Google One with AI to fully unlock all its features. It can give summaries of emails, plan events, get info based on a photo, and draft/send email/text messages. It also far exceeds its competition (Siri) in assistant voice typing. • Charging – The charging capabilities of the Pixel 8a are a little lackluster with 18W wired and 7.5W Qi Wireless. Wireless charging is so slow I don’t even bother to use it. There is also no support for wireless power sharing. So the question is should you buy the Pixel 8a? Yes with the following caveat - it is on sale and preferably with some other bonus promo like a store gift card. Otherwise, I would personally wait until the Pixel 8 goes on sale (usually somewhere between $50-100 off) to get a better phone for a slightly increased price.

The Google Pixel 8a features a design that is quite comfortable in the hand with rounded edges and a matte finish on the back that improves friction/grip and does a good job hiding fingerprints. The display is a 6.1-inch Actua OLED screen with a 1080x2400 resolution. Images are sharp and crisp. Initially, the colors seemed to have an off-white to yellow cast regardless of screen brightness or the selected color profile (Natural vs Adaptive). After a couple days’ use, that difference is forgotten. Out of the box, the Pixel 8a screen refresh rate is set to 60Hz. Go into settings and enable Smooth Display 120Hz refresh rate. Not sure how it impacts battery life, but the quality of life improvements are huge. So much easier to look at while scrolling. Another change I made was to the navigation mode. The Pixel 8a is set to Gesture navigation by default, but for me the learning curve to become adept with the gestures is too steep. 3-Button navigation settings are available. Cameras: The Pixel 8a has two rear cameras: a 64-megapixel main lens and 13-megapixel ultrawide lens. The front-facing camera is 13-megapixel with a larger field of view than my previous Android phone. It is much easier to capture more of everything in my shots. Image editing: I think my favorite image tool is Google’s Magic Editor. It has an uncanny ability to remove objects from photos and leave results that, at a glance, look completely natural. It’s really cool and a little unsettling. Audio Magic Eraser can remove distracting sounds from videos. Other features include Super Res Zoom, Night Sight, and Photo Unblur. The Pixel 8a is powered by the Google Tensor G3 chip. It comes with 8 GB of RAM and is available with storage options of 128 GB or 256 GB. In apps and gaming, it is a pleasure to use and stays cool to the touch under demanding tasks. My first impression is that it’s perhaps not as fast as its Snapdragon competition. Gameplay seems slightly less fluid, but the difference is negligible. I need to keep in mind that this is a midrange phone and I should not expect flagship performance. Battery life has been impressive and seems to have improved with use. As of this writing, my phone has been off its wireless charger for about 7 hours and the Pixel 8a indicates that I have 1 day, 1 hr battery remaining! Wireless charging works seamlessly even in a protective case. Circle to Search is quickly becoming my favorite tool on my new Pixel 8a. I realize that functionality is available from other devices, but the implementation in the 8a is just so natural and easy to use. It’s great whether I’m shopping or identifying a plant in the yard. Documentation indicates that the included Titan M2 security chip makes this Pixel more resilient to attacks, and Google promises seven years of security updates for continued peace of mind over time. All in all, the Google Pixel 8a is a comfortable phone with an impressive combination of AI tools, durability, support, and affordability, all with very few compromises. Highly recommended!

Typical pixel phone good quality build but touch screen won't read every touch if you are not holding in in your hands

One of the best budget phones with great AI features

TLDR -Excellent Value -Great Build Quality -7 Years of Updates -Google Camera excellence Storage 128GB claimed, initial setup showed 118GB available, then after OS and app updates I was showing 108GB available, so 20GB of system (13GB) and app (7GB) usage. I’m glad the industry finally is doing 128GB base storage over 64GB but, if you can spare the extra $ I’d recommend the 256GB variant. It is however only available in the Obsidian color. Screen Scrolling is super smooth and the colors look great. Having the “Actua” designation ramps up the brightness when there is a lot of light and it doesn’t alter the on screen colors. Out of the box 60hz is turned on (“Smooth Display” Off). This is not an LTPO display so your options are either locked 60hz or 120hz refresh rate. Personally I only find 120hz works on a handful of apps and content outside of gaming. Besides using my phone for communicating whether text or call based, I read. I’ve never been one to notice a huge difference between the two, so for battery saving, especially since this is not dynamic, I will leave it on 60hz. I have found myself turning up the screen brightness while indoors as the Adaptive seems to be a little too aggressive for my tastes. In a well lit or high ambient lighting room it is above the half-way point (65ish%) and I find I’m pushing it towards 75%-80%. Camera Google Camera…enough said! Throw in the capabilities of the Tensor G3 and new AI features, cannot go wrong with choosing the Pixel 8a. I’m still playing around with all the AI stuff in the camera settings. This is all extra things to do, as the stock photos are great as is. Battery This is a hard category to report on as it all comes down to how you use your phone, how much spent on WiFi, how strong cellular signal is, etc. The phone is still learning my habits, but you should easily get 5 hours screen on time and get through an 8 hour work day with plenty of power to spare on the ride home. I wish charging speeds were faster as 18w and 7.5w wireless are pretty anemic by comparison to other phones in the industry. You are looking at just under 2 hour charge times wired and for wireless best to just do it overnight. Build In hand it feels very nice. The plastic back is definitely noticeable and all Pixel phones have always had the hollow tap on the back whether plastic or glass construction. The aluminum rails feel like a standard premium device should and overall it looks quite good. The matte finish is really nice and the Obsidian color is not a fingerprint magnet. Weight is fairly balanced even with the camera bar being aluminum now. One hand use definitely isn’t a problem with a small to average size hand. Value WOW!! Unless you can find a stupid good deal on the 8 or 8 Pro, the 8a is definitely a value device without the drawbacks typically found. Sure there are cheaper phones from other brands, but the corners cut to get it there are typically drastic and very noticeable. The only sort of cost savings that jumps out has to do with the Screen bezels and even then, its not horrible. It’s only more noticeable when side by side another device. Oddly enough, when I unboxed it reminded me of the Pixel 5 and the iPhone 6/7/8/SE design. It has a sleek and minimal design, curves are not aggressive and/or boxy. I don’t count that comparison as a bad thing as both of those designs are tried and true. And I think that’s the formula Google went with for the Pixel 8a. Looking at the Pixel A series as a whole, the 8a is the most accomplished and I feel jumps from the mid-range category to the budget flagship category and really fits in as the cheaper option only in cost in the 8 series lineup. To-date this makes the seventh Pixel phone in my household: 1, 3a, 5, 6a, 7, 8Pro. Ninth if we include the OG Nexus 5 and it's not so OG 5x follow-up; of which the 8 Pro (wifey’s) is the only one I have not used as my daily driver. Pictured are the 5, 8a, 7, 8Pro for size comparison. I can easily recommend the 8a if you're looking for a great phone at a great price and with the 7 years of security, OS, and Feature Drop updates you cannot go wrong. The lasting value will be excellent! This 8a will be replacing the Pixel 5 that sadly reached end-of-life Oct 2023; it still operates well and is on the latest Android 14, but the sun has set on that one and time to move on. The 8a is a great option for the upgrade by comparison and thankfully will live a long and healthy life!

The Pixel 8a is the second Pixel I’ve owned ( the other being a Pixel 4xl) and I’ve had yet another pleasant experience from a Google phone. Inside the box came the phone, a USB C to USB C cable and adapter, and the usual paperwork. Right out of the box it was easy to setup, whether you wanted to transfer from an IPhone or another Android device. When it comes to design, the Pixel 8a takes a minimalist approach, with a sleek build that feels more than just comfortable in hand, it feels great. It has a smooth finish and feels slick in the hand. The corners are rounded and this gives it somewhat a modern design and look. The Pixel 8a also feels light in the hand while also feeling robust, according to Google it is made from recycled glass, aluminum, and plastics. Another point i’d like to make is that it can be easily operated with just one hand, which is always appreciated in a world where the Pros, and Ultras have taken over. One of the standout features of the Pixel 8a is its camera. The Pixel 8a ships with a dual camera system on the rear that consists of a 64MP main camera paired with a 13MP ultrawide lens. On the front there is a 13MP selfie camera. When it comes to taking photos the images are crisp and clear no matter the situation, whether in high or low light conditions. I’m sure this a result of the good combination between the hardware and Google’s image-processing software. At this price point, you can’t go wrong with this phone as it takes great photos and videos. Performance-wise, the Pixel 8a doesn't leave you lacking. It’s quite snappy when moving around, navigating through menus, and switching through multiple apps. This comes as no surprise given that the 8a is powered by the same Tensor G3 processor that powers the Pixel 8/ 8 Pro. When gaming (I usually play Cod Mobile) the 8a delivered smooth performance without any lag. It was also great when streaming HD videos from YouTube or any of the popular streaming services. When it comes to battery life, this was another area the 8a performed well. From the few days I’ve had the 8a I was able to get a full day’s worth of heavy use without needing to charge until the end of the day. And when it was time to charge up, I was able to get the 8a fully recharged from 15% in under an hour and a half. Software is where Google and the Pixel 8a truly shine. Running on pure Android with Google's intuitive UI enhancements, and AI features pushes the 8a as a phone with great user experience. These AI features also allow you to be more efficient as they save you a lot of time. Some of them are, Circle to Search which allows you to instantly search Google by circling something on your screen, Magic Editor, which allows you to quickly edit your photos in various ways to get the best image possible and finally my favorite Pixel Call Assist. Pixel Call Assist really stands out for me as it offers a slew of features surrounding phone calls. It automatically prevents many spam calls, has call screening that allows you to quickly find out who is calling, and suggests context-appropriate responses to send if you aren't able to take the call in that very moment. Other notable mentions are Gemini,( think Google Assistant on steroids) and Live Translate which translates your spoken word to another language of your choosing in real time. Overall, the Google Pixel 8a is a great mid-range smartphone that excels in many areas. It has good cameras and image processing, a great AI-powered software experience, an ok battery, and the promise of 7 years of security, OS, and feature updates. If you're in the market for a dependable feature-packed smartphone that will last for quite a while, the Pixel 8a is the phone for you.

The Pixel 8a is the latest iteration to Google’s ‘A’ series phone, building upon its past success to bring feature rich functions and added security at a budget conscious price. I’m no power user; I’m just your average joe who likes to use the phone for emails, taking photos and videos of family and friends, and streaming content. The Pixel 8a fits the bill for me and here are the reasons why: +It’s the perfect size for one-handed use. The 6.1” size is perfect for someone like me with smaller hands. The phone is well balanced and I’m able to reach anywhere along the display with my thumb when using it with one hand. Plus, being a smaller sized phone, it fits easily in my pockets. This is great since I, much like many of us these days, have to carry two phones with me (company phone and personal phone…lol). +Smooth swipes, fast performance. Without getting into any specs, just on qualitative feel alone, swipes on the Pixel 8a are silky smooth, instantaneous responsiveness, and just plain fast. +Fantastic camera and great built-in photo editor. Great vivid, colorful, and bright photos. It can pick the best shots from a group of photos, reduce photo blur, and take night and low-light photos with the really cool ‘night sight’ function. And if you’re into astrophotography, you can get some awesome star filled skies using the astrophotography setting. No need to drag expensive camera gear around. Google already has a set of built-in photo editing features, my favorite of which is the Magic Eraser that can delete unwanted objects in your photos. With the Pixel 8a, Google is also adding a new tool called Magic Editor that lets you select objects in a photo and manipulate them like resizing the object or moving it around within the picture. Finally, a new feature that I find handy on the Pixel 8a is the Audio Magic Eraser that reduces distracting sounds from a video such as wind, construction, or vehicular noises. +All day battery power. The Pixel 8a has kept up with me so far in terms of needing it to last throughout my busy workday. The specs list the battery as having 4,492mAh of juice. Plenty for what I need, but of course it will depend on how you use your phone. +Worry Free Operating Software Updates. Google plans to keep updating the Pixel 8a for seven years from the date the phone first became available on the Google Store. Lots of laugh here. Most of us won’t even keep the phone for seven years to see all the updates. We would have already upgraded to the next latest and greatest phone. Even so, the battery will be long dead, rendering the phone unusable, before the seven years is up. +Plenty of Security Features. I feel protected. I don’t have an iota of knowledge about phone security, but I am glad Google is touting this as having the highest-rated security features with Google Tensor G3 and Titan M2 security chip. Do I recommend the Pixel 8a? Google packs a lot of features and function into the Pixel 8a, too many to list here. The pixel inherits all the useful features from its predecessors and brings new ones to the table. If you have last year’s Pixel 7a, you’ll have a harder time deciding if it is worth the upgrade. But if you need a new phone now, then the Pixel 8a is hard to beat especially with the guaranteed seven years of updates and the pure android experience.

Camera is good. Phone screen turned blue ink marks in 14months. No hard drop or physical damage. Out of warranty and found that lot of users reported the same situation with their pixel.

The Google Pixel 8A…is it all that, or is it all hype? I suppose, when one decides to purchase an item, regardless of what it is, there is the underlying question of, “Why should I buy this instead of that?” And so it is with the Google Pixel 8A. When it is all said and done, what does the 8a bring to the table that would compel you to buy it over a competitor’s brand? After having had the opportunity to test this phone out for the past many days, I have come to the following reasons why it is a great choice when compared to the competition. The Pixel 8a is Google’s latest offering in Google’s world of mobile phones in the Pixel lineup. All in all there have been over 15 different iterations of the Pixel since its introduction, with each iteration attempting to compete with the other well-known brands, and to improve upon the previous versions of Pixel. We all know there are literally hundreds of different phones available for us to buy…each one offering their own version of “Me! Me! Me!” To begin with, a cell phone is a cell phone is a cell phone. The majority of all cell phone users make use of their cell phone to text, surf the web, and utilize the many various social media apps. Hand in hand with social media is the photograph…selfies, what you’re having for lunch, or whatever else you want to share with the world. The Pixel 8a offers an amazing camera setup with both front and rear lenses. The rear cameras consist of a 64MP Quad PD wide camera with an 80 field of view (and up to 8X zoom capability), and a 13MP ultrawide camera with a 120 field of view. The front-facing camera is a 13MP camera with a 96.5-degree field of view. In anybody’s book, this is an impressive setup. The Pixel 8a comes with an equally impressive array of onboard photo/video editing options such as Background Blur, Magic Eraser, Audio Eraser, Best Shot, and many others. The available options make it easy to quickly create and send photos to friends and family, social media sites, or to anywhere else you want. This is made especially easy with the Pixel’s “Share” functionality. As I went through the Share options, I noticed that there was no Facebook or Instagram options, but this might be because I have not installed these on the phone. I am including a few shots demonstrating the Magic Eraser function, as well as the Background Blur. In short, when it comes to ease of use, super-wide range of available functions, and photo resolution, the 8a is truly unbeatable. For the camera alone, you would be hard-pressed to find a stand-alone camera in this price range that would compete with the 8a. In fact, in my opinion, the camera alone is well worth the price of the Pixel 8a. Another great feature of the Pixel 8a is the Tensor G3 chip. As I did my research on the G3, I was impressed with the way it functions. Firstly, the chip is underclocked. I don’t want to delve into boring technical information, but I was curious why the Tensor G3 was purposely underclocked when it seems like the exact opposite would be more desirable. I learned that this is the magic behind the phenomenal battery life of the 8a. Google boasts a 24-hour battery life on this phone, and I for one believe it. I don’t stay on my cell phone all day, but I do use it quite a bit. I have gone over two days without having to recharge the Pixel. All thanks to the design of the Tensor 3G chip. There is absolutely no noticeable decline in speed when watching videos, playing games, or what-have-you. The Tensor G3 chip includes the Titan M2 security coprocessor. Like everyone else, I want my phone to be secure from hackers and other malicious attacks that would compromise my personal and sensitive data. Again, without getting all technical, the Tensor G3 coupled with the Titan M2 coprocessor, form an almost impenetrable barrier against anyone trying to pry sensitive data from the 8a. Because of the encryption and internal storage protocols on the Pixel, I know I don’t have to worry about compromised debit/credit card info, passwords, and the like. Included on the Pixel 8a is Gemini, a built-in AI personal assistant. It’s refreshing to be able to simply ask a question and get a quick answer. There was a time before AI when doing any kind of research at all was a tiresome ordeal…sorting through dozens (or hundreds) of search results, trying to come up with the best search terms, and trying to put it all together in a coherent manner. Gemini does an excellent job. And being able to use Gemini with voice makes web searches super simple and easy. Gemini is also a great chatbot. I have carried on several conversations and have been quite pleased with how Gemini interacts with me, even when discussing topics dealing with social issues and so on. I can’t say that Gemini outshines all the other AI assistants available today, but it certainly holds its own. I’m really looking forward to seeing future generations of Gemini. The Pixel 8a is roughly 6” tall and 3” wide. When I pick it up, it feels substantial, that is, it exudes the feeling of a quality build. It is well designed, and quite sleek. The back has a matte finish. I have the black finish. A neat concept in the design is the raised lens platform on the back of the phone that prevents the camera lenses from lying flat, which in turn helps to keep the lenses from getting scratched. Because it is so sleek, you will want to get a case for it, because it does have a tendency to try and slip from your fingers. I found that when I put it in my pocket, I tend to forget about it because of its size. Each of us has our own likes and dislikes when it comes to phones, and I am one of those who typically thinks bigger is better. But not in this case. The looks, the feel, the design all combine to give the 8a a superior advantage over all the others. What it may or may not lack in size, it more than compensates in its performance. Is it “perfect?” Perhaps not. There is some difficulty in utilizing the many camera functions. For example, as I stated toward the beginning of this review, the 8a comes with an ultrawide 120 camera lens. Due to the lack of clear user instructions, I was left to wonder how exactly do I know if I am actually USING the wide-angle functionality. Many of the other camera functions are also somewhat difficult to navigate through. But most importantly in my book, there is absolutely no online user manual one can access, nor is there an included user’s manual, so one is left to traverse the unknown completely on his/her own. Taken as a whole however, there is truly little in the way of true competition when it comes to the 8a. Its aesthetic design, its friendliness toward the environment by means of its recycled materials content, its ultra-superior onboard security measures, the crazy battery life…all of these features plus the many others, all combine to make the Pixel 8a the obvious choice when it comes to cell phones in this price range. This is a device I will be heartily recommending to ALL my friends and family!

As a longtime fan of Google smartphones, I was excited to get my hands on the new Google Pixel 8a. I’ve never owned one of the “a” series Pixels, so I was a little unsure what to expect. I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. TLDR: Excellent design, high quality build, beautiful bright 2000 nit OLED screen, with 7 years of software updates. Can’t complain about the camera or the fantastic battery life – a day of regular use was no problem. Problematic price point considering deals you can get on the Pixel 8. Wireless charging, even regular charging, are slower than I’d like. Value: At $499, the Pixel 8a is about $100 more than I wish it was. The Pixel flagship 8 is only a few hundred more for a fully loaded phone with none of the corners cut. If you’re picking this up with a deal, you can probably get it to a more justifiable price point. Design: The Pixel 8a sports a cool matte finish and feels nice in the hand. The form factor is great, and I love the general aesthetic. No complaints here. It’s not flashy, but it’s elegant. I have it in the obsidian color and it’s a bit of a fingerprint magnet. I’ll be picking up a case soon so that won’t be a problem anymore! Camera: The camera improvements are minor compared to the 7a, the 64MP main camera still captures impressive shots. It comes with all of the software features you’d expect from a modern Pixel, including all of the AI glitter on top. The Tensor G3 is no joke. Night sight, Best Take, Photo Unblur, Super Res Zoom – it’s all here! Overall: I’ve been using the Pixel 8a for about a week. The 120Hz OLED display is crisp, the battery life is solid, and the phone just feels snappy. The charging speed is my second gripe and, although I’m not a fan of the slow speed, it hasn’t really become a problem for me in my day to day.

I was super excited to get my hands on a Google Pixel phone and the Pixel 8a did not disappoint but also did not overwhelmingly amaze me. For personal phones I typically favor Android over Apple, but I do think there are some advantages to iphones that Android phones lack. The Google Pixel 8a does an excellent job in marrying the advantages of these two systems, as it has Android operation system with Google features similar of Apple in its exceptional security, ease of use, and fast camera. Out of the box the Pixel was ready to go and I greatly appreciated that Google provided physical instructional booklets for the phone. As an engineer by profession, I have been unofficially designated as my family’s IT specialist and therefore have set up many, many phones over the years. The Google Pixel 8a was by far the easiest and quickest phone I have ever set up with the inclusion of transferring data from the previous phone. With this phone being made by Google, I did have high expectations of it and the ease of the set up blew those expectations away. The only initial concern I had during the set up was that the phone ran noticeably warm, but this was never experienced in my every day use of the phone. After a quick set up, the phone was ready to roll. The phone I transferred data from was also an Android OS phone and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of settings that transferred during the set up (especially due to my existing Google account). Some initial disappointment upon setting up the Pixel was with the amount of space dedicated to operation of the phone and the inability to expand the phone’s memory with a micro SD card. Disappointingly, Google seems to have followed Apple in attempting to push the use of their cloud storage, which comes at an additional cost. This forced method of paid subscription to cloud storage is one strong reason that I prefer most Android phones over Apple. Another disappointing feature of the Pixel 8a is some of the limited settings adjustments, including the inability to change font styles, another typical Apple trait. I do not love the default font style that it comes with the Pixel 8a and unfortunately just have to deal with it. When making adjustments to the font, I was only able to adjust the size, display size, boldness, and contrast. I initially thought using the “high contrast text” option would be a good compromise to my dislike of the default font style, but I quickly found that this setting made text illegible at times. In use, the phone is excellent. It is VERY quick and responds extremely well when connected to my car and other accessories. The camera on the phone is great, with excellent shutter speed that is comparable to iphones. The zoom capabilities of the camera are just okay, but the Pixel 8a is the baseline of the Pixel family so I imagine the upgraded versions have improved camera features. One disappointing feature of the Pixel 8a is the screen quality, which I noticed immediately due to my previous phone having a higher resolution screen. With my previous phone being 5 years old, I would have expected an equal to or upgraded screen so I was pretty disappointed, but after some time it did become less noticeable. The battery life of the phone is also really exceptional. For me, I easily got around a day and a half worth of use between charges. Even more impressively was the battery life while utilizing the hotspot feature. I had another device connected to the hotspot for most of a day and, surprisingly, it did not quickly deplete the battery of the Pixel 8a, as hotspot use has done so with other previous phones I’ve owned. Another pleasant feature of the hotspot was being able to use the internet simultaneously on both the Pixel 8a and the other connected device. This was a noticeable upgraded feature from my previous phone. An additional highlight of this phone is the security. I do feel that Google is one of the best when it comes to security, and built-in security is another typical advantage of iphones over Androids. While the Pixel 8a is an Android OS based phone, the built-in Google security features are topnotch. With this being a Google phone, there are numerous AI features included with this phone. Given the short time of using the phone, I did not get a chance to fully test out many of these features but have confidence that most people will find that certain AI features are very beneficial to them. (For me, I really appreciate and enjoy the included editing features for photos and videos.) Overall, I feel that this phone is an excellent phone to switch to for anyone who is switching from either an Android or Apple phone. I feel like Google did a really good job at pulling favorable features from each type of phone to make the Pixel 8a a really strong mash up of both. Pros +Easy setup +Processing speed +Excellent battery life +Great camera +Google based security features Cons -Limited setting options (compared to most Android phones) -Screen quality -No expandable memory (micro SD slot)

I’m running an older android phone for my work line and have been needing to upgrade, and I have to say at the price point of this phone I am pretty impressed. I use an iPhone for my personal line, which is a couple of years old, and this phone makes me want to use the Pixel more than that one. Here is my opinion and thoughts on the phone…. The quality of the phone feels amazing, it has a nice weight and with the tin-grade casing, making it feel like a $1000 phone. After charging and updating the phones software, I began the setup process which went by fairly quickly since this phone does have some good processing power. The screen is supposed to be scratch resistance, which I tested unintentionally and it passed. Somehow on the first day I put the phone on my lap and it’s so sleek that it slid off my leg from the bench that I was sitting at and hit the concrete below (about a 1.5 foot drop). Hard to say exactly where it hit, but sadly the sides got scratched up but the glass held strong. The next day I added a case and screen protector. The metal did seem to scratch pretty easy though. It feels good in the hand though (without a case). One of my favorite features of setting this phone up was that I can have BOTH Face ID and Fingerprint access to my phone. This is a great feature to have when one option doesn’t work, the other saves the day. My experience so far is that the unlock is very quick with either method, but it will have issues in non-perfect situations such as a wet finger or wearing sunglasses and a hat may cause issues, nor does the Face ID work that great in the dark so I’m glad there’s the option to use either biometric reader. The camera is great, I brought it with me on a trip to Mexico and the shots came out clear and high quality. Lots of AI built into the camera too, I really like the Magic Eraser…works on old and new photos. Zoom is nice and has presets so you don’t have to worry about pinching in and out if you want to maintain one-handed operation. Switching between photos and camera is seamless and fast. No delay in loading camera and taking pictures, works quite fast, and has the quick snap with the volume rocker. The AI on the phone is impressive. I did have to go download the Gemini app to replace the Google Assistance from the Play store. While in Mexico, I could take a picture of something in Spanish and have it translated for me (in picture!) to English. Some things are a bit lacking such as asking certain questions to Gemini, it tells me “Its still learning how to answer this question” and to use Google search. I scanned some Google Pixel instructions as a test to Gemini and it was able to detect exactly where it came from (maybe cheating because it was a Google-sourced document, but still wow!). Other things such as wanting the definition of the word on a website just by long-pressing it gives me options to view more info on it. I believe Gemini and these other AI features are still in the early stages and should improve with updates. Some other thoughts on the phone….its very snappy and fast, I’d expect this on higher priced phones but not something at this price point. The battery life has lasted me all day, with hours of use throughout the day. One of the big draws for me was the Google Pixel security chip that is touted so much, I’m all about privacy and security and having the Titan m2 as a dedicated security chip that offers anti-malware protection is great. It also comes with 7 years of support! I’ll be able to hand this phone off to my kids in a few years and they’ll still have the latest and greatest software. Also, as a bonus you can add a magsafe- compatible case to it and use an iPhone magnetic wireless charger and it charges just the same, or use any other accessories that are mag-safe compatible. If you’re coming from an Iphone like I am, it shares many of the same gestures so it’s a pretty easy transition. As you can see I’m definitely sold on the Pixel 8a and would recommend it to anyone looking for a moderately priced phone that will have many years of use. AI and Camera features are a big bonus too. Live translate is one of my favorite AI features and will be great for my future trips to Mexico. Attached are some pictures I took with the phone.

Having spent a few days with Google’s newest phone, the Pixel 8a, there’s a lot of things to like about this smart. Perhaps the best thing about this phone is that it is automatically unlocked, you can use it with any carrier at any time, no restrictions. Screen: The screen is beautiful, it features a 6.12 inch OLED with a refresh rate of 120Hz, very fast, very responsive very colorful, I don’t know what else I can possibly say about this phone in this area. Cameras: Front and back cameras 13megapixels I believe is what the front is and the rear is 64megapixels. It takes some really nice crisp photos. Some features the cameras have are: Magic Editor Best Take Photo Unblur Real Tone Face Unblur Panorama Manual white balancing Locked Folder Night Sight Top Shot Portrait Mode Portrait Light Motion Auto Focus Frequent Faces Dual exposure controls Live HDR+ Ultra HDR Long Exposure Astrophotography Super Res Zoom With the rear camera you can take 4K video recording at 30 FPS, 60 FPS or 1080p video recording at 30 FPS, 60 FPS Battery: So far the battery has lasted me all day, no complaints here. It also charges relatively quickly. Extras: It comes with all the bells and whistles that smart phones typically come with these days. Wireless charging capable, also comes with its USB-C charging cable (but the wall plug adaptor). it’s water resistant, and has 128GB of internal storage. It runs on android 14. And lastly: From what I understand, it comes with a nano Sim slot and its also eSim capable. Meaning connecting it to any carrier should be no problem.

Google Pixel 8a Cell Phone Review! Upfront observations before testing the product: 1. Memory is above average for a midlevel phone at 8GB 2. Battery 4,492 mAh is average for a midline phone 3. WIFI version 6E is outstanding for a newly released phone. 4. Bluetooth 5.3 is outstanding 5. No micro-sd slot is below average 6. 7 years of OS and security updates is outstanding. 7. Checked with my newly acquired 5G service company and I can just insert my other phones sim into the new phone. Both unlocked! 8. OLED/120htz is outstanding 9. Gorilla 3 glass is above average for midlevel phone 10. Wireless charging is above average 11. Screen brightness is outstanding at max of 2000 nits 12. Security features including dealing with spam calls is outstanding Actual setup and testing the product: Information pack sent with phone was outstanding. Never have I received a product with this quality and quantity of information. Full contact information if you need help! First, I read the instructions that were included, charged the phone, inserted the SIM card before turning the phone on. In addition, I installed a protective case and screen cover for accidental drops and bumps. My new phone service even emailed me that I was using the sim in another phone. Setup Find Device! Don’t skip this step ever! The Google account help and Pixel Phone help will guide you online if you want to preview them before turning on the phone. Otherwise, the phone will walk you through everything. I was able to transfer all data from my other Android phone wirelessly without any issues! Very nice! I setup the phone to use all data transfer and updates over WIFI. Google guide books are available on your phone with lessons on how to use your phone. You will be sent an email with the link when the phone is first registered. First time that has ever happened with any phone! Service after sale is outstanding. First system update needs to be done. It takes around 35 minutes. Feel and weight of phone is perfect. Boots faster than other phones that I have and accesses menus/apps quickly. I was able to move icons around with ease and place them where I wanted in the quick access screen. On a local road trip today, I was able to fully access 5G connections, log into numerous local WIFIs, navigate on maps, text/talk clearly, use a BT5.3 ear piece, checked for spam calls, and check battery usage. Battey usage was must more efficient than I expected in that after 3 days it was still over 70% of light to medium usage. I set the battery usage to save mode but not the extreme mode and kept all apps closed I was not using. QI was tested and was fully functional. Auto screen works fine in all sub menus. Be advised the main menu is always in vertical mode. Took videos and pictures and all were excellent! Set face recognition, finger print, PIN, and password recognition. All worked perfect! Summary: This is a much better phone than I was expecting, and the other manufacturers need to take note. The features and quality are more in line with a phone between mid and high-level price range. Many cell phone service providers are offering additional discounts for trade ins and other deals. This could make this a better bargain if your service provider has any incentives. Specifications: Display 6.1-inch Actua display1 20:9 aspect ratio 1080x2400 OLED at 430 PPI Smooth Display2(up to 120Hz) Corning® Gorilla® Glass™ 3 cover glass Always-on display with At a Glance and Now Playing Up to 1400 nits (HDR) and up to 2000 nits (peak brightness) >1,000,000:1 contrast ratio HDR support Full 24-bit depth for 16 million colors Dimensions and Weight 6 in (height) x 2.9 in (width) x 0.4 in (depth) 6.6 oz Battery and Charging 24+ hour battery life5 Up to 72-hour battery life with Extreme Battery Saver Typical 4492 mAh6 (Minimum 4404 mAh) Fast charging Wireless charging (Qi-certified) Memory and Storage 8 GB LPDDR5x RAM 128 GB / 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage Processors Google Tensor G3 Titan M2 security coprocessor Security VPN by Google One at no extra cost End-to-end security designed by Google Multi-layer hardware security: Tensor security core, Titan M2™ security chip, and Trusty (Trusted Execution Environment) 7 years of OS, security, and Feature Drop updates Anti-malware and anti-phishing protection, including support for passkeys Automatic security checks and privacy controls with Security and Privacy hub Camera and mic toggles Private Compute Core Android System Intelligence Android Messages end-to-end encryption and Android backup encryption Learn more at g.co/pixel/security and g.co/pixel/certifications Rear Camera 64 MP Quad PD wide camera 0.8 μm pixel width ƒ/1.89 aperture 80° field of view 1/1.73" image sensor size Super Res Zoom up to 8x12 13 MP ultrawide camera 1.12 μm pixel width ƒ/2.2 aperture 120° field of view Lens correction Optical + electronic image stabilization on wide Front Camera 13 MP 1.12 μm pixel width ƒ/2.2 aperture Fixed focus 96.5° ultrawide field of view Camera Features Magic Editor Best Take Magic Eraser Photo Unblur Real Tone Face Unblur Panorama Manual white balancing Locked Folder Night Sight Top Shot Portrait Mode Portrait Light Motion Auto Focus Frequent Faces Dual exposure controls Live HDR+ Ultra HDR Long Exposure Astrophotography Super Res Zoom Video and Audio Rear Camera 4K video recording at 30 FPS, 60 FPS 1080p video recording at 30 FPS, 60 FPS Front Camera 4K video recording at 30 FPS 1080p video recording at 30 FPS Cinematic Pan Slo-mo video support up to 240 FPS 4K timelapse with stabilization Astrophotography timelapse Optical image stabilization Fused video stabilization 4K Cinematic Pan video stabilization 4K locked video stabilization 1080p active video stabilization Digital zoom up to 5x12 Video formats: HEVC (H.265) and AVC (H.264) Audio Stereo recording Speech enhancement Wind noise reduction Audio Magic Eraser Authentication Fingerprint Unlock with under-display fingerprint sensor Face Unlock Pattern, PIN, password Sensors Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor Accelerometer Gyrometer Magnetometer Barometer Buttons and Ports USB Type-C® 3.2 Power button Volume controls SIMs Dual SIM (Single Nano SIM and eSIM16) Media and Audio Stereo speakers 2 microphones Noise suppression Connectivity and Location Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) with 2.4GHz+5GHz+6GHz, HE80, MIMO Bluetooth® v5.3, Bluetooth Diversity NFC Google Cast GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS Network [5G Sub 6GHz]18 Model GKV4X GSM/EDGE: Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+/HSDPA: Bands 1,2,4,5,6,8,19 LTE: Bands B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/41/48/66/71 5G Sub-618: Bands n1/2/3/5/7/8/12/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/41/48/66/70/71/77/78 eSIM [5G mmWave + Sub 6GHz]18 Model G8HHN GSM/EDGE: Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+/HSDPA: Bands 1,2,4,5,6,8,19 LTE: Bands B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/41/48/66/71 5G Sub-618: Bands n1/2/3/5/7/8/20/28/48/66/71/77/78 5G mmWave18: Bands n260/n261 eSIM Hearing Aid Compatibility Hearing aid-compatible. See g.co/pixel/hac. Security and OS Updates 7 years of OS, security, and Feature Drop updates Materials Scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 cover glass IP67 dust and water resistance Fingerprint-resistant coating Matte composite back with matte aluminum frame Made with at least 24% recycled materials based on product weight 100% recycled aluminum in housing and camera bar 76% recycled plastic in back cover 100% plastic-free packaging Warranty 1 year Operating System Launched with Android 14 What's in the box Pixel 8a 1 m USB-C® to USB-C cable (USB 2.0) Quick Switch Adapter

The worst phone heats up quickly and slows down the performance.

Worst phone, I have used. I only used for 1 year, and 2 week, and phone stopped working suddenly. After sending to google repair center, they claimed it is unrepairable.

The Pixel 8a is an excellent mid-range smartphone that delivers flagship-level features at a fraction of the price. The design is sleek and lightweight, making it comfortable to use one-handed. The 6.1-inch OLED display is vibrant and offers great clarity for streaming and gaming. The standout feature is the camera. As expected from Google, the Pixel 8a’s AI-powered photography is exceptional, capturing crisp, detailed shots in various lighting conditions. Night Sight and Magic Eraser are game-changers for photo enthusiasts. Performance-wise, the Tensor G3 chip ensures smooth multitasking and reliable 5G connectivity. The battery life is decent, lasting a full day with moderate use, and the addition of wireless charging is a welcome upgrade. One minor drawback is the lack of a headphone jack, but with Bluetooth support and included adapters, it’s manageable. Overall, the Pixel 8a is a great value for those seeking a powerful, compact, and reliable phone. Highly recommended!

My first exposure to the Google Pixel line was with the Pixel 2 in 2017. That model’s camera was the main attraction, and it never disappointed. But I was always fascinated by the middle of the line because it represented good value and retained the camera performance that drew me into the fold in the first place. I have since owned several Pixel “A” models: The 3A, 4A, and the 6A. Each new model saw incremental improvements in both the camera and the device. The 8A is a truly a beauty to behold. I love the frosted look on the case. No, it’s not glass or metal, but it looks great. It’s actually hard to get a shot of it that conveys its attractiveness. If you are interested in this phone, I urge you to go look at one and hold it in your hand. I like the size and the weight and the way it fits in my hand an in my pocket. The camera is just fine in full sunlight, cloudy conditions, indoors or in no light at all. Where the hardware reaches it limits, the software makes up the difference with processing. Stills and videos are excellent. I do not believe this smartphone’s photographic skills are significantly exceeded for general use by any current smartphone. I use my Pixels on Google Fi. The transition from the 6A to the 8A was swift and absolutely seamless. During the set-up process, all the apps and settings that you select to be copied are duplicated on the new phone while it is connected wirelessly to the old one it replaced. Then the new phone is activated on Google Fi with a downloaded Fi eSIM. I never even thought about cracking the SIM drawer open. The activation was handled completely in the Fi app, and the process could not have been any simpler. Battery life after several days use is just fine. I think it is somewhat improved over the 6A. The RAM is bumped up from 6 to 8GB, and the main camera is bumped up to 64Mp. As stated, performance has been excellent in my usage. The fingerprint sensor is quite sensitive and an improvement over the last model. Face recognition is now available and was most appreciated in my use. I seldom had to resort to entering a PIN to get into the phone after inactivity. The new phone has a 120Hz refresh rate as opposed to the old’s 60Hz. You have to dig into the phone’s settings to turn it on, and it does effect battery life. I turned it on and enjoyed the increased refresh rate for scrolling. For the price, it is difficult to see how the features of the Pixel 8A can be bettered, and with this model, you get 7 years of updates to the uncluttered pure Android software that the Pixel line offers. Highly recommended.