Customer Ratings & Reviews

I have not had previous experience with a Pixel mobile phone; however, I have been curious about them. The new Pixel 8a is a real revelation! It is a notable example of good things coming in small packages. In promoting the 8a, Google says it is “The best camera under $500.” That is a brag that is hard to challenge, because the camera functionality is amazing. Taking pictures or videoing in bright light is as sharp as one would expect. When taking pictures in low light, the Night Sight function automatically enhances the photo shot, thus producing a bright picture as the finished image. Google AI, Photo Unblur, and the Best Take function clears fixes blurs and shows skin tones as they actually are. All these features work so well individually or together, you’d have to intentionally work hard at producing a bad picture. The Front-Facing Camera and the Ultra Camera both have 13 megapixels. An excellent “automatic” camera! Like the camera’s functionality, the Pixel 8a as a mobile phone is quite possibly the best under $500. It, too, provides phone many helpful features inside a small metal frame: *The metal frame is “Green,” as it is built using recycled aluminum, plastic, and glass. Also, it is designed to be dust- and water-resistant. The display is scratch-resistant. Per Google, it is “the most durable a-Series phone yet.” It has slipped from my hands several times and hit carpet and wood flooring and remains unphased. *The under $500 version has 128GB storage, which is likely fine for most folks. However, there is a 256GB version for $59 more. If you plan to take a lot of photos/videos, play games, etc., the extra cost of the upgrade is worth it. It’d be the best camera under $560. *The processor is the “Google Tensor G3” which is said to be Google’s fastest and most efficient yet. The Tensor, paired with Google AI, powers and manages everything in the device. This includes a suite of security functions, and built-in VPN, to provide strong online protection. Another nice benefit in this regard is OS and security updates are provided for 7 years. *Pixel Call Assist is another of the many helpful features. It helps make calls as well as filter out spam calls. Call Screen aids in dealing with unknown callers without your having to answer the call yourself. Wait, there’s more: Clear Calling reduces caller background noise for a clearer conversation. * As a bonus to the many operational features of the Pixel 8a, Google has included free of cost: 3 months of YouTube Premium, 6 months of Fitbit, 3 months of Google One, and 100GB of storage for phone backup, photos, and files. Bottom line is Pixel 8a is a bundle of excellence. It is either a great camera with a great phone included or vice versa. Either way, it’s a winner. What is especially attractive is that all this is available at an affordable price. Given the time period in which I am writing this, the 8a would be an excellent graduation gift! Or, for any other event in the year.

The Phone is great but Best-Buys trade in program sucks! I was told I would get a credit within 7 to 10 days of receipt of phone by Best-Buy. My tracking says they got it on January 2nd and now 20 days later and several phone call I did not get any credit. Save yourself the hassle and buy direct from Google

Three members of my immediate family have the Google Pixel 6a phone, but my son cracked his screen, so since the 6a was no longer offered and the 8a was a new release, we replaced his 6a with the 8a. What a fine choice. We have loved the Google Pixel phones since we bought our first ones several years ago. They are feature packed for a great value. The 8a continues that tradition. The phone comes unlocked, but we activated it with Verizon and then also paired it to all our Ford vehicles. There were no issues with activation or connecting to SYNC 3 or SYNC 4 in the Fords. I was also happy that cases are already available for the 8a--but was slightly disappointed that the case from the 6a would not fit the 8a. Upgrading from the previous Pixel phone was a snap. All the settings, apps, photos, music, etc. were transferred wirelessly just by setting the two phones next to each other. The entire process took under 30 minutes. I did have to re-login to all the apps, so having a password list handy (or having a password manager) is ideal. The phone has the same feel as the Pixel 6a. It has a good form factor that optimizes screen size and weight. The screen is crsip and bright, even in sunlight. I was really impressed with the speed of the Pixel 8a for common apps and videos. I read that it actually has the same processor as the 8 and 8 Pro, which is a real benefit. The camera has stunning quality and the included picture editing is quite intuitive and nothing short of stellar. Voice clarity is outstanding, with ample volume and tone. Initial battery life is very promising. WIth normal daily use (app usage, phone calls, texts, some photos, video watching, etc.) the battery lasts all day and still has a good amount of power left. Charging is fast, but I do wish they would include a wall plug instead of just a USB-C cable. Surely not needed by everyone, but needed by us. Speaking of charging, the 8a now has wireless charging, and wireless Android Auto is also supported. These are big plusses in my book because many newer vehicles offer the wireless charging and wireless Android Auto connectivity. There are some other advanced features on this phone I have not had the ample opportunity to try out yet to fairly review, but I look forward to--like the Pixel Call Assist (for spam call detection) and the built-in Gemini AI (for obtaining quick information or voice typing). In conclusion, Google has done it once again with the Pixel 8a. This phone is very friendly and useful as an everyday phone. It lives up to the Pixel name by loading great features into a nice package at a great price.

Lovely hardware and a good pure android experience. But, terrible connectivity, modem and Bluetooth connections. So frustrating. I returned it and paid the 45.00 restocking fee.

I wanted to love this phone but it hast very bad signal strength and get very hot if your using android auto. I don't recommend getting this phone.

Waste of money. Worst ever android phone. You will NOT be able to clone apps. You will not install 2 WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook or any other app, because Google decides you should not do that. Buy any other android phone, not Pixel! I'm trying to sell it.

Worst phone I've ever used. Going back to Samsung.

I am really enjoying this phone. I upgraded from a 7 year old flagship phone which had a bigger screen but the smaller size has been welcomed. I can operate this one handed much easier. The circle to search has been one of my favorite features. Seeing as my last phone was about 7 years old I am happy to know this will get updates for 7 years. Below are some of the other things I liked. Battery life: Some light texting, a few phone calls, checking emails, checking social media and the battery has lasted most of the day with plenty of charge. I'm liking the adaptive charging overnight to make sure the battery life span is prolonged. Screen: The screen is clear, fast and can be seen outside in the daytime much better than my previous phone. Camera: The pictures I've been taking look great. The editing features that are a part of Google are amazing. The camera is definitely one of the highlights of the phone. Build quality: This phone does not feel like a cheap plastic phone. It has some good weight to it even though it has a plastic back. The matte back also feels good in my hand, not too slippery so I'm able to grip it. The fingerprint sensor is a bit finicky at times but not to the point where it becomes annoying.

My original order had a $100 gift card offer. However it was delivered correctly and I had to place another order which did not have the offer. I missed this offer because bestbuy failed to deliver the product.

The Pixel 8a is intended as a "budget" phone compared to the other Pixel 8 offerings. However, I find that it performs as well or better than the Pixel 6 that I upgraded from. --Camera-- The camera quality and zoom work great to get a solid picture of a target from 500ft away (I took a nice action shot of my kid from the audience of a performance). The selfie (or screen facing) camera is sufficient as well. I don't know that the megapixels matter much anymore because Google Pixel phones get access to built-in AI features that Google continually improves which help with blurry photos, or photo-bombers in the background, etc. --Battery-- Two things I'll note about the battery. One - it only dropped about 30% after "medium" use for a full day. This means almost constant text messages, a few hours of social media (some videos), about 60 minutes of phone calls, using bluetooth for 6 hours. This is fantastic and definitely exceeded my expectations. Two - this is probably well known, but it was very acute with the Pixel 8a. Once it's been wirelessly charged, it will lose it's charge much more quickly than by being charged via a wall outlet. My statistic of about 30% was from wall charging --Miscellaneous-- I've had Pixel phones for many generations, and I've loved how they continually add useful features. Back during the pandemic, unknown and unwanted callers became a real nuisance. That was when "Call Assist" got added to Pixel phones, where it would screen the caller first before passing them to you. It really prevents you from getting most junk calls. The same feature also helps when calling somewhere that puts you on hold - it waits on hold for you and then alerts you when a real person picks up. Another thing that I feel is the best feature but it won't ever get top billing - I had an employer once who required that I was running the latest Android security update at all times in order to have my mobile phone connect to work services. Google promises 7 years of updates for the Pixel 8a. I previously had to purchase a non "budget" version to get that long of a life of security updates. Finally - Face unlock. I've used fingerprint unlock for years which can be inconsistent and I'd end up having to type in my pin. Face unlock works really fast, so fast that I instinctively put my finger to unlock and it's already done unlocking for me. I trust that Google is doing the right thing and people can't hold up a picture of me to unlock - but I'm sure some security researcher somewhere is creating a YouTube video about that right now :) --Drawbacks-- My biggest (only?) complaint is how slippery the phone is. Both on the screen itself and the back. Definitely get yourself a case and maybe a screen protector will keep it from being so slippery. I often mistype my pin, and definitely have a lot of typos because my finger is sliding on the screen while typing. The back being slippery means I can't hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder. Sure, I could use a bluetooth headset (and usually do), but that's not my point.

Design I love the Pixel design language - rectangular camera bar contrasting against the color of the phone back. The camera bar is almost flush with the plastic back. This makes the phone feel smooth. I haven't had it long enough but it may help to prevent dust and dirt that would be attracted to the previous camera bar Google phones. But the camera bar also has a pointless seam so that will definitely gather dirt and dust. The rounded frame is comfortably weighted. However, I feel the phone is a bit to narrow. I have normal sized i suppose but the device is narrow enough to feel unwieldy for me. The matte finish of that plastic back also feels great. You wouldn't know it's plastic and might pass off for glass. I love the color options. I think green may be my favorite. Display Many are complaining that its almost impossible not to notice the large bezels. And the non-uniform bezel that is with a chin of the phone being a little longer than the forehead. I didn't have much of a problem with the bezels but I put a case on the phone and really don't notice them. The 6.1-inch 1080p display is clear enough and vibrant enough for the majority of content. I assume Google saved money by using a G-OLED panel rather than P-OLED on the Pixel 8a. They also used Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Gorilla Glass Victus. You may notice a differences with the competition lying side-by-side on a table, but the majority of people looking for a solid phone wouldn't notice. More important is the upgrade to a 120Hz panel that a good peak brightness and good peak HDR brightness ratings. Just make to enable smooth display because it's disabled by default. You can also enable developer settings and lock the phone at 120Hz, if you want to skip the auto refresh rate. Software and performance Pixel phones have been to come with their share of bugs. However, I haven't had that experience with this phone so far. I did receive one update so far - so far so good. I love the Pixel software experience. It's my favorite phone OS or "skin." It's simple, speedy, and looks better than ever. Google has some awesome ideas: — Now Playing, Hold For Me, Call Screen, voice message transcription, Face Unblur, Magic Eraser, Astrophotography, the list goes on. The features are honest to goodness everyday useful. The Pixel 8a's ancillary parts like speakers and haptic engine are not great but they're also not bad. The speakers seem pretty but then jump up in volume after 50 percent volume. It's an expected step back considering the tier of the phone and the price. The 8a's power button and volume rocker are thick and clicky and responsive. Google has promised this phone with the same seven years of software support it delivered on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. You'll get updates for years to come and hopefully many feature drops in the lifespan. It is concerning that the Tensor G3 chip is not a powerful chip. It's possible that the updates will slow the phone down enough that said updates will be worthless but only time will tell. The Pixel magic is due in large part to the their chip design so I guess you take good with the bad as earlish adopters. Camera The main lense is of my favorite on any phone for snapping photos. Takes your favorite nicely saturated and crisp photos. I don't miss a zoom lense too much since the main lense does pretty good up to 3x-4x. The ultra wide lense photos are a little soft, so is the front camera. They're passable. New lenses next year? The video quality is pretty good in good lighting. But the video suffers soon as lighting goes down to a certain level. The cameras focus quickly during snapshots or video recording. I really hate that their version of Live photos is lower quality and doesn't have audio to go with it. Battery life On average, I see around four to five hours of screen-on time. This is pretty normal for use on other phones. I have to push it harder to find out if the battery life will hold up. Decent or average battery life. It did hot once or twice which may be a Tensor chip issue or just usage. The phone still has 18W fast charging over PD and up to 7.5W wireless charging, but only assuming with a Pixel Stand. Otherwise, wireless charging is stuck at 5W. Would I recommend this phone? Yes. Do I still recommend it knowing that it's so similar to their flagship? Probably not. This phone exists in a time when Google's flagship is on sale very often for only $50 more or sometimes the same price. However, right now the 8A is still a great phone for the money. It's just a tough decision considering It's current pricing. Though I only see the other Pixel as it's only competition. I would buy a Pixel over any other phone at this price range. This phone integrates modern specifications with a familiar Google camera, all encased in a quality plastic package.

The Google Pixel 8A is a well-made phone with a premium feel, despite being lower priced. It has the same Tensor G3 CPU and many of the same features as the higher (and older) priced Pixel 8. It also comes in four color options. Performance is great, apps load quickly, and I didn’t have any issues. With a Pixel phone, you get Google’s version of Android, without any other manufacturers “fluff” on top of it. I think it makes for a cleaner experience. Google also commits to 7 years of software updates meaning this phone has the potential to last for several years. I’ve also found the battery life to be good enough for all day use. The screen does not disappoint. It’s 430 ppi, supports 120hz, with a peak brightness of 2000 nits. Content really pops on the OLED panel, and it looks every bit as good as anything I’ve seen on other flagship phones. There is an option called “Smooth Display” which makes animations smoother with the 120 refresh rate. The camera for a phone in this price range is really good, maybe too good. In my test shots, you’d be hard pressed to spot any issues, especially with good lighting. It doesn’t have the laser assisted focusing that the Pixel 8 has so it is a little slower to focus but most people will not notice. It also does not have a macro mode so I had trouble taking close up photos of small objects compared to my top of the line phone. Despite being a midrange phone you do get some of the best AI features that Google offers on Android, including “Best Take”, which allows you to take multiple pictures of a group or people for example, then use AI to swap the faces so that if one person has their eyes closed but the others look great you can simply swap that person. There is another one called “Sky” that allows you to simply change the look of the sky which can change the mood of your photo dramatically. While “Best Take” is impressive, I really like the “Magic Eraser” which allows you to simply tap on things that you don’t want in your photo to be remove automatically. For the most part it works really well, sometimes you see the artifacts as it tries to remove them sometimes you don’t. You also get access to Google’s Gemini which is their new experimental AI assistant. One cool feature the phone has is called “Circle To Search” which allows you to do a Google search on almost anything in any app. It’s a really great time saver when you want to “double-click” on something and get more information about it. I’d say the only downside is default storage, while decent at 128gb, may be a little light if you are someone who likes to play a lot of premium games and carry a large music or photo collection with you. You can upgrade to a 256gb Pixel 8A but it would have been great if the phone also had a microSD card slot for a cheap way to add more storage. Pros: - Tensor G3 - Flagship CPU - Excellent 6.1” OLED screen with 120hz - Great Camera - 64MP main and 13MP Ultrawide - Good battery life - WiFi 6E - IP67 water resistance - Fingerprint and Face Unlock - Next-gen AI features (Gemini and Photos) 7 years of software support Cons: - No microSD - No macro photo mode Overall - the Pixel 8A feels like a premium device, despite the midrange price. With a beautiful screen, great camera, and Google’s software with AI tricks, I think most users will find this phone to be more than capable for their needs.

Disappointing. We switched to a Samsung S24 instead.

This is my 4th Pixel phone, going back to the Pixel 2XL. I've always preferred Google's pure Android UI over other phone makers versions, and getting updates quickly and regularly is a big plus. In fact, the 8a is guaranteed 7 years worth of OS and Security updates! If you're not a power user with your phone and just want something that won't break the bank while still lasting years, this is it. Pros: - Great camera, but that's no surprise. Google has been putting great cameras with even better software in their phones for years. The 8a camera isn't as good as the 8, but it's so close most people won't notice. The camera in the 8 isn't $100+ better, put it that way. - AI features. You get the full compliment of Google's AI features which are really cool to see in action. - Bright screen that is responsive and buttery smooth with the 120hz refresh rate. - Smooth software that is responsive with Googles newest Tensor chip under the hood. - Coming from another Pixel, the setup was almost too easy. It wirelessly connected the 2 phones and transferred over all the settings and apps within minutes. Cons: - Battery life is good, and it should get you through the day, but that's about it. You'll need a charge at night. - Wireless charging, but not "fast" wireless charging. - Bezels - I get it, this is a budget phone, but I would love to see Google make an effort to get the bezels more in line with the regular Pixel. Overall: This is a great budget phone that offers 7 years of updates, which really future proofs this thing if you're a heavy user that burns through a phone every year or 2. The camera is great and it's loaded with features. Calls sound good, connectivity is good, and the UI is smooth and responsive. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants a solid phone that they don't need to worry about for 5+ years.

I'm not in love with this phone, but it does have a great camera and overall performs very well: at a fraction of the cost that flagship phones demand these days. My wife and I have both been Pixel users for the last 7+ years and this was the first Xa series that either of us had acquired. Right now we have a Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 and both of those phones, while small than the Pixel 7 Pro/Pixel 6 Pro are noticeably larger than this device. Not that small is bad: in fact I often find me wishing that my phone fit a little better into my pocket or was just a little slimmer in width so that my thumb easily reached across the whole keyboard in one-hand mode. The screen still looks beautiful to me: streaming movies or NBA games doesn't feel sub-premium in anyway. The camera is still amazing just like any other pixel that we've gotten and AI features like the magic eraser still work great. Some apps do seem to have issues that are model specific: for example I couldn't get facebook messenger to work and when looking in Play Store I saw no reviews for my device: The user base is definitely smaller for 8a then the 8/8Pro, so it wouldn't surprise me if funky app behavior is an ongoing theme where sometimes they don't work exactly perfect. That being said: if you have a phone that is a couple years old the specs and real world experience of this phone is going to be better then what you currently have, and its just a fraction of the cost of the premium phones: a real bargain find.

I have been moving up the "A" line starting with the Pizel 4a5g. Eaxh one is an improvement over rhe last one. The 8a replaced the 7a that I had been using for the last year. The look almost identical excpt the 8a has rounded corners versus the more square 7a. Feature wise the biggiea are the 8a screen is twice as bright is is great in the sun. The camera aenaors are identical but the 8a added most of the 8 and 8Pro camera features that the 7a lacks. The bump fo the 90hz to 120hz screen is noticable but it isn't huge. Battwry life is so much better. OA and security updates bumped from 5 years to 7 which is fantastic (I atill had 4 years left on the 7a). The 8a is a fine upgrade to the 7a. However if you find a 7a significantly less and don't need the upgrades you can pick one up and still have a great phone.

The battery life is better than 4a. Camera is excellent forr my need. Colors are brilliant when needed. The right size for me.

I like mostly the screen clarity, audio and battery life.

Love the phone. Simple interface. Good camera and Arrived on time.

Previously had pixel 6 and decided to grab this during the promo. The only differences I've noticed so far are the slow charging rate and how much smaller the screen is compared to the pixel 6 I previously owned. This has been my daily driver for about a week now. So far so good, given the price tag.