The new Google Pixel 6a costs $749(or US $499) which makes it a mid-range budget phone of the Pixel family. For context, the Pixel 6 goes for $999 and the Pixel 6 Pro starts at $1,299. So while you might think that Google cut a hell of a lot out of the Pixel 6a to get to that price, the differences don’t equate to a compromised experience. In fact, quite the opposite. No other phone I’ve ever had really made me feel like I got a steal of a deal. Thanks to the same Tensor Core CPU from the more expensive 6 & 6 Pro that is paired with the latest Android 13, excellent photos and a host of Google smarts, this little phone delivers above and beyond it’s price tag.
Google Pixel 6a Review
“This is so light” was my first impression when I held the Pixel 6a. Compared to my behomoth iPhone 13 Pro Max, the Pixel 6a feels positively refreshing in the hand. Much of that light weight is a result of Google using plastics for the chassis instead of expensive glass and metal. This doesn’t mean the 6a is cheap feeling or anything.
It feels very well built, smooth and comfortable in the hand. Using plastic means you don’t get wireless Qi charging but the phone is at least still IP67 water and dust resistant. The design of the 6a is line with its siblings defined by the rectangular shape, camera pinhole and camera slab housing that runs across the top back of the phone. You get three color options; Sage, Chalk and Charcoal which is what I got for review.
The display is a 6.1-inch FHD+ display of the OLED variety which means you’re getting inky blacks and popping colors. It also gets reasonably bright and I never had any issues viewing the phone outdoors in the brilliant Queensland sun. For the movies and streaming lovers, the 6a supports HDR which is great for some Netflix or Disney+ on the go.
The tech nerds among us will be disappointed with the pedestrian 60Hz refresh rate which does compromise the smoothness of scrolling and fluidity of animations. If you’ve never used a 90Hz or 120 Hz display before, you won’t notice anything but coming from my iPhone 13 Pro Max, I did. But one advantage the 6a has over Apple’s best is a finger print scanner under the display. It’s pretty good and quick enough but it does require very deliberate presses so don’t expect to brush your finger on it and unlock.
When it comes to general performance, the 6a really shines. In addition to that powerful Tensor Core processor, the phone comes with 6GB of memory and 128GB of very fast UFS 3.1 storage which is plenty for most people. Launching and multitasking apps is smooth and snappy without apps needing to reload. The Google Tensor Core processor runs very well and I was able to play modern games like Diablo Immortal with high and smooth framerates without issue. It’s only when recording video at 4K that I noticed the phone getting very warm, very quickly but nowhere else.
Android 13 runs beautifully on the 6a too. I got the latest update just a week after receiving my review unit and the upgrade was quick and easy. This is yet another benefit if you love to have the latest and greatest Android software. Google’s implementation is just fluid, responsive and actually quite enjoyable. I love the thoughtfulness, the delightful animations and all the tricks laden throughout the OS.
Everyday things like rich text messages, app management, Google assistant integrations is delightful thanks to the speed and wonderful animations. You have some cool options for theming with automatic color palettes generated from your choice of wallpaper. Notifications on Android 13 are miles ahead of iOS 16 which is still a ridiculous mess. The phone has plenty of smarts to suggest apps that you frequently use or even remove apps that haven’t been used for a long time. There are far too many great features to go into in this review but suffice to say, it’s the best Android experience I’ve had to date and I’m not ashamed to say I really prefer it to iOS.
All this translates into very good battery life. The Pixel 6a typically lasted a day and half of regular usage which included streaming Spotify to my Bluetooth devices, lots of email and WhatsApp messaging, and several hours watching Instagram reels. The Pixel 6a learns your usage patterns and adjusts accordingly so battery life actually improves over time. If you do find yourself in a pinch, there’s a handy Extreme Battery Saver mode that can theoretically give you 72 hours on a full charge. It does this by dialling back a lot of power consuming functions and even turning the screen grey scale.
Charging the Pixel 6a is done via USB Type-C and it supports Fast Charge that will get you up to 50% in under 30min if you use a compatible charger. Unfortunately, the Pixel 6a continues the frustrating tradition of not shipping with a charger in the box however, Google does sell 30W fast chargers for an additional $45.
Lastly, we gotta talk cameras because for years, Google’s Pixel phones have been renowned for their mind-blowing computational photography. Well, I’m pleased to say that hasn’t changed here. The Pixel 6a takes terrific photos almost all the time. The main cameras on the back are a 12.2MP dual pixel wide camera which has been in service for a few Pixel generations and could do with an upgrade but we’ll see that in the Pixel 7 coming in October. The second lens is a 12 MP ultrawide and both have optical and electronic image stabilisation. On the front, hidden behind the pinhole cutout is an 8 MP selfie camera.
All three lenses take great shots and that famous point and click to get amazing results returns with the Pixel 6a. Photos have that signature Pixel look — they are sharp, have great contrast and rich colors. Google has made a big deal about how its new cameras correctly process non-caucasian skin tones and as a very dark brown man, I’m the perfect customer. Sadly, I can’t say that the 6a did anything significantly better with my tones compared to my iPhone. But then again, I take more photos of products and places than I do of people. Considering that all this is algorithm based, you can expect it to keep getting better and better.
Night mode is also still a thing although the competition have since caught up. I prefer the more natural colors of night shots from my iPhone than the Pixel though. Portrait mode is also still one of the best and Google’s new algorithms are better than ever. The edge detection is quite impressive.
Google has added a ton of new computational tricks to make sure you always get the best photo with least effort. The new magic Eraser is likely the most exciting since it allows you to quickly erase unwanted people or objects from your photos after you’ve taken them. All this in seconds thanks to that Tensor Core processor. It’s quite impressive though I quickly forgot about it after a few days. Still, it’s good to know its there especially since it can work on pictures after the fact.
Video recording on the Pixel 6a is less impressive than photography though. This has typically been a weakness with Pixel phones for ages now so it’s disappointing that Google hasn’t resolved this yet. The phone is capable of video recording at 4K and 1080p at 30 or 60FPS which would be impressive if the results were too. The 6a also has both optical and electronic video stabilisation which is pretty darn good. Google includes a special Cinematic pan mode for even better stabilisation of hand.
Sadly, a lot of the video I recorded which looks fine on the phone but playing back on a larger display reveals a lot of strange digital artefacts and odd frame skips or hiccups. Colors and exposure were wildly different between the same scenes. This makes the 6a less reliable for filmmaking than the iPhone which is leagues ahead. Additionally, the phone gets very hot after just a few minutes of 4K recording which I wasn’t willing to put to the test for extended recording.
So if mobile videography is important to you, the Pixel 6a isn’t the phone for you and you should turn your gaze to an iPhone instead.
Verdict
I really like the new Google Pixel 6a. It’s a fantastic little phone that does a whole lot of things better than it’s price would suggest. I’ve enjoyed using it everyday thanks to the excellent hardware and software. Google has packed so much value, smarts and performance into this budget phone that it qualifies as a flagship killer. It just works which isn’t something I’ve been able to say about Pixel phones in the past. Those always felt like some niche phone for Android nerds. This phone feels like the little peoples phone. The price is right and the performance is excellent. The only reason I wouldn’t recommend this phone is if video content creation is important to you. But if you don’t have $1000 or more to spend but still want an excellent Android phone, don’t look any further.
