Google’s Pixel 8a is arguably the best “budget smartphone” of the year thanks to its innovative use of AI and attractive price of $549.
The A-series Pixel phones typically combine the best parts of the flagship models into a cheaper version. That usually means dropping one of the camera lenses, using cheaper materials for the body, and having less storage. But with the 8a, Google has kept all of the best software tools, so you get features like the Magic Eraser for significantly less money.
Inside, the 8a has the same Tensor G3 chipset as the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, with 8GB of RAM. You can choose between 128GB or 256GB of storage, and the battery is larger than the Pixel 7a at 4492mAh. Charging speeds are still 18W when plugged in and 7.5W when wirelessly charging.
Google Pixel 8a review
Google Pixel 8a: Design
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- Current ad
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Under the screen fingerprint reader
Compared to the Pixel 8, the 8a has some modest changes. The “a” models always come with small improvements and surprises, as they usually launch around six months later. These are mostly for the better, but sometimes for the worse. However, we’re happy to report that the 8a is a more aesthetically pleasing handset, with rounder edges and cleaner lines. And it’s also 6g lighter than the 7a.
The horizontal camera bar is still a long aluminum plate that runs across the plastic back cover, but it gets refined every year and the Pixel 8a’s version doesn’t protrude quite as much as the 8 or 7a.
There’s a power button and volume rocker on the right side, a USB-C port at the bottom, and a SIM tray on the bottom left. There’s no space for a microSD card or 3.5mm headphone jack, and it comes in four colors: Obsidian (black), Bay (blue), Aloe (green), or Porcelain, like our review unit.
Technical data
Price: 549 $
Screen size: 6.1 inches
Weight:188g
Memory: 8GB
Battery life: 23 hours+
Storage: 128GB or 256GB
Guarantee: 1 year
Operating system: Android14
Advertisement: OLED, 120 Hz, 1080 x 2400 pixels
CPUs: Google Tensor G3 chip (4 nm), Nona-Core 1 x 3.0 GHz Cortex-X3
Ports: USB C
Dimensions (HxWxD): 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm
There’s an under-screen fingerprint reader here too. In the past, this feature hasn’t worked very well on Pixel phones, and again, it’s not perfect. Any slight moisture on your finger or thumb can mess up this system, and sometimes it just won’t work, no matter how dry your finger is. You’ll be thankful for the face unlock feature, which seems to work without a hitch.
For photography, the 8a has the same camera setup as the 7a, with two rear lenses – a 64MP main lens and a 13MP ultra-wide-angle lens. There’s also a 13MP selfie lens built into the display. The display itself is an OLED panel with a resolution of 2400 x 1080. The main difference is the “Actua” display, which has a higher refresh rate than previous Pixel models, allowing the 8a to reach up to 120Hz. For comparison, the 7a only had 90Hz.
Google Pixel 8a: Camera and photography
- Rich in colors and details
- 13 megapixel ultra wide angle lens
- 64 megapixel main lens
Considering its price, the Pixel 8a’s photography capabilities are fantastic. The 64MP main lens captures colorful and detailed images, and even when shooting towards the sun, small details are still captured. The additional lens is also high quality: a 13MP ultra-wide lens that uses the best of the main lens to create detailed wide-angle images.
Shots of the sky are clear and sharp, with very little noise. In the morning, we were able to capture fairly good images of a translucent moon. There is a limit to how much detail you can capture from above, as there is no telephoto lens and maximum zoom makes everything blurry – too blurry for the AI software to correct. A clear night with a full moon or more stars visible will likely produce better results. There were some Pixel 8a users in northern cities in the UK who were able to capture high-quality images of the Aurora Borealis not too long ago.
You might be sick of hearing about “AI” all the time, as it’s everywhere, but the Pixel 8a’s artificial intelligence software is worth your time, especially if you love point-and-shoot photography and enjoy playing around with various after effects. Anything you capture with the main image will be “enhanced” within about 20 seconds of pressing the shutter button. Blurry edges will be smoothed out, details will be ironed out, and in some cases you’ll get options for generative AI edits.
There’s a “Best Take” that’s particularly good for portraits and group shots of people, which essentially uses generative AI to present you with different or better facial expressions, so that everyone is smiling rather than, for example, one person not looking at the camera or being expressionless.
Best Take is included in the tools section, along with the now legendary Magic Eraser and the newer Magic Audio Eraser, which removes unwanted audio from videos. For videos in general, the setup is exactly the same as the Pixel 7a, in that you can record at 4K, up to 60 frames per second, or 1080p at up to 240 frames per second.
Google Pixel 8a: Specifications and performance
- The fingerprint reader is not seamless
- Over 23 hours of battery life
- Support for Google’s Gemini Nano AI model
The 8a has the same Tensor G3 chip as the 8, so it should come as no surprise that its performance is largely the same. While other mobile processors, like the iPhone A17 Bionic, might get higher benchmark scores, the Tensor is more about directing power where it’s needed so your battery is optimized, your AI features run smoothly, and nothing really goes to waste. In Geekbench 5, the 8a scored 1,616 for single-core and 4,163 for multi-threaded workloads, almost identical to the Pixel 8 and, as we said, well behind the iPhone 15.
We noticed some lag when opening apps, and the fingerprint reader doesn’t work as smoothly as it could. Overall, though, the Pixel 8a’s performance is much better than you’d expect from a mid-range device.
In addition, the Pixel 8a also supports Google’s Gemini Nano AI model. This isn’t enabled by default; annoyingly, you have to enable developer options in the settings. Once it’s up and running, however, your device will have on-device AI features like intelligent and contextual Smart Replies and transcript summaries. More features will be added in the coming months and years, but for now, it’s very basic stuff – all of which are still pretty useful.
The 8a’s battery is larger than the 7a’s, but performance is nearly identical. In a looped video test, the 8a lasted just under 24 hours. But in practice, we barely used up the 4492mAh battery’s capacity, no matter how far we drove and how long we were out. The 8a has staying power and can last an entire night of stargazing if needed. If you use the photo editing tools and stream a lot of content, the power consumption will almost double, but we found that it still lasted beyond a typical workday.
Should you buy the Google Pixel 8a?
It’s worth remembering that the Pixel 8a is a “budget” smartphone, as there are parts of it that perform and feel at a much more premium level. The camera setup is very impressive, the AI features are eye-catching, and the battery keeps going and going. The only downside is the display, but that’s mostly because there are better screens in this price range. However, for under $500, you won’t find a better camera setup.
Another plus of the Pixel 8a is that users get seven years of software updates and security patches – just like the 8 and 8 Pro. That’s very unusual for a sub-$500 smartphone, making the Pixel 8a something of a long-term investment rather than just a device you can use every day for two years or 18 months. That’s affordable A-grade quality.
If the Google Pixel 8a is not for you
If you like Google’s Pixel lineup but want more higher resolution lenses, then the Google Pixel 8 or Google Pixel 8 Pro is for you. However, if you’re heavily into Apple’s iOS, the iPhone 15 is the cheapest alternative and offers much of the camera performance of last year’s Pro model. However, there are cheaper options if you look at older and refurbished models that can offer similar performance, such as Huawei’s P30 Pro.
