Google Pixel 8a Review: A $500 AI Phone
What's up S'mores, I'm Shannon Morse! Welcome to my YouTube Channel! Today, we're diving into the brand-new Google Pixel 8a. I did purchase one for myself with expedited shipping so I’d receive it as early as possible, but I also received a TeamPixel 8a a little after my purchased one was delivered, so thank you #TeamPixel for the #GiftFromGoogle.
So, a lot of people are wondering if this thing is worth $500? Well, I bought one, but of course, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. That just means I wanted to get this thing in as early as possible because I had a little flight out to Cabo to catch - so I took it with me.
This is the Pixel 8a
First things first, let's talk price and color options. The Pixel 8a comes in at a pretty good price point, at $499 for 128GB or $559 for 256GB. You can snag it in four colors: Those are Aloe, Bay, Porcelain, and Obsidian. I have the Aloe color which is really pretty - it’s really eye catching. I like it. Obsidian is the only one available at 256GB - I dislike when the pretty colors aren’t available at the higher spec.
Google kept the box pretty standard: you get the Pixel 8a, a 1-meter USB-C to C cable, a Quick Switch Adapter, a SIM tool, and some documentation. The release date was just last week - I got it on May 13th, so it's fresh off the UPS truck at time of recording - I’ve had it for about a week and a half as of today.
Design
The Pixel 8a feels nice in hand. Not as premium as the 8 or 8 Pro, but very well made. It’s got a sleek matte composite back with a matte aluminum frame. The dimensions are 6 inches in height, 2.9 inches in width, and 0.4 inches in depth, and it weighs in at just 6.6 ounces which is very lightweight and it’s a smol boi. You’ll find the usual array of ports and buttons: USB Type-C 3.2 port at the bottom, power button and volume rockers on the right side, and the SIM card slot on the left. The speakers are dual stereo, offering a decent audio experience - on par with other phones I’ve tested in this price point.
It’s IP67 waterproof too! That’s great - I’m happy to see that. I was able to take this thing in a pool and dunk it underwater with no issues. It did fine when getting splashed, though the screen will be a bit glitchy while it’s wet and the charging port will warn you of exposure to moisture. Compared to the OnePlus 12R - same price point - that phone can’t be submerged.
Display
Speaking of the screen: The Pixel 8a sports a 6.1-inch Actua display, which is vibrant and sharp. It’s got a resolution of 2400 x 1080 with a PPI of 430. The brightness peaks at 1400 nits (HDR) and up to 2000 nits (peak brightness), so visibility in bright sunlight shouldn’t be an issue. It’s hard to capture that on camera because of exposure settings but I was able to use it clearly in daylight. The more I use it, the less I’m bothered by those huge bezels I’d mentioned in my first impressions video. Yes, they’re huge - yes, the screen is small compared to my big $1000 phones. But it’s comfortable to hold and the bezels do have the benefit of making it easier to use swipe gestures while having a case on the phone. It’s also got an always-on display. It runs at a smooth 120Hz but you do need to go into your settings and enable Smooth Display to take advantage of that. It’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
Cameras
Alright, the cameras. The Pixel 8a packs a dual rear camera setup: a 64 MP Quad PD wide camera, along with a 13 MP ultrawide lens. For video, you can record in 4K at 30fps and 60fps, with slow-mo support up to 240fps and timelapse options.
The front camera is a 13 MP shooter, making it great for group selfies. Similar to the rear camera, it’s packed with features and can record in 4K at 30fps.
Taking a look at my photography and video examples: The main 64MP camera gives you some color rich tones, great clear photos, and crisp details. I was taking photos in shadows with bright backgrounds and it did a great job leveling out the exposure so nothing looked dark or overexposed. I also really loved the natural bokeh blur you can get with this main lens - these photos were not taken in Portrait mode.
Food photography and photos of landscapes all look really nice, especially in daylight. You do get some noise introduced when taking these photos in the evening or at night, but overall the photos look great.
Taking photos of moving targets - I would suggest using top shot in the google camera app for these, and taking multiple photos, because yes, some will be blurry - it wasn’t fast enough to capture every photo of this fur baby. But when it did get a good clear photo, it looked great.
Wide angle at dusk - yes, it needs some lens correction at the edges, but it was color accurate, though details in the palm trees were lost and there is some noise. Using the main lens at dusk brought out a lot more detail.
Zoom will get ya 5x zoom recording and 8x zoom for photography. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you this but there is actually a little iguana on that rock but the zoom quality is too muddy to tell. It couldn’t really distinguish the iguana from the rest of the image.
Night time photography and night sight did well enough for social media. Photos did have some noise, but the colors are warm and it still picked up a lot of little details, that goes for both front and rear facing lenses.
The front facing camera is also really clear, everyone is in focus even if our distance is not equal - he’s a bit farther away. Photos were also clear and sharp.
The video recording stabilization left a lot to be desired, like for some reason it autocorrected my angle so the horizon was slanted - that was weird. When walking I was definitely on an uneven surface but the image was a bit disjointed and had sudden movements which didn’t align with my actual movements. It seemed kind of bouncy and all over the place. But audio was pretty exceptional and can be even better with Google’s Audio Eraser tool.
So based on my use - it’s not perfect, zoom and low light captures could be better. Daylight usage is lovely.
Internal Components
Under the hood, the Pixel 8a is powered by the Google Tensor G3 chipset, paired with 8GB of LPDDR5x RAM and options for 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There’s no SD card support of course, and I would have preferred more storage options. I do have some test scores from 3D Mark, showing that this would be considered mid grade in terms of power.
UI (User Interface)
Google’s UI is clean and intuitive. The Pixel 8a runs on Android 14, mine had some updates available right out of the box. There’s minimal bloatware, which I always appreciate. Plus, there are some fun features integrated into this phone using AI, such as the videography and photography tools, Circle to Search, which I’ve actually used a lot, in Messages there’s this AI assistant called Gemini, instant translations (which, I don’t know a lick of Spanish so this was 100% useful in Cabo), call screening and hold for me for phone calls, lots more. It’s kind of amazing that you get all of these new features in a $500 phone now so you don’t necessarily need to get the more expensive 8 or 8 Pro.
Of course, if you don’t wanna use any of those, you don’t have to.
Security
Security-wise, you’ve got face unlock and an under-display fingerprint sensor. I found both to work well. They’re both quick and responsive. 7 years of updates is also included and it’s using the Titan M2 security chip.
Connectivity
Connectivity options are robust: Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. I connected these to my Pixel Buds and my Samsung Galaxy Buds - both of which had excellent connections.
Audio
In terms of audio, it’s pretty solid with stereo speakers and support for high-quality Bluetooth codecs. There are also two microphones with noise suppression. You can definitely tell how well it suppresses noise when you record videos or you’re talking on the phone with someone and they can clearly hear you. I had a hard time hearing my mom out of the speaker when I called her though so it would be nice if I could boost the audio a little more when I’m in a noisy environment.
Battery
Battery life is another strong point. The Pixel 8a supports 24+ hours of battery life, and up to 72 hours with Extreme Battery Saver. Now, in a real world scenario, I had 100% battery at 10am, and finally got it down to 30% at 11pm, so 13 hours in. With about 7 hours of screen on time.
It has a typical battery capacity of 4492 mAh, supports fast charging, and it is Qi-certified for wireless charging. Somehow that part slipped my mind and I was pretty happy to see that I can wirelessly charge this phone - oftentimes that’s one of the features that is removed from cheaper phones.
Overall Impressions
So, what’s the verdict? The Google Pixel 8a offers a lot of bang for your buck. It’s got a small, compact design, great display if you can get over those bezels, good camera capabilities, could be better, and solid performance. I don’t really consider any of these to be deal breakers. And it’s $200 cheaper than a Pixel 8 but still packs in all those cool new AI capabilities. Overall, it’s a fantastic option in its price range.
My Recommendation
Should you buy it? If you’re looking for a reliable, mid-range phone with a clean Android experience and great AI features, the Pixel 8a is definitely worth considering.
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