Google pixel 7a review

The Google Pixel 7a rather than the Pixel 7. That roughly sums up our initial impressions of Google’s newest a-series smartphone, and we’re here with the entire review to determine how accurate that original evaluation was.

Really, it’s a rather obvious conclusion that anyone could reach by simply reading the specifications and, at the same time, the pricing list. What’s not to like about the 7a? It comes in at a not-insignificant $100/€100 less than any previous product with a “a” in its name, and it gets closer to the “high-end” versions than any other model with a “a” in its name. But let’s not announce the result prior to the analysis.

The 7a makes strides in a few crucial areas where the 6a fell short. The replacement of the outdated 60Hz display from the previous model with a 90Hz one may be the most significant change. Although the most of the competition is currently at 120Hz, the 7a’s shift from 60 to 90 is the most obvious from a usability standpoint, so perhaps we can overlook this.

Specifications

• Body: 152.0×72.9×9.0mm, 194g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), aluminum frame, plastic back; IP67 dust/water resistant (up to 1m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.1″ OLED, HDR, 90Hz, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 429ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Google Tensor G2 (5 nm): Octa-core (2×2.85 GHz Cortex-X1 & 2×2.35 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G710 MP7.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 13.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.73″, 0.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, 20mm (ultrawide), 1.12µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4385mAh; 18W wired, PD3.0, 7.5W wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 6e; BT 5.3; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

In addition, the camera system is improved. The basic 12.2MP primary unit of the 6a is replaced with a new 64MP Quad Bayer one; despite the smaller sensor, this has more pixels than the Pixel 7’s 50MP resolution. In a similar vein, despite having a smaller sensor, the 13MP ultrawide is likewise greater resolution (though only barely) than the ones on the 6a and the 7. Since only the 7 Pro has autofocusing ultrawide, the 7a doesn’t truly lose ground to the 7 in this comparison because it lacks AF. Another 13MP device, the selfie camera is nominally better equipped than its siblings.

Wireless charging is a notable addition to the a-series feature set. You may laugh at the 7.5W throughput, but you won’t likely be rushing when you’re asleep. Furthermore, Pixels aren’t exactly recognised for their quick charging capabilities.

The Tensor G2 chipset that comes with the 7 and the 7a are identical. Although it is rather underpowered in comparison to other top-tier SoCs that the 7 is up against, it appears much better in the context of the 7a.

Because of its somewhat smaller display and lower maximum refresh rate, the 7a may manage a few more minutes of battery life than the other two versions. We’ll have to wait and see if less actually proves to be more in this case.

The 7a’s IP rating is lower than the 7, however the IP67 should be just as good as the 7’s IP68 for that one unexpected bathroom dunk. The fact that there is only a 128GB storage option isn’t as simple to ignore, though; perhaps the 256GB version is still the biggest advantage the 7 has in this comparison.

Unboxing Google Pixel 7a

From some businesses, such Google, we’ve grown to expect minimal bundles. So it comes as no surprise that the Pixel 7a comes packaged in a box that is no bigger than the phone itself. The phone-like image on the lid of the two-piece white cardboard container is color-matched to the actual item within.

A USB-C cable and USB-C male to USB-A female adaptor are included in the contents—standard Google fare. Although there is no charger inside, some markets may include Google’s 30W adapter in the pricing (in its own separate retail packing); this was the case with our German evaluation device. In contrast to the Google online store, we did purchase ours from a third-party merchant, and not all of them seem to be offering the same promotion. What we’re trying to communicate is that you might have to make your own charger.

While the Pixel 7a’s charger predicament is not unique to it, many rivals in the market do include adapters in the package. Also not unheard of is a protective case that comes packaged. Perhaps a customer looking for a 7a would value receiving a little bit more for their money.

Design

The Pixel 7a abandons the styling of the previous a-series generation in favour of emulating the more expensive Pixel Sevens. As a result, the camera strip and the back panel’s two-tone design are no longer there, and their place has been taken with a single colour in a complementary shade for both “pieces.”

Compared to the 7, the 7a does come in a few different hues, albeit the Snow one from the image above is a common one. The ‘black’ colour here is called Charcoal, and it is a few shades paler than the Obsidian of the 7. The 7a comes in a ‘blue’ Sea colouring, as seen on our review unit, as opposed to the ‘green’ Lemongrass of the 7. And while all three of the aforementioned variations of the 7a are offered through Google’s website and other merchants, a fourth colorway known as Coral is only offered by Google’s own store.

Even while the 7a’s back resembles the 7’s in every manner, there are a few key differences. One is that the camera strip is still satin-finished aluminium, but it is linked to the back cover rather than being a single piece with the phone’s midframe. Contrary to the glass of the 7, that rear cover is made of plastic.

Whatever you decide, choosing between glass and plastic has advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of plastic is that it is less likely to shatter in the event of a drop. From that standpoint, the 7a might be a better match for the clumsier sorts. Of course, scratching is a very separate topic and one where plastic does not fare well.

The 7a is rated to withstand down to 1m underwater for as long as 30mins and not the 7’s 1.5m (that’s the difference between IP67 and IP68), so it may not be as good as the 7’s but is still fairly sturdy in that regard.

Even while the material choice isn’t inherently wrong and the 7a’s plastic construction doesn’t make it look worse than the 7, there’s something about the way the back panel connects to the frame that isn’t quite right. It feels slightly scratchy when you run your finger from the frame into the panel; it won’t injure you, but it’s strange.

In contrast to the 7 Pro’s shiny rails, the Pixel 7’s frame is still made of aluminium and has the same non-glossy satin finish. The hardware controls are the same as on any current Google phone, which means that the power key and volume rocker are arranged in the opposite direction from pretty much every other phone—power is above volume. Technically speaking, that isn’t even a power key by itself; it’s the Google Assistant button; we’re simply old.

The buttons click positively, if a little stiffly. They are positioned such that they are constantly within hand’s reach for operation.

Except for the bottom, where there is just a single off-center antenna line to the right of the USB-C connector, the antenna lines on the frame are all symmetrical from left to right.

A pair of mesh-covered slots are also located on the bottom; the left one is the primary mic’s input, while the right one is the outlet for the bottom speaker. The card tray is located on the left side, while the top has a single microphone pinhole.

As we approach the front of the Pixel 7a, the 6.1-inch display is what greets us. What stands out right away is how thick the bezels around it are; yes, the small screen magnifies their thickness, but they weren’t really that thin to begin with. The black borders on the Pixel 7 are undoubtedly thinner.

The Pixel 7a’s fingerprint scanner is placed a good 4 cm up into the display, right where your thumb would normally land. This positioning is faultless. In our testing, it performed as quickly and dependably as on a 7 or 7 Pro. The ultrasonic Galaxy readers might be slightly superior, but the 7a didn’t hold up unlocks for us.

You can’t choose between the 7 and 7a merely on the basis of their flat displays because both models have them. The 7a, however, does make a case for itself when viewed from the perspective of yet another usability factor – it’s the smaller handset.

However, the entire pocketability advantage of the 7a is more of a perception. The 7a is only a fraction of a millimetre shorter in height, which is the major difference. The 7a is actually little thicker and scarcely thinner than the 7. The bezels obstruct what you may expect to be a more noticeable physical difference caused by the display diagonal difference of 6.1″ vs. 6.3″.

The 7a isn’t significantly lighter either. It weighs roughly the same as the 7 (194g), which weighs 197g. The 7a is noticeably heavier than the 6a’s 178g, which is kind of a downgrade for the lineup—basically, there is no longer a lightweight current Pixel. No, it doesn’t make the 6a any less out of date simply because it’s still accessible.

We might have been too harsh in our critique, which might not have been fair to the 7a. It still functions reasonably well with just one hand, slightly better than the 7. Simply put, it’s not a significant enough benefit to stand alone as a selling argument.

The Pixel 7a appearance is instantly recognisable as part of the Pixel family, making it appealing to the proper demographic. Despite the fact that it has started to appear more frequently, the dust and water resistance is welcomed because it is not guaranteed at this price. While it’s still the shortest Pixel, the bezels do take away some points from the front’s poshness, and it’s not exactly tiny.

Display

The Pixel 7a keeps the old model’s display diagonal at 6.1 inches, which is just a hair smaller than the Pixel 7’s 6.3 inches. A 20:9 aspect ratio and 1,080×2,400 pixels produce a pixel density of 429 ppi.

The ‘a’ model now receives a higher-than-average refresh rate, which has been a long overdue change. In terms of absolute value, it’s only sort of ‘high’ because the 7a settles for 90Hz whereas even midrangers from the majority of businesses now use 120Hz panels. However, the Pixel 7 (regular) also has a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz, so expecting the 7a to exceed that is unrealistic. We’ll emphasise that the transition from 60Hz to 90Hz is easier to feel than the one from 90Hz to 120Hz from the standpoint of the user experience, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Pixel 7a lags behind the competition in this area.

But in terms of maximum brightness, it stands out from the competition. The Motorola Edge 40 comes close, but our measurement of 1,070 nits with adaptive brightness enabled is about as high as you can get for the money. The somewhat less than 500 nits you can manually attain is about standard for a contemporary OLED display.

Color Accuracy

The 7a handles colour reproduction in the same straightforward manner as Pixels; there are only two modes and no sliders for additional fine-tuning. The DCI-P3 test swatches performed pretty well (but not amazing) in terms of overall colour accuracy when using the default Adaptive mode, which is the one for vivid colours and a wide colour gamut.

It’s notable that, in contrast to the great majority of phone displays, the default setting doesn’t have a strong bluish tinge and the white point is almost ideal, making the lack of temperature adjustment irrelevant.

The white point in Natural mode follows a similar pattern, except that it is likewise correctly accurate for the sRGB content that it has been tuned for.

HDR and Streaming

The 7a supports HDR10 and HDR10+ much like the 7 and 7 Pro, but does not support Dolby Vision (which is not a deal-breaker, especially for this class). Not all phones with HDR capability can truly make that claim, but the Pixel 7a can stream HDR material from well-known websites like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video. HDR content looks stunning with vibrant colours and respect for the original content’s brightness level.

Because of the Widevine L1 certification, DRM-protected content is also available in 1080p.

Refresh rate

The 7a has the same HRR control as the Pixel7, and it’s rather straightforward: when you touch the screen, the refresh rate increases to 90Hz; when you let the screen sit inactive for a short period of time, the system reduces it to 60Hz. I’m done now.

Even if you’re engaging with video players and streaming apps, the refresh rate stays at 90Hz. However, when you’re watching a video and aren’t touching the screen, the refresh rate drops to 60Hz.

A continuous refresh rate of 90Hz is provided for games that support high frame rates.

If you wish to save battery life, you can reduce the refresh rate to 60Hz by turning off the “Smooth Display” toggle in the settings. However, based on our own observations, the battery life difference between 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rates is minimal.

Google pixel 7a Battery Life

The battery of the Pixel 7a is listed at 4,385mAh, which is 30mAh greater than the Pixel 7 but 25mAh less than the Pixel 6a. Competitors like the Motorola Edge 40 and Nothing Phone (1) are comparable, but the Galaxy A54 has a little higher battery life because to its 5,000mAh capacity.

The Pixel 7a delivered mediocre scores in our testing, with standby and voice call longevity being below average. In the screen-on tests, where the roughly 15 hours on our Wi-Fi script are as good as on rivals but the 18:12 hours of looping films is a little bit below the competition, but still strong, it did partially atone for its shortcomings. The Pixel 7a’s overall Endurance rating comes out to 76h.

The ‘large’ Pixels don’t excel at charging quickly, and the Pixel 7a is still one notch below them in this regard. In our tests, the power metre actually peaked at 18.7W when using Google’s official 30W adaptor, which is sort of a win as Google only provides a maximum power rating of 18W.

However, the Pixel 7a ultimately provided somewhat subpar results for charging speed, with only 36% displaying in the battery indicator at the halfway point. It took little under two hours to go from flat to 100%, then another 20 minutes of trickle charging was needed to achieve a stated “full” state. These findings place the 7a among the slowest charging smartphones, especially in terms of value.

The 7a supports wireless charging, which is a first for a Pixel ‘a’ model. The maximum power the 7a can handle is not mentioned in the official specs or on the WPC website, however the internet seems to have agreed on 7.5W. Whatever the precise figure, it won’t matter a lot if you overnight your phone, which is, in our opinion, the main application for wireless charging.

Speaker Test

The Pixel 7a’s speaker setup is the standard hybrid stereo configuration, with the earpiece serving as the second channel and the “main” unit blasting out the bottom of the phone. In portrait mode, the top speaker is given the left channel; in landscape mode, the channels are changed to correspond to the real orientation.

The opposite channel’s track will also be played over both speakers, albeit at a considerably lower volume. Although the difference in volume between the bottom and top speakers is minor, you cannot tell the difference when listening to real-world audio.

The Pixel 7a and the 7 both received a ‘Good’ rating for loudness; however, the 7 Pro received a higher rating. Interestingly, although having equal scores, the 7 and 7a generate a somewhat distinct sound, with the 7a producing the ‘fuller’ sound. Although it’s not the best pair of speakers, it is among the better values.

Software

The 7a is the simplest way to join that club. The software is one of the key reasons to get a Pixel. Other manufacturers provide a “stock” Android experience, but the Pixel approach is unique. You get a simplified user interface without a lot of customisation, but with some Pixel-only features that set Google products apart.

The 7a naturally runs the most recent version of Android, 13, which brings us to the following significant benefit: updates. The business guarantees at least three years of major Android upgrades and five years of security fixes for its Pixel phones, which deliver the fastest Android updates on the market.

If you are used to the stock Android appearance, you will quickly feel at home. There is still no toggle for adaptive brightness, a long-standing oversight, and the quick toggles are pill-shaped.

Support for theming of the icons, at least in terms of colour, is one of the most significant recent updates to standard Android. These days, music players also adapt their appearance to the album image. Last but not least, swiping up from the home screen exposes the app drawer and keyboard for a quick search; however, you can turn off the auto keyboard behaviour if that’s not how you choose to use your app drawer.

Google is best at providing services. The business has developed several cool features thanks to its advances in machine learning and AI. This includes features like Call Screen, which answers calls from unknown numbers using Google Assistant to weed out spammers, Direct My Call, which uses a visual user interface to navigate automated calling systems, Now Playing, which can identify nearby songs even when you’re offline, Top Shot, which suggests a better shot when you take a slightly blurry shot, Face Unblur, and more. These features continue to be exclusive to the Pixel series, and Google frequently introduces new ones via its Pixel Feature Drops.

Performance

The Pixel ‘7a’ variant utilises the same processor as the standard, ‘high-end’ Pixels for an additional generation. The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are at a little disadvantage because its SoC isn’t up to the same high standards as the widely used top-tier Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm. However, compared to the Pixel 7a, the Tensor G2 is a relative powerhouse, especially in the GPU space, and that’s even before taking into account its challenging to quantify AI capabilities.

The 7a only offers one storage choice, and 128GB may be too little for some people. This is not ideal. One of the few benefits of choosing a Pixel 7 is the availability of 256GB of storage. The 7 and 7a’s 8GB of RAM don’t feel insufficient, and the only model with a 12GB option is the 7 Pro.

The Pixel 7a performs admirably in benchmark tests for its class, although a current midrange Snapdragon still edges it out. Here, the SD 7+ Gen 2 is represented by the Poco F5, which performs noticeably better in single-core and multi-core GeekBench tests than the Tensor G2 in the Pixel 7a.

Under single-threaded loads, the Pixel continues to be miles ahead of the Motorola Edge 40 (Dimensity 8020), Nothing Phone (1) (SD 778G+), and Galaxy A54 (Exynos 1380), and still holds a little advantage over the Phone (1) and the A54 in multi-core.

The results of the 7a’s CPU throttling test and 3DMark Wild life stress test, which both produced stability scores in the 60s, show that the Tensor G2 isn’t exactly known for its stability under continuous load. For what it’s worth, the performance ramp-down is at least fairly slow.

Camera

The Pixel 7a has camera gear we haven’t seen on a Pixel phone before, not in its entirety and, as far as we can tell, not even in its separate modules. The 64MP main camera, the first Quad Bayer-type sensor on an A-series phone, is the centrepiece of the package, which also includes a 13MP ultrawide camera. Another 13MP camera is located on the front and is used for selfies.

Even while it isn’t specifically mentioned and hardware apps don’t specifically identify which one it is, Google states that the 64MP Quad Bayer with Quad PD focusing sensor in the primary camera is a Sony sensor. With a 0.8 m pixel pitch and 1/1.73″ optical format, it has 16 million 1.6 m effective pixels.

The lens has an f/1.9 aperture (Google specs state f/1.89) and a defined field of view of 80 degrees, which equates to an equivalent focal length of little less than 26mm, however the EXIF data reads 25mm. It has a stabilised lens.

The ultrawide camera utilises a sensor with a 13MP nominal resolution and 1.12m pixel size that is also unidentified. This amounts to an optical format of around 1/3.06″ that Google did not specify in its specifications. According to Google, this camera’s field of view is 120 degrees, and its aperture is f/2.2. Since the 7 doesn’t have autofocus, it should come as no surprise that only the 7 Pro can take pictures up close.

Although it appears to be a separate sensor, the front-facing camera uses a very similar one. Although it too has 1.12 m pixels with a 13MP resolution, some of the other specs don’t add up. The lens features an f/2.2 aperture, a 20mm equivalent focal length, and a 95-degree field of view. There is no autofocus here either, but the 7 or 7 Pro don’t have it.

Although there might be one or two features missing, the camera software on the Pixel 7a is the same as on the 7 and 7 Pro. A number of sliders for white balance, shadow, and light will appear when you tap someplace in the viewfinder. If you’d rather, you can turn them all off.

The most crucial settings (Auto Night Sight, Top Shot, self timer, and aspect ratio) are accessible via a cog button in the upper-right corner, and from there, you can enter a menu with other settings. There, you’ll find the choice to shoot in RAW. Similar to the other models, the Pixel 7a has no setting or mode that will force it to shoot at the main sensor’s native 64MP resolution.

The ‘Camera’ photo mode will always be the app’s default setting. Night Sight, Long Exposure, Portrait, Camera, Video, and Modes, which gives you access to the Panorama, Photo Sphere, and Google Lens modes, are the photography modes, from left to right. The modes cannot be rearranged, which is a frustrating restriction.

As you can see, Long Exposure has replaced the Motion mode that the 7 and 7 Pro had, which contained both Long Exposure and Action Pan. As a result, the 7a lacks an Action Pan. Due to the 7a’s absence of ultrawide focusing, the 7 Pro’s macro feature is also absent.

You can choose whether to save pictures and videos to the Photo Gallery or the Locked Folder by giving the shortcut for the gallery a long push adjacent to the shutter release. After you take a picture, an arrow will appear right over the gallery circle, allowing you to easily share what you just saw.

Daylight Photos

The main camera of the Pixel 7a takes outstanding pictures in good lighting, as one would expect. You can depend on a specific depiction of scenes in 7, 7a, or 7 Pro that goes beyond the description on the box. The Pixels’ ability to capture colour is bright and true to life, and it constantly provided us with accurate white balance. Although the dynamic range is broad, the refusal to enhance shadows results in an intentionally contrasty appearance.

The presentation of detail is sophisticated and avoids over-sharpening. Due to the additional resolution, the 7a might be said to be superior to its more expensive stablemates in that regard (16MP vs. 12.5MP is not a little difference).

2X Zoom

With its 64MP sensor, the 7a does a good job digitally zooming in, at least to the modest 2x that its viewfinder controls suggest. These aren’t the clearest results you can get when viewing at 1:1, but they’re above average for phones without dedicated zoom cameras.

Ultra-wide Camera

Except for the absence of autofocus, which was obvious from the spec sheet, the ultrawide does not disappoint either. Even if the hardware isn’t particularly spectacular on paper, the photographs offer some of the best sharpness and detail you can get for this level. You receive the same colours and a contrasty but well-developed tone rendition because the global settings are quite consistent with the output of the main camera.

Low-light Photos

The Pixel 7a, like every recent Pixel and the majority of mid rangers and higher, automatically switches to Night Sight in the standard Photo mode (in this case, Camera mode) when it thinks it’s necessary. There are intricacies, such as when the phone doesn’t activate it when you believe it should or when it doesn’t for the primary camera but does for the ultrawide.

However, those are uncommon events, and the phone is highly adept at what it does. Additionally, you do have the ability to override its judgements by switching to the specific Night Sight mode when you want to ensure that you get it or by deactivating the Auto behaviour in Camera mode when you want to avoid it.

Main Camera

Having said that, the outcomes we obtained on the primary camera were essentially the same when using the specific Night Sight mode or Camera mode with Auto Night Sight activated. Similar to the 7 and 7 Pro, the 7a doesn’t overuse its Night Sight magic; you’ll notice that point light sources still clip and that shadows are a bit deeper than typical. If given the option, we would probably favour at least more fully formed shadows, but there is the (correct) argument that the Pixel’s method is more realistic and photographic.

Even at night, colours are still expressive, and the auto white balance handled all types of artificial lighting faultlessly.

Without the water coloring that some earlier Night mode attempts exhibited, which we occasionally still see today, detail is really good.

Here is how the Night Sight mode-shot scenes seem.

There will be repercussions if you disable Night Sight. Particularly in darker places, details can deteriorate. Additionally, there will probably be more parts that are darker because a darker scene has a higher chance of being underexposed. We usually leave Night Sight on.

2X Zoom

When you zoom in two times, the 7a behaves essentially unchanged, with the outcomes of images taken with Night Sight in either mode being the same. Once more, we would say that these are superior to the results that most phones can get without a specialised 2x camera and maybe even better than some less capable true 2x cameras.

Although the counterparts without Night Sight are not noticeably poorer, there are notable variances, particularly in the murkier shadow textures.

Ultra-wide Camera

The results of the Ultra-wide in low light are also reliable. The contrasty tonal rendering is back, with somewhat burnt highlights and shadows that may use some adjusting, but it’s a look that fits for the Pixel. Excellent colours with no loss of pop or strange white balance decisions. Given the little sensor, detail is excellent as well, and we almost would describe it as astounding.

Again, there is no distinction in the specific Night Sight mode.

Indeed, if you disable Night Sight, your ultrawide images will be underexposed and overall noisy.

Portrait Mode

When it comes to magnifications, portrait mode on the Pixel 7a operates in a peculiar manner similar to how it does on the 7 and 7 Pro. Of course, the 1x and 2x levels in the viewfinder are also recorded by the main camera, but if you match their fields of view in Camera mode, they translate to around 1.7x and 3.4x. The Phone will be at 1.2x in Portrait mode if you press on the 2x zoom in Camera mode and then switch to it (which will match the FoV of the 2x in Camera mode).

We believe it is an example of the Pixels’ most appreciated behaviour, which is to keep the current magnification level when switching between modes rather than defaulting to 1x. When you flip between Camera and Portrait and notice new zoom level notations that weren’t there previously, it can still be a little unsettling.

Selfie Camera

Because of this dislike to sharp features, we frequently take selfies with one cheek that is softer than the other. Given that the focus is fixed in the distance rather than at arm’s length, the sharp side isn’t that sharp to begin with. If you want a lot in the frame, you probably want it in focus, therefore we assume that extends the camera’s wide-angle shooting skills. However, we believe that for, you know, selfies, being in focus is crucial.

However, there are some positives as well. Skin tones in particular and colours in general are excellent, and the dynamic range is pleasant and wide even under difficult lighting conditions.

video recording

Because of this dislike to sharp features, we frequently take selfies with one cheek that is softer than the other. Given that the focus is fixed in the distance rather than at arm’s length, the sharp side isn’t that sharp to begin with. If you want a lot in the frame, you probably want it in focus, therefore we assume that extends the camera’s wide-angle shooting skills. However, we believe that for, you know, selfies, being in focus is crucial.

However, there are some positives as well. Skin tones in particular and colours in general are excellent, and the dynamic range is pleasant and wide even under difficult lighting conditions.

Despite this, the 7a uses a relatively liberal bit rate for 4K30 with h.265 of about 42Mbps, which is comparable to what other phones use for h.264 in that mode. 4K30 with h.264 weighs in at 47Mbps, which is obviously not much more than other Pixel 7s. On the 7a, 4K60 receives 62Mbps (again using h.265). Stereo audio is encoded at 192 kbps.

The Pixel 7a’s 4K detail capture isn’t that good, despite all the hoopla about bit rates and the encouraging stats. That holds true whether you’re using h.264 or h.265 because they both have the same appearance.

Our Verdict

The attractiveness of Pixel phones is frequently rather specialised, not always fully supported by logic, and challenging to explain using only statistics and test results. As you can see from a short glance at the lists of advantages and disadvantages below, the Pixel 7a has a similarly similar narrative.

Even when it does, Google’s’midrange’ model’s high refresh rate display is a 90Hz panel among a sea of higher RR competition. Google has been slow to adopt high refresh rates for displays. The Tensor G2 runs hot and throttles, the battery life is unimpressive, charging speed is wholly terrible, and there aren’t many storage options. Additionally, there are errors in camera performance, which should be a strong point of any Pixel.

We have an Android experience tailored to Google’s own vision with a clutter-free UI, Pixel-only features, and an update policy that’s difficult to match in an effort to combat everything mentioned above. Despite its propensity for throttling, an otherwise unimpressive flagship chipset makes a rather good midrange one. And as long as you stay away from portraits of people in the majority of their configurations, the Pixel 7a’s camera system will produce images with a level of quality that is on par with that of a true flagship.

In conclusion, the current a-series model is the recommended choice for anyone simply seeking for a Pixel since Google seems to have simply produced a more affordable Pixel 7 with the 7a. There might be other offers available if the back’s ‘G’ logo does not meet your needs. Though perhaps you’ll miss out.

Pro’s & Con’s