The Google Pixel 7a: A mid-range phone with flagship performance and class-leading cameras
Google Pixel 7a. Picture: Noel Campion.
The Pixel 7a is Google's latest mid-range phone that features an OLED display with flagship-level performance and class-leading cameras. I’ve been using the Pixel 7a for over a week to see if it’s a worthy upgrade from the Pixel 6a.
The 7a hasn’t strayed from the already striking design of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. One of its standout features is the horizontal camera bar on the back, which isn’t as deep as the more expensive Pixel 7.
The Pixel 7a is slightly smaller and lighter (193.5g) than the Pixel 7 Pro (212g), which makes it more comfortable to hold and more ergonomic to use. It features a stunning 6.1-inch 2,400 x 1,080px resolution OLED panel and now features a 90Hz refresh rate, which is an improvement from the Pixel 6a which has a locked 60Hz refresh rate.
The front glass uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (Pixel 7 has the latest Corning Gorilla Glass Victus) to make it durable and scratch resistant. It also has IP67 dust and water resistance — Pixel 7 has IP68. It’s good to see that the aluminium in the housing uses 100% recycled material and the packaging uses 99% plastic-free materials.
The back is comprised of glossy plastic while having a feel and appearance similar to glass. Despite the fact that I appreciate how luxurious glass feels, glass does make phones heavier and break more quickly than plastic. The contoured metal frame of the phone gives it a sturdy, robust feeling.
The Pixel 7a has impressive stereo speakers – one above the display facing forward and the other on the bottom edge. As with most phones these days, there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack or microSD support.
Biometrics come in the form of an optical under-display fingerprint reader as well as Face Unlock option, which is the same as the 7 and 7 Pro.
One of the biggest improvements over the 6a is the new Google Tensor G2 chip that provides a noticeable performance boost. The phone doesn't feel sluggish when used for routine tasks and the boost in screen frame rate up to 90Hz also helps to smooth up things like scrolling. In real-world tasks, I didn’t see any perceivable differences in performance between the Pixel 7a and Pixel 7.
In terms of gaming, the 7a can hold its own with most phones and this is one of the areas where I noticed the biggest difference in performance over the 6a.
Tensor G2 offers additional performance improvements in real-time processing including advanced features like Live Translate. While on paper, the G2 isn’t as strong a performer as the latest Snapdragon chipsets, the combination of various software optimisations doesn’t make it feel any slower. The only caveat is in gaming where the latest Snapdragon Gen 2 Plus has the upper hand.
The Pixel 7a includes the next-generation Titan M2, which works with Tensor security core to protect sensitive user data, PINs and passwords. Google has also extended their support window to at least five years of security updates and three for OS updates.
The phone has 8GB of RAM up from 6GB on the Pixel 6a and 128GB of storage.
Pixel 7a includes three months of YouTube Premium (then €11.99 per month) and Google One Basic 100 GB Plan (then €1.99 per month) to help you get the most out of your new Pixel (available to new eligible users only, recurring billing, cancel anytime). Google One keeps your photos and files safe with 100 GB of storage and automatic phone backup.
The Pixel 7a comes with a 4,385mAh battery that is capable of surviving a full day of heavy use. Battery performance is excellent thanks to OS tweaks and the Tensor chipset.
There’s no charger in the box, but you do get a USB-C to USB-C cable. It does support up to 18W charging that’s good enough to fully charge it in less than a couple of hours. Fortunately, there’s wireless charging support which is another upgrade from the Pixel 6a.
The Pixel 7a also features Bluetooth 5.3, 5G, WiFi 6E, dual SIM (Single Nano SIM and eSIM) and NFC that supports contactless payments such as Google Pay.
The Pixel 7a has upgraded cameras including a 64MP (quad-bayer wide, 0.8μm pixel width, f/1.9 dual-pixel and 80-degree field of view). The main sensor is 72% bigger than the one on the Pixel 6a. When you take a shot, the resulting image is pixel binned to produce a 16.1MP file.
It also features a dedicated 2x zoom, which Google calls super res zoom. The resulting image is 16.1MP and the quality and details are impressive considering it’s using the same main camera sensor. Super res zoom can go all the way up to 8x and as long as the light is good, it still looks great.
The ultrawide lens has a wider field of view than both the Pixel 6a and Pixel 7 — 0.5x versus 0.7x and features a 13MP sensor (1.12 μm pixel width ƒ/2.2 aperture and 120° field of view.
I love using Pixel phones to take photos because of the camera apps' ease of use. It has a clutter-free interface while maintaining a lot of advanced features tidied away in the intuitive menu system. I love this approach where there’s a host of comprehensive features in the app while not making the interface too complicated for those who just want to point and shoot.
Photos taken in good light look natural with good contrast, realistic colours and lots of detail. You can capture video up to 4K 60fps and several stabilisation modes. You also get digital zoom up to 5x along with slo-mo video support up to 240fps.
One of my favourite camera features is Night Sight which can capture incredible photos at night. There’s even an option to photograph the stars — you’ll need to put the phone on a tripod before it will auto-enable astrophotography mode. There’s also an option to capture timelapse movies in astrophotography mode.
The 13MP selfie camera (f/2.2, fixed focus) is another upgrade from the 8MP sensor found on the Pixel 6a. In addition to using Night Sight to take selfies in less-than-ideal lighting situations, you can use portrait mode to add fake depth and background bokeh.
The Pixel 7a comes with all of Google's cutting-edge editing tools, including Photo Unblur, Face Unblur, Magic Eraser, Frequent Faces, Real Tone, Top Shot and others. The fun of capturing and editing images on a Pixel is mostly due to these features.
Overall, the new cameras on the Pixel 7a are on par and in some aspects even better than the Pixel 7.
The Pixel 7a offers an impressive package with its stunning OLED display, flagship-level performance, and class-leading cameras. Battery performance is excellent, and the phone supports both fast and wireless charging. The camera system, including a 64MP main sensor and impressive zoom capabilities, captures natural and detailed photos, especially in low light with the Night Sight feature. While lacking some features from the Pixel 7, the Pixel 7a strikes a balance between ease of use and advanced functionality.
Overall, the Pixel 7a proves to be a worthy upgrade from the Pixel 6a, delivering flagship-level performance and exceptional camera capabilities.
Google Pixel 7a — €509 available in Charcoal, Sea, Snow and Coral (Google Store exclusive) Google
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