Google has recently made the much-rumored budget Pixel phone, the Google Pixel 7a, official. The A-series has traditionally been a quite heavily pared-down version of the year’s flagship. However, the new Google Pixel 7a does not appear to be severely pared down. But the price already kind of hinted so. The phone starts at US$499, which is just 100 bucks less than the flagship Pixel 7.
The new Google Pixel 7a also runs on the Google Tensor G2 chip, along with the dedicated security chip, the Titan M2 coprocessor. It also boasts Face Unlock, along with 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 128 GB UFS 3.1 storage, and up to 90 Hz Smooth Display.
Speaking of the display, it is a 6.1” FHD+ OLED screen, making it the smallest of the three Pixels. It even has wireless charging too a feature which its predecessor, the Pixel 6a, does not have.
It is obviously smaller physically, and while it has a less pronounced camera bump, it has a thicker profile at 9 mm (8.7 mm on the 7) – possibly due to the wee larger 4,385 mAh battery.
So what are the “sacrifices” it made to achieve a slightly lower price? Well about that. The “downgrades” are not the most obvious. However, if you were to point one of the obvious from the non-obvious list, it would be the camera.
The main camera is now a 64 MP Quad PD Quad Bayer wide camera as opposed to the more capable 50 MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera. The 64 MP snapper is accompanied by a 13 MP ultrawide camera that now boasts a wider field of view (120°). Meanwhile, the front has a 13 MP item, also with a slightly wider FoV (95°).
We heard that the battery charging is significantly longer for both wired and wireless charging. Also, it has a plastic back instead of the glass back on the Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro. I think those are about it as far as major “downgrades” go.
The new Google Pixel 7a is offered in a choice of Snow (white), Charcoal (space gray), and Sea (baby blue?) colorways, plus a Google Store-exclusive Coral (orange).
It is available to buy now starting at US$499.
Images: Google.
