Google Pixel 8A review: The sensible choice

Hear me out: Of Google’s entire Pixel lineup, the A-series budget phone makes the most sense.

Of course, the Pixel 8A misses out on fancier things like a telephoto lens or the higher water resistance rating. Do not fold in half. But you have two things in your favor: time and money.

The Pixel 8A arrives six months after the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, which is an advantage. That’s enough time to let some of the first bugs appear in the new operating system and the dust to settle on questions like “Which of these phones have on-device AI and which don’t?” Google finally arrived at the correct answer a few months ago, which is all of them – Pixel 8A included.

As for money, the Pixel 8A costs just $499, in the age of $1,000 flagship phones. When you consider that it has almost all of the basic features of the $799 Pixel 8, it starts to look like even more of a bargain. And with the promise of seven years of software updates? It’s hard to beat that kind of ROI.

The Pixel 8A comes with a sturdy aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass 3 on the front panel, like the 7A. The plastic back panel has an icy matte finish, and I have great news about the new aloe vera color option: it rules. The 8A is rated IP67, meaning it’s completely dustproof and resistant to a brief dip in shallow water. This isn’t very common in this class and is a cut above the mere splash resistance of the OnePlus 12R.

I spent a busy few days traveling using the Pixel 8A and never had to think about the battery. Even with a lot more social media scrolling than usual, as well as browsing and Uber rides, the battery was still full at the end of the day. Just like its predecessor, the 8A comes with Qi wireless charging. I love leaving my phone on a charging stand at the end of the day, and most budget phones don’t let you do that.

This year’s display has been upgraded to a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, matching the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. On-screen movement, such as scrolling and animations, appears much smoother than on a standard 60Hz display or even a 90Hz on the 7A, so it feels like an upgrade with real impact. It’s a 6.1-inch 1080p OLED, and it’s not the best display in its class – that belongs to the OnePlus 12R. But the 8A’s screen looks at least good enough in the era of high refresh rate screens.

The Pixel 8A uses Google’s Tensor G3 chipset, as seen in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, along with 8GB of RAM – the same as the Pixel 8. Apparently this is enough to run Gemini Nano, the optimized AI model for Google mobile, on-device, although you will need to enable it as a developer preview option. Google limited this capability to the Pixel 8 Pro initially, but later corrected course.

Currently, the Gemini Nano allows some AI features to happen on the device, meaning you don’t need an internet connection and your data remains private. It’s currently limited to recording summaries and Magic Compose in Messages to change the tone of your writing.

Not very impressive at the moment, but Google claims so expand device capabilities with Gemini Nano later this year, including a feature that alerts you when a caller may be trying to scam you. It’s better to have than not, and the Pixel 8A will be one of the cheapest phones with on-device AI capabilities when that option becomes available. Meanwhile, the Pixel 8A handled all my daily tasks without a hitch.

I’m happy to see that the Pixel 8A comes with one of the best quality-of-life upgrades from the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro: the ability to use face unlock for mobile payments and password managers. On previous Pixel phones, you could unlock the phone with your face, but if you wanted to pay for a latte, you had to double-check with your fingerprint.

It feels like I’m getting a lot out of one small thing, and maybe I am, but it makes using the phone so much easier. I don’t have to readjust my grip or drop what I’m holding in my other hand to check my password manager; it just happens, and I appreciate it.

For everyday use, I think it would be difficult to tell the Pixel 8A apart from the 8 or 8 Pro, but the differences are easier to spot when you switch to the camera app. There are two rear cameras, both carried over from the Pixel 7A, and for a budget phone, they’re pretty good.

The 64-megapixel main camera offers optical image stabilization to help prevent blur in low-light photos, and there’s a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera. You don’t have a video portrait mode or macro mode, and you definitely don’t have a dedicated telephoto camera – they’re in short supply on budget phones, anyway.

But what do you to do get is really good for a budget phone. The Pixel 8 Pro produced cleaner photos in night mode when the northern lights made a rare appearance in Seattle, but overall, the 8A offers very good night and portrait modes. Plus, you get all the useful photo processing tricks that Pixel phones have been doing for years (blurring the face is a godsend for photos of little kids).

There are new features too, like Magic Editor and Best Take, if you really want to mess with the time/space continuum and use generative AI to mix and match expressions in your photos or replace the sky. I thought about using Best Take more often than I actually do – I considered swapping my son’s facial expression with one from another photo, but I felt really strange about the results. They just weren’t right, and I would have to live with knowing it was a photo of a moment that technically never happened. Anyway, it’s there and you can use it if you’re less squeamish about that sort of thing.

It seems like a faint compliment to call the Pixel 8A “good enough,” but when you compare a budget phone to its much more expensive competitors, “good enough” is actually very good. The camera holds up well even in some very tricky scenarios. The screen is smooth enough in a world of high refresh rate screens. You can certainly buy a $500 phone with a better screen, or spend a little more and get some worthwhile upgrades – especially in terms of camera hardware.

But the Pixel 8A really stands alone in its combination of good-enough features, price, and seven years of promised OS updates. Nothing essential is missing and what it lacks in flashy features it makes up for in absolute ROI. And for those who want to make the most of a budget phone, it makes a lot of sense.

Photography by Allison Johnson/The Verge