Google Pixel 6a Review: Serious Bang For Your Buck

One of the biggest differences between the Pixel 6 and the new Pixel 6a is the display. Google gave the Pixel 6a a smaller 6.1-inch FHD+ screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. The bezels around the screen are relatively large, colors are vivid, but the brightness could undoubtedly be better. As for protection, this screen has Gorilla Glass 3 to prevent scratches and damage, compared to the durable Victus glass on the Pixel 6.

The Pixel 6 packs a 6.4-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. And the Pixel 6 Pro is even bigger and sports a 120Hz screen. If those are too big, the Pixel 6a will be refreshingly compact. And while it makes sense that Google’s affordable phone drops things down a notch when it comes to size and specs, we’ve seen high refresh rate displays in several midrange devices.

Going from a 120Hz display on my daily phone to the Pixel 6a made the refresh rate highly noticeable. If you’ve never owned a 90 or 120Hz phone, this won’t matter, but it’s still a bummer.

Google went with a flat display on the Pixel 6a, and I prefer it over the curved glass on many other phones. The look and feel are great, especially while using Android 12’s gesture navigation controls.

Like previous phones from Google, the Pixel 6a has a warmer natural look, rather than the oversaturated colors you’ll find on something from Samsung. The colors are nice and vibrant, the blacks look great, and my only real complaint is the brightness, which is a reoccurring problem. Even the more expensive Pixel 6 had brightness issues, and the glitchy auto-brightness certainly doesn’t help.

The screen is a bit dim indoors. During daily use, I have it set around 70% brightness. That’s far more than my regular setting on other phones. Thankfully, things are better outdoors, as Google still has its high brightness mode to boost display brightness in direct sunlight. That’ll drain the battery, though, so use it sparingly.

What about the camera, though? The other significant cost-saving change Google made was reusing the old 12MP Sony IMX363 primary sensor from the Pixel 3-5 in this new Pixel 6a. It doesn’t have the 6’s 50MP camera, but that’s not a deal-breaker. It did, however, get the same 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera as its more expensive sibling, and they both perform great.

As expected, the Pixel 6a has a fantastic camera thanks to all of Google’s computational photography magic. And because it’s running the Tensor chip and upgraded ISP, all of Google’s fancy features are along for the ride. We’re talking about Google Photos Magic Eraser, Real Tone, Portrait Light, Face Unblur, Top Shot, Portrait Mode, SuperRes Zoom, and Live HDR.

We’re all well aware of what Google’s camera hardware and software can do. Unfortunately, this old camera needs software help in dim-lit environments, and moving subjects could be a little better. However, I did snap quite the excellent photo of my pup in a dark room, which you can see in the gallery above.

The Pixel 6a cameras are capable, but they’re not quite as good as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Even the front-facing camera is still 8MP instead of 10MP, but it’ll certainly get the job done. As for video, you’ll get both 1080p or 4K video recording at 30/60 FPS, slow-mo up to 240 FPS, and 5x digital zoom. And again, many of the Pixel 6’s video features are here, thanks to the processor on the inside.

Basically, the affordable Pixel 6a has the same solid camera experience we’ve all come to know and love. It might not be the absolute best considering the aging sensor, but this phone produces consistent results.

That does bring me back to those mixed feelings I mentioned at the beginning. The Pixel 6a is solid, but for only $150 more, you could get the Pixel 6 (or less on sale) with things like a better screen and camera—two important aspects of a smartphone.

When you get a Pixel, you’re getting pure, unbloated Android, and it’s amazingly refreshing coming from a Samsung phone. And starting with Android 12, Google put effort into options and customization. The software can quickly match the standout colors of your wallpaper, then apply them throughout the OS, and the widgets are vastly improved.

However, Android 12 isn’t perfect, and there are certain changes I don’t enjoy. The quick-setting tiles in the notification bar are massive, but at least we have tons of tiles to choose from.

Pulling down the notification shade twice to access the frustrating brightness slider seems silly, as does ditching the power menu and putting that button in the pulldown bar. I also hate that I can’t put the Google search bar at the top or remove the weather widget. I guess I’ll need to download a 3rd party launcher.

This is Google’s hardware running on Google’s software, so it’s certainly smooth and seamless. However, I have experienced a few times when it gets hot, especially while out and about using 5G, and the phone seems to throttle performance a little bit. During daily use though, it runs solid and handles all my tasks.

Surprisingly, the in-display fingerprint sensor works better than I expected. While it’s still not an ultrasonic sensor, it’s fast and rarely fails to unlock my phone. Judging by all the Pixel 6 fingerprint sensor drama, I’d say Google managed to find a better solution here. It still struggles with dirty or wet fingers, but for the most part, I didn’t dislike it.

The Pixel 6a is fast, fluid, and runs great. I won’t bore you with benchmark results, as those don’t indicate real-world usage. Just know that Google put the same high-performance Tensor chip from the Pixel 6 Pro in the budget-friendly Pixel 6a, and performance shouldn’t be an issue.

When it comes to battery life, I’ve had a mixed bag. The Pixel 6a battery is “fine” but not great. The battery pack is smaller than what’s in the Pixel 5a, which is frustrating, but it’s enough to last an entire day usually.

On a typical day of scrolling Instagram reels, checking Twitter, trying to ignore emails, getting Slack notifications and endless texts from friends and family, or watching a YouTube clip or three, I’ll usually get around 5-7 hours of screen-on time and end the day with about 30-35% remaining. It’s not great, but I’m not super worried I’ll need a charger either. The smaller 60Hz display is probably helping here, so that’s a plug.

If you’re a moderate to heavy user, you can absolutely crush through the battery before the end of the day. I did once or twice, but that was an exception, not the norm. On the flip side, on a lighter day, when I forgot to charge it overnight and started around 80%, after an hour of social media, some texts, streaming music, and using Google Maps, I ended the day around 44%. That’s pretty solid, but obviously, your mileage may vary.

It’s worth noting that Google’s software could still be learning my habits, even after over 10 days of use. Plus, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro had wildly different battery life results depending on the user or reviewer. So again, it’s fine, but we’ll have to wait and see.

So should you buy the Pixel 6a? Probably! It’s one of the best budget phones and follows the same recipe as previous A-series phones. It looks good, runs fast, takes sweet photos, and you know it’ll always have the latest software. It’s a Pixel A experience through and through.

Yes, the screen could be brighter, and I’d love a higher refresh rate, the latest cameras, or wireless charging, but this is still a solid package. Someone that constantly buys budget devices likely won’t miss those extras.