Introduction:
Hey, it's Jason. We need to talk about the Pixel 8A. This is Google's newest Pixel device, and true to its name, it has a fantastic camera, all the googly features that people love, and a pretty reasonable price tag of $499. Yet, it feels as though this is one of the most roasted phones on the internet right now. People are going to town on this new device.
Well, I've been using the Pixel 8A for a little bit over a month now. I even took it on my most recent trip to Asia. So, let's talk about if the hate for this phone is justified and whether it's worth it. And I'm just going to address the 500lb elephant right off the bat: the main reason why this phone is being ripped to shreds.
Let's just talk about it—it's the Pixel 8A display. The main heartburn is towards the atypically large bezel, something that many people just can't look past because it immediately makes the phone look kind of dated and cheap. And look, I'm not going to lie to you—it is a big bezel.
A lot of folks are comparing it to the bezel on the iPhone XR, which is actually pretty accurate, pointing out especially that the XR was launched back in 2018 and are dunking on Google, saying they made a 2024 phone look kind of like a relic. And I don't think it's helped by the fact that the large bezel isn't even fully symmetrical—there's slightly a fatter chin at the bottom, only adding fuel to the fire for those who want a more modern-looking phone.
Now, one month later, I do recognize that the bezel on the Pixel 8A is far from the best, but I'm just going to say I think people are blowing this issue way out of proportion. And the main reason that I say that is when you actually use the phone—not stare at it blankly in pictures or in videos—the bezel really doesn't bother you that much. If you're like me, most of the apps and themes that I use on my phone are in.
Some sort of dark mode makes the bezel blend in with the background, making it at most an afterthought. More importantly, once you start using your phone for its intended purpose, the bezel becomes something you don’t think or care about anymore because it doesn’t get in the way of the user experience.
Basic:
This is likely because, despite the thick bezel, the display on the Pixel 8A has an edge-to-edge design with a very unobtrusive hole-punch cutout for the front-facing camera, making it far more immersive than you might expect. Adding to that, this is an OLED panel with full HD resolution, a class-leading peak brightness level, and a 120Hz refresh rate. You start to realize this is a pretty decent screen.
Look, we all need to remember that this isn’t a flagship $1,000 phone, so expectations have to be managed. I feel that if the bezel had to be the trade-off to retain OLED technology and the high refresh rate, then that was the right choice. Personally, I have never once paused in the middle of doing something on the Pixel 8A because of the bezel.
It’s really a non-issue when you’re actually using the device. Now, is it my favorite display ever? No. Like everyone else, I wish it had slimmer bezels. However, I can say with high confidence that those criticizing the Pixel 8A over this one design issue likely haven’t actually used the phone. That’s important to highlight because, after using the Pixel 8A for about a month, I think it’s a really fun device.
In my opinion, Google didn’t impose many limitations on the 8A compared to its flagship siblings, and this holds true for both hardware and software. For instance, this phone runs on the Tensor G3 and Titan M2 processors—the same chips found in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.
So far, the performance has been great. Navigating around the phone is smooth, with minimal throttling on the high refresh rate display, which is fantastic. I don’t game often, but what little I do runs smoothly without lag or jitters. Because the Pixel 8A features Google’s flagship processor, it can take full advantage of all of Google’s new AI features. Importantly, even when using these resource-intensive features, I haven’t experienced any overheating with the Pixel 8A.
Too much something that previous pixels in the past have really struggled with I really think Google found somewhat of a stride with the tensor G3 it seems a lot more stable than previous iterations of the tensor though I will say this will require more time before making that statement definitive pixels have a history of having issues pile up over time,
so I am going to be monitoring the performance closely as this phone ages the great thing is that the pixel 8A will be supported with software updates until 2031 So in theory it could be a phone that you could use for a very long time now the last area of performance that I want to touch on before getting into the camera is battery life I've been pleasantly surprised over the past month as the pixel 8A has continually gotten me through a full day of use without any major charge anxiety the small issue
that I have with the battery one month later is that it's not the fastest when it comes to charging the max speed that this phone can support his 18 Watts which is pretty slow for today's standards not the biggest issue because the phone could get me through a full day comfortably so far, but again time will tell if that will continue to be the case especially with the pixel okay so the last component of the pixel 8A that I want to talk.
About one month later is the camera performance it's rocking the exact same camera Hardware as last year's pixel 7A which I know can sound like a little bit of a Jim but considering how good this camera Suite performs it's kind of easily forgivable to me the camera quality is still the pixel 8 A's biggest draw as the photos come out sharp and vibrant leveraging.
Features:
Google's image processing magic you can make an argument that other similarly priced phones can give you a better design a better screen or faster charging but where those devices usually get left in the Dust by the pixels with its image quality the pixel 8A is able to produce Flagship level Stills that I'd be willing to bet still goes very deep in MHD's 2024 blind camera test, and it's only made better with Google's Advanced editing features.
Now when it comes to Post it's okay but definitely more aligned to its mid-tier price tag the 4K footage is decent in well lit conditions, but it's not as good as the pixel 8 and 8 Pro which have seen noticeable improvements in video quality is it a dealbreaker no but something you want to keep in mind if you do shoot Post often and that brings me to the final part of the pixel 8A puzzle that I want to talk about and that of course is its price I know a lot of people have also criticized this phone as being not budget or overpriced, and I'm not going to recess necessarily disagree, but I don't think that $499 is completely.
Conclusion:
Unfair if you all remember the pixel 7A was also $499 upon release and I don't remember it getting nearly as much criticism around its price and given all you're getting with the 88 in comparison with the 8 and8 Pro again I think it's pretty fair now would it be my top choice if my budget was $500 I had.
Really have to think that through, but I'm not mad that the phone is priced the way that it is plus it's not uncommon for Google to have their phones go on sale pretty quickly I wouldn't be surprised if we see the pixel 8A made available for like $399 come the fall and I think at that price it's a pretty value pack deal but hey that's just me and.
I want to know what you guys think what do you guys think about the pixel 8A do you think it deserves all the hate it's getting or do you think it's actually a low-key good phone curious to get your thoughts let me know what you guys are thinking in the comments down below and in case you guys miss my reviews of the iPhone 15s check them out here they're going to help you be as informed as possible for.
