Google Pixel 8a review: Save money for the Pixel

The Google Pixel 8a offers compelling, worthy photography capabilities at an affordable price. It's not a perfect smartphone, but it gets a lot right the moment you pull it out of your pocket and start snapping photos.

It helps that, with prices starting at $499, it proves its worth in anyone's hands. Not every budget or mid-range smartphone feels like a reliable point-and-shoot in a variety of situations, but the Pixel 8a often produces reliable results without a fuss. For budget-conscious mobile photographers, the balance of price and results may be hard to resist.

Design and Build

Google's design language should be recognizable by now. The rear camera strip (or bar) has been around long enough to become an aesthetic trademark of Pixel phones. Anecdotally, it's usually a good sign when it's recognizable as a Pixel device. While the 8a is more function than fashion, I like how Google opted for a matte finish on the back and rounded corners that make it easier to use one-handed. Even though the back is plastic instead of glass, the phone doesn't feel cheap.

The previous Pixel 7a set the benchmark on several fronts, including a 90Hz refresh rate on its 6.1-inch OLED and a better fingerprint sensor, not to mention face unlock. The trend continues with the new Pixel 7a, this time with a 120Hz refresh rate and the same 2,000 nits brightness as the more expensive Pixel 8. However, it's a highly reflective panel, which means that in bright sunlight it can be a bit difficult to see what you're shooting, and even more so when shooting at an angle.

As always, Google's budget smartphones take some cues from its flagship phones, including the company's cameras and AI software features, naturally. The Gemini is one of those, and once you download the app and opt-in, Google's AI-powered assistant replaces the Google Assistant.

It's a useful tool, but not necessarily practical: When I asked Gemini how to take better photos with the Pixel 8a, I was simply given a bulleted list of the phone's camera features, with the advice that at least seemed useful being to avoid harsh (artificial) overhead lighting, opting instead for soft, diffuse lighting.

Google's Tensor G3 processor is what primarily powers these devices, and it's on par with the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. The Pixel 8a has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. If you want 256GB, it only comes in Obsidian Black, which is already an improvement since the Pixel 7a didn't have that size. Battery capacity has been increased slightly to 4,492mAh, and wireless charging has been increased slightly to 7.5W.

Camera and Software Features

Google has opted to keep the same camera module as the Pixel 7a, so you get the same 64-megapixel (26mm equivalent) main camera (f/1.9 aperture) with a Sony IMX787 1/1.73-inch sensor and optical image stabilization. The same goes for the 13-megapixel ultra-wide (14mm equivalent), which now sports a Sony IMX712 sensor and has a 120 field of view and an f/2.2 aperture. The 13-megapixel front camera (20mm equivalent) is also the same as before.

There's no telephoto lens on board, so the only alternative is a 2x Super Resolution Zoom crop on the main camera. As before, you can zoom up to 8x, but as this is a digital zoom, the results are often less than promising.

Nevertheless, with each new A-series phone launch, the gap between the latest model and the existing Pixel flagship seems to narrow: the Pixel 8 Pro has better computing power and performs better in low light, but there's no dramatic difference in color reproduction.

AI image processing tools are also there when you need them. Magic Eraser is the flagship, with Best Take, Portrait Light and Unblur at your fingertips. This is also the first A-Series phone with access to Magic Editor, which extends the AI's assistance by allowing you to remove people or objects from your images or restyle them in some way. Even for videos, Audio Magic Eraser can clean up unwanted background noise.

The more photos I take with the latest Pixel phones, the more I wish the Highlight/Shadow and Color Temperature sliders hadn't been relegated to a separate menu in the bottom corner. I know they used to take up valuable screen real estate, but now they're not as easy to toggle as they used to be. Though it doesn't have the manual controls like the 8 Pro, the 8a has all the same shooting modes available; it's just missing Action Pan on the photo side and Cinematic Blur on the video side.

Image quality Main camera

Though it's a 64MP sensor, you can't capture anything at full resolution. Pixel binning limits you to 16MP images in either JPEG or RAW. Because of this, the Pixel 8a relies more on Google's image processing to produce better results. This phone is great for anyone looking for a reliable compact camera, but it's also worth taking advantage of the tweaks available in the settings. You don't expect to see such a wide dynamic range on a $499 phone.

Google lets you adjust the exposure time in Night Sight, which is especially useful when the phone is stationary. It also pops up in regular photo mode, where you can tap the slider at the bottom right to manually set the exposure time. You don't need to do this all the time, though. Pixel phones have a reputation for rendering low-light and nighttime shots, so this shouldn't be underestimated.

Google is learning how to do it right, and has continued to improve since the eager sharpening and dynamic range it sometimes applied to images in the past. The Pixel 7a took a great step to improve it, and the 8a is following in that trend.

Portrait mode feels like a rehash of the 7a's mode, right down to using a 2x crop to create a shallow depth of field to make up for the lack of a telephoto lens.

Ultra Wide

This was a fixed focal length lens on the previous model, so it remains fixed focal length here. Macro photography is not possible, but at the same time, it may be addition by subtraction. The ultra-wide angle does not give you the same detail as the main lens, and this is even more noticeable when you pinch to zoom in to zoom in. Low light shooting is not bad, but the best results are achieved when the subject is reasonably well lit. With enough light, the dynamic range is sharp and the colors are vibrant. However, the further away the subject or light source is, the worse the image will look.

Overall, there aren't any big surprises beyond the additional AI editing tools. If you're taking photos of people on buildings or tourist attractions, Google's Magic Eraser and Magic Editor are very good at removing them without being destructive. Best Take is also great if you're using Lens to take group photos and want to replace looking away or closed eyes.

Video Features

Video capture is largely the same as the Pixel 7a. The main lens can record 4K at 60fps, the ultra-wide at 30fps, and both lenses can record 1080p at 60fps or 30fps. Keep in mind, however, that there is a noticeable quality difference between the two lenses when it comes to capturing video in low light. The main lens performs well, while the ultra-wide lens produces bland and relatively noisy footage.

As I suggested with the Pixel 7a, there are no special features, so you may need to play around with the exposure to get the look you want. Cinematic Pan can be used if you need extra stability when shooting moving scenes, while Speech Enhancement works on all phone cameras and helps amplify speech clarity.

Still best in class

The Pixel 8a doesn't have everything, but that's by design. It's a mid-range phone that undercuts the competition and delivers better results. The A-series is value because it's so good at simple photography. I want more manual controls, but I know this phone isn't for me. Google has kept the flagship software and features to a bare minimum to make the Pixel 8a feel like a part of the family.

However, most of the competing smartphones in the same price range in North America are from brands like Apple, Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, etc. Finding a smartphone that consistently takes the same quality photos from these brands is hard in terms of value for money, while Chinese brands offer a wealth of features even in their most affordable models.

Are there any alternatives?

The Samsung Galaxy A55 is available in markets outside North America, while the Galaxy A35 is more readily available in North America. The latter is $100 cheaper than the Pixel 8a, but has only 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Still, it shoots at full resolution with its 50-megapixel main sensor, and it also has a dedicated macro lens.

The OnePlus 12R retails for the same price as the Pixel 8a, and while it doesn't have the Hasselblad partnership with the flagship model, it still has great photography capabilities. The same goes for the Vivo V30, which offers more RAM and storage by default and a wider camera feature set, but while it doesn't include a Zeiss (the V30 Pro does), it also has an Aura light on the back, which is handy for portrait shots.

Should I buy it?

Yes, especially if you're not picky about mobile photography features and settings. Google doesn't offer much in the way of those features, but its AI editing tools are better, and so is the Pixel 8a's price.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://petapixel.com/2024/06/24/google-pixel-8a-review-saving-dollars-for-pixels/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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