The Google’s Pixel 7a is a pocket-sized beauty at $449 quid, the Pixel 7a isn’t as affordable as last year’s 6a but it’s also improved in quite a few areas to the point where it’s really hard to tell the difference between this and Google’s Pixel 7 flagship phone.
Design and Build
After spending lots of time with it, the only element of the Pixel 7a’s design that I’m not a huge fan of is those chunky bezels surrounding the compact screen. They’re not terrible by any means, but they do somewhat detract from an otherwise impressively premium finish.
You do have a plucky back on the Pixel 7a but it looks every bit as smart as the regular Pixel 7 and feels just as solid, too. You’ve also got yourself a proper upper metal frame as well, which extends to the thankfully minimalist camera bump. This barely sticks out at all, so the corners aren’t a safe haven for dirt and muck. And glory be, the Pixel 7A doesn’t rattle about the place when it’s sat on a desk, unlike practically every other blower.
You’ve got the usual bog-standard white and black color options, but I’m definitely more of a fan of this subtle blue effort. Although, I gotta say, my favorite is still that bright and bold Coral model—a Pixel Store exclusive. Some particularly sniffy people may say that color reminds them of the contents of the toilet bowl after passing a particularly troublesome kidney stone, but to them, I say pish—not bloody pish! It doesn’t look like that much.
I also love how the Pixel 7A is refreshingly compact compared with most 2023 smartphones. You won’t have to squeeze it into your skinny jeans, and the mini curvy design feels lovely in the hand. It’s a reasonably hearty bugger, too. That plucky back has some scuffs around the bottom edge, so you will want to slap a case on it if you want to keep it box-fresh. But otherwise, it’s looking very shiny and smart considering all of the abuse it’s been through.
The display is protected by the older Gorilla Glass 3 rather than Victus, but even after weeks of being carelessly crammed into pockets and bags with other smartphones and the occasional hip flask, there’s next to no damage. All I can find are a couple of very small, very light scratches, and even then, you have to hold the phone up to the light in just the right way and squint a bit to actually see them. This phone is also IP67 water and dust resistant, so no worries if you want to enjoy some YouTube while you’re splish-splashing about in a bath.
Please enter product(-s) ASIN(-s)!Display and Audio
While last year’s Pixel 6A dialed down the display tech to a more basic 60Hz panel, there’s no compromise with this year’s 7A. It’s a fully-fledged Willie Weaver 90 Hertz OLED screen, just like the regular Pixel 7, except a wee bit smaller. Those compact dimensions, combined with a full HD Plus resolution, mean that your photos, Netflix shows, and even your illegal hentai videos all look gorgeously pin-sharp. The standard HDR10 smarts are present and correct, serving up crispy contrast and unrealistic-looking colors.
However, the Pixel 7A’s display isn’t the brightest around by any means. On a sunny day which we’ve actually had occasionally here in Blighty this past month I do occasionally struggle to see what’s going on, even when I boost the brightness to the maximum. I found I could just about check messages and read websites, but certainly, if you’re wearing shades, it’s a struggle. If you basically live in a hot, sunny country, you might want to look elsewhere. No problems with the auto-brightness, though—that behaved perfectly.
Also, the Pixel 7A’s dual-speaker arrangement is decent but could use a bit more volume. Even at max volume, when I was trying to watch something with my kid in the same room, I basically had no chance of following along. It’s a shame because the audio quality is pretty good from those speakers. But no worries—I had zero issues with Bluetooth streaming. You’ve got strong codec support, no judgment, or other shindiggery.
Software and Features
Another highlight of the Pixel 7a is the software that slick stock Android 13 UI feels creamy smooth when you’re zipping around your desktops and poking through menus, and it’s absolutely gushing with brilliant features you won’t find on many other phones. The spam caller is still one of my absolute favorites—works a charm, complete with the call screen feature so you can actually figure out who’s calling before you pick up.
You’ve also got a built-in VPN that does the trick when you want a bit of privacy, while Clear Calling does an impressive job of cutting down background noise when you’re trying to have a conversation. Not to mention all the usual fantastic audio tools like live translate, live transcription, etc. Honestly, there’s so much great stuff packed in here I could go on about it all day. Although, yeah, there still aren’t as many customization options as you get with some other Android launchers—for instance, you can’t remove that search bar from the desktop. Still, if you want to just clear up some of the clutter, no complaints on the security side. Google promises at least five years of security patching while storing your private data in the separate Titan M2 chip to keep it safe.
Thankfully, pretty much all of the jankiness I experienced in my first week or two with the Pixel 7 has been kicked square in the crotch with a couple of well-timed updates, so no more apps just shutting themselves down when they can’t be bothered anymore. However, I did rather quickly fill up 128GB of storage, and with no microSD support, I’ve had to delete some downloads to free up space. I guess I’ll have to make do with just 10GB of super-strength hentai. Google’s Face Unlock has been working a charm too, although I usually stick to the in-display fingerprint sensor, which I’ve had subtle trouble with again.
Performance
The Pixel 7A is pretty much on par with the Pixel 7 when it comes to performance, powered by Google’s Tensor G2 chipset, co-manufactured with Samsung. The question on everyone’s mind is: does the Pixel 7A ever get a bit toasty? The answer is yes it can run a bit hot sometimes, especially when used outdoors in the full glare of midday sun. It’s certainly not a fan of sunshine, much like myself—a bold Northerner with less melanin than a deep-sea squid.
Thankfully, I haven’t noticed any performance issues when the Pixel 7A heats up no slowdowns or hard resets like those seen in previous Google flagships. If anything, in winter, it might even make a pleasant hand warmer.
If you enjoy gaming, you should be reasonably happy with the Pixel 7A’s gaming prowess. Boost the visuals, and you’ll still get a reasonably stable frame rate for the most part. However, it may start to struggle a bit when several enemies are on screen at once. The screen is responsive, and while Google’s gaming mode is pretty bare-bones, it offers a couple of useful tools like notification blocking.
You also get Wi-Fi 6E support and a bit of sub-6 5G action here in Blighty, so connectivity hasn’t been an issue. My internet connection stayed strong as long as I didn’t wander into any weird dark spots.
Battery Life
One of the problems I had with the Pixel 7A in our first week of use was the battery life. This thing rarely survived a full day of use, thanks to the compact 4,385mAh battery inside. After a few days, the situation improved, though, and thankfully now the Pixel 7A usually lasts me a full day on a single charge—no worries. Although, I have come uncomfortably close to draining the battery when catching the last train home after being out. You can generally expect around five to six hours of screen-on time from a full charge, depending on how much music, podcasts, or streaming you’re doing in the background when the screen is hibernating.
The battery drains alarmingly fast when you’re Skyping, Zooming, or doing anything that uses the cameras. So, not the best effort around, and certainly, if you’re a power user who’s never off your smartphone, you’ll probably want to look at a bigger alternative. While the 18-watt wired charging is woefully slow compared to some Chinese rivals, at least you do have wireless charging support, which is still reasonably rare at this price point.
Camera Test
The Pixel 7A rocks a fresh 64-megapixel Sony IMX787 sensor alongside your typical ultra-wide-angle shooter. This new hardware, combined with Google’s image processing, is a solid combo in most circumstances, so I was happy enough with the majority of my test photos. The lens does a dependable job of locking onto your subject following an update, even if the scene is rather messy. Images are impressively lifelike rather than manipulated to look more pleasing to the eye.
If it’s a sunny day, you’ll have to be a little careful to avoid lens flare, but otherwise, the Pixel 7A copes well with harsh backlighting. HDR is not a problem, with blue skies capably captured. Portrait shots are pretty decent, too—this phone can even deal with crazy windswept hair and furry subjects like this wee chap. Ambient snaps can look a little softer at times; textures and facial features can be just a wee bit too smooth, but colors are usually on point. As long as there’s no rapid movement, you’ll get sharp enough results.
My indoor pics had plenty of finer details packed in. Manual controls are limited to EV and contrast, basically. If you want anything more complex, you’ll need to look at an alternative blower. However, the on-screen sliders work really well and can rescue an otherwise murky-looking shot, which comes in handy at times. In the evenings, the blower does a solid job. Strong lighting can cause a problem in a night scenario, but otherwise, it’s all good—minimal noise and a reasonable amount of detail.
The 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle shooter is another Sony IMX special and photos with this are rather consistent producing natural tones like the primary shooter, if not quite as much detail. Unfortunately, distortion is rather bad, which heavily distracts. There’s no telephoto shooter, just like the regular Pixel 7 and pretty much every other mid-ranger at this price point, so the Pixel 7A is limited to a mere eight-times digital zoom.
this phone can also record up to 4K resolution video, and it’s fine if not remarkable in this department. Visuals are sharp and well-defined as long as you’re not shooting in the dark. Even in the evenings, you’ll usually get something usable. Focus still occasionally pops, especially if the lighting is poor, but stabilization is good enough for movement and records even at that ultra-HD level. Audio capture is also good, as long as the environment isn’t too noisy and there’s not much wind.
The 13-megapixel selfie snapper is okay-ish. It’s not the worst, but it’s pretty bog-standard stuff, pumping out soft, bland snaps if the lighting isn’t great. If you’re obsessed with posting pics of your mug online, you might be swayed by another handset, like the Galaxy A54.
Concluison
So, that’s my full Google Pixel 7a review after spending a month with it. While it’s by not perfect but it does offer pretty stunning value for money at this price point. It’s incredible just how much Google has crammed into this thing for under $459.
