Remember when the Pixel A series was nothing but the best cheap Android phones? The story couldn't be any more different today. Nowadays, Pixels touting the A moniker can valiantly go head to head against the best mid-rangers. It's no wonder the Pixel 8a is more expensive than its predecessors. You even get premium features like wireless charging and flagship chipsets, as well as a mix of high-end software features on the device.
The Google Pixel 8a seemingly has it all. Its durable build and premium design are significantly more upscale than Pixel A phones of the past. The Pixel 8a shares the same chipset as 2023's flagship Pixel 8 lineup, its display is unbelievably bright and crisp, and the cameras are just as good as you would expect from any Google phone.
Despite the increase in price over older A models, the Pixel 8a continues to deliver insane value. Although it now costs $499, you can probably score a sweet deal on the Pixel 8a with the right Black Friday deal. Regardless, it's still a fantastic device all around.
Not convinced yet? Our Google Pixel 8a review will let you know if it's worth it, but if you just want to learn about the phone, keep scrolling to find out everything you need to know about the Google Pixel 8a.
Google Pixel 8a: Price and availability
The Google Pixel 8a was announced in early May 2024 and ships in four lovely colorways: Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay Blue, and Aloe Green. Bay Blue stands out as it was only offered on the high-end Pixel 8 Pro previously.
The Pixel 8a is available in two storage sizes: 128GB of storage for $499, and 256GB for $599. The best Google Pixel 8a deals will get you the phone for cheaper — or even free — especially if you have an old phone to trade in.
These are all the countries where the Google Pixel 8a is sold:
- U.S.
- Canada
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- UK
- Australia
- India
- Japan
- Singapore
- Taiwan
Google Pixel 8a: Design and displays
The Google Pixel 8a received some comforting design changes this year, sporting significantly rounder corners and a matte composite back texture for a more premium look and feel. The rounder corners make it more comfortable to hold than the more squared Pixel 7a, while the matte back means this phone won't be a fingerprint magnet like the Pixel 6a and 7a were.
The phone features a 100% recycled aluminum housing and camera bar, and that matte aluminum frame winds its way all the way around the phone. Plus, the matte plastic back is also made of 76% recycled plastic and the packaging is 100% plastic-free, which is always nice to see.
The phone shares a significant resemblance to the Pixel 8 but is 2mm taller and 2mm wider than that phone. This makes it one of the cheapest and best small Android phones that's perfect for one-handed use.
Around the front, the Google Pixel 8a received a notable display upgrade this year, bumping the refresh rate up to a buttery smooth 120Hz. That's an impressive improvement over the 90Hz display on the Pixel 7a.
The Actua AMOLED display on the Pixel 8a sports up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and 1,400 nits in HDR content. The display features Gorilla Glass 3 over the top, which should provide decent drop and scratch protection. Since it's a smaller display compared to the more premium Pixel 8, the 8a's pixel density is higher and the pictures look really crisp as a result.
The downside is that Google downgraded the PWM rate, from 360Hz on the Pixel 7a to 240Hz on the Pixel 8a. Sadly, that means this is not a good phone for PWM-sensitive folks.
Google Pixel 8a: Cameras
The Google Pixel 8a uses the same cameras as the Pixel 7a, including a main 64MP sensor and a 13MP ultrawide angle sensor on the back. The front-facing camera is 13MP, as well. This isn't a bad thing, since those cameras were fabulous. Plus, the new AI features help take things up a notch.
The Pixel 8a has a ton of new AI features that were launched with the more expensive Pixel 8 series, including Best Take, Magic Editor, and Real Tone for Video. As the Pixel 7a debuted major camera hardware upgrades, it makes sense for Google to keep the same sensors to keep costs low. It's amazing that you get the Magic Editor with the Pixel 8a, because that's an extremely premium feature to have on a $500 device.
As cool as it would be to see, of course the Pixel 8a doesn't include all the features of the Pixel 8 Pro. There's no manual camera mode and no support for Video Boost. If those are must-have features, you'll have to spend a bit more money on a Pixel 8 Pro or later.
We put the phone head-to-head with the Pixel 8 Pro and Honor 200 Pro to see if it can outclass those more expensive devices. In some cases, it matches the camera quality of those phones and falls short in other areas. Still, this is the best and most reliable camera you'll find in the $500 (or less) price range, Pixel 7a notwithstanding.
Google Pixel 8a: Specs and performance
The Pixel 8a packs in a Google Tensor G3 processor, the same as its flagship siblings, namely the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Tensor G3 is a more efficient processor than the Tensor G2 before it, delivering similar daily performance without the overheating issues present in many Tensor G2-powered phones.
The real improvement in Tensor G3 is its AI processing power, something Google spent a lot of time talking about during the Pixel 8 series launch. Because of that, Google was able to bring over many of the best Pixel 8 AI features, including Best Take, Magic Editor, Audio Magic Eraser, and more.
Other great features like Circle to Search, Pixel Call Assist, and Live translate are also included in the Pixel 8a experience. It's really good to see premium AI features make their way to budget Pixels.
You can now upgrade your Pixel 8a to Android 15 right out of the box. Considering the phone is promised seven major platform updates, that leaves six more versions of Android to go, going all the way up to Android 21.
Google's Guided Frame is also seeing a notable improvement by allowing the feature to work on the rear camera, further helping users with vision impairment issues.
The Pixel 8a includes 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage but no support for removable microSD card storage. The included Titan M2 security chip has become a mainstay of Pixel security, and Google is also upgrading the Pixel 8a with seven years of Pixel updates.
Google specifically highlights that the Pixel 8a has the same privacy and security features as the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Like all Pixel phones, the Pixel 8a comes with the free Pixel VPN. This adds to the phone's charm as a powerful mid-range phone even more.
While the wired charging speed is the same 18W as previous Pixel A-series phones, the wireless charging speed of the Pixel 8a has seen a small bump to 7.5W Qi charging.
All in all, it's a respectable upgrade for what was already our favorite cheap Android phone.
