Google's new budget phone, the Pixel 6A - Pixel Camera is like a Pizza - MKBHD
There's a lot of competition in the cheap phone category these days, and this phone isn't the apparent hands-down victor it previously was. But, more than ever this year, we believe the key reason is the display and a new chip. The exact same one that's in the flagship models, the same software experience as the flagships, but with some lesser hardware around it with this Google budget phone. It's similar to the iPhone SE, but Google's version As a result, the pricing here is $449. It appears to be identical to every other Pixel 6 phone.
They're undeniably Pixel. You have the two-tone hues. The camera bar across the center is instantly identifiable as a Pixel. The only change here is a little different hue. The colour is sage green. Also, the camera hump isn't as tall, so it's a little sleeker. As a result, we don't utilize the edge as often as we do with previous phones.
Everything else on the outside, though, is nearly identical. It has the same metal rails, power and volume buttons on the right side with a notch between them, speakers, and a little off-center USB-C connector at the bottom. However, this phone is IP67, not IP68, and there is no wireless charging. Google would have definitely saved a few bucks here, but this phone still has a glass back, and if you've ever used wireless charging, it's worth noting that this one won't have it. The Pixel 5A also has a headphone jack. This Pixel 6A lacks a headphone jack.
The Pixel 6A's pricing is most accurately reflected. So we have a 6.1-inch 1080p OLED display running at 60Hz, a top center hole punch, and an in-display fingerprint sensor. The Google Pixel 6A is rather crisp and colourful, and it gets bright enough to support HDR and not completely stink outside, but it also has some really major off-access coloring, the auto-brightness is a touch temperamental, and the fingerprint reader is certainly sluggish. It's a little sluggish, exactly like the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.
This may be forgiven in a low-cost phone as we've seen similar issues in this price range. But what really knocks it down is the 60Hz frequency, notably because this one feels sluggish. With a tensor chip, which is a rather high-end chip inside, the phone should still feel snappy and open applications quickly. And that's still generally true here, but for whatever reason, the responsiveness and genuine smoothness of the display aren't quite there. So I believe this is going to be one of those things that you either feel and notice straight away, or you don't notice at all. Many consumers will be seeking to acquire a Pixel 6A after upgrading from an older phone, a cheap phone, or other 60Hz phones, and this will most likely feel exactly in line. But, even among 60Hz phones, I think this is one of the choppiest.
Pixel 6A, Google It comes with three years of software upgrades, the same software experience as its larger siblings with Material You, Google's widgets and dynamic colours, and stock apps like the calculator, settings, and camera, among other things. Google's most intelligent features, such as Assistant, are all included. Call screening is fantastic, as is live translation. They're all very wonderful, especially the magic that is virtually immediate speech to text everywhere in this phone owing to the tensor chip. Along with the dual speakers, the haptics is also quite impressive, which is fantastic to see in a cheap phone.
The only elements that may have potentially surprised us were the batteries and cameras. So the Pixel 6A's battery has a capacity of 4410mAh and has shown to be enough. There were some reservations because, hey, it's a tensor chip, which is a higher-end device that consumes more power. That would be a problem on a smaller phone, but 60Hz seems to balance it out, so we got a fairly excellent battery life.
So, unlike previous Pixels, this does not share the same cameras as its more costly siblings, the 6 and 6 Pro. Instead, it has a downgraded 12-megapixel camera setup for both standard and ultra-wide, which may appear disappointing on paper, but this is the old Sony IMX363 sensor, which some of you nerds will recognize as the same exact sensor that was in the Pixel 5, as well as the Pixel 4, Pixel 3, and Pixel 2. In other words, due to Google's computational photography prowess, this is an older, smaller, lower resolution sensor that is nonetheless a tried-and-true superb smartphone camera.
Even with the smaller pixel camera, things move quickly because of the tensor chip processing. The images produced by this camera are sharp, contrasty, and confident, just like they were with previous Pixels. The colours are also excellent. With close-up subjects, there isn't too much over-processing, and there isn't too much fringing at the corners, either, and the dynamic range and how it handles highlights is a bonus. So now we see why Google stayed with it for so long, and the reality is that this is still clearly a top two cheap smartphone cameras. It also boasts the extra wide lens that the iPhone SE lacks, and it can shoot 4K films at up to 60 frames per second.
When you examine the competition, just the other phones that you could have for $450, the discourse around the Pixel 6A is arguably the most fascinating. To summarise, we believe you should acquire the Pixel 6A if you value the Google OS experience, those features, and/or the camera above all else. If that isn't you, you can purchase a Samsung Galaxy A53 for $100 cheaper. You could also purchase a Nothing Phone, which has all of those odd lights on the back. You may even acquire an iPhone SE, which will have a 60Hz single camera setup and a lower battery, that's also a flagship chipset, that's also wireless charging, and that's also, let's be real, it's an iPhone, which is enough of a feature for some people.