Google Pixel 6a – 128 GB-Unlocked Android 5G Smartphone with 12 megapixel camera and 24-hour battery – Sage

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The camera app has many of the features as Google’s other phones, including the object eraser or camouflage tools, which recolours distracting and unwanted elements of a photo to make them less obvious. Google is on a roll. After years of good but not great phones, the Pixel 6a is another excellent model bringing the Android-maker’s magic down to a more affordable price.

Google Pixel 6a – 128 GB-Unlocked Android 5G Smartphone with

It’s a real shame, then, that the Google Pixel 6a’s battery life is such an Achilles’ heel, because if the phone lasted even just a little bit longer, it’d be a really great budget handset. On the front there’s an 8MP f/2.0 selfie snapper, which is a little low-res compared to front cameras on rival devices, but the camera performs just fine. Smartphone battery life is often hard to quantity. A device might perform well in lab-based tests but struggle in everyday use, given the huge variance of screen-on time that you’ll use day-to-day, and as such testers can be hesitant to provide decisive verdicts on a phone’s lasting power. Google’s green phase started in earnest with the Sorta Sage Pixel 5. That continued with the Pixel 6, but the company went lighter with something more playful compared to the staid, almost minty green that came in 2020. The issue for power users is the limited battery. We found from tests that it's fine for about a day of normal use, but not too much more. On the plus side, having one of the best power banks solves that. Google Pixel 6a verdictVideo recording goes up to 4K and 60fps - which is all anyone really needs, if we’re being honest - with a range of modes like time lapse and slow motion. The front camera maxes out at 1080p though, a side effect of its 8MP sensor.

Google Pixel 6A | Carphone Warehouse Google Pixel 6A | Carphone Warehouse

Perhaps Google is hoping you won’t be using the phone much, because it’ll be plugged in and charging for so long each day. The 18W powering here means the phone takes nearly two hours to power up to full, which is impressively slow for a handset at this price. Google opted to use the same chip in the Pixel 6a as in the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro - its self-designed Tensor chipset - and this means the three phones are equally powerful. The Google Pixel 6a retains the same design language of its siblings, but there are a few changes - for better and worse. More AI features for this more affordable handset are 'Face Unblur', which does exactly what it sounds like and stops faces in photos from being blurry, plus its True Tone tech, which makes the cameras more effective at accurately showing darker skin tones in portraits. The only tool missing is Motion Mode, which adds effects to moving objects. So if that's a major draw, you'll have to spend more for the flagships. The battery life issue won’t ruin the phone for everyone, but it does make you stop and think “can I use a phone that needs charging multiple times per day?” If you can, that’s great. But we imagine lots of people will rule out the phone based on this simple issue.

How powerful is the Google Pixel 6a?

This isn’t really a phone designed for gamers though, with its mid-range chip and small display, so it’s unlikely that too many customers will mind. The Google Pixel 6a, then, now offers better value than ever. That said, it would have been a more competitive phone, both against other Pixel phones and the slew of affordable phones on the market, if its starting price had been lower.