Google Pixel 8a review

29 May 2024


Sort by:

Huge bezels means budget?? What about the Xperias? Why don't you mention that in their reviews?

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 0U2
    • 07 Jun 2024

    Anonymous, 01 Jun 2024My phone was at the repairshop. Oneplus 11 . Bought cheap p... moreCamera differences between A15 and OnePlus 11 are pretty significant. Sure, the more expensive the phone, the less value you get. Best value, at the moment? Galaxy A35 - has everything you want / need (except wireless charging and DeX).

      • g
      • gc8
      • kfi
      • 06 Jun 2024

      Charging speed of 18W is a joke in 2024.

        It costs too much, with a few euros more you can buy Pixel 8

          RaviSS, 01 Jun 2024Yeah, the launch/pricing strategy for 'A' series ... moreSpot on. Just introduce at $399 and stay at that point. Manufacturers can do that if they want

            The ultrawide lacks Autofocus and so, can't capture these awesome macro closeups like the Pixel 8. NOTHING in the review about this.

              • l
              • lunatrigger
              • t@M
              • 04 Jun 2024

              7->7a 90hzscreen, bazel similar, good replacement.

              8-

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • nih
                • 04 Jun 2024

                PorkataUK, 02 Jun 20242 hours to charge... Just average battery (labeled "g... moreThey are desperately trying to undercut some of the Samsung and Chinese offerings.

                This product is not really made to compete but to give a sense of false security to those afraid of buying something else.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 7k}
                  • 03 Jun 2024

                  slow charging, over heating camera not good compared to ONEplus, I regret for giving my oneplus for exchange.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • Sme
                    • 02 Jun 2024

                    worst phone ever with this throttling.. have fun use this at summer times lol

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 5kb
                      • 02 Jun 2024

                      It seems they want to sell this phone in Japan.
                      Google has started a sale where you can trade in your iPhone SE 3rd generation for free.
                      These confuse people.

                        • P
                        • PorkataUK
                        • dMU
                        • 02 Jun 2024

                        2 hours to charge...
                        Just average battery (labeled "good" from GSMA!?!?).
                        Overheating...(And yes it will lag even if you don't play games on it, try to multitask in the summer outside).
                        CPU/GPU are simply weak.
                        Thick bezels from 2010.

                        I'm no hater, but this device can't deliver 2024 smartphone experience. It's like few years "late" to the party.

                          Nick Tegrataker, 01 Jun 2024You know that Tensor G3 is severely underpowered when its m... moreYeah, the launch/pricing strategy for 'A' series doesn't make sense to me either. Either launch it at the same point as the premium models ($500 would have been kinda justified at the time Pixel 8 was $700), or if you are gonna launch it 6+ months later, when the premium models are already usually discounted by 20% or so, then better launch it at 20% lower price, thus maintaining the price differential (i.e. $400 for 8A as compared to ~$550 for 8). In any case it is gonna be discounted to that price soon enough. But the press/reception it would have gotten with an MSRP of $400 would have been warmer and more receptive and its flaws would have more palatable.

                            Anonymous, 01 Jun 2024"2x shots have noticeable wormy artifacts all over the... moreshould test with other app

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • yAk
                              • 01 Jun 2024

                              My phone was at the repairshop. Oneplus 11 . Bought cheap phone. Samsung a15. Got old phone back. But keep using rhe cheap sansung..i barely norice any differwnce. Compared pictures. Maybe just maybe oneplus better...but who cares. Will never buy a flagship again. Total waste of money. I love my a15. Will use other phone as reserve. :)))

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • JHk
                                • 01 Jun 2024

                                Nick Tegrataker, 01 Jun 2024Pixel 8a's camera has a very nice texture rendition du... more"2x shots have noticeable wormy artifacts all over the frame, presumably due to the sensor's 2x2 OCL design"

                                I don't think that the sensor has a 2x2 OCL design. Currently, Google seems to use the term "Quad PD" for every Quad Bayer sensor without dual pixel autofocus, so it's quite unlikely that this has a 2x2 OCL design.
                                Octa PD= Octa Photodiode= Quad Bayer with dual Pixel autofocus (Quad x Dual = Octa)
                                Quad PD = Quad Bayer without dual pixel autofocus ( (Quad x 1 = Quad)

                                whereas Omnivision uses the abbreviation QPD= Quad Phase Detection for Quad Pixel autofocus (2x2 OCL for the entire sensor).

                                It rather seems that Google uses a worse demosaicing algorithm for the 8a at 2x in order to prevent it from outperforming the Pixel 8 due to the higher resolution.

                                  Pixel 8a's camera has a very nice texture rendition during the day, but it seems that Google just can't figure out what to do with details in low light or high-contrast scenes. Shadows have a distinctive "smudged" look which only gets worse in low light. This is also a problem for many other manufacturers, but for Google it stands out a lot more because Pixel does handle high-frequency details in midtones and highlights impeccably well.

                                  I don't understand why Google keeps ruining a lot of images this way because you can get more natural AND less blotchy results out of an unofficial Google Camera port if you adjust all the parameters, meaning Google is somehow thinking that these overly noise-reduced look on these photos are good and keeping it that way intentionally.

                                  2x crop zoom photos are nothing commendable, either. A cropped and upscaled 1x photos contain more details (Look at how at 1x Pixel resolves the balcony hole pattern flawlessly, yet at 2x it deforms them into weirder looking patterns that just don't look right), and 2x shots have noticeable wormy artifacts all over the frame, presumably due to the sensor's 2x2 OCL design. There's no reason to use it unless you want to compose the framing at a 50mm field of view while you're shooting instead of cropping it in post to achieve the same effect.

                                    You know that Tensor G3 is severely underpowered when its multi-core CPU performance lags behind that of an SoC designed by a heavily sanctioned company, built with a several-generation-old process node.. Yikes. Games aren't its strong suit either, as indicated by posts on X, somehow it was shown to heavily lag in certain games which a previous generation SD SoC has no problem dealing with. It's worth mentioning that this is NOT an app optimisation issue because Kirin 9010, a chip the said games were absolutely NO WAY optimised for due to its custom GPU cores, was still somehow performing better than G3. Could we simply have Dimensity 9400 for the Pixel 9 series, please?

                                    The pricing is awful, too - What would be the point of getting this over Pixel 8 when the latter is superior in every way? Why couldn't they have just launched it at the same time as the more expensive siblings so that it would've looked more attractive price-wise?

                                    It surely could've been a decent mid-ranger but the pricing really ruins everything. A textbook definition of "messed up launch time", bravo Google.

                                      Akinaro, 31 May 2024Probably because for everyday usage you dont get feel that ... moreExactly. I play(real) games on 50 " TV screen not on phone. I need smooth experience with everyday using, compact size and clean UI. And yes I am a bit geek with android upgrades. Cheers.

                                        Got it for 350eur 8/128gb. There is not better option of compact phone even with horrible slow charging, thicker bezels and less memory for this price level. Great experience after one week so far.

                                          2 of 5