Google Pixel 6A evaluation: midrange elements, Tensor smarts

For a number of years working, the Pixel A-series cellphone was a no brainer: all the time one of the best Android cellphone in its midrange class. With the Pixel 6A, issues are slightly totally different. Google is shifting its priorities for its Pixel telephones, and rivals like Samsung have closed the hole. The 6A nonetheless has one of the best efficiency and digital camera high quality at its value, however it’s not fairly the shoo-in that it as soon as was.

As is custom for the A-series, the 6A affords most of what the Pixel 6 does — and to a lesser extent, the Pixel 6 Pro — for a a lot decrease price: $449 as a substitute of the Pixel 6’s beginning value of $599. You don’t get wi-fi charging, a glass again panel, or a sooner display refresh fee. But you do get the identical core options because the flagship fashions. In earlier years, that meant the exact same class-leading digital camera because the pricier fashions however normally a much less strong processor. That’s not the case this yr; as a substitute, you get Google’s custom-built processor, Tensor.

Tensor permits some AI and machine studying pushed options, like higher real-time transcription and HDR video recording on the digital camera’s highest decision and body fee. But largely, the chipset enhances issues that Pixel telephones may already do, like stay translation, by working them extra effectively so you should utilize them extra with out working your battery down.

Most importantly, it means you possibly can truly preserve utilizing this cellphone for various years, which is a extra typical shelf life for a sub-$500 cellphone. It affords one of the best longevity amongst midrange Android telephones, rivaled solely by the iPhone SE for pure return on funding worth. The SE could properly get software program updates a yr longer than the 6A, however the Pixel affords a significantly better display in comparison with the SE’s comparatively puny 4.7-inch show.

Keeping Tensor because the 6A’s core function is a touch at the place Google is steering the Pixel sequence for the long run. As for the right here and now, it makes the 6A into a superb midrange cellphone. It doesn’t provide the easiest display for the cash — that honor goes to the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G. But it’s the greatest performer for underneath $500 (at the least amongst choices obtainable within the US). On high of that, it’s a snug dimension with unfussy software program and an important digital camera, and it ought to preserve working properly for years to come back. That’s worthy of an A grade for certain.

The Pixel 6A is the smallest of the three 6 sequence telephones, however perhaps one of the simplest ways to explain it’s that it’s the least massive. Next to the Pixel 6 Pro with its 6.7-inch display and the 6.4-inch Pixel 6, the Pixel 6A feels downright petite. I contest that its 6.1-inch display is one of the best compromise between a small (learn: moderately sized) cellphone and the large telephones everybody else appears to need, however that’s simply my very own private hill to die on.

The display on the 6A is a 1080p OLED panel with a normal 60Hz refresh fee, a step down from the 6’s 90Hz display. After utilizing a 120Hz display for some time, I positively discover the distinction going again to 60Hz. I’d by no means see it with out having the sooner refresh fee to check it to, however movement seems jerkier and it provides the cellphone a lower than polished really feel. Still, LCD panels are fairly frequent within the $500 and beneath class, so the richer distinction of an OLED is welcome right here. It’s not terribly snug to make use of exterior in direct daylight, both, however it will get vivid sufficient to be usable.

The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, additionally $449, is the 6A’s closest competitor within the US. Its display can also be a 1080p OLED however has a 120Hz refresh fee. It’s additionally greater, at 6.5 inches, which lots of people discover interesting. The 6A beats the A53 in a number of methods, however so far as the display goes, it’s all Samsung. So, do you have to think about the A53 over the 6A? It relies upon.

Generally talking, the A53 prioritizes the surface-level specs, together with that fancy display, however its processor isn’t as snappy. It feels extra like a finances cellphone with a number of elevated elements slightly than the opposite method round. Day-to-day efficiency is just a bit extra sluggish, and that’s solely going to degrade over the following three or extra years. For longevity and the easiest efficiency, the 6A is the best way to go. But if a giant display is essential to you and also you solely plan on protecting your cellphone for a number of years anyway, then the A53 is the higher alternative.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The Pixel 6A doesn’t simply borrow the 6’s processor; it carries over the complete design language Google launched with the 6 sequence. The horizontal digital camera bump on the again panel protrudes a bit much less, however in any other case, it’s the identical distinct design. I can’t say I like it. The black rails and digital camera bar distinction so harshly with the soothing sage inexperienced on the again panel. I didn’t thoughts the design when it debuted on the 6 and 6 Pro. But I’ve been disliking it increasingly more over the previous yr, and I’ve a sense it’s not going to age properly.

The 6A contains 128GB of storage — with no card slot for enlargement — and 6GB of RAM. That’s the one variant, and it has 2GB much less RAM than the bottom mannequin Pixel 6. For day-to-day use, this doesn’t appear to influence efficiency. The system feels responsive as I bounce between duties, and apps keep open within the background lengthy sufficient to not frustrate me.

It handles heavy duties properly, too — higher than the A53 5G does. The cellphone runs graphics-intensive video games like Genshin Impact pretty easily, with some dropped frames right here and there. There’s additionally little or no lag within the digital camera app, even firing off a number of portrait mode photographs again to again. Both the (pre-Tensor) Pixel 5A and the 6A let me take about 4 portrait mode photographs in fast succession earlier than they should buffer and lock out the shutter button. The 5A wants a full 4 to 5 seconds to course of the photographs, however with the 6A, I can begin taking pictures once more in a few second. That may imply the distinction between getting the shot you needed or watching the second go you by with a grayed-out shutter button. It’s additionally properly past what I’d anticipate of most midrange smartphones, and Tensor is definitely serving to to make the distinction right here.

The Pixel 6A’s fingerprint scanner has been the topic of a whole lot of hypothesis — particularly alongside the strains of “maybe it won’t be as terrible as the one in the 6 and 6 Pro.” I’m not satisfied that it’s any higher. Using the 6A and the 6 aspect by aspect, I can see the 6A sensor responding faster typically. But, simply as typically, it’s the identical velocity because the Pixel 6. It additionally feels simply as vulnerable to asking me to rescan my fingerprint or press my finger slightly longer. In any case, the Galaxy S22’s sensor feels a contact sooner than both of the Pixels’ — and since Samsung’s sensor is ultrasonic slightly than optical, it doesn’t fill your darkish bed room with blinding mild if you use it. If you had been hoping that the 6A would tackle that Pixel 6 shortcoming, then I’m sorry to say you’ll be disillusioned.

The 6A’s haptics are good. They’re refined however reassuring as you’re typing and tapping. However, one thing in regards to the cellphone’s design (I strongly suspect the digital camera bump) makes it sound as loud as a foghorn when it’s sitting on a picket desk and a notification units the vibration off. I can hear it throughout the home. I turned vibrations down a notch however that hasn’t actually helped. I suppose I’d simply get used to discovering one thing gentle to place the cellphone down on after I wasn’t utilizing it. Or put a case on it like a smart particular person.

There’s a comparatively small 4,410mAh battery powering the Pixel 6A, however the tight relationship between {hardware} and software program (presumably) contributes to its superb battery efficiency. It received me by means of a day and a half of reasonable use, and it dealt with a full day of heavier use with a little bit of gaming and a convention name, no drawback. It’s massive battery power from slightly battery.

The Pixel 6A carries an IP67 score for water resistance, making it rather less strong than the IP68-rated Pixel 6 and 6 Pro — however not a lot. That’s on par with the Galaxy A53 5G and higher than most telephones at this value. (Motorola’s Moto G Stylus 5G doesn’t provide any score for water resistance.) But the unhealthy information is that the headphone jack that held on for thus lengthy within the Pixel A-series is now gone. There’s no charger included within the field, both. Those have gotten simply as scarce as headphone jacks these days.

The Pixel 6A’s 12-megapixel f/1.7 fundamental digital camera is borrowed from the Pixel 5A, with a few Tensor-enabled advantages. The 12-megapixel ultrawide digital camera is similar because the one on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, and it’s good however unremarkable.

It’s extra symbolic than something that the 6A doesn’t use the brand new 50-megapixel sensor from the Pixel 6 as a result of, in actuality, pictures from that new high-res sensor aren’t dramatically higher than that of the older digital camera. Photos from the 6A seem like pictures from a Pixel digital camera: contrasty with a barely cool white steadiness and vivid colours that don’t cross into oversaturated territory. If you just like the Pixel photograph aesthetic, you then’ll just like the 6A’s digital camera. If you favor hotter tones, you then’ll be happier with the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G. Tensor permits a number of fascinating digital camera options on the 6A, that are typically good, however they’re not so good that they’ll change your thoughts about how you want your photographs processed.

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One of probably the most spectacular of those options known as Face Unblur. In low mild, cameras want to make use of slower shutter speeds to get a vivid sufficient publicity. If your topic is shifting even slightly, then getting a pointy photograph of them turns into very tough. Face Unblur makes use of data from the ultrawide digital camera to complement the principle digital camera’s brighter publicity, placing all of it along with slightly machine studying magic to provide you a last picture with the suitable brightness and — in concept — a pointy photograph of your topic’s face.

Face Unblur occurs routinely, and also you’ll solely understand it was in use after the very fact. And it really works! The outcomes are nonetheless slightly gentle and noisy for those who look carefully however with out apparent movement blur. It’s a disgrace that it doesn’t seem to work with portrait mode, although, since that’s how I take footage of my child more often than not.

Another factor that Tensor permits is the power to make use of HDR throughout video recording, even on the highest body fee and backbone setting: 4K / 60p, on this case. The distinction is refined, although. I shot a backlit video with the Pixel 5A at 4K / 60p and in contrast it to the 6A with the identical settings. The 6A brings again slightly extra element in highlights, and it seems slightly higher than the 5A’s footage, however I’m unsure I’d know the distinction with out seeing them aspect by aspect.

One Tensor function that’s obtainable on the 6 and 6 Pro however lacking from the 6A is Motion Mode. Google spokesperson Rebecca Pineiro says it isn’t enabled due to the 6A’s “hardware differences” from the 6 and 6 Pro. This is a function that mimics the inventive blur results of lengthy publicity and panning images methods — issues that sometimes take time, particular tools, and observe to excellent. The 6 and 6 Pro can do a convincing impression of each results with only one press of the shutter. It’s enjoyable, and it stinks that the 6A can’t use it.

Still, the 6A presents a classy set of digital camera options for a midrange cellphone, and by way of uncooked capabilities, it’s nonetheless one of the best in its class. Tensor provides a few fascinating new options, however the basis that the 6A’s digital camera is constructed on was already a robust one.

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro launched with Android 12, and it wasn’t precisely one of the best expertise for early adopters for the reason that first variations of the software program had been buggy. With Android 13 across the nook, Google appears to have found out its Android 12 points, at the least on the Pixel 6A. I haven’t encountered any noticeable bugs or disruptive quirks utilizing the cellphone as my each day driver for the previous couple of weeks. I made calls, listened to Spotify on Bluetooth earbuds, took footage and video, and navigated throughout city with out a drawback. And it’s, in fact, inventory Android, that means there’s no duplicate apps or undesirable options to muddle up the UI. (Looking at you, Samsung.)

The 6A will get 5 years of safety updates, the identical because the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Google wouldn’t affirm to us what number of OS platform upgrades the 6A will get, however the 6 and 6 Pro are promised three. Samsung affords a really robust replace coverage for the A53, promising 4 OS upgrades and the identical 5 years of safety patches. It’s price noting that the Pixel ought to get month-to-month updates from Google all through its life span, however Samsung tends to place its telephones on a much less frequent replace schedule as they become old — simply two safety updates a yr for the oldest supported units.

And, in fact, there’s 5G. Verizon will promote a model of the cellphone with assist for superfast mmWave 5G for $50 extra. The model of the 6A bought immediately from Google and at different retailers will simply assist sub-6GHz 5G, which is ok; that taste of 5G is bettering quick, and mmWave is sort of a sham anyway.

The Pixel 6A is a flagship cellphone with a few of the nicer options stripped again — that’s one method to constructing a midrange cellphone. The different method is to speculate slightly extra in these nice-to-have options, like a quick refreshing display, however to incorporate a less expensive processor and sacrifice a bit on efficiency. That’s the route that Samsung took with the Galaxy A53.

The highway that Google took is smart to me, at the least. The Pixel 6 sequence telephones make a daring assertion, from their uncommon design to the {custom} chipset. They’re telephones for individuals who need telephones that do actually cool stuff. The Galaxy A53 is slightly totally different. It’s for somebody who needs the largest and greatest show they’ll get for the cash and who doesn’t thoughts giving up slightly little bit of processing energy to get it. I do know which class I fall into, and also you most likely know the place you stand, too.

So, if a extremely massive display isn’t a precedence and also you (like me) desire a sensibly sized cellphone that may truly slot in your pocket, then the 6A is simple to advocate. It affords wonderful efficiency, its digital camera system is dependable, battery life is excellent, and it’ll obtain frequent software program updates for a few years to come back. That’s laborious to beat for $449.

Photography by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge