(bright music)
- All right, so there is just one thing
that's starting to feel a little bit weird
with this new Pixel,
but I'll get to that by the end of this video.
Let's just start with the obvious stuff,
what's actually new here?
So I just got some hands-on time
with Google's new budget phone,
the Pixel 8A, and I can confirm
they're mostly sticking to the script here,
keeping it simple.
Last year's phone was already really good,
making a few key improvements where it counts
and keeping the price the same, $500.
500 bucks isn't cheap, but it's also not a flagship.
It's definitely in this nice little mid-range territory,
and I feel like the Pixel
has been slowly catching up their hardware
to the rest of the competition in this price point.
So at first glance, it is, well,
pretty unmistakably a Pixel with the camera bar up top.
But there's a little change,
there's a little bit more rounded edges.
I really hope I'm not the only one
getting round-SpongeBob vibes from these corners,
but that's definitely what I see.
But that's the main design change back here.
And then also around the back,
it's still got wireless charging,
it still has the same main camera sensor
as the 7A with an ultra-wide next to it.
But now there's new colors and this new matte texture.
So there's a black and a white
that are called Obsidian and Porcelain,
which look pretty tame.
But then there's also a new green and blue
called Aloe and Bay,
and they are definitely more vibrant.
The rails and the camera bar are all aluminum still.
It's still IP67 rated,
and then there's a slightly larger battery.
But I mean, we're talking very slight here.
I think it goes from 4,385 mAh to just over 4,400,
but it still has wireless charging too.
Then on the inside, it's been bumped up
to the new Tensor G3 chip from last year's flagships.
So we know it's decently capable, if a little, inefficient,
but then it'll also start at 128 gigs of storage.
But for the first time, they're also going
to offer a 256-gig version of the A phone as well.
And then around the front, an improved display.
So it's the same size, still 6.1 inches,
still has the middle hole punch cutout
for the selfie camera,
still has an optical fingerprint reader,
but it's now an Actua display.
So the peak brightness is 40% higher than before,
and I think it's noticeable.
This is one of those things that makes a big difference
to everyday life and usability,
just being able to see it outdoors.
And it's now a pOLED that gets up to 120 hertz
instead of the 90 hertz like last year.
Now, before you even type it,
I know, a lot of people are gonna argue immediately
this is not something that makes much of a difference
to most Pixel buyers,
and... you're right.
In fact, many of them will not notice this improvement
just because Smooth Display
is actually off again by default.
So it's a 60 hertz phone out the box,
and then you have to know to go
into the settings and turn it on
and knowing it'll impact battery life.
And then even once you do,
it's not like locked at 120 hertz,
it's dynamic up to 120 hertz, so.
I played around with this phone for a little bit.
It did feel very smooth to me.
It feels nice at 120 Hertz,
so I'm personally happy about that change,
but I won't dwell on about it for too much longer.
So from there, you already know what a Pixel is, right?
This is the mid-range/budget version of the phone
with great software.
Like, this is the one with the really smart AI features
like Call Assist and Pixel VPN and Magic Eraser Audio
and all kinds of other classic Google features.
It's the one with easily
the best speech-to-text transcription speed
and accuracy I've ever used on a phone.
It's reliable enough to just write whatever you want,
emails, texts, notes, whole paragraphs as fast as you want.
It's also the one that's promised seven years of updates.
OS updates, security updates, Feature Drop updates,
and it's the one with really good cameras,
mostly, basically unchanged from last year.
But all the Pixel 7A did
was literally get the highest Elo rating
on our recent blind smartphone camera test
with millions of votes up
against other top-tier flagship phones,
so I'd say that's a pretty good baseline.
So it seems like a pretty safe bet,
pretty easy bet if you are a Google or Pixel fan.
But I'll just say, here are my worries with this Pixel.
So first of all, this is the first A series device
that they're going to enable Gemini Nano on,
and Nano is the one that can go locally
on the device entirely, which is great.
They're probably gonna make a big deal about it at the event
and talk about it more at Google I/O and all the stuff.
But there's also now like this weird inconsistency
with different assistance on the Pixel phone.
It's not even just this phone,
but now you've got the Gemini app
like showing off prominently on the home screen
on these Pixel 8As,
which is the latest available and most capable voice
and multimodal AI search that they have.
But then the Google Search page
right next to the home screen,
if you tap the mic there,
that's going to a totally separate
but also very capable Google Voice Search
with Google Assistant.
Google is literally now developing
two different assistants side by side
with overlapping but not fully congruent capabilities.
It's just a little weird, a little inconsistent.
And we saw it coming and we knew this would happen,
but I think they'll eventually have
to consolidate them all into one.
I think Gemini will do everything at some point.
But then, hey, I guess the other thing to keep in mind
is the price.
So again, this phone's gonna launch for US$500.
Mid-range phone, mid-range price,
everything seems reasonable here.
But let me remind you,
you can still buy last year's phone of the year,
brand new Pixel 8 for 550 bucks.
So this eight 8A right now
is not that much cheaper than the 8.
And if you do go with the 8,
while it is a couple months old now, sure,
you're also getting a phone with thinner bezels
and a brighter, higher-quality display.
Arguably even better cameras with bigger sensors,
a bigger battery, faster charging, IP68,
and it's the same Tensor G3.
Like, is that not a way better-feeling deal?
I mean, if you can find one used, that's even better.
Pixel 8 was just such a good phone
for that price that it makes phones,
both more and less expensive, feel like worse buys.
Like, I talked about how Pixel 8 Pro feels
like such a hard sell because it's $250 more,
but now it also kind of makes the Pixel 8A
look a little too high-priced.
So either way, I'm sure Pixel 9
and 9 Pro when they come out will shake things up.
But as of right now, Pixel 8A is just,
it's a solid mid-ranger, solid.
It's got all the stuff you kind of already know
you're getting from a Pixel.
And if you also plan on picking one of these up,
then channel sponsor Dbrand also has you covered
with their Hydrodip skins.
Now, I've been using Dbrand skins literally since 2013,
so that's over a decade now.
And the biggest thing for me is they basically
add no thickness, obviously,
to the device like a case would,
but they can still totally change the look and feel.
Now, beyond just the Pixel skin and case,
Dbrand also supports with the Hydrodip skin
almost 200 devices.
So there's phones, but also laptops,
tablets, consoles, you name it.
And there's four colorways of this one,
so Gold Rush, Solar Flare,
Toxic Waste, and Cotton Candy.
I'm thinking Gold Rush
is the best looking one out of the bunch,
like I'm into the black, white, and gold combo, super clean.
But honestly, they all look pretty unique.
So if you have a favorite, I'll leave a link down below
so you can grab one for yourself.
But yeah, that's basically it.
Let me know what you think of Pixel 8A versus Pixel 8
in this weird six-month release stage thing Google's doing.
I'll check the comments.
Either way, thanks for watching.
Catch you guys in the next one.
Peace.
(bright music)