I’ve had my hands on the Pixel 6a for about a week now. So this is your
Google Pixel 6a review, including some of the best Pixel 6a features.
Hey friends! I’m Tasia Custode and welcome back to my YouTube Channel where I share tech tips,
app reviews, and an abundance of Google Tips. And this is just one of two videos on Pixel 6a,
because all this goodness couldn’t fit into one video. We have a lot to cover. So let’s go!
So I was lucky enough to be gifted a Google Pixel 6a to review for you. And now it’s time
to spill all the details. So first things first, let’s talk about what’s in the box.
You’ll get, surprise surprise, the Pixel 6a. But you’ll also have a USB-C to USB-C cable,
a quick switch adapter, a SIM tool, and a quick start guide.
That’s it. There is no charger in this box. Which, I guess is just becoming the norm.
But now let’s talk a little bit about the physical specs. Pixel 6a comes in 3 colors.
The Pixel 6a features a 100% recycled aluminum frame. The one I have is Sage and you’ll notice
the two-tone color variant. So above the camera bar it’s a different color than below.
All three colors feature this little detail as well. So, the chalk has more
of a light grey at the top and the charcoal has a darker grey at the top. But the bump
on the camera bar itself is significantly less than that on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
As we jump into sizing, it’s clear that Pixel 6a is a precious little bundle of joy, at a weight of
just 6.3 oz or 178 g, she’s 6” tall, 2.8” wide, .35” thick, and features a 6.1” display. For
comparison, the Pixel 6 Pro has a 6.7” screen and you can really get a sense of the size difference
when you have them side by side. But believe it or not it’s even smaller than the Pixel 5a, which has
a 6.34” display. And while we are comparing it to the 5a, you will notice something else missing.
The headphone jack is no longer on the Pixel 6a. Honestly, a headphone jack could totally fit on
6a, but I guess we’re doing away with them just like chargers. But all this is to say, I really
like the size of the 6a in my hand. I think my hands are pretty average size, I don’t really know
what that means, but it feels good in my hand. It’s not too big, yet doesn’t feel undersized.
I can easily navigate the device with one hand, making it easy for my thumb to do all the work.
Which I guess you could say, is really handy.
Now the screen on the Pixel 6a is a 1080p OLED panel with a 60HZ refresh rate.
To put that into perspective, the 6 has a refresh rate of 90Hz. This can mean that motion
might not look as smooth on the 6a, but
And it’s a really big but, that’s if you’re used to a device with a
faster refresh rate. If you’re not used to that, and you’re coming from an older phone,
I’d really think it hard for the untrained eye to even notice. Plus, one of the reasons Google chose
to move forward with 60Hz as opposed to 90Hz is because they’ve made a battery-life-saving
decision. But back to the screen. We’ve got to touch on the fingerprint unlock feature.
That’s right, just like the 6 and 6 Pro, 6a has a fingerprint scanner on screen.
So I ran a side-by-side comparison with my 6a and 6 Pro and I gotta say, Pixel 6a is just as
responsive. I mean it’s tough to tell. 6a might be a split, split, tiny fraction of a second
slower. Again, I don’t think the average user is going to notice that one way or the other.
Now, some people have reported a bug where they register one thumbprint and the other thumb still
opens the device, even though they never registered the other thumb.
This has not happened to me. I have not experienced this issue at all. But
just know Google is aware of it and running fixes as I speak.
Now moving on! Pixel 6a comes with 128GB of storage and there’s no expansion option here,
so you get what you get. I think 128GB is more than sufficient, especially for a base model
like this. It’s also got 6GB of RAM, which is 2 less than the base model of Pixel 6.
Again, I don’t think this is something a novice or casual user would notice.
But we’d be remiss to talk about tech specs and not discuss what’s powering the Pixel 6a.
This is all powered by…Google Tensor. That’s right the Pixel 6a comes with
the same high-powered engine that’s behind Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.
Google Tensor is the first custom-built processor
designed by Google and made specifically for the Pixel. It is such a powerful chip.
This means better, more advanced AI, exceptional computational photography,
live translation, speech recognition, longer battery life, and faster performance.
And we’ll talk about battery life in a second but,
Google Tensor is a big reason for all the amazing Pixel 6a camera features.
And if you want an in-depth video on the best Pixel 6a camera features, that video will be
linked in the description below. But here is a quick rundown of the camera and video specs.
On the back of the Pixel 6a, we’ve got a 12.2 MP dual pixel wide camera and a 12 MP ultrawide
camera. That’s actually a downgrade from the 16MP ultrawide found on the 5a. But, the sensor is
larger, so it allows more light on the ultrawide. On the front, we’ve got an 8 MP camera. An 8 MP
camera is nothing to write home about, honestly, though combined with Google Tensor, it’ll still
produce nicely processed images. Without going crazy here on all the camera capabilities,
you’ve got features like face unblur, magic eraser, real tone, night sight, and more.
In terms of video, on the back, we’ve got 4K video recording capabilities at 30fps or 60fps.
With the front camera, we’ve got 1080p at 30fps. There are a whole whack of video capabilities too,
like video stabilization, astrophotography timelapse, slow-mo, and more, but
I’m not going to get into all the camera and video features here, because you’re going to have to
watch my other video on that, or else we’d be here all day. Instead, let’s get back to battery life.
There are some mixed reports here when it comes to its battery performance. Google says the Pixel 6a
will hold battery for over 24 hours and up to 72 hours with Extreme Battery Saver. But you should
know that the battery is not quite as good as the 5a. However, I think that really depends on how
you’re using your device. If you’re heavy on any of the things that take a lot of processing power,
I wouldn’t say the battery is bad, but it probably won’t last over 24 hours. An easy fix,
believe it or not is that if you just charge your phone at the end of the day,
it’ll be good to go for the next day,
Magic.
Something else to note is that Pixel 6a comes with really the same experience as the 6 and 6 Pro,
thanks to Material You. So of course you have your standard suite of Google Apps, call screening,
live translate, speech-to-text, robust connectivity, comprehensive security, and so on.
Another important detail is that you’ll get five years of security updates with Pixel 6a.
Some articles and reviewers are reporting 3 years, but I can confirm
it’s 5 years of security updates. Pixel 6a is $449 USD and it’s officially available now.
So, in summary, Pixel 6a is a really good device. You’re getting what’s considered a “budget” phone,
but with a high-powered processor. So, if you don’t care about the biggest and best display,
and you want a reliable device that will last you for a few years, take awesome photos, and give
you a good bang for your buck, you can’t go wrong with Pixel 6a. Good things come in small packages.
Oh, that should have been their tagline. Pixel 6a: Good things come in small packages.
Ya, that’s good.
So, what do you think of Google Pixel 6a? Is it the budget phone for you? Let everyone know
in the comments below. As always, thank you so much for watching,
if you liked this video, I want to know so give it a like, a share, or
leave that comment below. You can click right about here to subscribe to my channel
and right about here and here for even more Pixel content. Thanks for watching and see ya next time.