The Google Pixel 8a is officially here, and while it arrived a little earlier than we expected, it means that the Pixel 7a is no longer the wallet-friendly golden child of the Pixel lineup. The Pixel 7a was one of the best cheap phones, which means we’re rather looking forward to seeing what its replacement can do.
Some of the hardware may be the same as last year (I’m talking about you, camera), but there are plenty of things the Pixel 8a should do better than its predecessor. Especially since a bunch of these upgrades have made the jump from the flagship Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro models.
But how much have things actually changed? Here are 7 of the biggest upgrades the Google Pixel 8a has to offer.
Brighter Actua Display
One of the biggest Pixel 8a upgrades is one seemingly pulled from last year’s Pixel 8: the Actua display. Google promises that the Actua display offers 40% higher peak brightness on the Pixel 8a. HDR brightness is rated at 1,400 nits, while peak brightness is a little higher at 2,000 nits.
That’s the same figures as the Pixel 8’s 6.2-inch Actua display, albeit slightly smaller at 6.1-inches in size. The downside is that Google has opted to stick with Gorilla Glass 3 for another year, compared to the more durable Gorilla Glass Victus on the Pixel 8. But if you value something much brighter than the Pixel 7a, and promise to be careful with the screen, then the Pixel 8a has you covered.
7 years of software support
One of the main problems with cheap phones is that they have maybe a couple of years of software support — after which the software is essentially obsolete and a potential security risk. Things have been picking up with flagships, in part thanks to Google and Samsung seemingly trying to outdo each other with seven years of full updates. Now Google is bringing that same pledge to the Pixel 8a.
Like the rest of the Pixel 8 series, Google has promised the Pixel 8a will be fully supported for seven whole years. That includes security updates and full Android software updates, which presumably includes the quarterly Pixel Feature Drops which add new features regularly. While Google hasn’t confirmed yet, we suspect this will also include access to spare parts — letting you repair any damage that may occur between now and 2031.
120Hz display
The Pixel 7a’s display peaked at 90Hz which, while better than the iPhone 15, pales in comparison to the 120Hz display on phones like the Samsung Galaxy A54 and Galaxy A55. Fortunately Google has fixed that mistake this year, offering a display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate with all the silky-smooth scrolling such a screen can offer.
It’s not an LTPO display, meaning the screen can only drop to 60Hz rather than 1Hz. But this is still a major upgrade, especially since Apple has been stubbornly sticking with 60Hz on its two non-Pro flagships.
Pixel 8 AI features
Thanks to the inclusion of the Tensor G3 chipset, the Pixel 8a also offers many of the same AI features you can find on the Pixel 8 — but for a fraction of the price. These features include the Magic Editor, which lets you alter and tweak your photos however you like while letting generative AI fill in all of the blanks.
There’s also Best Take, which lets you take multiple pictures of a group to try and avoid any facial mishaps. Google Photos will then take the best faces from each person in shot, and ensure that everyone looks good and presentable. So no closed eyes or accidentally screwed up faces. Google also confirmed that its Gemini Nano AI model will be available as a developer option on Pixel 8a, but the specifics of this aren’t fully known just yet.
Tensor G3 & security
All that AI is powered by the same Tensor G3 chipset you’ll find in the rest of the Pixel 8 series. That means we should see a big improvement in performance compared to the Pixel 7a, as well as extra bonuses like added energy efficiency. But it’s not all about AI and performance.
The Tensor G3 also includes more advanced image processing capabilities, which should improve the picture quality on the Pixel 8a’s camera — regardless of the fact it has the same camera as the Pixel 7a.
Tensor also works in conjunction with Google Titan M2 security processor, and promises added multi-layer hardware security features. These include anti-malware and anti-phishing protection, automatic security checks, extra privacy controls, passkey support and a private compute core.
A larger battery
The Pixel 8a offers a slight improvement to battery capacity, offering 4,492 mAh compared to the Pixel 7a’s 4,385 mAh. More battery capacity can only be a good thing, especially since the Pixel 8a is coming with a bunch of potentially power-draining features like the 120Hz refresh rate and the increased brightness of the Actua display.
So it’s unclear how much of an impact this will have on the Pixel 8a’s battery life. Here’s hoping that this small improvement can help the battery last even longer. The Pixel 7a managed to last 10 hours and 5 minutes in our custom battery test, but that’s nowhere close to a spot on our best phone battery life list — and we’d like to see a Pixel phone hit that list at some point.
256GB storage option
Past A-series Pixels have been rather stingy with the storage, restricting users to a single model with 128GB of storage. But since 128GB is fast becoming inadequate, it’s good to see that Google will be offering a 256GB Pixel 8a as well. Pricing for this new storage option is $559, which isn't too shabby given it's double the storage. It can also save you from having to pay for a subscription to Google One or some other cloud storage service.
The 128GB model will still be available for those that want it. The $499 price tag means it’s the same price as last year, making it ideal for those of you that don’t need those extra gigabytes and would rather save your dollars for something else — like a case or a Pixel Watch.
More from Tom's Guide
- Google Pixel 8a vs. Pixel 7a: The biggest upgrades
- Google Pixel 9 vs. Pixel 9 Pro — all the expected differences
- Pixel 8a AI features — these are all the tools you'll want to try first
