Google’s Pixel 7a reviewed

We look at the latest iteration in the evolution of the Google Pixel phone line. Pixel 7a starts at only €509, see more about the product here.

Google’s Pixel 7a reviewed

One of the biggest hits among our testers when the Pixel 7 came out was the power of the zoom lens on the camera. It was truly impressive for capturing detail on things that were very far away, The good thing about the a-versions of the Pixel releases is that they don’t roll back any of these new features. Rather the a-series offers you the key functionality, with some extras stripped back, at a slightly lower price. This remains the case with the 7a also. The phone is slightly smaller, but thankfully comes with it’s own protective case, which, they are beginning to realise is a helpful necessity so that you can start using it straight out of the box.

The battery power is pretty good, and should get you through the day fine, unless you are some kind of extreme power user of your phone. The stripped down plastic-esque case doesn’t seem too tacky, and doesn’t distract from the usability of the phone. The price remains at the higher end of a good to great mid priced phone, though it is a fair question as to whether any price reductions on the 7 itself might nudge people back towards buying that option instead – which would not necesarily be the worst option. However depending on your use case, less budget, newer device, more robust, slightly smaller, then this could be a great phone for you. With, as always, excellent photography for you.

More about the device

Pixel 7a has the same familiar design as Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, with its iconic Pixel camera bar and smooth, sculpted surfaces. Featuring an all-new midframe architecture, Pixel 7a is our most durable A-series yet. And to support our continued commitment to sustainability, the aluminum housing is made with 100% recycled content.²

You can choose from four colors to suit your style: Charcoal, Snow, Sea, and Coral.³ We’re even launching Pixel Buds A-Series in a new color, Sea. For added protection, don’t forget to pick up a case made just for Pixel 7a.

Google Tensor G2 is the next-gen processor that’s custom-built for Pixel. It’s the same chip that’s in Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, powering Google’s advanced machine learning and speech recognition, and Google’s AI for improved audio on phone calls, great battery life, and amazing photo and video quality. It makes Pixel 7a faster, more efficient, more secure and even more helpful.

More about the camera

With an upgraded dual rear camera system and Google Tensor G2’s advanced image processing, Pixel’s camera makes photos perfect, every time. It’s easy to take amazing pictures in low light with Night Sight. You can even fix your blurry photos, whether they’re new or old, or remove distractions with a few taps in Google Photos with Magic Eraser and Photo Unblur. All skin tones are represented beautifully and accurately with Real Tone. Pixel 7a includes Super Res Zoom for clear close-up portraits from far away. And for the first time on the A-Series, Long Exposure adds motion, texture and energy to your photos.   

A fully upgraded camera system

Ranked the best smartphone camera under $500,⁴ Pixel 7a’s camera system has been completely upgraded to bring amazing camera features to more people. The phone’s upgraded main camera features a 72% larger sensor than Pixel 6a, allowing for 44% more light. Plus, it has an all-new 13-megapixel ultrawide lens, so you can capture more in your shots. And Night Sight is twice as fast as on Pixel 6a.

You’ll even be able to capture 4K video with the all-new, 13-megapixel front camera. And for the first time on an A-series, Pixel 7a has Long Exposure, which can add texture and energy when photographing things in motion like waterfalls. To top it all off, thanks to Tensor G2, Pixel 7a includes Super Res Zoom up to 8x to give you sharp, high-quality images so you’ll never miss a detail when taking photos from further away.

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