The Pixel 6a is the mid-range version of Google’s impressive flagships, the $599 Pixel 6 and $899 Pixel 6 Pro, which were released in late 2021. As it did since the Pixel 3, Google followed its flagships with a lower version priced through the A series, which has historically offered great value by giving a strong taste of top performance (especially in the camera) at a more palatable price.
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The story is no different this year with the Pixel 6a. Our review called it Google’s best take on a mid-priced model yet, with Ars Reviews editor Ron Amadeo calling the 6a “the device [we’ll] recommend to anyone looking for an Android phone” from now on. The big reason for that is because the Pixel 6a uses the same Tensor System (SoC) built by Google as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. In our tests, we found that this chip is twice as fast as the Pixel 5a.
The lower price means the 6a trades the Pixel 6’s glass back for glossy plastic, flattens the rounded curves of the 6’s front, and loses wireless charging (as well as a headphone jack for the first time on an A-series phone). Its screen is also smaller (at 6.1 inches) and slower (with a typical 60Hz refresh rate), and it technically offers a bit less RAM (at 6GB).
However, as with all of Google’s Pixel phones, you still get a clean and user-friendly take on Android with a limited edge, three years of major OS updates and five years of security updates guaranteed. The device also includes an in-display fingerprint sensor, a first for the Pixel A series. Overall, the 6a is a good deal at its standard MSRP, but this deal should increase value for those in need of a new phone this year. dot.
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