Analysis of the Pixel 7a in depth and opinion

Google introduced its high-end smartphones Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro
in early October . Now, it has introduced the new mid-range Pixel 7a for those looking to enjoy the experience of a Pixel, but do not want to spend as much money.

The Pixel 7a is a smartphone with a 6.1″ FullHD+ 90Hz OLED display, Google Tensor G2 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128 storage, wide-angle rear camera (64MP, f /1.9) + ultra-wide angle (13MP, f /2.2 ), front camera (13MP, f /2.2), and 4,385 mAh battery, fast charging (18W wired, 7.5W wireless) and IP67 water resistance.

The Pixel 7a is on sale for €509 in charcoal, light blue, snow and coral (the latter, exclusive to the Google Store).

Courtesy of Google, I’ve had a chance to thoroughly test the Pixel 7a ahead of its announcement , and here’s my review. 

design and construction

The Pixel 7a maintains the same design language as the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, to the point where they are almost indistinguishable.

Like its older brothers, the Pixel 7a has a front dominated by a 6.1″ screen, surrounded by thicker frames than I would like. At least, the thickness is quite uniform, although, if you look closely, the lower one is somewhat wider.

Google has placed the front camera in a hole punched in the screen itself , right in the center.

I would have preferred to see this hole in a corner as it would be more inconspicuous and less in the way when playing games or watching movies while holding the phone horizontally in my opinion.

The front of the Pixel 7a is completely flat, without a curvature on the sides that hides the side frames. Since not everyone is a fan of curved screens due to the reflections and color changes they produce, this will be a plus for many users.

The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 , a somewhat older generation of Corning’s coating (it was introduced in 2013), but it should keep it reasonably protected from scratches and impacts.

The phone’s body is made of aluminum , so it should take a beating well. The sides have a rounded contour so that it does not dig into the hand when holding it.

Interestingly, there is a sharp edge to the touch just where the glass rear panel meets the aluminum side frame. It’s not sharp, but I don’t find it a pleasant feeling when I run my finger along the junction between the two materials.

As for the shape of the phone, it is quite square, since the corners of the chassis, without being completely straight, have a less rounded curvature than other devices.

The back of the Pixel 7a is made of plastic , so it’s not as pleasant to the touch as other phones that are made of glass. In favor of plastic we have its greater resistance to impacts.

The Pixel 7a is available in charcoal, light blue, snow, and coral colors (the latter is exclusive to the Google Store). Its glossy finish makes fingerprints and dust easily visible, at least on the carbon model I’ve tested. Google has ditched the two-tone color design for the rear panel that the Pixel 6 featured, and now the entire rear is a uniform color.

The rear plastic is curved at the sides, which helps make the phone appear slimmer than it actually is. The most striking thing about the back is the light gray metal strip that crosses the phone from side to side and on which the cameras are placed.

This module protrudes slightly from the surface of the phone, although by covering the entire width of the phone, the Pixel 7a doesn’t dance when tapping on the screen while propped on a table. On the downside is how easily dust and dirt accumulate at the junction between the rear surface of the phone and the strip.

Pixel 7a

The Pixel 7a is 9mm thick. and a weight of 193 grams , so it is not particularly compact or light considering its screen size.

	Measurements (mm.)	Weight (g)	Screen	Screen to body ratio (*)
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra	163 × 78 × 8,9	234	6,8″	90%
HONOR Magic5 Pro	163 × 77 × 8,8	219	6,8″	91%
HONOR 70	161 × 73 × 7,9	178	6,7″	91%
Vivo X90 Pro	161 × 75 × 9,3	216	6,8″	91%
Xiaomi 13 Pro	163 × 75 × 8,4	229	6,7″	90%
Huawei Mate 50 Pro	162 x 76 × 8,5	205	6,7″	91%
Pixel 7 Pro	163 × 77 × 8,9	212	6,7″	89%
iPhone 14 Pro Max	161 × 78 × 7,9	240	6,7″	88%
iPhone 14 Plus	161 × 78 × 7,8	203	6,7″	87%
OPPO Find X5 Pro	164 × 74 × 8,5	218	6,7″	90%
OnePlus 11	163 × 74 × 8,5	205	6,7″	90%
Huawei P50 Pro+	159 × 73 × 9,0	226	6,6″	92%
OPPO Find X5	160 × 73 × 8.7	196	6,6″	89%
Nothing Phone (1)	159 × 76 × 8,3	194	6,6″	86%
Sony Xperia 1 IV	165 × 71 × 8.2	185	6,5″	84%
Xiaomi 13	153 × 72 × 8.0	189	6,4″	89%
Pixel 7	156 × 73 × 8,7	197	6,3	85%
iPhone 14 Pro	148 × 72 × 7,9	206	6,1″	87%
iPhone 14	147 × 72 × 7,8	172	6,1″	86%
⏩ Pixel 7a	152 × 73 × 9,0	193	6,1″	–

(*) Screen-to-body ratio data obtained from GSMArena

Next, we are going to review the different elements that we find on the sides of the phone.

On the right side we find the power button and, just below, an elongated volume control button. In my opinion, both offer a little more resistance than usual and, especially the volume button, is quite loud when pressed. 

On the  left side we find the slot for the nano-SIM card (does not support Dual SIM or microSD card)

The  top of the phone does not include any items.

The  bottom of the phone has a USB-C connector, and on either side two sets of holes, one for the speaker and the other for the microphone.

The Pixel 7a offers IP67 dust and water resistance , being able to last up to 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter.

Therefore, we will not have to worry if it rains on the phone, a drink is spilled on it or if it accidentally falls into the bathtub or swimming pool. We can even choose to give it water under the tap if it gets dirty, which is sometimes practical.

Now, we must not forget that the guarantee of smartphones does not cover water damage, so you should not submerge the phone except by accident — no underwater photos in the pool or, even less, in the sea. Nor is it convenient to wet the phone if it has suffered any repair or blow, since the seals that prevent the entry of water may have been damaged.

The Pixel 7a is waterproof

 

Screen

The Pixel 7a comes with a 6.1″ OLED panel with Full HD+ resolution (2,400 × 1,080 pixels), which makes the pixel density high: 431 dpi.

Despite not having Quad HD+ resolution like other flagships, the Pixel 7a’s screen looks very sharp so I don’t miss having a higher resolution.

Google has incorporated a refresh rate of 90 Hz. This rate does not reach the 120 Hz that we already find in many other smartphones, but it translates into a fluid viewing experience, especially when moving around the interface or scrolling in applications such as Chrome , Twitter , Instagram or the photo gallery. Also when playing you can notice a greater fluidity in games that are prepared to offer high FPS rates.

The refresh rate is adaptive, but it only switches between two fixed values: 60 and 90 FPS . This means that battery consumption is higher than other smartphones that can adjust the refresh rate for content displayed below 60 Hz — for example, dropping to 24 or 30 Hz when watching videos, or even 1 or 10 Hz. whether you are reading an e-book or viewing a still image.

The operation of the adaptive rate is quite simple. If you touch the screen, the rate increases to 90Hz, but drops to 60Hz as soon as you stop interacting with the phone for a couple of seconds.

Google offers two color modes for the screen: Natural and Adaptive. While the former targets the sRGB gamut, the latter adapts to the type of content displayed on the screen.

If you are not familiar with color spaces, you should know that most smartphones cover the standard Android color space:  Rec. 709  / sRGB.

The most advanced try to comply with the  DCI-P3  space used in the film industry, and a few point towards the even wider  Rec. 2020 color space , which covers 76 percent of the visible spectrum.

No current panel is capable of displaying the full Rec. 2020 color space, but many panels do cover the DCI-P3 space. The Pixel 7a has HDR capabilities, being compatible with HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG.

To analyze the quality of the screen, we have carried out various tests with the professional software  CalMAN Ultimate  and an X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter .

In Adaptive color mode (on by default), color fidelity is good, as the mean DeltaE error vs. sRGB space is 2.2 (a value below 4 dE is considered excellent and above 9 dE is considered unacceptable). ) and the maximum error is 5.

In this mode, the display covers 100% of the sRGB color mode and falls within 84% of the DCI-P3 color space. The color white has a color temperature of 6,326ºK, quite close to the reference level of 6,500ºK, so there is no dominant color cast.

Results in Adaptive color mode

In Natural color mode , color fidelity is still quite good as the mean DeltaE error vs. sRGB space is 1.1 and the maximum error is 1.9.

In this mode, the display covers 100% of the sRGB color mode and falls within 73% of the DCI-P3 color space. The color white has a color temperature of 6,329ºK, again very close to the reference level of 6,500ºK.

Results in Natural color mode

Color issues aside, another important factor when evaluating a screen is maximum brightness, which in the case of the Pixel 7a turns out to be 473 nits in manual mode based on my own measurements.

This value increases up to 970 nits in auto brightness mode , which is a very high value for a mid-range smartphone.

I have made the maximum brightness measurement, of course, with the screen completely blank, which is how the manufacturers measure it. This comparative graph reflects the maximum brightness value with the screen illuminated at 100% in white.

Like any OLED screen, the black is totally pure and, in our tests, the colorimeter has not been able to measure any level of brightness. Consequently, the screen’s contrast ratio is infinite — Google talks about 1,000,000:1, which comes to the same thing.

OLED screens have a peculiar behavior when viewed from an angle. On the one hand, the light emitters are closer to the surface than in LCD panels, and this causes the contrast and brightness to vary less when moving relative to the center, but on the other hand, the Pentile matrix causes the colors to be distorted .

In the case of the Pixel 7a, the screen shows bands of color when looking at the screen from an angle, and this is especially visible if we are using an app with a white background. This is a common phenomenon on Pixel screens that, without being a problem, distracts the eye.

An interesting feature of the Pixel 7a screen is the Always On Display function that makes the phone show the time, date, temperature, battery level, pending notification icons and drawing a fingerprint in the place where we should touch finger to unlock. If you turn on the Now Playing feature , you can also see the name of the song that’s playing nearby.

It is possible to turn on the screen with a touch on it or by picking up the phone. In this case, you will see the detail of the notifications on the screen instead of only the icons.

Always-on display

The Pixel 7a offers Night Light functionality that filters blue light so we can better fall asleep at night. It is possible to configure when we want this screen mode to activate, as well as vary the intensity of the blue light filter.

Finally, it also has a feature called Attentive Screen that prevents the screen from turning off if you’re looking at it. It uses the front camera to detect if you are looking at the screen, so it consumes more battery.

 

Performance

The Pixel 6 was the first smartphone to carry the Tensor chip made by Goole. The Pixel 7a has the second generation of this chip, Tensor G2, which is the same as the high-end Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

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This is the Google Tensor G2 chip

Google Tensor G2 is a chip developed by Google and Samsung. It includes two fast ARM Cortex-X1 cores up to 2.85 GHz, two midrange Cortex-A78 cores up to 2.35 GHz, and four small efficient ARM Cortex-A55 cores up to 1.8 GHz.

The caches are identical, with 4 MB CPU L3 cache and 8 MB system level cache. Therefore, the CPU performance is very similar to that of the first generation Tensor SoC.

The GPU has also been improved, and now uses a more modern ARM Mali G710 architecture with 7 cores, although it lags behind what other flagships incorporate. The big improvement is the new TPU, more powerful in AI and more efficient in terms of energy compared to its predecessor.

The chip also integrates a Titan M2 security processor, LPDDR5 memory controller, and ISP for 10-bit/4k/60 HDR video and 108 MP cameras.

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The Pixel 7a comes with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM , some of the fastest we can find in a smartphone if we put aside the even faster LPDDR5x memory, which is only carried in a handful of high-end smartphones.

The speed of 6,400 Mb/s allows the LPDDR5 memory to transfer 51 GB of data, that is, about 14 Full HD video files (3.7 GB each) in one minute. LPDDR5 memory has been designed to reduce its voltage according to the operating speed of the processor to maximize power savings.

Low power characteristics allow LPDDR5 RAM to offer power consumption reductions of up to 30 percent , which has an impact on battery life, even though memory isn’t exactly the biggest consumer.

The Pixel 7a ships with 128GB of storage. Although Google does not detail the type of storage, it is probably UFS 3.1 according to the speed tests I have carried out. You should keep in mind that it does not support a microSD card to expand capacity.

Let’s move on to analyze the performance of the phone in the main benchmarks.

In the AnTuTu v9 benchmark , it has achieved a result of 720,043 points , an average score compared to other high-end smartphones.

In the Geekbench 6 benchmark focused on processor performance, it has achieved 1,286/2,557 points in the mono/multi-core tests, which are good results, but not outstanding against last year’s flagship chips.

In the PCMark 3.0 general performance test that measures performance when performing everyday tasks, it has obtained a score of 10,941 points , a value below many high-end smartphones.

In the storage section, the phone obtains some results in the AndroBench tests of read and write speed that do not stand out too much.

Next, we are going to see the results in various graphic tests to check the expected performance in games.

In GFXBench tests based on modern low-level and high-efficiency APIs (Metal on iOS and Vulkan on Android), the phone achieves high results compared to other phones.

In the new 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited test , the phone also achieved a good result.

To check the graphics performance on a day-to-day basis, I’ve tried several demanding 3D games — Real Racing 3, Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty Mobile .

Using the GameBench software , I have been able to measure various performance parameters in these games in real world play.

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Do you know GameBench Pro? GameBench Pro is the industry’s leading tool for measuring gaming performance on Android and iOS smartphones. If you want to know more, you can visit their website .

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Games get a steady rate around 60 FPS in Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty, reaching 90 FPS in Real Racing 3.  These are pretty high values, though Call of Duty does see FPS rate drops quite often. , as reflected by the stability of 92% and the minimum value of 31 FPS.

Game	FPS (mediana)	FPS stability	FPS Min.-Max.	%CPU
Asphalt 9	60	95%	45-61	14%
Real Racing 3	90	100%	88-91	7%
Call of Duty	56	92%	31-61	13%

(*) Game quality settings:

Asphalt 9: Graphics quality set to “high”
Real Racing 3: Default graphics quality
Call of Duty Mobile: “Very high” graphics quality and frames per second at “max” speed

In addition to point performance, it is important to know if the phone is capable of sustaining this performance over time or if it is reduced by the increase in processor temperature.

In the CPU Throttling test , which measures the drop in CPU performance after 15 minutes of sustained load, the phone has obtained a clearly improvable result, since performance has dropped by 58% in that period.

The 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test measures the variation in graphics performance after 20 minutes of running the test.

The phone has obtained a quite improvable result of 58%, which means that the graphics performance deteriorates after a long period of use.

In general, the Pixel 7a has achieved good results in benchmarks, although, as with the Pixel 7 / 7 Pro, the performance is not as high as that offered by other flagships. It is not something that Google loses sleep over, which, as it has already stated, has set its goal on improving AI capabilities and not on beating CPU or GPU performance benchmarks.

On a day-to-day basis, I haven’t experienced any signs of lag when moving around the interface, opening apps, or switching between tasks. In this regard, Google’s software optimization is excellent, and the phone feels very fast in daily use.

 

Connectivity

The USB-C port is a USB 3.2 type and supports OTG, so you can connect a USB-C key and access it as if it were external storage. However, it doesn’t support DisplayPort over USB-C with an HDMI adapter, so you won’t be able to connect it to a display or TV.

As for wireless communications, the Pixel 7a not only supports WiFi 6 (802.11ax) , but is also compatible with the more advanced WiFi 6E. Now, it is not compatible with WiFi 7.

The WiFi 6E protocol is the evolution of WiFi 6 and adds the 6 GHz frequency band for higher performance. As of today, there are hardly any routers compatible with this frequency band and those that do exist are quite expensive, but it is to be expected that over time they will go down in price. WiFi 6E makes use of the 6GHz band for higher performance, but also consumes more power.

As for cellular connectivity, the Pixel 7a has a SIM card slot and offers Dual SIM functionality if you use an eSIM in addition to the physical SIM card.

The phone is compatible with 5G networks in the Sub-6 band, which is the one used mainly in Spain, although mmWave networks are already being tested.

In the tests that I have carried out, the network speed for both the Wi-Fi network and the cellular network have been satisfactory . The Pixel 7a has reached the maximum capacity of my symmetric fiber of 300 Mbps download and 300 Mbps upload via WiFi.

In the cellular connectivity test, I have measured speeds of around 86 Mbps download and 38 Mbps upload with a 5G connection with Orange.

The Pixel 7a has Bluetooth 5.3, NFC , and several positioning systems (GPS, Galileo, Glonass, QZSS, and BeiDou), although it does not have the ability to use GPS at two frequencies (Dual GPS) for greater precision.

In the “absences” section, it should be noted that it does not incorporate an FM radio , which some users will find a limitation, nor an infrared emitter.

 

Biometrics

Google has incorporated an optical fingerprint reader under the Pixel 7a screen that allows you to unlock the phone comfortably by resting your finger on an area of ​​the screen.

While some flagships have an ultrasonic sensor that creates a 3D image of your finger using sound waves, the Pixel 7a includes an optical sensor that generates 2D images , so it’s not as fast, reliable, or secure.

For example, if your fingers are wet, the Pixel 7a’s scanner may have trouble identifying your fingerprint.

To unlock the phone, simply place your finger on the area of ​​the screen where the reader is located. One thing I like about the Pixel 7a is that the fingerprint area of ​​the screen is marked on the Always On Display, making it easier to hit than on other smartphones.

Google has placed the fingerprint reading area in a comfortable place to reach with the finger, since that is the natural place where the thumb rests when holding the phone. Other phones place it too low and it’s awkward to reach.

Pixel 7a fingerprint recognition

Google has improved the quality of the fingerprint reader in the Pixel 7 generation . Still, it’s still somewhat slower than the optical scanners on OnePlus devices or the ultrasonic ones used on Samsung flagships, to cite an example.

A somewhat annoying aspect is that, after two failed attempts, it asks for the security code. I would like it to give at least three tries or the number of tries to be customizable.

Facial recognition made its way to Google phones in 2019 for the Pixel 4 range, but it was removed with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 6. Luckily, Google brought back this feature with the Pixel 7 series, so the Pixel 7a comes with facial recognition . as a way to unlock.

The Pixel 7a doesn’t have special face unlock hardware like Apple’s Face ID, nor does it have sensors at the top of the screen like the Pixel 4. It uses the front-facing camera and is therefore suitable for unlocking the phone, but not to perform sensitive actions such as logging into apps or making payments. You will still have to use your fingerprint.

 

Battery

The Pixel 7a’s battery has a capacity of 4,385 mAh , which is a somewhat small amount for these times, although it is also true that its 6.1″ screen is quite small by today’s standards.

To check the autonomy, I have carried out the battery test of the well-known PCMark test: Work 3.0.

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i ️ Info: About autonomy tests

Given the importance of the screen in the consumption of the battery, it is important to calibrate with a colorimeter (or a similar instrument) the screens at the same absolute level of brightness (it is not useful to put it at 50%) if you want to make comparisons of autonomy between devices .

Otherwise, the results may be greatly affected by the brightness level of each smartphone’s screen and are therefore not comparable. We discuss this here because not all analyzes take this into account and in this test we sometimes see absurd values.

In the case of PCMark: Work, the test itself indicates that the test must be carried out with the screen calibrated at 200 nits so that the results are comparable. This is how we perform all smartphone tests.

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PCMark Work tests the autonomy of the terminal when carrying out a mixture of daily and demanding tasks, since the test simulates browsing web pages, writing texts and inserting images, applying filters to photos, editing videos and data manipulation.

Given the impact that the refresh rate has on the autonomy of smartphones, I have carried out this test twice: once with the screen at 60 Hz and once with the adaptive frequency up to 90 Hz.

In the test with the screen set to 60 Hz, I got a result of 12 hours and 30 minutes, which is a pretty good value when compared to other high-end smartphones.

If we adjust the refresh rate to an adaptive frequency up to 90 Hz , the autonomy is reduced to 10 hours and 53 minutes , which represents a drop of 13 percent. This value is not one of the best compared to other flagships, even more so when it comes to 90 Hz instead of the usual 120 Hz.

In practice, the Pixel 7a’s battery life is good , and you shouldn’t have a problem getting through the day with battery life left, even with adaptive frequency active. In my case, with quite intense use, I have finished the day with around 10% battery.

Google includes the Smart Battery feature , which extends battery life based on how you use your phone. However, this functionality can reduce performance and background activity, which can delay the arrival of some notifications.

If you want to extend the autonomy of your device, you can activate the power saving mode , which activates the dark theme, limits or deactivates background activity, some visual effects, certain functions and some network connections.

In addition, it is possible to activate an extreme saving mode that makes the battery last even longer at critical moments (up to 72 hours according to Google), since it pauses most applications and notifications. To not miss anything important, you can select essential apps.

 

energy saving options

The Pixel 7a offers fast cable charging at 18W, which is not one of the fastest we can find today. It uses the USB-PD 3.0 (PPS) standard, like Samsung or Apple, so you can use any compatible charger.

Unfortunately, Google no longer includes a charger in the box to help reduce e-waste. This means that you will have to get a fast charger if you want to take advantage of the maximum speed.

Google includes Smart Charge functionality , which extends battery life by charging your battery in a controlled manner over longer charging periods.

In my tests, with a compatible charger, the entire process of charging the Pixel 7a has taken me a total of 1 hour and 58 minutes. As we can see in the graph, the load is faster up to 80 percent. In 30 minutes, about 40 percent of the battery is charged.

Pixel 7a charging process with a USB-PD charger of more than 18W

The Pixel 7a also supports wireless charging, but only at 7.5W, so the charging process is quite slow.

 

Software

The Pixel 7a arrives with Android 13, which is the latest version of Google’s operating system. At the time of writing, the Pixel 7a has the May 5, 2023 security update.

One of the benefits of having a Pixel smartphone is that it will receive updates faster than many other Android smartphones.

Google guarantees major version updates until October 2025, so the Pixel 7a will receive Android 16 in just over two years . In addition, Google guarantees security updates until October 2027.

Truth be told, Google isn’t top of the class in this regard, as Samsung guarantees four years of major Android updates, one year more than Google. Recently, OnePlus has also committed to that deadline.

The home screen displays a widget with the time and weather forecast at the top and a Google search bar at the bottom.

These items cannot be removed, which can be frustrating for those who like to customize the look of their phone.

Android 13 introduces new Material You dynamic color styles. Android 12 introduced Google’s dynamic color engine to the Pixels, which takes the color of your wallpaper to generate 5 tonal palettes. Each of these tonal palettes is made up of 13 tonal colors.

Your phone now generates many more theme options based on your wallpaper, allowing you to choose even more colors than before to suit your style.

Colors generated by Android’s dynamic color engine can be used to theme monochrome-looking icons on the home screen, as well as UI elements of the app.

Android 13 does not bring great new features in terms of functionality, but rather introduces small improvements to make it work more intelligently. If you want to know all the news of Android 13, we recommend our article Android 13: The 50 most important changes you should know about.

Some relevant improvements in Android 13 are: requiring apps to ask for permission before being able to send notifications, ability to set an app’s language without changing the language of the entire system, new photo picker that allows you to quickly choose images or videos for sharing them with apps, a new “active app” button in the notification panel, and control of smart home devices without unlocking the phone.

Google has included improvements in the Recorder app , which allows you to transcribe an entire conversation recorded with the phone (also in Spanish) by assigning labels to the interlocutors, even if the phone is offline. It can be very useful for journalists or people who often take voice notes, as it also includes a search function.

Another improvement of the Pixel is the possibility of using Google One VPN for free. With a VPN on your Android device, you can hide your IP address to reduce the chances of being tracked online, protect yourself from cybercriminals on unsecured networks (like public Wi-Fi), and surf the web with a secure and secure connection. private.

VPN de Google One

Google Assistant has been enhanced with the Quick Phrases feature , which allows you to go to the assistant without saying “Hey Google” for certain commands like “stop” or “snooze” when an alarm sounds or “answer” , “reject” or ” mute” when you receive a call.

The Pixel 7a, like other Pixels before it, offers the “It’s Playing” feature , which offers Shazam -like music recognition . Your phone identifies the music that’s playing around you and automatically displays the track name on the lock screen or always-on screen.

Recognition of the song that is playing near the phone

The Pixel 7a can also extract text from apps. In the recent apps menu, there are two buttons: one to capture and one to select . The latter allows you to select any text on the screen, even if it is an image. You can also extract images using this feature and perform searches.

Extracting text or images from the recent apps menu

Compared to third-party software layers, some useful features like app cloning, password-protecting apps, creating a private space, multitasking with floating windows, or desktop mode are missing .

 

Multimedia

The Pixel 7a offers stereo sound thanks to the presence of two speakers located in the ear cup and next to the USB Type-C connector, so each one points in one direction and the perception of stereo sound is not as good as if both were in the front.

Also, the position of the bottom speaker makes it possible to accidentally cover it with your hand when holding it horizontally while watching a video or playing a game.

In any case, most smartphones have this same problem, since otherwise the lower frame could not be as thin.

As a curiosity, while in other smartphones there are 15 volume steps between absolute silence and maximum power, in the Pixel 7a there are 25 steps , which allows you to better tune the volume level.

The Pixel 7a doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack , so you’ll have to resort to a USB-C adapter or Bluetooth headphones (supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC codecs) to listen to music or make calls. .

Android 13 has native support for Spatial Audio , as long as you have the right headphones. The same goes for Bluetooth LE , which improves quality and offers a lower latency connection and streaming to multiple devices.

Google includes the YouTube Music app as a music player, as well as a streaming platform that offers a vast catalog of music and music videos.

The free version of YouTube Music has some significant limitations, such as not being able to listen to music in the background with the screen off or when using other apps. In addition, it plays ads when listening to streaming music and does not allow you to download music for offline listening, but allows you to listen to MP3 files stored locally on the phone.

 The Photos  application displays all the images stored on your phone organized by albums, as well as by people, places, and things identified in the photos.

The Photos app also incorporates a section called Assistant that suggests retouching our photos, collages of the best photos, creation of animations, etc. 

One of the new features offered by the Photos app is Focus , which allows you to correct shaky or poorly focused photos. The phone is even capable of correcting photos that have not been taken with the Pixel 7, but with other phones.

Next, we can see how he corrects a photo taken with another phone in which the girl was not correctly focused.

 

Another of the features offered by the Photos app is the Magic Eraser , which debuted with the Pixel 6 and allows you to remove unwanted elements from a photo. The phone is even capable of suggesting what elements should be removed from the image (other people passing by).

While other non-Pixel smartphones now also have access to this functionality, they require a Google One subscription, while the Pixel 7a doesn’t.

Here are a couple of examples where Magic Eraser suggests deleting multiple people, and it does so quite successfully. 

Although Google previously offered unlimited storage of photos in original resolution and maximum quality for more than three years on the Pixels, the Pixel 7a does not offer this advantage, instead the photos stored in Google Photos take up space in our quota of Google Drive.

The Photos app is also the one used to play videos. The video playback interface is very simple and does not offer any advanced functionality beyond the usual playback controls.

The Pixel 7a is Widevine L1 certified, so it can play HD content from streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video . In addition, since the screen supports HDR, we can enjoy HDR content from YouTube, Netflix and other streaming services.

 

 

cameras

The rear cameras of the Pixel 7a have the following features:

• 64MP (1/1.73″, 0.8μm) ultra-wide-angle camera with f /1.9 aperture and OIS.
• Wide-angle camera with 13MP (1.12 μm) sensor with f /2.2 aperture.

The big absence is the telephoto camera, which Google reserves for the Pixel 7 Pro. There’s also no Macro camera, but honestly, it’s not something I’m going to miss.

As for the front camera , it has a 13MP (1.12 μm) sensor with an f /2.2 aperture lens.

 

Camera App

The Pixel 7a’s Camera app has a fairly simple interface. In one of the corners of the Camera app we find an icon that allows us to activate:

• More light: Allows you to activate the automatic night shot mode or the flash
• Best Shot: When this feature is turned on, the Pixel 7a creates a short video to capture more details of that moment and suggests frames worth saving. This functionality is not available if we activate the Flash, the depth functions of social networks, night vision or lighting for selfies.
• Timer: Allows you to set a timer of 3 or 10 seconds
• Aspect ratio: Allows you to capture an image with a 4:3 or 16:9 ratio

The Frequent Faces option is also present in the app settings , which prioritizes the people who take the most photos when choosing the best frame. In addition, this way the camera shows skin tones in a more precise way.

If you click on an element in the viewer, several sliders appear to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color balance. It is possible to disable some of these items if you do not plan to use them.

The Camera app always goes to Camera mode by default, but we can choose other modes: Night vision, Long exposure, Portrait, Video or Modes . The latter gives access to Panoramic, Spherical Photo and Lens modes .

Long Exposure mode is used to capture the trail of a fast-moving subject, while the background remains in focus. This is useful, for example, to capture the lights of moving cars.

Other cool features include the Social Depth feature , which saves depth data that social media apps can use when posting images, astrophotography timelapses , which export the photo and timelapse, and the timer light, that fires with the flash on the rear during a countdown.

If you are an advanced user, you will like to know that Google allows you to activate a RAW + JPEG mode that stores, along with the image, a RAW (DNG) file.

With the new Tensor G2 chip come improvements to image processing, such as automatic correction of blurred photos. It is really difficult to capture a shaky photo with this phone, since it applies the same algorithm that we have seen in the Software section to automatically correct the movement and achieves very sharp photos.

The Camera app isn’t just about taking photos, it can alert you if the lens is too dirty to take high-quality photos and offer framing suggestions.

Next, we are going to review the quality of each of the rear cameras.

Wide-angle camera (main)

The wide-angle camera is the one that is usually used to take pictures and, therefore, the one that arouses the most interest.

Although it incorporates a 64MP sensor, all photos are captured at 16MP by combining 4 pixels into 1 to reduce noise. While some phones allow you to take screenshots at the original resolution, this is not the case with the Pixel 7a.

Below we can see some photos taken with the main wide-angle camera during the day. The camera does an excellent job of preserving detail, reflecting vivid but lifelike colours, and providing adequate exposure.

Images captured by the wide-angle camera in abundant light

When the light is dim, that’s when smartphone cameras really come into their own. Google offers a Night mode that increases light in dark scenes by capturing and later merging multiple images with different exposures.

This mode takes a little longer to register the image, but in return, you get a cleaner and brighter image. Also, thanks to the Tensor G2 chip, Night mode works much faster than before.

It is possible to activate this mode manually or, as it is by default, let it activate automatically when the phone deems it necessary. There is no difference between turning it on manually or letting it turn on automatically.

In Automatic mode, by clicking on the number of seconds indicator that appears on the screen, it is possible to choose between Deactivated, Normal or Maximum. Here we can see the difference between these settings by taking a couple of pictures. The difference between Normal and Maximum is practically non-existent.

As we can see in the following examples, the captures with the Night mode maintain the sharpness of the image thanks to good noise control, as well as the vividness of the colors. In general, the image quality is very good, surpassing other phones in this price range.

Images captured by the wide-angle camera in low light

The question many potential Pixel 7a buyers may be asking is how the Pixel 7a’s camera compares to the Pixel 7’s .

Here we bring some images in which you can compare the same scene captured by both smartphones. The reality is that the differences between the two are minimal and, although the Pixel 7 maintains a certain advantage in full screen, it is not too marked.

Pixel 7 performance vs. Pixel 7a in low light (download originals)

Although the Pixel 7a doesn’t have a telephoto camera, it can capture 2x zoom images by applying computational photography techniques that achieve a better image than a simple crop by combining the images captured by the ultra-wide and wide-angle cameras, as well as taking multiple images. and merging them.

Next, we can see some screenshots taken with 2x zoom by software. In general, during the day, they look sharp, not much to envy phones with dedicated 2x telephoto lenses, but at night the noise becomes much more visible.

Images captured with 2x zoom (by software)

ultra wide angle camera

An ultra-wide-angle camera allows you to take very spectacular photos thanks to the fact that it captures many more elements than normally fit in a photograph.

In general, the image quality is superior to what we find in the ultra-wide angle cameras of other smartphones. While ultra-wide cameras distort at the edges, Google has done a good job of reducing distortion so straight lines don’t look curved.

Below, we can see some examples of captures with the ultra wide angle camera.

Photos taken with the ultra-wide angle camera during the day

The main limitation of this camera is that it does not have optical stabilization and its aperture is somewhat limited, so it is not ideal for taking pictures in low light situations.

The ultra-wide-angle camera allows you to take photos in Night mode , resulting in brighter, sharper images in low-light situations. Even with everything, the quality is far from what we get with the main camera.

Photos taken with the ultra wide-angle camera at night

Portrait mode

The Pixel 7a is capable of taking Portrait mode photos with the background artificially blurred.

Since the Pixel 7a doesn’t have a telephoto camera, portraits are captured by the wide-angle camera, which isn’t ideal for taking close-ups, as this type of lens tends to distort the face when you get too close to your subject.

Possibly for this reason, as soon as Portrait mode is activated, Google zooms in a little on the image, which apparently corresponds to a 1.2x zoom. Google also allows you to select a 2x zoom option, which is obviously a software crop.

Next, we can see some examples of photography taken with Portrait mode. As we can see, the Pixel 7a does a good job of separating the person from the background of the image, although the hair is always problematic.

Photos taken in portrait mode

As a curiosity, the Portrait mode can not only be applied to people, but also to objects , as we can see in these examples.

Portrait effect applied to objects

Video recording

The Pixel 7a is capable of recording video up to [email protected]. In the case of recording at Full HD resolution, it is possible to select a variable FPS rate that automatically adjusts to the conditions of the scene.

In order to reduce the space occupied by the videos, Google allows to use the high-efficiency HEVC (H.265) format which reduces the space occupied by the video, but you may have compatibility problems when playing it on another device.

The Tensor chip allows the Pixel 7a to apply “HDRNet” to frame-by-frame videos. That means the Pixel 7a is using the same HDRNet process that’s used for photos on Pixel phones, but it’s being applied to each individual frame of a video.

Below, we can see some examples of videos recorded in [email protected] and [email protected] resolution during the day. In both cases, the image quality is very good.

Videos recorded in [email protected] and [email protected] for the day

Here we can see some examples of videos recorded at night, which offer great quality.

Videos recorded in [email protected] and [email protected] at night

When it comes to recording video, Google offers several modes of video stabilization:

• Standard: For when there is little movement (default)
• Fixed : For distant and non-moving content (with 2x zoom)
• Active : For when there is a lot of movement (only available in 1080p) since it uses the ultra-wide angle camera. Image quality is lower due to the use of this lens.
• Sweep Effect: For smooth, panoramic recordings (half speed, no sound)

Google has added a Cinema mode that applies artificial bokeh around the subject. In general it works quite well, although it has the limitation that it is not possible to adjust the intensity of the blur (artificial bokeh), and the default blur is too strong, so the result is not very natural.

Frontal camera

The Pixel 7a’s front-facing camera consists of a 13MP wide-angle camera with ƒ /2.2 aperture and fixed focus (meaning it only focuses at a certain distance).

The camera allows you to take individual or group selfies by choosing 1x or 0.7x magnification factors respectively.

Here are some selfies taken with the Pixel 7a’s camera, which offer good image quality without overexposing the background, even in high-contrast situations, and with good representation of skin colours.

Selfies taken with the front camera of the Pixel 7a

The front camera offers a Portrait mode that can blur the background to produce the bokeh effect .

Below, we can see some examples of selfies taken with this functionality where we can see that Google has done a good job implementing this processing.

Selfies taken in Portrait mode with the Pixel 7a’s front-facing camera

When recording video with the front camera, Google offers an option called enhanced sound that is ideal for capturing clear voices in noisy places, reducing unwanted noise such as wind, traffic or crowds.

 

voice calls

In the tests that I have carried out, the voice quality is correct and I have been able to hold conversations perfectly in moderately noisy environments without difficulties.

The Pixel 7a supports VoLTE , as well as WiFi calling if your carrier offers this service.

Google has added a Clear Calls feature that will allow you to hear your caller better thanks to the Tensor G2 chip, which can eliminate background noise from the person you’re talking to.

 

Price

The Pixel 7a is on sale for €509 in charcoal, light blue, snow and coral (Google Store exclusive).

The natural alternative is the Pixel 7 , on sale from €589 ( Amazon | Mediamarkt ). It has a 6.3″ FullHD+ 90Hz AMOLED screen, Google Tensor G2 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128/256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, wide-angle (50MP, f/1.9) + ultra-wide-angle (12MP, f/2.2) rear camera. , front camera (10.8MP, f/2.2), and 4,355 mAh battery with 20W fast charging.

For a similar price, we found the Samsung Galaxy A54 (€499, offers at Amazon | Mediamarkt ). It has a 6.4″ SuperAMOLED FullHD+ screen at 120 Hz, Exynos 1380 processor, 8 GB of RAM, 128/256GB of storage, 5G connectivity, 50MP f/1.8 (main) + 12MP f/2.2 (ultra-wide angle) cameras + 5MP f/2.4 (macro), 32MP f/2.2 front camera and 5,000 mAh battery with 25W fast cable charging.

 

conclusions

The Pixel 7a has a design that, at first glance, seems to be traced to that of its older brothers, the high-end Pixel 7 / Pixel 7 Pro.

Like these, it has an aluminum body , although the rear part has seen the glass replaced by plastic . The protection of the front glass has also been diminished, since it has Gorilla Glass 3, a somewhat old generation, since it debuted in 2013.

The front is dominated by a 6.1″ screen surrounded by frames that are somewhat thicker than I would like, as is often the case with Pixel phones.

The front camera is located in a hole in the center, although personally I would have preferred to see it in a corner so that it interferes less with the content when watching videos or playing games horizontally.

The Pixel 7a is available in charcoal, light blue, snow, and coral colors, with a glossy finish where fingerprints are visible and, at least on the carbon version I’ve tested, dust as well.

The back is quite different from other smartphones, since a horizontal metal strip stands out where the rear cameras and the flash are located .

This module tends to collect dust at the juncture of the back cover, but going from side to side, the phone doesn’t wobble when used on a table.

With a thickness of 9.0 mm. and weighing 193 grams, the Pixel 7a is a forceful smartphone and, to some extent, a bit heavy for the size of its screen.

The Pixel 7a comes with a 6.1″ AMOLED panel with Full HD + resolution . The screen offers good color fidelity, with a mode that reflects the sRGB gamut with near-perfect fidelity, in case you want to see content as it was created.

The panel offers a high refresh rate of 90 Hz (if you want 120 Hz, you’ll have to go for the Pixel 7 Pro model). Even though it’s adaptive, it only switches between 60 and 90 Hz, so it doesn’t save as much battery life as other smartphones that drop to 1 or 10 Hz when displaying static content or 24/30 Hz when watching videos.

The maximum brightness of the screen is very high , 970 nits according to my measurements, very close to the best flagships. However, the viewing angles are not the best, since you can see stripes of color when you rotate the screen when you look at the screen from the side, especially with apps with a white background.

Google offers the features Always On Display that always shows useful information on the screen,  Screen Awareness that prevents the screen from turning off if you’re looking at it, and Night Light that reduces blue light emission.

Focusing on performance, the Pixel 7a bets on the latest in-house chip, Google Tensor G2 , which doesn’t stand out in CPU and GPU performance benchmarks like Qualcomm’s flagship chips, as Google’s focus isn’t on winning. benchmarks but in its Artificial Intelligence capabilities.

At the performance level, it practically equals that of the Pixel 6 from last year, so, in this aspect, it has been somewhat outdated compared to the best flagships of 2023 with Snapdragon 8/8+ Gen 1 or even Gen 1 chips. 2.

The Pixel 7a arrives in Spain in a variant with 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128 UFS 3.1 storage.

These are very fast technologies, although some flagships already incorporate LPDDR5x memory and UFS 4.0 storage. One aspect to take into account is that Google does not include the possibility of expanding storage using a micro-SD card.

On a day-to-day basis, the Pixel 7a moves fluidly. Apps open quickly and the interface moves with smooth animations. Complex 3D games like Call of Duty Mobile, Asphalt 9  or  Real Racing 3 move at stable and high FPS rates.

Google has incorporated an optical fingerprint reader under the screen. This reader is not as fast or as reliable as the ultrasonic reader found on other smartphones, but it unlocks the phone with sufficient speed.

Fortunately, the Pixel 7a has a facial recognition system , which allows you to conveniently unlock your phone with your face.

It is not a 3D recognition system, so certain sensitive activities (such as confirming mobile payments or accessing your bank’s app) still require you to identify yourself with your fingerprint.

The Pixel 7a has a 4,385 mAh battery , which offers good autonomy at both 60 and 90 Hz, although other smartphones with larger batteries and LTPO panel with adaptive refresh last longer, especially when activating the high refresh rate of 90 Hz On a day-to-day basis, you can reach the end of the day with a battery to spare, as long as you don’t use it very intensively.

The Pixel 7a has 18-watt fast charging via the USB-PD 3.0 standard, capable of recharging 50% in about 35 minutes according to my tests. It is not the fastest, but if you come from Apple or Samsung smartphones, it will not disappoint you either.

It is also compatible with fast wireless charging up to 7.5W,  which is not especially fast, but it is very comfortable.

The Pixel 7a comes with Android 13 out of the box, the latest version of Google’s operating system. One advantage of being a Pixel phone is that it will receive major Android version updates for three years, until 2025. Only a few manufacturers, such as Samsung and OnePlus, improve on this commitment.

Android 13 does not include great new features, but small improvements, such as new customization options for color themes, the requirement that apps request permission to send notifications, the ability to set languages ​​for each app, etc.

Google has added some features unique to the Pixel that are made possible by the AI ​​capabilities of the Tensor chip, such as the ability to fix shaky photos (even taken by another phone), the Magic Erase feature to remove unwanted people from photos or the functions of the Recorder to transcribe interviews .

Compared to third-party software layers, I miss some useful features like app cloning, password-protecting apps, creating a private space, multitasking with floating window, or desktop mode.

In the multimedia aspect, it is worth noting the presence of two stereo speakers, although the second speaker is not on the front, but next to the USB-C connector.

Google hasn’t included a 3.5mm headphone jack , so you’ll have to resort to Bluetooth headphones or USB Type-C. It also does not have an FM radio.

On the connectivity side , the Pixel 7a supports Wi-Fi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and 5G cellular networks with Sub-6 support (but not mmWave) in Spain. Unfortunately, it does not have Dual SIM through two physical cards, but it does through an eSIM.

The Pixel 7a features a 64MP wide-angle camera with an f /1.9 aperture lens and optical stabilization, along with a 13MP ultra-wide camera with an f /2.2 aperture lens. If you miss a telephoto camera, you will have to go to the Pixel 7 Pro model to find this lens.

The rear camera is capable of taking great pictures , especially when compared to other smartphones of a similar price. Without a doubt, photography is one of the strengths of the Pixel 7a and, probably, many people get it for its camera.

Photographs taken during the day offer high sharpness, faithful coloring and accurate exposure. The Tensor G2 chip brings some improvements that go unnoticed, but that do their job in the shade, such as the automatic correction of shaky photos or the prioritization of frequent faces.

At night, the images retain detail and maintain the original color, while managing to contain noise thanks to the excellent Night mode that it incorporates and that is activated automatically when necessary. That said, in my tests, the Pixel 7 outperforms the Pixel 7a’s camera, so despite the many similarities, there are points of difference.

Portrait mode works well and allows you to modify the degree of blur afterwards. In fact, the Photos app is capable of applying the Portrait effect to any image even if you didn’t take it with this mode.

By default, when you take a portrait, a small zoom is applied to prevent you from having to get too close. This means that the full resolution of the sensor is not used and, consequently, portraits in low light situations lose some quality.

Google offers a Best Shot mode that captures photos before and after you press the shutter button, and suggests a better shot if the one you captured has a problem (for example, closed eyes). It is also capable of identifying the frequent Faces that appear in our photos to choose the shot in which it appears smiling, for example.

Google has also included a Long Exposure mode which, in my opinion, is still a curiosity.

The front camera has a 13 MP sensor with an f /2.2 aperture . This camera incorporates a synthetic flash that illuminates the screen to add extra light and take better selfies in low light. The results obtained with this camera are good and it also supports Portrait mode.

When recording video , the Pixel 7a produces a stable image with both the rear and front cameras thanks to the stabilization mode it offers.

You can record video up to [email protected] with the rear camera and up to [email protected] with the front camera.

The Pixel 7a is on sale for €509 in charcoal, light blue, snow and coral (the latter is exclusive to the Google Store).

Is the Pixel 7a worth it? The Pixel 7a is a great option if you’re looking for a smartphone that offers a different design, a great Android experience with fast updates, solid performance, a great set of cameras for its price point, and enough battery life, all at a reasonable price. affordable.

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Is the Pixel 7a worth it against the Pixel 7?

The big question for many is whether, for a little more, the Pixel 7 is worth getting. Both are very similar, but the Pixel 7 has some advantage in its construction materials, screen size, camera hardware and wireless charging speed.

In favor of the Pixel 7a, we have a slightly higher autonomy, having the same battery capacity with a smaller screen. If these differences justify the overprice, it is something that you must decide according to what you value.

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The best and the worst

The best:

• Attractive design with an aluminum chassis and looks similar to its older brothers Pixel 7 / 7 Pro
• AMOLED screen with excellent color fidelity, high sharpness, high brightness, high refresh rate (90 Hz), HDR support and always-on display.
• Fluid use of the phone thanks to competent hardware (Google Tensor 2 chip) and a light software layer.
• WiFi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC and 5G (Sub-6) connectivity.
• Fingerprint reader (optical sensor) under the screen and facial recognition to unlock the phone.
• Pixel-exclusive features like Focus to fix shaky photos.
• Latest version of Android and major version updates guarantee for three years.
• Rear cameras with great image quality and interesting software features (better shot, night vision, portrait mode, magic eraser, exposure/contrast/temperature controls, etc.).
• Front camera with good image quality and Portrait effect.
• Stereo speakers with balanced sound.
• Good autonomy on a day-to-day basis and wireless charging
• Water and dust resistance (IP67)

Worst:

• Frames surrounding the screen somewhat thicker than other flagships. Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the front somewhat outdated.
• Screen with a refresh rate that only switches between two fixed values: 60 and 90 Hz.
• Google’s Tensor G2 chip is not as powerful in CPU/GPU as Qualcomm’s chips.
• Fast charging not as fast as other rivals and charger not included in the box.
• No micro-SD slot or second SIM (although it does support eSIM).