![]() Google nailed the balance with the Pixel 6a, and it’s something you really notice the moment you pick up the device for the first time. For those in a familiar dilemma, I’d say to go for physical comfort rather than assuming you’ll get any productivity gains from a larger screen. I genuinely don’t long after the extra screen real estate and I definitely don’t miss having the 6 Pro falling on my chest with a thump. As such, using the Pixel 6a has been an absolute delight in terms of grip, the light weight, and pocketability. With last fall’s flagships, I went for the big Pixel after six years of small phones. The Pixel 6 Pro usually in my pocket can sometimes feel cumbersome, and even the regular Pixel 6 is a big, pretty heavy phone. I’d describe, at least for me, as a phone that feels comfortable. ![]() The Pixel 6a is not a small phone, but it’s absolutely manageable. It’s not different from the Pixel 6, but works slightly better because everything is more compact. That said, there’s a blockiness to the Pixel 6a that makes the mid-ranger feel decidedly not modern, especially in comparison to the Pixel 6 Pro’s smooth curvature. On paper, these aren’t huge differences, but they add up to make a big impact. The Pixel 6 measures 6.2 height x 2.9 width x 0.4 depth (inches), and the Pixel 6 Pro at 6.5-inch x 3.0-inch x 0.4-inch. The Pixel 6a with its 6.1-inch display measures in at 6.0-inch x 2.8-inch x 0.35-inch, smaller in every dimension to everything else in Google’s lineup. There’s another key thing about the Pixel 6a that some folks will love – it’s much smaller. But hey, at least it’s a flat piece of glass, making screen protectors cheap and easy. Further, the oleophobic coating on the display was not good, at least on my unit. I managed a small hairline scratch in under 24 hours, leaving to a screen protector being installed immediately. First, I found that, at least in my case, it picked up scuffs tremendously easy. I will add, too, that the glass on the display presents some issues. But at $449, it’s an obvious area to cut, and I’m happy to see those savings go towards the Google Tensor chip under the hood instead. ![]() The biggest downside is the 60Hz refresh rate, which feels polarizing compared to most of today’s other smartphones, and the rest of Google’s Pixel 6 lineup.Ĭutting down the refresh rate of the display makes the Pixel 6a feel just a tad slower than it actually is, but both my colleague Abner Li and I got used to the slower refresh rate in a matter of hours. Just like before these higher refresh rates came onto the scene, you don’t really know what you’re missing unless you put them side-by-side.ĭo I wish Google had used a 90Hz display on the Pixel 6a? Sure! It definitely would have improved the experience. OLED, decent brightness, and no issues with touch response during our testing. It’s a tried and true formula, after all. The display on the Google Pixel 6a is one that can’t really be faulted much. In bright, warm lighting the phone looks a bit pale, but the green color pops out in the shade or cooler lighting. It’s not particularly flashy, but it looks great, and it’s neat that the color shifts a bit based on the lighting. I’m also a huge fan of the matte black rails of the 6a, as well as Google’s new “Sage” color. It emulates the look and feel in hand of the standard Pixel 6 quite well. And while the plastic body of the Pixel 6a is very much plastic, it doesn’t feel cheap. Picking up my Pixel 6 Pro in the midst of this review period reminded me just how hefty that phone is by comparison. The plastic body of the 6a helps it become a significantly lighter smartphone, which I’ve actually quite liked. But really, those don’t take away from the experience. The glossy glass body of the Pixel 6 is mimicked with a glossy plastic backing, and the Gorilla Glass Victus from the flagship device is swapped for Gorilla Glass 3. With the Pixel 6a, that formula largely remains the same. The Pixel 3’s delightful matte-glass body was swapped for plastic, the display was of lesser quality, and so on. Google’s A-series lineup started as a trim-down version of a flagship, with some obvious areas to cut. But now, the Pixel 3a has reached the end of its lifespan, and that’s just in time for the Google Pixel 6a, which is a value-packed replacement with the power of a flagship. Google first took a chance on the mid-range smartphone market with 2019’s Google Pixel 3a, and it was a device that hit all of the right notes.
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