Google’s Pixel phones still don’t sell all that well, but they are popular with people looking for a solid Android smartphone without the sometimes-overwhelming software features on Samsung Galaxy devices. The Pixel 8 arrived last year, and now Google has revealed the Pixel 8a as a budget-friendly alternative.

Google has just announced the release of the Pixel 8a, succeding last year’s Pixel 7a as Google’s budget smartphone. Typically, A-series Pixel smartphones are released during Google’s I/O event every year, but I/O 2024 is set to take place next week. Google moved the announcement forward one week to “give it its own moment.”

The Pixel 8a isn’t too far off from the design and features of Google’s full-blown Pixel 8, which is what we’ve come to expect from the Pixel A lineup over the years. Just like the Pixel 8 series , the Pixel 8a comes with the Tensor G3 SoC as well as the Titan M2 security chip, so the smartphone should be identical to its bigger siblings in performance and at least very similar feature-wise.

The most important difference between the Pixel 8 and the new Pixel 8a is the camera. Instead of the excellent 50MP sensor packed in both the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro, we’re getting a lower-range (but still good thanks to Google’s post-processing magic) 64MP sensor with a 0.8 μm pixel width and a ƒ/1.89 aperture. The secondary sensor is a 13 MP ultrawide with a 120° field of view. The battery is also slightly smaller, at 4,492 mAh compared to the 4,575 mAh in the Pixel 8, and it also charges a bit slower, with 18W charging rather than 27W. You get 8GB of RAM, the exact same amount as the Pixel 8, as well as up to 256GB of storage and Android 14 out of the box, with the same 7 year update promise that comes attached with the Pixel 8 series.

The smartphone starts at $499, and it’s now available on the Google Store . It should also appear at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers over the coming weeks, if the Pixel 7a was any indication.

Source: Google