The Pixel 6a is Google’s more affordable update to last year’s successful Pixel 6 model, featuring many of the same great features. How exactly does it compare?
Google had a very good 2021 in the smartphone department, with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro proving to be its best-selling devices ever. Now it’s back with the Google Pixel 6a, which it announced as part of its Google I/O 2022 event. The Pixel 6a boasts many of the same features that made the Pixel 6 such a runaway success, including the speedy Google Tensor chip, a luscious OLED display, impeccable software, and a highly versatile dual-lens rear camera setup. The Pixel 6a also happens to be cheaper than the Pixel 6, but is the price difference enough to make it a better phone overall? We answer this question in a head-to-head comparison test, in which we look at each phone. This should help to answer which is the better Pixel for you and which you should buy. The Pixel 6a lifts the design of the Pixel 6, which is no bad thing. This is a horizontal, visor-like camera module on the back of the phone, which Google refers to as the “camera bar.” It may be something of a required taste, but given the staleness of earlier models, it’s mostly a welcome revamp. Unfortunately, the back panel is made from plastic but does sport an alluringly glossy finish. It looks sharp and modern, and while the device’s front features a now-familiar edge-to-edge screen with a top-center punch-hole camera, the overall effect is an impressive one. There’s a slightly more noticeable deviation when it comes to the displays of each phone. The Pixel 6 has a 6.4-inch OLED display, while the Pixel 6a measures in at 6.1 inches. Both offer a similar resolution — 2400 x 1080 pixels (Pixel 6a) versus 2340 x 1080 pixels (Pixel 6) — but only the Pixel 6 offers a 90Hz refresh rate. While not as smooth as a 120Hz rate, 90Hz should still be possible for a phone in the Pixel 6a’s price bracket, and it would have allowed it to offer an upgrade on much more expensive phones, like the iPhone 13. In terms of durability, the inclusion of an official IP68 rating indicates the Pixel 6 can withstand immersion in 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes — the Pixel 6a only gets an IP67-rating. That said, be careful of their sometimes slippery glass backs, which can fall from your hands if you don’t use a case and aren’t careful. It’s a surprisingly tough match-up, but with a higher refresh rate and better water resistance, the Pixel 6 wins. Winner: Google Pixel 6
In years gone by, older Pixel A models would receive a less capable processor than their more expensive stablemates. This isn’t the case here any longer, and the Pixel 6a benefits from the inclusion of Google’s own Tensor chip, which uses a 5nm manufacturing process to cram in more transistors than you’d have with earlier hardware.
