The Google Pixel 8a is making a serious run at being the best budget phone, primarily due to how this Android phone keeps the same $499 price that the series is known for, while throwing in the usual yearly hardware upgrades to make it a much better phone. What's even better about the Pixel 8a is the fact that Google's giving it some of the same AI features as its flagship phones like the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. If that's not enough, it also sets the bar for software support among budget phones with its 7 years of software and security updates.
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TechTranscript
00:00This is the Google Pixel 8a, it's the latest phone in the A-series, compared to last year's 7a.
00:06I'm going to talk about what's new, what's different, if it's still one of the best cheap phones out there.
00:10If you're all about affordability and want something great, compared to last year's 7a,
00:14it starts at $499, so let's go check it out.
00:16Alright, so I'm going to talk about what's different here with the Pixel 8a.
00:19I'm going to start first with the design, it kind of looks like last year's 7a,
00:22but you have a more pronounced camera, kind of borrows from the regular Pixel 8 series,
00:26and it also has a better display refresh rate, so now from 90Hz last year, to a smoother 120Hz.
00:34So for gaming, for watching videos, it's going to look a lot better.
00:37Some of the other stuff you should know guys, it still has a dual camera system,
00:40you have also a Tensor G3 processor, the same processor that's in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.
00:46It's available in four different colors now, you have your standard porcelain, obsidian,
00:50but you also have aloe and bay, which of course kind of reminds me of the one I have in my Pixel 8 Pro, which I love.
00:56Two storage options available, you have 128 and 256, which is even better than last year because you only had one option.
01:03I've been using the Pixel 8 Pro for over six months now, it's one of my favorite phones,
01:06and I know not everyone has the budget at $1,000 to buy it, that's why the Pixel 8a exists.
01:11You're going to get some of those flagship caliber features, performance at half the cost.
01:17But the biggest thing different about the 8a are the new AI features, which you don't get with last year's Pixel 7a.
01:23The first one here is Gemini, you pull up the app and it kind of replaces Google Assistant if you're familiar with that,
01:29but it does more than what the system does.
01:31For example here, I'm going to show you what happens when I just look for an airfare to Paris for a weekend.
01:36You type that in or you speak it, it'll pull all the information, not only the flights listed, but also the prices.
01:42So for convenience, it's going to save you time, the research, and it'll do everything for you.
01:47Secondly, there's Circle the Search, you have this available on the Pixel 8 series already, but it's here on the 8a as well.
01:53It's really convenient because now you can just open up whatever you want to search, whether you're in a specific app,
01:58the gallery, or even on Chrome, you can just circle what you're trying to look for and it'll deliver all those Google search results for you.
02:04You guys probably know I like taking photos with my Pixel 8 Pro.
02:08With the Pixel 8a, the only trade-off you have here is that there's no telephoto lens, but if you're not big into that,
02:13you still have the main 64-megapixel main camera, excellent for any type of photo situations,
02:18and it's paired with that 12-megapixel ultrawide camera.
02:21Last year's Pixel 7a was great with low light, so I'm anticipating the same here with the Pixel 8a.
02:26But we'll have to wait until our testing to find out.
02:28What do you guys think? It's a $500 phone? Let me know in the comments below.
02:32By the time you guys watch this, you can read our full hands-on at Tom's Guide.
02:35Don't forget to follow us on social at Tom's Guide.
02:37I'm John B., and I'll see you in my next video.