Google Pixel 8A Unlocked Android Phone with IA, Advanced Pixel Camera and 24-Hour Battery, Obsidian, 128GB

The pixel 8a is a really good device. I was initially going to purchase the 8 but decided to give the a series a try and I don't regret it. sure the camera specs are better on the 8 but I'm not a huge picture taker with a phone guy. With 7 years updates I'm good for a while and I always like the vanilla android experience. It's fast and the battery is average to above average depending on what I'm doing. The only issue I have, like many pixel devices, is the finger print reader which works most of the time but struggles sometimes. The 120hz screen is excellent in bright sunlight, very impressive. It fits nicely in my hand enabling me to one hand search and scroll. It's been a while now since I've had it and it's running great.

So, I've been using the 8a for about 6 months. I upgraded from the Pixel 5a due to support for that supposedly ending soon. I saw the 8a on sale so pounced. I'm mostly going to compare the 8a to the 5a. Keep in mind I really liked the 5a. 8a vs 5a Battery life : 5a wins (slightly). I'm not sure how they compare on mAh but the 5a kept a charge a little longer. That's not to say the 8a won't last long. It pretty much always gets me through the day and I don't really feel held back by the difference. Screen: 8a wins (slightly). 8a is a little crisper, overall both are very good. Downside to the 8a is the screen size was a hair smaller I believe. Camera: 8a wins solidly. 5a took good pictures. 8a is even better, especially in low light. I also found the 8a AI editing feature to be handy at times. Charging: Mixed bag. 5a had a faster charging speed (although no Turbo charge). But I like having the wireless charging in the 8a which the 5a didn't have. After about 2yrs of 5a use the port was kinda loose. Wireless charging should negate that later problem of the port wearing out. Functional speed: 8a wins. 5a wasn't slow, but 8a is a little snappier. Headphone jack: 5a wins only because the 5a had one, 8a does not have a headphone jack. Most of my headphones/ear buds I use are wireless, but I still use a few wired ones. But you can get an adapter which has worked fine for the 8a. **Fingerprint reader/sensor: 5a wins by a long shot. This is the reason I removed a star. The 5a fingerprint reader on the back of the phone worked right nearly every time (except with moist fingers). The 8a in screen finger reader works more than half the time, but was is far less accurate than the 5a method. To make matters worse, I think the Pixel engineers forgot most people like to put a screen protector on. With a screen protector on the 8a, the fingerprint reader is nearly useless. (I had tried resetting the fingerprint scans to no avail). Maybe this wasn't the engineers' fault. Maybe a sales exec thought a fingerprint sensor on the screen sounded cool so demanded it while the engineers said it needed more work. But I digress. Out of frustration, I had started using the less secure face unlock which does work reasonably well. But the face unlock doesn't work well if you're wearing sunglasses or in dimly lit rooms. So, I've had to type the numerical unlock a lot more with the 8a. Overall this is a good phone at this price point that does most of what the expensive phones can do. But they need to overhaul the fingerprint sensor. Either move it to the back again or improve it so that it a) works nearly every time and b) works with most screen protectors.

I don't use a smart phone for much besides personal entertainment, since I don't need it for work. Due to that, I didn't want a flagship smartphone that cost $800+ dollars that I would just use to look up random internet facts and watch Youtube videos on. At the same time, when it comes to tech like this, I prefer to stick to name brands I'm familiar with. After researching available phones, I bought the Pixel 8a, and it was the perfect choice. There were of course no problems with set up - the phone actually initiated the transfer of data from my old phone on its own on startup, which was really convenient. When I had it for the first couple of months, the screen protector I was using made it difficult for fingerprint recognition to work, but after switching screen protector brands, there have been no issues. It of course does what I need it too, plus other things I don't need it to because it's got features I'm sure I'll never need. I wish it was thinner and narrower, but most other brands are about the same these days, so it's fine. speakers and cameras are pretty good, and I really like the "adaptive charging" feature that recognizes when I plug the phone in at night and optimizes charging to extend the battery life. Speaking of which, great battery life so far, at least for my usage. Hopefully it'll stay that way for a good, long time. I can't be trusted with a phone without a case, so I can't speak 100% on the durability, but I have dropped it countless times by now, and no issues have come up with the phone or the cases it's been in. I really recommend this phone. I think it's a great take on a known brand at a reduced price without feeling like you're taking a huge step down in quality.

Purchased July 2024. The good news is that the tensor processor with 8MB RAM is plenty snappy to handle every workload I threw at it. Long lasting battery and the screen is crisp and clear. Would be a nice phone for the price, but... I have had nothing but problems with Bluetooth devices and the Pixel 8a. Constantly get device unexpectedly disconnected error, have to re-connect and re-pair devices all day. Phone freezes when transferring a BT call from the car to the phone. Took it to UbreakIfix per google support for warranty repair. Replaced the main board, and guess what - the new main board has the same defect. No real surprise I guess. So now I'm 20 hours into trying to get this junk fixed; it's really difficult now since the serial number and imei have changed. Now its an exercise in futility since I already bought a new phone, but I'm curious how bad the google support experience can be - pretty bad so far. I asked for a refund but no bueno. In case you wonder: The Motorola phone before 8a connects and remains connected to all the same BT devices. The Samsung phone after 8a connects and remains connected to all the same BT devices. The Pixel 8a main board, and replacement main board are defective. Before you buy search for network and Bluetooth problems with Pixel 8a. Alas, one star for a defective phone that could have been a great deal. At least I can narrow my phone choices by one manufacturer the next time I shop.

I am a pixel 8 user and bought this pixel 8a for my mom. Side by side, the main differences between these phones come out to the pixel 8a's slightly smaller screen, the pixel 8a's slightly larger screen bezels, and the case (which are very negligible when using a protective case). While many reviews and comparisons on the specifics between the pixel 8a's and 8's screens have been done, I can tell you that to my eyes the screen quality looks virtually identical. Same goes for the camera and image quality. I think overall the pixel8's camera+images might look a little cleaner, there are some lighting's conditions where I have found that the pixel8 a's camera out performed my 8's. Ultimately, for me at-least, the biggest difference between the 8a and the 8 that I have noticed is charging speed. My pixel 8 feels like it charges almost ~1.5x-2x the speed of this 8a. Which is really nice when taking advantage of Google's 80% battery capacity limiter. Despite needing to charge my phone a little more often with 80% capacity enabled, I can routinely get ~25% if not more of my phone charged on my 20 min drive to work. Overall, this 8a and 8 have been my favorite phones I have ever purchased. The front facing and rear facing cameras are both incredible and very easy to use. Both were purchased for $400, they offer essentially the best features from flagship smartphones, and are guaranteed 7 years of feature and software updates. Samsung and other brands might offer Android phones with more powerful hardware, but as a former Galaxy user, the overall experience the pixel 8a and 8 offer feel much more premium to me.