Google Pixel 8a vs Pixel 6 Pro: What are the benefits of upgrading to the new phone?

GOOGLE PIXEL 8A Is More Affordable Than PIXEL 6 PRO

When it was first released, the Pixel 6 Pro had a starting price of $899 for a model with 128GB of storage and could go up to $1,099 for a device with 512GB of RAM. There is a 128GB edition of the Pixel 8a that begins at $499, and there is also a 256GB model that can be purchased for $559.

At this point in time, the Pixel 6 Pro may be purchased for a much lower price; nonetheless, the launch price is the one that is relevant to this comparison. In addition, the difference in price of $400 is a significant amount of money. Taking into consideration the possibility that you could be interested in purchasing an additional phone for yourself or for someone else, this discount is merely $99 off the price of a second Pixel 8a smartphone.

What are the differences between the Google Pixel 8A and the Pixel 6 Pro in terms of design and display?

Although the Pixel 8a and Pixel 6 Pro have a similar appearance, there are a lot of significant design variations between the two, the size being the least of them. As with the Pixel 8, the Pixel 8a has a display that is 6.1 inches in size, has a resolution of 2,400 by 1,080, and has an adjustable refresh rate that ranges from 60 to 120 hertz. The Pixel 6 Pro, on the other hand, has a screen that is 6.7 inches in size and has a resolution of 3,120 by 1,440 pixels. Additionally, it has an adjustable refresh rate of 10 to 120 hertz.

The Pixel 6 Pro also has the benefit of having a display constructed of Gorilla Glass Victus, which is substantially more durable than the Gorilla Glass 3 that is used in the Pixel 8a. The Victus glass is more resistant to scratches and damage than its predecessors, despite the fact that no kind of glass is completely impenetrable to harm. Despite the fact that the Pixel 6 Pro display also has dual-curved screens, which the majority of phone manufacturers have abandoned in recent years, the bezel around the display is far slimmer.

Both of the Pixel phones include a camera bar that runs the length of their backs, with the Pixel 8a sporting a bar made of metal and the Pixel 6 Pro having a bar that is made completely of glass. In fact, the whole back of the Pixel 6 Pro is composed of glass, and it is also constructed using Gorilla Glass Victus. Additionally, the rear has a glossy, two-tone color scheme. It is possible that the matte back of the Pixel 8a, which is constructed from a composite material, is more appealing to the eye. However, it also makes it more difficult to discern smudges and dust deposits.

The Pixel 6 Pro was designed during a period of time when corner points and straight edges were the most popular design choices. The Google Pixel 8a, on the other hand, features a shape that is more rounded, which you could find more appealing.

There is still another significant improvement that comes with the Pixel 8a, and that is the inclusion of an Actua Display that has the same specifications as the Pixel 8. The display is said to have a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits and as much as 1,400 nits of high dynamic range (HDR) brightness, according to Google. In our tests, we discovered that this display has a maximum brightness of 1,378 nits, or 1,350 nits when showing high dynamic range (HDR) material. Surprisingly, this is somewhat higher than the reading that the Pixel 8 had, according to our testing, which was 1,349 nits.

In terms of brightness, the Pixel 6 Pro is not even close. According to the results of our tests, the maximum brightness of the device was a pitiful 842 nits. Even if it wasn’t too awful in comparison to its most formidable competitors at the time of its introduction, it is a significant distance behind the Pixel 8a, not to mention other flagships that are now available. The display of the Pixel 6 Pro covers a smaller portion of the color gamuts, with a score of 104% for sRGB and a score of 74.3% for DCI-P3. This is in comparison to the Pixel 8a, which achieved a score of 126.5% for sRGB and 89.6% for DCI-P3. To add insult to injury, the Pixel 6 Pro has a Delta-E rating of 0.3, which is somewhat worse than the Pixel 8a’s rating of 0.24. This indicates that the Pixel 6 Pro has slightly less accurate color reproduction. To put it another way, the display’s colors are more realistic when they are closer to zero.

The Google Pixel 8A and the Google Pixel 6 Pro: Cameras

There are a great deal of distinctions between the Pixel cameras found on the Pro device and those found on the A-series. The latter includes a telephoto lens, while the Pixel 8a has significant improvements in resolution, as well as updated Tensor G3 image processing and other software changes. In addition, the Pixel 8a has benefited from digital photography advancements that have occurred over the course of 2.5 years. Which Google phone, however, is capable of producing photographs of superior quality?

When seen via the primary camera lens of either smartphone, the photographs seem to be not all that different at first sight. Both the coloration and the overall quality seem to be almost the same.

On the other hand, a more in-depth examination indicates that the Pixel 6 Pro does not produce photographs that are as sharp as comparable models. The bottom left corner, where the fence joins the wall, as well as the leaves on the tree, are two places where this is very obvious.

Additionally, the ultrawide lens photos are rather comparable; nevertheless, it is more obvious that the Pixel 8a has a much bigger field of vision compared to the Pixel 6 Pro. To be more specific, the Pixel 8a has a focal length of 120 degrees, but the Pixel 6 Pro only has 114 degrees. This enables the Pixel 8a to capture a much larger portion of the surroundings. In terms of appearance, however, the cameras capture photographs of a relatively comparable quality.

It should come as no surprise that the Pixel 6 Pro exhibits its capabilities to its full potential when it is used for zoomed-in shots. In spite of the fact that the telephoto lens’s 4x zoom is not without its flaws, the results are noticeably more clear than those obtained with the Pixel 8a, which is forced to depend on Google’s Super Res Zoom function.

On the Pixel 6 Pro, the coloring is more accurate, and the details that are farther away are somewhat more distinct, despite the fact that they are still rather fuzzy. In spite of the developments in artificial intelligence, it seems that there are advantages to having optical magnification on the telephoto camera.

For a photograph obtained at a magnification of eight times, the same holds true. There is still some blurring at the margins of the tower and on the grass, despite the fact that the details on the tower are much clearer to pick out. However, the details themselves are only slightly better than 4x magnification, and they are much poorer than the Pixel 6 Pro. This is despite the fact that the Pixel 8a seems to have far more accurate color reproduction when magnified by 8x.

In the same way that the ultrawide camera has a significantly broader field of vision, the Pixel 8a’s selfie camera has a much larger field of view, which allows you to capture more of your surroundings (even though this photo mostly consists of my arm). Both cameras are able to pick up individual strands of hair, freckles, and even some of the fluff on my shirt, which contributes to the fact that the self-portraits seem to be very comparable in terms of quality. The same can be said about the bokeh effect: there is very nothing that differentiates the two in the photo, with the me standing out from the rest of the backdrop.

Additionally, it seemed that the Pixel 6 Pro was able to provide greater low light coverage, as seen by the fact that the church and trees in the backdrop appeared to be much more refined than what the Pixel 8a was capable of producing. However, at the same time, the street light seemed in the photo taken with the Pixel 6 Pro to be a screen glare from a horrible science fiction movie. This is a far more distracting effect than the yellow blur that was captured by the Snapdragon 8a.

Taking everything into consideration, it would seem that the Pixel 8a is the best option when it comes to the camera, which demonstrates how far Google’s mobile photography has progressed over the course of the last 250 days. The only time the Pixel 6 Pro was able to come out on top was when it was zooming in and photographing in low light. Therefore, if the performance of the camera is at the top of your list of requirements for upgrading, the Pixel 8a is not a terrible option to consider.

Which is better, the Google Pixel 8A or the Google Pixel 6 Pro?

The Tensor G3 chipset included in the Pixel 8a is two generations newer than the Tensor G1 chipset; therefore, it is reasonable to anticipate that it will be much more powerful than the Tensor G1. Yes, you would be absolutely right. In general, the tensor processors found in the A-series Pixels are not nearly on par with those found in the regular and Pro versions. However, when you compare a new midrange device to an earlier flagship, the new chip has a significant edge over the older chip.

A single-core Geekbench 6.3 testing test revealed that the Pixel 8a achieved a score of 1,581, which is much higher than the score of 1,185 that the Pixel 6 Pro achieved. The results of the multi-core test are even more amazing, with the Pixel 8a getting 4,030, which is much higher than the Pixel 6 Pro’s score of 2,286.

The Pixel 8a also received a victory from 3DMark’s WildLife Unlimited, which received a score of 8,983 and an average frame rate of 53.79 frames per second. In comparison, the Pixel 6 Pro received a score of 6,682 and 40 frames per second. When compared to the Pixel 6 Pro, which scored 1,832 and 11 frames per second, the Pixel 8a achieved a score of 2,375 and an average of 14.23 frames per second in the WildLife Extreme test.

When it comes to the Pixel 6 Pro, however, there is some positive news. It was able to complete everything in 48 seconds, which was much faster than the Pixel 8a’s time of 56 seconds, which was achieved during the Adobe Premier Rush transcoding process. The fact that the Pixel 6 Pro has 12 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM)—four gigabytes more than the Pixel 8a—undoubtedly played a role in achieving that outcome.

In spite of this, it is abundantly evident that the Pixel 8a is superior in terms of both its computational and graphics capabilities.

What is the difference between the Google Pixel 8A and the Pixel 6 Pro in terms of battery life and charging?

Over the course of its most recent phone launches, Google has grappled with a number of issues, including battery life. Nevertheless, the Pixel 8a is able to defy this tendency, as it achieved a battery life of 11 hours and 21 minutes in our individualized battery test. Despite the fact that this is not quite enough to earn it a spot on our list of the greatest phone battery life, it is closer than any Pixel phone has been able to achieve in a considerable amount of time. For our testing, it also has a battery life that is about 1.5 hours longer than the typical smartphone.

While the Pixel 6 Pro lasted 7 hours and 49 minutes with its variable refresh rate turned on, it lasted 7 hours and 55 minutes when locked at 60 Hz. This is a significant decrease from the previous model. That was in addition to having an additional battery capacity of more than 500 milliampere-hours, which demonstrates how far Google has gone in the aforementioned couple of years.

When compared to the Pixel 8a, which has a maximum charging speed of 18W, the Pixel 6 Pro has a higher maximum charging speed of 22W, giving it an edge in terms of charging. During our tests, we discovered that the Pixel 6 Pro was able to recoup 20% of its charge in fifteen minutes, and it reached 40% after thirty minutes. The Pixel 8a, on the other hand, was only able to reach 16% after 15 minutes and 33% after 30 minutes. It is just a tiny difference, given that the charging speed of Google’s phones is somewhat sluggish in comparison to that of its Android competitors.

It is my opinion that the Pixel 8a has a significant edge in terms of battery life when compared to the Pixel 6 Pro since it has a much longer battery life.

Which is better, the Google Pixel 8A or the iPhone 6 Pro?

When it comes to software, things sometimes get a bit out of hand. The Google Pixel 8a comes equipped with a Tensor G3, which is capable of performing a variety of artificial intelligence functions, including the editing of photographs. In spite of the fact that these are some of the most often used artificial intelligence functions, it seems that everything that the Pixel 8a provides is still accessible on the Pixel 6 Pro in some form or another.

Google Photos offers more advanced artificial intelligence picture editing capabilities, and it does so without some of the restrictions that are imposed on phones that do not have a Pixel camera. Call-centric features like Hold for Me, Call Screen, and other similar functions are also accessible on older devices. Recent innovations, such as Circle to Search, are also available on older handsets.

Obviously, the Tensor G3 is still more sophisticated than the Tensor G1, and this implies that the Pixel 8a does have an edge when it comes to additional perks that are related to Tensors, such as computational photography, translation, and other similar features. There is a more complex system operating on the most recent phones, despite the fact that they are of the A-series, which is in the middle of the spectrum. This may not be noticeable to you as a casual user.

It is the fact that Google will provide complete software support for the Pixel 8a for a period of seven years that is the most visible change. It will get all Android and security upgrades up to May 2031, according to this explanation. In the meantime, the Pixel 6 Pro will no longer be able to get Android upgrades after this October, and it will receive its last regular security update one year later, in October 2026. As a result, the Pixel 8a is expected to have a lifespan that is far longer than that of the Pixel 6 Pro.

Despite the fact that this does not prevent you from continuing to use the 6 Pro for at least a couple of more years, you will be unable to take advantage of any further software enhancements that Android obtains after the first release of Android 15.

How does the Google Pixel 8A compare to the Google Pixel 6 Pro?

You have to take into consideration how much Google packs into its midrange phones, even if upgrading from a Pixel Pro series to an A-series may not seem like much of an increase at first glance. In fact, the Pixel 8a is our top selection for the most affordable phone available right now, and it may be difficult for casual spectators to differentiate between this and a luxury model that costs more money.

Despite the fact that you could be tempted to hold off until the unveiling of the top Pixel 9 Pro, it would be wise to upgrade to the Pixel 8a right now. You will not get Premier features like the telephoto zoom or premium design elements such as super-slim bezels; nevertheless, you will have a smartphone that is packed with features at a price that is rather reasonably priced. In addition to having an excellent battery life, greater performance, and the ability to create better photographs than previous Pixels, the Pixel 8a also comes with a generous seven years of software support.