{"id":3442,"date":"2023-06-29T18:57:52","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T18:57:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/?p=3442"},"modified":"2024-01-04T16:07:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T16:07:18","slug":"google-pixel-7a-review-a-better-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/?p=3442","title":{"rendered":"Google Pixel 7A review: a better deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the past couple of years, there\u2019s been a very simple flowchart to follow when shopping for a midrange phone: if you want the best screen, get the Samsung phone. If you want the best camera, get the Google Pixel phone. This year, it\u2019s even simpler: get the Google Pixel 7A. If you absolutely must have the best screen in the class, consider the Galaxy A54 5G, but for most people, the 7A is the best choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Pixel 7A includes a handful of important upgrades, but on its spec sheet, there\u2019s one that I think is the most important: a brighter, smoother-scrolling 90Hz screen. It\u2019s not quite as nice as the Galaxy A54 5G\u2019s 120Hz display, but it no longer means you\u2019re putting up with a screen that\u2019s just \u201cmeh\u201d if you opt for the Pixel A device. We look at our phone screens roughly 20 billion times a day, so that\u2019s a big quality-of-life improvement.<\/p>\n<p>7Verge Score<\/p>\n<h2>Google Pixel 7A<\/h2>\n<p>$499<\/p>\n<h3>The Good<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Robust build and solid software support policy<\/li>\n<li>Best-in-class camera<\/li>\n<li>Improved 90Hz screen<\/li>\n<li>Wireless charging<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The Bad<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>$50 more expensive than last year<\/li>\n<li>Fingerprint scanner is still pokey\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Camera digital zoom could use an update<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>$499.00 at Amazon$499.00 at Best Buy$499.00 at Google<\/aside>\n<p>How we rate and review products<\/p>\n<p>Like last year\u2019s Pixel 6A, there\u2019s a 6.1-inch OLED panel, an IP67 rating for robust dust and water resistance, and Google\u2019s custom chipset du jour \u2014 this time, the Tensor G2. It\u2019s backed up by three years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates.<\/p>\n<p>This time around, there\u2019s an updated camera, wireless charging (a first for a Pixel A phone), and more RAM to help make the most of its powerful chipset. That brings the total price to $500, a significant jump from the 6A\u2019s $450, but these upgrades are worth your time and help nudge the Pixel 7A to the front of the midrange class, not just a \u201cbuy it for the camera\u201d alternative.\u00a0<\/p><figcaption><em>The Pixel 7A\u2019s bezels mean it\u2019s almost as big as the Pixel 7 with a significantly smaller screen.<\/em><\/figcaption><p>The 7A is slightly bigger than the Pixel 6A, even though they\u2019re both built around 6.1-inch screens. It\u2019s only a little smaller than the Pixel 7, with its 6.3-inch screen, thanks to the 7A\u2019s thicker bezels. It has a sturdy aluminum frame, a Gorilla Glass 3 panel on the front, and composite plastic on the back. My review unit is coral, which is a Google store exclusive, and unlike the Pixel 6, there\u2019s nothing \u201ckinda\u201d about it. It\u2019s coral as <em>heck.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The IP67 rating means that the phone is sealed against dust and is protected against some water immersion, so you don\u2019t have to sweat it if the 7A falls into a puddle. It was the pocket of a not-at-all waterproof jacket when I got soaked in a rainstorm at the playground, and it fared just fine. It\u2019s a step up for the midrange class, where plastic frames are more common and IP ratings are by no means guaranteed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The screen is a 6.1-inch 1080p OLED panel with a 90Hz top refresh rate \u2014 not quite as smooth as the 120Hz displays on the A54 and most flagship phones, but if you\u2019re coming from a standard 60Hz display, it will look a little more polished. The 90Hz setting is off by default, which is probably a battery-saving move, so if you want to experience it, you\u2019ll need to turn on \u201cSmooth Display\u201d in the display settings. I think it\u2019s worth the minor hit to battery performance; it\u2019s noticeably smoother and makes the 60Hz setting look choppy. Google says that this display gets 25 percent brighter than the 6A\u2019s in its peak brightness mode under direct sunlight, and I was able to use it comfortably outdoors.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s coral as <em>heck<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The 7A\u2019s in-display fingerprint scanner still feels a beat slower than others in the class \u2014 that\u2019s been a sore spot for Pixel owners over the past couple of years. In fact, I set up fingerprint unlocking on two Pixel 7As, and after running through the initial scanning, both phones gave me an error and said my fingerprint hadn\u2019t registered. It worked fine the next time I tried on both phones, but it was very irritating to my perfectionist nature. In any case, the fingerprint scanner is joined this year by face unlock (imported from the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro). Having both enabled makes unlocking the phone painless: one or the other works quickly, and you can be on your way.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a 4,385mAh battery in the 7A, a slight decrease from the 4,410mAh cell in the Pixel 6A. Google claims the 7A can go up to 72 hours on a single charge, but that\u2019s in Extreme Battery Saver mode. Throughout my testing, I used the phone in extreme not-saving mode with the screen refresh rate at 90Hz and always-on display\u2026 always on.\u00a0<\/p><figcaption><em>The Pixel 7A is the first A-series phone to offer wireless charging.<\/em><\/figcaption><p>With those things enabled, battery stamina feels like it\u2019s just average. On a day of moderate use with about 3.5 hours of screen-on time, the 7A was down to 25 percent by bedtime. Adding a power-hungry activity like an extended gaming session would definitely drive the battery down faster and make a late-day recharge necessary. When you swipe down the notification shade, you\u2019ll see an estimated time of day when the battery will be fully drained. This estimate seemed incredibly optimistic every time I looked at it, so best not to put too much stock in it.<\/p>\n<p>The 7A has fast-ish 18W wired charging (no charger included in the box, naturally) and, new this year, 7.5W wireless charging. The latter is quite rare in the midrange class, and it\u2019s nice to have the convenience of just setting it on a charger at the end of the day. It looks fancy on the pricey Pixel Stand, but the 23W fast charging speeds Google\u2019s wireless charger offers are overkill; my basic Qi charger worked just fine with the 7A.<\/p>\n<p>The Pixel 7A uses the same custom Tensor G2 chipset that\u2019s on board the flagship Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. I feel the same way using the 7A that I did using Apple\u2019s 2022 iPhone SE last year \u2014 this $500 phone performs better than it has any right to. It easily handles challenging tasks like rendering 3D game graphics. Apps load quickly and stay open for a reasonable amount of time; I was pleased to find the Delta app still open in the background with my boarding pass displayed after 20 minutes of doing other things on the phone.<\/p>\n<p>All versions of the 7A include sub-6GHz 5G, while only the version sold by Verizon in the US will include mmWave 5G. Guess what? It costs an extra $50 for a total of $550. Most of us are unlikely to spend any meaningful amount of time within range of a mmWave signal, so paying extra for a feature we probably won\u2019t use much straight-up sucks. If you\u2019re on Verizon and it\u2019s feasible for you to buy the unlocked 7A directly from Google (it does trade-ins and financing, too!), I highly encourage you to go that route and save $50.<\/p><figcaption><em>As is traditional with A-series phones, the Pixel 7A has a high-quality camera.<\/em><\/figcaption><p>The Pixel 7A includes a new 64-megapixel main rear camera with optical image stabilization. That\u2019s more pixels than the 50-megapixel sensors on the 7 and 7 Pro, but don\u2019t get too excited \u2014 the sensor is physically smaller than the one on the flagships. It\u2019s accompanied by 13-megapixel ultrawide and selfie cameras.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In previous generations, the A-series Pixel phone had the same camera hardware as the flagships. That\u2019s not the case anymore, but it doesn\u2019t really matter: the 7A offers the best camera system you can buy on a $500 phone. The basics are there; you\u2019ll get reliably good photos in nice light or crappy indoor lighting. It has its weak points, and sometimes the super-smart Pixel camera gets a little too clever, but it\u2019s an impressive overall package for the money.<\/p>\n<section aria-label=\"Google Pixel 7A carousel\"><button><title>Previous<\/title><\/button><button><title>Next<\/title><\/button><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>1\/14<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section aria-label=\"Google Pixel 7A carousel\"><button><title>Previous<\/title><\/button><button><title>Next<\/title><\/button><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>1\/14<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>In good lighting, the Pixel 7A turns in high-quality images with Google\u2019s signature cool and contrasty look. It knows how to play the hits when there\u2019s a blue sky and green grass in the frame, but it doesn\u2019t go overboard. In low light, Google\u2019s faster Night Sight mode brings out an impressive amount of detail in very dim conditions.<\/p>\n<p>In moderate lighting, I got an above-average hit rate of sharp photos of moving subjects \u2014 namely, a toddler. Face Unblur occasionally jumps in and uses some extra image info from the ultrawide camera to sharpen up a slightly blurred portrait. It doesn\u2019t work miracles, but it\u2019s nice to have. But most of the time, the Pixel 7A is just smart about shutter speed, keeping it fast enough to freeze my subject as long as he wasn\u2019t moving <em>too<\/em> much.\u00a0<\/p><figcaption><em>Portrait mode photos using the 2x zoom mode look crunchy.<\/em><\/figcaption><p>There\u2019s no telephoto lens on the 7A \u2014 not that I\u2019d expect one at this price \u2014 so it relies on \u201cSuper Res\u201d digital zoom to reach up to 8x magnification. The results at 8x are predictably unpleasant, but I\u2019m also disappointed by the quality at 2x zoom. That\u2019s one of the focal lengths available in portrait mode, and the images it produces look crunchy and noisy.<strong> <\/strong>In the standard camera mode, the 7A uses the lossless crop zoom that the 7 and 7 Pro introduced \u2014 that\u2019s a technique that uses the middle of a high-res sensor to produce a magnified image without the upsampling of digital zoom. But this isn\u2019t available in portrait mode, so photos have that telltale crunchiness of upsampling.<strong> <\/strong>After several rounds of disappointing results from the 2x setting in portrait mode, I quit using it altogether.<\/p>\n<p>The main camera shoots up to 4K\/60p, producing detailed clips with capable stabilization. There\u2019s no video portrait mode, which is kind of a bummer. That\u2019s not a feature I\u2019ve seen in another midrange phone, and Google\u2019s take on it in the 7 and 7 Pro still feels every bit the first attempt that it is. But the 7A surely has the processing power to keep up with a video bokeh mode, and I missed being able to use it.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of the photo features Google is big on now are ones you won\u2019t encounter until you review your images in Google Photos. That\u2019s where I saw a few instances of the Pixel 7A camera getting a little too clever. It will automatically enable Top Shot \u2014 where it saves a quick burst of images \u2014 in some unusual instances. I saw this happen once in selfie mode where the subject (me, obviously) was barely moving and once when I was taking a photo of a mural. The resulting photos are fine, but they\u2019re not the kind that benefit from being able to pick the best image from a batch.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s Magic Eraser, too, which can do a convincing job of removing people from the background of your shots, given the right scenery. It did a good enough job of taking my (patiently waiting) husband out of the background of a portrait of our son. In another instance, it offered to remove \u201cpeople\u201d from a photo; the people were actually two plastic dolls. I guess AI still can\u2019t do it all.<\/p><figcaption><em>The Pixel 7A is the best midrange Android phone \u2014 not just the midrange phone with the best camera.<\/em><\/figcaption><p>While the Pixel 6A was the best midrange Android phone <em>if you care most about the camera,<\/em> the Pixel 7A is the best midrange Android phone \u2014 period. The screen isn\u2019t quite as nice as the Galaxy A54\u2019s, but it\u2019s improved enough to satisfy most people. The camera doesn\u2019t always nail it, but it\u2019s impressively capable for this class. And even though it\u2019s pricier than last year\u2019s model, it comes with some serious upgrades not often seen in this class, like wireless charging.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Pixel 7A is the best midrange Android phone \u2014 period<\/p>\n<p>The Galaxy A54 has the bigger, smoother-scrolling display, and it does come with the promise of four OS upgrades in its lifetime, which is one more than the 7A. But the 7A\u2019s flagship-grade processor puts it ahead in terms of performance now and likely well into the future. The Tensor G2 is up against heavy competition in the flagship class, where it sits alongside Qualcomm\u2019s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but it\u2019s easily one of the best processors you\u2019ll find on a midrange phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Related<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review: a little bit flagship, but mostly midrange<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After a couple of years of A-series devices that felt a little phoned-in, Google has proved that it\u2019s still paying attention to its midrange Pixel. Camera, performance, charging, display \u2014 nearly every aspect of this device has been improved a little bit. It\u2019s not the cheapest midrange phone out there, but it\u2019s a heck of a good deal.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photography by Allison Johnson \/ The Verge<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Correction May 12th, 8:15PM ET: <\/strong>A previous version of this review stated that the Pixel 7A doesn\u2019t use the 2x lossless crop zoom introduced by the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. It does in fact use this in the standard camera mode, although it isn\u2019t available in portrait mode. We regret the error.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Agree to Continue: Google Pixel 7A<\/h2>\n<p><em>Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it \u2014 contracts that no one actually reads. It\u2019s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit \u201cagree\u201d to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don\u2019t read and definitely can\u2019t negotiate.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To use the Pixel 7A, you must agree to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Google Terms of Service<\/li>\n<li>Google Play Terms of Service<\/li>\n<li>Google Privacy Policy (included in\u00a0ToS)<\/li>\n<li>Install apps and updates: \u201cYou agree this device may also automatically download and install updates and apps from Google, your carrier, and your device\u2019s manufacturer, possibly using cellular data.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Google Device Arbitration Agreement: \u201cAll disputes regarding your Google device will be resolved through\u00a0binding arbitration\u00a0on an individual, non-class basis [&#8230;] unless you\u00a0opt out by following the instructions in that agreement.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The following agreements are optional:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide anonymous location data for Google\u2019s services<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAllow apps and services to scan for Wi-Fi networks and nearby devices at any time, even when Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is off.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Send usage and diagnostic data to Google<\/li>\n<li>Talk to Google hands-free: \u201cIf you agree, Google Assistant will wait in standby mode to detect \u2018Hey Google\u2019 and certain quick phrases.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Allow Assistant on lock screen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additionally, if you want to use Google Assistant, you must agree to let Google collect app info and contact info from your devices. Other features like Google Wallet may require additional agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Final tally: five mandatory agreements and at least five optional agreements.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>Related:<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the past couple of years, there\u2019s been a very simple flowchart to follow when shopping for a midrange phone: if you want the best screen, get the Samsung phone. If you want the best camera, get the Google Pixel phone. This year, it\u2019s even simpler: get the Google Pixel 7A. If you absolutely must [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[93,95,96,81,84,87,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-3442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-google-fiber","8":"tag-android-phone-guide","9":"tag-android-phone-news","10":"tag-android-phone-reviews","11":"tag-google","12":"tag-google-guide","13":"tag-google-news","14":"tag-google-reviewsandroid-phone"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5095,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3442\/revisions\/5095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eufad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}