The more affordable Pixel

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During their annual Google event, which included AI announcements, foldable phones and new tablets, the tech giant unveiled their new Pixel 7a, the more budget-friendly version of their Pixel 7 and 7 Pro models, aimed at those wanting to spend a bit less on a smartphone.

For those not familiar with Google’s mobile phone release cycle – they tend to launch a standard version of their phone, more premium Pro model, and then follow up a few months later with the ‘A’ version, which is the lower priced version of the three models.  The Pixel 7a is this year’s more affordable Pixel.

One of the headline features is the upgraded display which now has a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling.  The Pixel 7a features the same size OLED display as last year’s Pixel 6a, coming in a 6.1 inches, an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, and Google’s own Tensor G2 processor. The Tensor G2 is the same chip found in the more expensive Pixel 7 and 7 Pro models.

Google will support the 7a with three years of operating system (OS) updates and five years of security updates.

Wireless charging has been added, and some more RAM to help make the most of the new processor. All these upgrades don’t come for free of course, with the Pixel 7a jumping up in price by around £50 compared to last year’s 6a. As usual, the price will likely drop after the initial wave of pre-orders.

Despite the 7a sharing the same screen size as the 6a, the phone itself is slightly larger. The display uses Gorilla Glass 3 and the rear of the device is made from composite plastic.

The 7a supports 18W wired charging (no charger in the box, as usual) and 7.5W wireless charging. For fans of wireless charging, this is nice to see as it’s the first Pixel ‘a’ model to include it.

In terms of the camera, the main rear camera is an upgrade 64 megapixel module. Google says the sensor is 72 percent larger than what was featured in the Pixel 6a and can capture 44 percent more light. The phone supports all the usual Google Photos features such Real Tone, Magic Eraser and Photo Unblur, and the long-exposure motion effects available on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are also coming to the 7a.

The phone looks to be a decent mid-range Android phone on paper, and with Google Pixel phones being known for their impressive cameras for the money, it’s likely to be one of the more popular sub-£500 smartphones this year.  We’ll have a full review coming up very soon.

The Google Pixel 7a is on sale now from £449 with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and its available in three colours: dark grey, white, blue, and coral.

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