Google Pixel 7A review: a better deal

For the previous couple of years, there’s been a quite simple flowchart to comply with when looking for a midrange cellphone: if you need the very best display screen, get the Samsung cellphone. In order for you the very best digital camera, get the Google Pixel cellphone. This yr, it’s even less complicated: get the Google Pixel 7A. Should you completely will need to have the very best display screen within the class, think about the Galaxy A54 5G, however for most individuals, the 7A is your best option. 

The Pixel 7A features a handful of necessary upgrades, however on its spec sheet, there’s one which I believe is a very powerful: a brighter, smoother-scrolling 90Hz display screen. It’s not fairly as good because the Galaxy A54 5G’s 120Hz show, however it now not means you’re placing up with a display screen that’s simply “meh” when you go for the Pixel A tool. We have a look at our cellphone screens roughly 20 billion instances a day, in order that’s a giant quality-of-life enchancment.

Like final yr’s Pixel 6A, there’s a 6.1-inch OLED panel, an IP67 score for sturdy mud and water resistance, and Google’s customized chipset du jour — this time, Tensor G2. It’s backed up by three years of OS upgrades and 5 years of safety updates.

This time round, there’s an up to date digital camera, wi-fi charging (a primary for a Pixel A cellphone), and extra RAM to assist profit from its highly effective chipset. That brings the entire worth to $500, a major leap from the 6A’s $450, however these upgrades are value your time and assist nudge the Pixel 7A to the entrance of the midrange class, not only a “purchase it for the digital camera” different. 

The 7A is barely greater than the Pixel 6A, though they’re each constructed round 6.1-inch screens. It’s solely slightly smaller than the Pixel 7, with its 6.3-inch display screen, because of the 7A’s thicker bezels. It has a sturdy aluminum body, a Gorilla Glass 3 panel on the entrance, and composite plastic on the again. My assessment unit is coral, which is a Google retailer unique, and in contrast to the Pixel 6, there’s nothing “kinda” about it. It’s coral as heck.

The IP67 score implies that the cellphone is sealed in opposition to mud and is protected in opposition to some water immersion, so that you don’t should sweat it if the 7A falls right into a puddle. It was the pocket of a not-at-all waterproof jacket after I acquired soaked in a rainstorm on the playground, and it fared simply fantastic. It’s a step up for the midrange class, the place plastic frames are extra frequent and IP scores are not at all assured. 

The display screen is a 6.1-inch 1080p OLED panel with a 90Hz high refresh price — not fairly as easy because the 120Hz shows on the A54 and most flagship telephones, however when you’re coming from a typical 60Hz show, it would look slightly extra polished. The 90Hz setting is off by default, which might be a battery-saving transfer, so if you wish to expertise it, you’ll have to activate “Easy Show” within the show settings. I believe it’s definitely worth the minor hit to battery efficiency; it’s noticeably smoother and makes the 60Hz setting look uneven. Google says that this show will get 25 p.c brighter than the 6A’s in its peak brightness mode beneath direct daylight, and I can use it comfortably outside.

The 7A’s in-display fingerprint scanner nonetheless feels a beat slower than others within the class — that’s been a sore spot for Pixel homeowners over the previous couple of years. In reality, I arrange fingerprint unlocking on two Pixel 7As, and after working by means of the preliminary scanning, each telephones gave me an error and mentioned my fingerprint hadn’t registered. It labored fantastic the subsequent time I attempted on each telephones, however it was very irritating to my perfectionist nature. In any case, the fingerprint scanner is joined this yr by face unlock (imported from the Pixel 7 and seven Professional). Having each enabled makes unlocking the cellphone painless: one or the opposite works rapidly, and you may be in your approach.

There’s a 4,385mAh battery within the 7A, a slight lower from the 4,410mAh cell within the Pixel 6A. Google claims the 7A can go as much as 72 hours on a single cost, however that’s in Excessive Battery Saver mode. All through my testing, I used the cellphone in excessive not-saving mode with the display screen refresh price at 90Hz and always-on show… at all times on. 

With these issues enabled, battery stamina feels prefer it’s simply common. On a day of reasonable use with about 3.5 hours of screen-on time, the 7A was all the way down to 25 p.c by bedtime. Including a power-hungry exercise like an prolonged gaming session would undoubtedly drive the battery down sooner and make a late-day recharge crucial. Once you swipe down the notification shade, you’ll see an estimated time of day when the battery can be absolutely drained. This estimate appeared extremely optimistic each time I checked out it, so greatest to not put an excessive amount of inventory in it.

The 7A has fast-ish 18W wired charging (no charger included within the field, naturally) and, new this yr, 7.5W wi-fi charging. The latter is sort of uncommon within the midrange class, and it’s good to have the comfort of simply setting it on a charger on the finish of the day. It appears to be like fancy on the dear Pixel Stand, however the 23W quick charging speeds Google’s wi-fi charger presents are overkill; my fundamental Qi charger labored simply fantastic with the 7A.

The Pixel 7A makes use of the identical customized Tensor G2 chipset that’s on board the flagship Pixel 7 and seven Professional. I really feel the identical approach utilizing the 7A that I did utilizing Apple’s 2022 iPhone SE final yr — this $500 cellphone performs higher than it has any proper to. It simply handles difficult duties like rendering 3D sport graphics. Apps load rapidly and keep open for an inexpensive period of time; I used to be happy to seek out the Delta app nonetheless open within the background with my boarding move displayed after 20 minutes of doing different issues on the cellphone.

All variations of the 7A embody sub-6GHz 5G, whereas solely the model bought by Verizon within the US will embody mmWave 5G. Guess what? It prices an additional $50 for a complete of $550. Most of us are unlikely to spend any significant period of time inside vary of a mmWave sign, so paying further for a future we in all probability gained’t use a lot straight-up sucks. Should you’re on Verizon and it’s possible so that you can purchase the unlocked 7A immediately from Google (it does trade-ins and financing, too!), I extremely encourage you to go that route and save $50.

The Pixel 7A features a new 64-megapixel essential rear digital camera with optical picture stabilization. That’s extra pixels than the 50-megapixel sensors on the 7 and seven Professional, however don’t get too excited — the sensor is bodily smaller than the one on the flagships. It’s accompanied by 13-megapixel ultrawide and selfie cameras. 

In earlier generations, the A-series Pixel cellphone had the identical digital camera {hardware} because the flagships. That’s not the case anymore, however it doesn’t actually matter: the 7A presents the very best digital camera system you should purchase on a $500 cellphone. The fundamentals are there; you’ll get reliably good images in good gentle or crappy indoor lighting. It has its weak factors, and generally the super-smart Pixel digital camera will get slightly too intelligent, however it’s a powerful general bundle for the cash.

In good lighting, the Pixel 7A turns in high-quality pictures with Google’s signature cool and contrasty look. It is aware of how you can play the hits when there’s a blue sky and inexperienced grass within the body, however it doesn’t go overboard. In low gentle, Google’s sooner Night time Sight mode brings out a powerful quantity of element in very dim circumstances.

In reasonable lighting, I acquired an above-average hit price of sharp images of shifting topics — specifically, a toddler. Face Unblur sometimes jumps in and makes use of some further picture data from the ultrawide digital camera to sharpen up a barely blurred portrait. It doesn’t work miracles, however it’s good to have. However more often than not, the Pixel 7A is simply good about shutter pace, maintaining it quick sufficient to freeze my topic so long as he wasn’t shifting too a lot. 

There’s no telephoto lens on the 7A — not that I’d count on one at this worth — so it depends on “Tremendous Res” digital zoom to succeed in as much as 8x magnification. The outcomes at 8x are predictably disagreeable, however I’m additionally dissatisfied by the standard at 2x zoom. That’s one of many focal lengths out there in portrait mode, and the photographs it produces look crunchy and noisy. Google isn’t utilizing the lossless crop zoom that the 7 and seven Professional use at 2x — that’s a method that makes use of the center of a high-res sensor to provide a magnified picture with out the upsampling of digital zoom. After a number of rounds of disappointing outcomes from the 2x setting in portrait mode, I stop utilizing it altogether.

The principle digital camera shoots as much as 4K/60p, producing detailed clips with succesful stabilization. There’s no video portrait mode, which is sort of a bummer. That’s not a function I’ve seen in one other midrange cellphone, and Google’s tackle it within the 7 and seven Professional nonetheless feels each bit the primary try that it’s. However the 7A certainly has the processing energy to maintain up with a video bokeh mode, and I missed having the ability to use it.

Lots of the photograph options Google is massive on now are ones you gained’t encounter till you assessment your pictures in Google Images. That’s the place I noticed just a few cases of the Pixel 7A digital camera getting slightly too intelligent. It’ll mechanically allow Prime Shot — the place it saves a fast burst of pictures — in some uncommon cases. I noticed this occur as soon as in selfie mode the place the topic (me, clearly) was barely shifting and as soon as after I was taking a photograph of a mural. The ensuing images are fantastic, however they’re not the type that profit from having the ability to choose the very best picture from a batch.

There’s Magic Eraser, too, which might do a convincing job of eradicating folks from the background of your pictures, given the appropriate surroundings. It did a ok job of taking my (patiently ready) husband out of the background of a portrait of our son. In one other occasion, it supplied to take away “folks” from a photograph; the folks had been really two plastic dolls. I suppose AI nonetheless can’t do all of it.

Whereas the Pixel 6A was the very best midrange Android cellphone when you care most in regards to the digital camera, the Pixel 7A is the very best midrange Android cellphone — interval. The display screen isn’t fairly as good because the Galaxy A54’s, however it’s improved sufficient to fulfill most individuals. The digital camera doesn’t at all times nail it, however it’s impressively succesful for this class. And though it’s pricier than final yr’s mannequin, it comes with some critical upgrades not typically seen on this class, like wi-fi charging.  

The Galaxy A54 has the larger, smoother-scrolling show, and it does include the promise of 4 OS upgrades in its lifetime, which is yet another than the 7A. However the 7A’s flagship-grade processor places it forward by way of efficiency now and sure properly into the long run. Tensor G2 is up in opposition to heavy competitors within the flagship class, the place it sits alongside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, however it’s simply top-of-the-line processors you’ll discover on a midrange cellphone. 

After a few years of A-series units that felt slightly phoned-in, Google has proved that it’s nonetheless listening to its midrange Pixel. Digital camera, efficiency, charging, show — practically each side of this machine has been improved slightly bit. It’s not the most cost effective midrange cellphone on the market, however it’s a heck of a superb deal.

Images by Allison Johnson / The Verge