The quest for the ideal balance between model and efficiency defines this sibling rivalry
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Google Pixel 8
The Pixel 8 represents a predominant step forward within the non-pro Pixel collection, offering a formidable mixture of flagship aspects at a competitive model level. With important enhancements in accomplish, impress, efficiency, battery existence, and digicam hardware, it stands out as a major different for customers on the lookout for a sturdy and successfully-rounded smartphone expertise.
Mavens
- Gorgeous impress with narrower bezels
- Better battery existence, thermals
- 7 years of OS updates
Cons
- Restricted device capabilities when put next with Professional Pixels
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Provide: Google
Google Pixel 7a
$491 $499 Place $8
The Pixel 7a presents an stunning model proposition when put next with its flagship siblings, preserving the mandatory Pixel qualities similar to spectacular cameras, legitimate device, and Google’s AI magic. While it can well impartial no longer procure the absolute simplest efficiency and battery existence, it’s a compelling decide whenever you occur to see the Pixel expertise on a budget.
Mavens
- Comfy 90Hz impress
- Immense cameras for the cost
Cons
- Thermal issues with Tensor G2
- 18W charging feels too unimaginative
The Pixel 8 collection has exact hit the market, and a key highlight this year has been the non-pro Pixel offering a more top price expertise than in prior generations. In the within the meantime, the Pixel A-collection has leveled up spacious time with the Pixel 7a, bringing it ever nearer to the flagship Pixels. Every are massive telephones, but as the line between midrange and top price continues to blur, picking between them will not be any longer basically easy.
As every the Pixel 7a and Pixel 8 provide an ravishing blend of the successfully-known Pixel expertise and flagship-grade aspects with out a hefty model observe, it prompts the query: Is the Pixel 8 unruffled the trim different for the budget-acutely conscious purchaser, or does the Pixel 7a kind an even bigger model-for-money Pixel?
Mark, specs & availability
Every the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 7a made their debuts in 2023 and are on hand to buy unlocked at Google’s legitimate retailer and predominant mobile retailers. While their launches happened mere months aside, the Pixel 7a belongs to an earlier Pixel know-how, and that’s evident in its specs and pricing.
The Pixel 7a modified into once launched at $499, which made it $50 dearer than the Pixel 6a’s delivery model. The Pixel 8 has been priced at $699, a in actual fact broad $100 bump-up from its predecessor, the Pixel 7. We procure already viewed the Pixel 7a getting discounts of as a lot as $100 off, and Google keeps offering thrilling discounts and alternate-in deals for its flagship Pixels as successfully.
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Google Pixel 7a
- SoC
- Google Tensor G2
- RAM
- 8GB LPDDR5
- Storage
- 128GB
- Battery
- 4,385mAh
- Ports
- USB-C
- Working Machine
- Android 13
- Front digicam
- 13MP, 4K30, f/2.2 aperture, 95° FOV, face unlock
- Rear digicam
- Indispensable: 64MP, f/1.9 aperture, PDAF, OIS; UW: 13MP, f/2.2 aperture, 120° FOV
- Connectivity
- 5G sub6 / mmWave, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
- Dimensions
- 152.4 x 72.9 x 9mm
- Weight
- 193g (6.84 oz)
- Payment tempo
- 18W wired
- IP Rating
- IP67
- Colours
- Charcoal, Snow, Sea, Coral
- Demonstrate kind
- OLED, 90Hz
- Demonstrate dimensions
- 6.1 hump
- Payment choices
- Wired, wi-fi
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- WiFi 6e
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth 5.3
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Google Pixel 8
- SoC
- Google Tensor G3
- RAM
- 8GB LPDDR5X
- Storage
- 128GB, 256GB
- Battery
- 4,575mAh
- Ports
- USB-C
- Working Machine
- Android 14
- Front digicam
- 10.5MP, 4K60, f/2.2 aperture, 95° FOV, face unlock
- Rear digicam
- Indispensable: 50MP, f/1.7 aperture, Laser AF, OIS; UW: 13MP, f/2.2 aperture, 126° FOV
- Connectivity
- 4G, 5G mmWave, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth, NFC 5.3, NFC
- Dimensions
- 150.5 × 70.8 × 8.9mm
- Weight
- 187 grams (6.6 oz)
- Payment tempo
- 27 watts wired
- IP Rating
- IP68
- Colours
- Rose, Hazel, Obsidian Dusky
- Demonstrate kind
- OLED, 60-120 hertz
- Demonstrate dimensions
- 6.2 inches
- Payment choices
- Wired, Wi-fi
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Wi-Fi 7 (Except certain markets)
- Bluetooth
- 5.3
Originate and occupy: In the reduction of from the same cloth

When it involves accomplish and building, every of these telephones allotment an evident kinship, proudly flaunting the now-iconic Pixel digicam bar at the support and likewise sharing an exact same bodily footprint. Now, that that you might well well prefer to protect your Pixel 8 protected with these protecting cases, but whenever you occur to head au naturel, there’s some exact info.
The Pixel 8 aspects more rounded corners and manages to natty down its veil bezels, too. This refinement presents it a more in model search while also shaving off just a few grams in weight and a few millimeters in dimensions when put next with the Pixel 7. The Pixel 8’s support is fabricated from glass while the 7a’s is exhausting plastic, and each telephones feature a shimmering enact on their backs, making them inclined to smudging. It might well well were good to peep the frosted glass enact from the Pixel 8 Professional kind its solution to the smaller Pixel 8.
Rounding off the accomplish piece, every telephones here provide a vibrant palette of coloration choices. The Pixel 7a is available in four horny choices: Charcoal, Snow, Sea, and Coral (uncommon to the Google retailer). The Pixel 8 is available in three colorways: Obsidian, Hazel, and Rose.
Demonstrate and sound: Luminous brighter

Even with its smaller footprint, the Pixel 8 manages to slot in a 6.2-hump veil, edging out the Pixel 7a’s 6.1-hump impress by a hair’s breadth. While that won’t give you any purposeful residence advantages, what you are going to surely procure the good thing about is the dazzling 2,000 nits peak brightness that the Pixel 8 impress presents. This selection proves its price outside, ensuring your veil remains vibrant even in glaring sunlight.
Every telephones take care of you to gentle visuals due to of their high refresh price monitors, but the Pixel 8’s 120Hz impress exact marginally edges out the Pixel 7a’s 90Hz veil.
Every telephones provide stereo speakers for an immersive audio expertise. For right biometric unlocking, every these telephones allotment a legitimate beneath-impress fingerprint scanner. The Pixel 8 collection, nonetheless, also modified into the first to present Face Release authentication for high-security capabilities, take care of password manager and banking apps.
Instrument: Playing the prolonged game
The Pixel 8 collection starts off with an support, being the first to include Android 14 correct out of the box. Meanwhile, the Pixel 7a unruffled ships with Android 13, but accumulate no longer worry — an Android 14 replace needs to be knocking on its door gorgeous soon. Android 14 brings alongside a bunch of most modern aspects collectively with some welcome productiveness and security enhancements.
Google has in actuality upped the ante within the device increase arena even supposing, offering a formidable seven years of OS and security updates for the Pixel 8 collection. The Pixel 7a has been following a three-guaranteed-OS-replace trajectory, scheduled to realize its updates around 2025 with the free up of Android 16. Even as you are any individual who likes to persist with their telephones for thus prolonged as they’ll, the Pixel 8 takes a large accumulate by prolonged-term increase and future-proofing, as it’s contrivance to tackle up-to-date into the year 2030.
Performance and battery: Expected positive aspects
The Pixel 8 is supplied with Google’s Tensor G3 chipset, while the Pixel 7a relies on the outdated-know-how Tensor G2. While this might well well seem as a yearly incremental upgrade that is conventional in mobile CPUs, there’s rather more context within the support of the upgrade. The Tensor G2 had its allotment of quirks, namely referring to battery effectivity and thermal efficiency.
The Tensor G3 deploys an innovative 9-core architecture featuring a new Cortex-X3 prime core designed for high-efficiency projects alongside four Cortex-A715 efficiency cores and four Cortex-A510 effectivity cores. This fresh configuration guarantees massive positive aspects in processing tempo and energy effectivity and, as anticipated, resulted in vital better thermal administration and battery endurance in our evaluate.

While every telephones provide nearly a similar battery capacities, the Tensor G3’s newfound effectivity interprets to deal better endurance for the Pixel 8. The Pixel 8 also presents sooner 27W wired charging when put next with the Pixel 7a’s 18W charging, even supposing the total charging cases for every these telephones accumulate no longer vary by vital. Moreover, the Pixel 8 presents sooner 18W wi-fi charging and the bonus feature of reverse charging, something that the Pixel 7a misses out on.
Cameras: Pixel goodness

The Pixel 7a boasts a 64MP main sensor and a 13MP extremely-huge sensor, which might well well sound more spectacular by megapixels than the Pixel 8’s 50MP main sensor and 12MP extremely-huge sensor. The same goes for the entrance cameras, with the Pixel 7a flaunting a 13MP selfie shooter while the Pixel 8 packs in a 10.5MP entrance digicam.
However megapixel numbers accumulate no longer imply vital by themselves, and a nearer search reveals that the Pixel 8 aspects better, bigger digicam sensors all around, with bigger pixel dimension as successfully. And let’s no longer neglect that numerous the Pixel digicam magic happens beneath the hood. Simply keep, every these digicam programs are slightly evenly matched in precise-existence utilization, but the Pixel 8’s improved hardware presents some advantages, namely in tricky eventualities take care of low-mild photos or tough lighting.
The Pixel 8 also brings some nifty contemporary digicam aspects to the desk, take care of Evening Stare mode for video, Good Rob for photos, and lots others. No longer all of these goodies might well well impartial kind their solution to the older Pixel units, but rest assured that you’re in exact fingers with both different, and each telephones can mumble these signature “Pixel-search” photos so many cherish.
Pixel 8 vs Pixel 7a: Which is correct for you?
It be no longer rocket science that the flagship Pixel 8 emerges as the winner when when put next with the budget-pleasant Pixel 7a. Even though the margin in most lessons will not be any longer as huge, the Pixel 8 unruffled presents something further in virtually every ingredient. The accomplish has been subtle, the impress is brighter and sooner, and the contemporary Tensor G3 chipset delivers better efficiency and battery endurance. For energy customers, sooner charging speeds are a welcomed addition, and its flagship digicam hardware paired with contemporary device aspects, caters to photography lovers.
Google Pixel 8
Factual flagship expertise
The Pixel 8 represents a predominant step forward within the non-pro Pixel collection, offering a formidable mixture of flagship aspects at a competitive model level. With important enhancements in accomplish, impress, efficiency, battery existence, and digicam hardware, it stands out as a major different for customers on the lookout for a sturdy and successfully-rounded smartphone expertise.
That being acknowledged, ought to present Pixel 7a owners kind the soar to the Pixel 8? No longer basically. The upgrade, even supposing tempting, won’t be price the money for every person. And for seemingly investors weighing the selections between a brand contemporary Pixel 7a or the Pixel 8, the determination of whether or no longer the further $200 is money successfully spent is dependent to your particular smartphone wants and desires.
Unless you are a energy client who insists on the absolute simplest efficiency and battery stats, the 7a is more than as a lot as the duty of being your day-to-day driver in 2023. While the Pixel 8 undoubtedly delivers the goods, it’s exhausting to beat the bang-for-your-buck model that the Pixel 7a presents. For folks buying and selling up from a Pixel 5a or an older model, the Pixel 7a is a large buy, offering that quintessential Pixel charm with stellar cameras, legitimate device, and a scurry of Google’s AI magic.

Provide: Google
Google Pixel 7a
All-rounder on a budget
$491 $499 Place $8
The Pixel 7a presents an stunning model proposition when put next with its flagship siblings, preserving the mandatory Pixel qualities similar to spectacular cameras, legitimate device, and Google’s AI magic. While it can well impartial no longer procure the absolute simplest efficiency and battery existence, it’s a compelling decide whenever you occur to see the Pixel expertise on a budget.