Raymond Wong

Google I/O 2022

Google’s Pixel 6a seems like an unbeatable value

Google’s latest 5G Android smartphone costs $449 and packs so many features. It might just be the best phone value of the year.

After months of leaks, Google made the Pixel 6a official at Google I/O 2022. The phone comes out on July 28 with preorders starting on July 21.

$449

There's just one model: 128GB storage + 6GB of RAM.

The phone comes in three colors: Charcoal, Chalk, and Sage.

The body is made of a “3D thermoformed composite back with tactile alloy frame.” Sure sounds like the coated metal that we saw on the Pixel 5.

6.1"

The OLED display has a 2,400 x 1,080 resolution.

The Pixel 6a uses the same Google-designed Tensor chip inside of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.

Pixel 6a specs:

• Corning Gorilla 3 glass front

• 4,410 mAh battery

• 5G (mmWave and Sub-6 GHz)

• In-display fingerprint reader

• Stereo speakers

• IP67 water and dust resistance

• 5 years of Pixel updates

• No wireless charging

Unlike the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro that have 50-megapixel main cameras, the Pixel 6a has a 12.2-megapixel f/1.7 main lens and 12-megapixel ultrawide. The selfie camera is 8 megapixels.

Pretty much all of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro’s camera features are present including Night Sight, Cinematic Pan, Super Res Zoom, Face Unblur, and Magic Eraser. The only missing camera feature is Motion Mode.

Specs and feature-wise, the Pixel 6a seems to offer a lot of bang for buck. It makes the third-gen iPhone SE (2022) and its dated design look bad. The battle for the sub-$500 phone just got more interesting.

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