Last week, Google caught everyone off guard by dropping the news about the Pixel 8a in a simple press release, just an hour after Apple's big hardware event on May 7th.
People were expecting the new Pixel phone to be unveiled on May 14 during the I/O 2024 developer conference, but now that the cat's out of the bag, everyone's itching to know more about it. And lucky me, I've got the chance to review the Pixel 8a for two whole weeks!
Design and Build Quality: The Pixel 8a shares a lot of design elements with its fancier siblings, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. It rocks that trademark dual-camera visor on the back, which looks pretty slick. The back panel has this nice matte finish that's great at keeping fingerprints at bay. I got the obsidian black version, and let me tell you, it's a stunner in the sunlight.
But if black isn't your vibe, Google's also offering it in aloe (green), porcelain (white), and bay (blue). Word on the street is, the blue one's the real showstopper.
For the first time in the Pixel A series, Google's gone with a premium aluminum frame, and it really elevates the whole look. It's a major step up from the plastic feel of the Pixel 7a. Plus, they've slapped on Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 shield on the display for some extra scratch resistance.
Pixel 8a: Specifications: Alright, let's talk specs. The Pixel 8a sports a 6.1-inch OLED Actua display with a crisp resolution of 1080 x 2400 and 430 pixels per inch. It's got a sweet 120 Hz refresh rate, which means everything's gonna look buttery smooth, and it's protected by Gorilla Glass, so you can breathe easy about scratches. Oh, and did I mention it's always on and can crank up to a whopping 2000 nits of brightness? That's 40 percent brighter than its predecessor, the Pixel 7a.
Pixel 8a: Price and Availability: Now, for the important stuff: price and availability. The Pixel 8a hits the shelves officially on May 14 at 6:30 am. You've got four colors to choose from and two storage options: 128GB or 256GB. The 128GB version will set you back Rs 52,999, while the 256GB version goes for Rs 59,999. Yep, it's a bit pricier than the Pixel 7a, which started at Rs 43,999.
But here's the kicker: if you pre-order, there are some sweet deals to take advantage of, especially if you're packing an SBI Credit Card. You'll snag an instant discount of Rs 4,000. Plus, there's an exchange offer where you can shave off up to Rs 9,000 by trading in select smartphone models. That brings the effective price down to just Rs 39,999. And if you pre-order the Pixel 8a, you can snag a pair of Pixel Buds A-Series for just Rs 999.
Performance: Under the hood, it's packing Google's Tensor G3 chipset and Titan M2 security coprocessor, along with a hefty 8 gigs of LPDDR5x RAM. That means it's got some serious horsepower, and it shares a bunch of AI features with its fancier siblings, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.
Camera: For all you photo buffs out there, the Pixel 8a's got you covered with its dual rear camera setup: a beefy 16- Megapixel main lens and a Megapixel ultra-wide lens. Selfie game strong? You'll love the Megapixel front camera with its wide field of view. And with AI features like Best Take for group shots, Magic Editor for sprucing up your pics, and Audio Magic Eraser for cleaning up audio in your videos, you'll be snapping like a pro in no time.
AI Features: But wait, there's more! The Pixel 8a comes with Gemini, Google's trusty built-in AI assistant. You can type, talk, or even toss in some images to get stuff done. And check this out: Circle to Search lets you find stuff lickety-split without hopping between apps. Just circle, scribble, or tap on an image, text, or video, and boom, you're golden. Plus, Audio Emojis add a fun new layer to your phone calls.
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