The new king of the middle class? The Pixel 8a will offer a minimum of compromises at an excellent price

The Pixel 8 series is no longer hot news, and we have already tested both models, the regular flagship Pixel 8 Pro and the pleasantly compact Pixel 8, at mobilenet.cz. Today, however, a much more important model was officially presented – the Pixel 8a, which, considering what it offers and how much it costs, has ambitions to become a real bestseller.

Metal body and superior durability

Even in the lower and middle class, not only increased durability, but also the quality of the materials used is starting to play an increasingly important role, and in both cases the Pixel 8a excels, as it offers an almost flagship IP67 resistance and a premium aluminum frame. The latter is 100% recycled, by the way, while the matte glass-like composite back comes from 76% recycled plastic. Taking into account the dimensions of 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9 mm and a weight of 188 grams, it is also a compact smartphone that will appeal to fans of pleasing colors, as it will be available in green Aloe (limited edition), blue Bay, dark Obsidian and the porcelain beige version.

Another advantage of this model is the 6.1″ Actua display, which is supposed to be 42% brighter compared to the Pixel 7a screen and, of course, supports up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen with a maximum brightness of up to 2,000 nits and support for HDR content is protected by the proven Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Of course, there is also an optical fingerprint reader located directly in the display.

Performance and support like flagship phones

Few mid-range smartphones can boast truly flagship hardware and long software support, as this is precisely one of the differences and ways to lure customers to a more expensive model. However, not in the case of the Pixel 8 series, because even the Pixel 8a is powered by the Google Tensor G3 chipset accompanied by 8 GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The storage (without support for memory cards) has 128/256 GB and is of the UFS 3.1 type.

The novelty will certainly attract the excellent 7-year software support, which is calculated from the start of sales, that is, until 2031 (inclusive). With this step, the new product completely outclasses any competition, not only in its class, but also in significantly more expensive flagship smartphones from other manufacturers. It is quite safe to say that no (new) iPhone will offer such a long support for a comparable price. Last but not least, the implementation of the security co-processor Titan M2 for the highest level of security of privacy and stored data is also pleasing.

Great photo equipment and a solid battery

In the field of photo equipment, the manufacturer has invested in a 64 Mpx primary sensor with Quad PD focusing, optical stabilization, an aperture of f/1.89 and a size of individual pixels of 0.8 micrometers (the size of the sensor is 1/1.73″), which is followed by a 13 Mpx ultra-wide-angle lens. It will offer the resulting pixels with a size of 1.12 micrometers, an aperture of f/2.2, and a 120-degree field of view there is also the option of recording 4K video (with 30 FPS) on the front camera and 4K video with 60 FPS on the main sensor.

Google Pixel 8a should not disappoint in terms of endurance either, as the manufacturer has deployed a battery with a capacity of 4,492 mAh. Perhaps the only thing that could be better is the charging power, which is only 18 W, on the other hand, Qi wireless charging, which is more important for many, is not missing, i.e. with a maximum power of 15 W. We do not find an adapter in the package, which is free of any plastic packaging materials, but it is located here ( except for the phone) one meter long USB-C/USB-C cable and also for USB-C/USB-A adapters.

A price that can’t be resisted?

The novelty has interesting equipment (very similar to the Pixel 8), but what makes it even more interesting is the price. The Pixel 8a will go on sale in our market from May 14, with the possibility of pre-ordering already today (May 7) at the manufacturer’s recommended price of CZK 14,490 for the 128GB model. The 256GB version will cost 15,990 CZK, but as part of the purchase from the Google Store, you can look forward to a bonus in the form of credits for the next purchase worth 3,800 CZK. Those who believe that they would not use the credits can also buy the Pixel 8a from O2, Datart or Alza with a discount of CZK 3,800. As part of this event, the Pixel 8a can be purchased with 128GB of storage for just 10,690 CZK, which is a very attractive offer considering the equipment, and it can be assumed that the new product will become a sales hit in its category.