Review: The $499 Pixel 10a does something Samsung and Apple cant

Google's new Pixel 10a lacks novelty, but for a budget phone, that's not such a bad thing.

The Android maker's $500 handset walks the same road that its predecessors have for several years now: It's a slightly downgraded version of last year's Pixel 10.

So, what's new this time around? Besides the lower price and slightly downgraded specs, the camera array is now completely flush with the rest of the phone, eliminating the camera bump entirely (take notes, Samsung and Apple). The end result is a phone that's a lot like the more expensive Pixel 10 and still $100 less than the new budget iPhone 17e Apple just announced.

The Pixel 10a may not be a conversation starter, but not every phone needs to be one, and it's a good smartphone nonetheless.

At launch, you can buy the Google Pixel 10a at Amazon and choose from either a free $100 gift card or a free pair of the Pixel Buds 2a.

Google Pixel 10a: Specs

Without wasting too much time, here's what you can expect specs-wise from the Pixel 10a:

• 6.3-inch display with 1080x2424 resolution and 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate

• Up to 3,000 nits peak brightness

• Google Tensor G4 processor

• 5,100mAh battery

• 8GB RAM

• 128/256GB storage

The two most important points of comparison here are going to be the Pixel 9a and Pixel 10. Let's start with the former. The display size and specs are nearly identical, though the new Pixel 10a sports 3,000 nits of peak brightness, making it the brightest A-series Pixel phone to date. Google kept the processor and battery size the same, and didn't mess with RAM or storage, either. You're not getting less with Pixel 10a than you got with Pixel 9a, but you're not really getting much more, either.

Perhaps more crucially, the Pixel 10a is very similar specs-wise to the Pixel 10, a phone that starts at $800. The display is basically identical, the storage options are too, and the battery cell is actually slightly bigger in Pixel 10a than Pixel 10.

The main things Google cut to get the price down to $500 are the RAM (Pixel 10 has 12GB) and the processor. Pixel 10a uses the comparatively old Tensor G4 chip rather than the Tensor G5 introduced with the Pixel 10 lineup last year. This is a little strange and a departure from how Google usually handles the A-series phones, but it doesn't actually affect practical, daily use much.

Finally, there's also one notable camera downgrade from Pixel 10 to 10a, but we'll get to that later.

Google Pixel 10a: Design

Pixel 10a comes in four colors: Lavender, Berry, Fog, and Obsidian. Our review unit is the Lavender model, and I think it looks lovely. That said, for once, the colors aren't the most interesting part of the redesign.

Last year, with the Pixel 9a, Google removed the iconic horizontal camera bar that adorns regular Pixel phones, in favor of something much less visible and intrusive. Pixel 10a maintains the same basic look, but the camera has been sanded down even more, so it's completely flush with the backside of the device.

Yes, unlike most other modern smartphones, you can lay the Pixel 10a down on its back on a flat surface and there will be no wobble whatsoever. Your expensive Samsung Galaxy or iPhone 17 could never.

It's not a huge change, but it's welcome, nonetheless. I was at first opposed to making Pixel A-series phones look different, but thanks to this alteration, I think I now prefer the way they look over the big boy phones.

For what it's worth, Google also slimmed down the bezels, which is always nice. The new phone also uses Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, as opposed to Gorilla Glass 3 on Pixel 9a. It should be more durable now, but frankly, I'm not going to do a bunch of violent drop tests with a review unit phone to find out. That's what JerryRigEverything is for.

Google Pixel 10a: Software

This is really the only somewhat sketchy part of the Pixel 10a. Remember earlier when I mentioned that Google didn't bring forward the Tensor 5 chipset from last year? It turns out this decision had some consequences in terms of which flashy AI features are and aren't available on Pixel 10a.

Put simply, this phone does not have complete AI parity with the Pixel 10. Perhaps the biggest missing feature is Magic Cue, a context-dependent assistant that brings up relevant information based on what's happening on your screen. On Pixel 10, if someone texted you to ask about an event in your calendar, Magic Cue would automatically surface the calendar entry for your convenience. That will not happen on Pixel 10a, because Magic Cue just isn't available here.

The same goes for Daily Hub, a Pixel 10 feature that would act as a, well, hub for news, sports information, and YouTube videos based on your personal interests. To be fair, though, this may not be a chipset problem; Google removed Daily Hub from Pixel 10 to iron out some kinks, and as of January, it's still not back. Automatic voice translation in phone calls is also missing, which is unfortunate because that was probably the best AI feature of the bunch last year.

While the Pixel 10a can't fully replicate the Pixel 10's AI portfolio, it does bring forward Camera Coach, an AI feature from the Pixel 10 that uses AI to assist amateur photographers in finding the best shot composition for whatever photo they're taking. That's kind of it, though. The other noteworthy AI features, like Best Take (which can combine several shots to produce a perfect take), Circle to Search, and Gemini support, were already present in the Pixel 9a and don't seem to work any differently here.

Google Pixel 10a: Performance and battery life

For as much as it kinda stinks that Google maintained the older Tensor G4 chip from a software availability perspective, it doesn't affect day-to-day performance that much. Apps load quickly, everything works smoothly, and generally speaking, I can't think of anything performance-wise that went horribly wrong in my time with the Pixel 10a. I can't provide Geekbench benchmarking metrics because that app isn't compatible with the Pixel 10a at the time of writing, but trust me, the phone works fine.

Bringing along the newer Tensor G5 processor might have potentially helped with battery life, though. The battery life on Pixel 10a isn't bad by any means, but it isn't noticeably better than Pixel 9a, either. The cell size is the same, and Google still rates it for about 30 hours of usage, which you can easily get as long as you don't do too much YouTubing or other battery-intensive activities. My charges lasted closer to 24 hours, which is acceptable for a $500 phone but not remarkable.

The good news is that Pixel 10a now supports 30W fast wired charging and 10W wireless charging, so if you have compatible adapters or chargers, you won't need to wait too long for the Pixel 10a to fill up on juice. I wish Google had improved the battery more, but giving users more charging options is nice, at any rate.

Google Pixel 10a: Cameras

Aside from Camera Coach, Google doesn't seem to have added any fun new photography features to Pixel 10a. The camera specs themselves are also identical to Pixel 9a:

• 48MP wide

• 13MP ultra-wide

• 13MP selfie

One major thing that's missing from the Pixel 10a is a third telephoto lens. That was one of the biggest and best additions to the Pixel 10 family last year, and it's not included here, presumably to keep costs down. Still, the digital zoom does a decent enough job by itself.

While the camera setup here isn't any better than Pixel 9a, it's also not any worse. Colors pop and images look sharp, as you can see in the photographs I took while testing the Pixel 10a.

Last year, Google brought Macro Focus to Pixel 9a, enabling up-close shots of tiny objects. It's still here, and it still works fine.

And Night Sight continues to do its thing, enabling nice shots of things taken in the dark.

Google Pixel 10a: Final thoughts

The Google Pixel 10a is a perfectly usable phone that doesn't cost too much money. That's really all you can say about it; these mid-range spin-off phones seem to get less and less interesting every year.

Its cameras are fine, but they're not any different from the Pixel 9a. The same goes for the processor and most of the software. It is really disappointing that Google couldn't give the Pixel 10a more AI software parity with Pixel 10, though. This really feels like a slightly more souped-up Pixel 9a with a flatter backside and some nice charging options.

Hopefully, Google can make the Pixel 11a a little more wow-worthy next year.