Google Pixel 7a First Tests: Our Opinion On Google's Little Bomb

The Google Pixel 7a is the logical successor to the very good Pixel 6a, which was undoubtedly one of the smartphones under 500 euros with the best price-performance ratio in 2022. This light version of the Pixel 7 brings some welcome changes like a 90Hz screen and wireless charging or even new photo sensors.

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This is accompanied by a not inconsiderable price increase of 50 euros, which brings the phone above the psychological price of 500 euros, to exactly 509 euros. Can this new model maintain its excellent value for money? First elements of the answers thanks Objective testing of the Google Pixel 7a by our 01Lab.

What is the data sheet of the Google Pixel 7a?

Without revolutionizing the formula, the Google Pixel 7a offers incremental improvements that bring it (dangerously?) closer to the Google Pixel 7, which can be found on the web for a few tens of dollars more.

Google Pixel 7a 128GB at best price Base price: €509

A high quality and (very) familiar design

Take a Pixel 6a, give it some design refinements over a Pixel 7 and you’ve got the Pixel 7a. When you pick up the phone, the first thing that strikes you is its compactness. With a 6.1-inch screen and a width of just 152mm (3mm less than the Pixel 7), it’s easy to use with one hand.

The other pleasant surprise comes from the build quality. The Pixel 7a is sturdy and the strap that the camera unit rests on is now aluminum rather than plastic. It barely protrudes from the shell and doesn’t make the phone wobble when you put it down. The plastic back skilfully mimics glass, including its tendency to leave fingerprints.

On the front there are quite wide black borders that remind us that we are dealing with a mid-range smartphone. With 193 g on the scale and a well-distributed weight, the Google Pixel 7a lies discreetly in a bag or pocket.

The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and the phone is IP67 certified to protect against dust and water immersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

What is the screen worth?

The 90Hz screen refresh rate is one of the big novelties of this Pixel 7a compared to its predecessor. The fluid gain is noticeable but underwhelming compared to its main rivals, all of which already benefit from a 120Hz screen.

Nevertheless, the Google Pixel 7a is characterized by its excellent color fidelity. In fact, we measured a Delta E of 1.33. It’s just great knowing that below 3 the human eye can’t tell the color variation anymore. In this little game, the Pixel 7a beats all of these little comrades by a mile.

Screen: The Google Pixel 7a versus the competition

Refresh rate Color fidelity (Delta E 2000 average) Screen brightness

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G

When it comes to brightness, Google has also done a very good job. With an average brightness of 960 cd/m2 measured by our 01Lab, the Pixel 7a has the luxury of being ahead of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G, which until then was the benchmark in this mid-range segment. Even in direct sunlight, you can enjoy very good legibility on the Google cell phone.

Pixel 7a benchmarks

The Pixel 7a features the in-house Google Tensor G2 chip, which is also found in the Pixel 7, 7 Pro and the Google Pixel Fold. A high-end SoC that offers better performance than competing chips in this price range. We’re also pleased to see the RAM increase from 6GB to 8GB, which is always good for improving the multitasking experience.

AnTuTu: The Google Pixel 7a against the competition

AnTuTu Benchmark 9 result AnTuTu Benchmark 9 CPU AnTuTu Benchmark 9 GPU AnTuTu Benchmark 9 MEM

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G

Geekbench: The Google Pixel 7a against the competition

Geekbench 5 multi-core score Geekbench 5 single-core score

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G

On all benchmarks, the Pixel 7a performs better than the 6a, but also better than the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G and its Exynos 1380 chip. The Snapdragon 778G+ 5G in the Honor 70 and the Nothing Phone (1) are also left behind. Logical results given the high-end positioning of the Google chip.

On the graphics side, the Tensor G2 is perfectly capable of running the most demanding 3D games on the Play Store, but not fully. This allows you to enjoy titles like Genshin Impact at 30 fps on high graphics or 60 fps on medium graphics. As powerful as it is, Google’s SoC has never attempted to break performance records, even on the brand’s high-end smartphones.

GFXBench: The Google Pixel 7a versus the competition

GFXBench 1440p Aztec Ruins Vulkan (High Tier) Offscreen GFXBench Car Chase GFXBench T-Rex

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G

3DMark: The Google Pixel 7a against the competition

3DMark Wild Life Best Loop Score 3DMark Wild Life Stability

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G

With a stability score of 73.2% on 3DMark, the Tensor G2 cannot maintain its maximum performance on the Pixel 7a when the latter is under heavy load. However, this has a clear advantage – the phone does not overheat in the game. With a measured amplitude of 14.8 °C, the Pixel 7a manages to control the temperature well in-game.

What autonomy and what charging speed?

The Pixel 7a’s 4,300 – 4,385 mAh battery (according to Google) along with hardware and software optimizations mean that the average battery life is a day, not more. If you use the phone intensively throughout the day, you are unlikely to leave in the evening without charging.

Autonomy and charging: the Google Pixel 7a compared to the competition

Battery capacity Video streaming time Versatile battery life Charging time

Google Pixel 7a 4300 mAh 1 hr 59 min Google Pixel 6a 4410 mAh 2 hr 6 min Samsung Galaxy A54 5G 5000 mAh 1 hr 26 min Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G 5000 mAh 29 min Nothing Phone (1) 4500mAh 1hr 8min

The 01Lab confirms this impression with video autonomy and versatile autonomy below the average of the smartphones between 400 and 510 euros that we have tested in the last 18 months. Nothing catastrophic, but nothing impressive either.

On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly difficult to benefit from a charging speed of only 18W (only one charging cable is included). Using a 65W “Green_e” brand charger, we only charged the battery to 50% in 43 minutes.

It took 1 hour and 59 minutes to recharge the battery to 100%. It seems endless at a time when some rivals like the Redmi Note 12+ 5G are fully charged in just 29 minutes. We console ourselves with the introduction of 7.5W wireless charging, which logically is more than twice as slow to charge the phone.

Interface: the Google Pixel experience

The Pixel 7a runs Android 13 with the “Pixel” skin already found on other Google smartphones. We appreciate it for its fluidity, clean site (no bloatware), and ease of use. Personalization is also on the agenda for Material You, which uses your background image to offer multiple color palettes that you’ll find throughout the interface.

Google doesn’t offer a full “pure” Android experience as its Pixel phones take advantage of some new features. This is the case, for example, with the “listening” mode, which passively recognizes the songs that the phone is listening to in the room (no, we’re not cheating on the “blind test”).

Automatic transcription of your voice into text or instant translation are also “little extras” that make the difference. On the photo side, the ability to “blur” old photos or erase certain elements with the “magic eraser” is still as handy and impressive as ever. Finally, Face ID, which wasn’t present on the Pixel 6a, is now available on the Pixel 7a.

Google offers three years of major Android updates and five years of security updates. It’s better than most other manufacturers, but worse than Samsung, which has now gone through four years of extensive updates, including some mid-range models.

The graph above summarizes the results of the study in red Technical tests of the Google Pixel 7a Produced by 01Lab. The gray area represents the average of the results from other smartphones between €400 and €510 that we have tested over the last 18 months.

What price and release date for Google’s Pixel 7a?

The Google Pixel 7a is available in its only configuration (8 + 128 GB) at the recommended price of 509 euros. The Pixel 6a is 50 euros more at launch. It symbolically exceeds the 500 euro limit, but it is only a matter of time before it falls below it again, according to the various online offers. The product can be found on the official Google Store, as well as Amazon, Cdiscount, Fnac-Darty, Boulanger, Auchan, Orange, SFR and even Carrefour.

Google Pixel 7a 128GB at best price Base price: €509

The photo before our verdict

We put “initial tests” in the title because we’re taking a few more days to test one of the most important things about a Pixel phone: the quality of the photos it can take. Our first tests are already very encouraging, but we look forward to seeing you next week for our full opinion on the subject, accompanied by our final verdict.