For a phone that can be found online for under $750, Google Pixel 10a packs a lot of great camera, AI, and battery life features into a compact, easy to use device.
This is the first Google phone I’ve had a chance to have a decent look at and there’s a lot to like.
Whether you are switching from an iPhone or a dedicated Android devotee, the Pixel will feel familiar though it offers some clever touches.
The 6.3 inch OLED display has a peak brightness of 3000 nits which is an 11 per cent improvement over the previous model, making it easier to read in direct, bright sunlight.
It also features Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protection which provides much better resistance against scratches and breaking, along with thinner bezels.
It has a variable refresh rate ranging from 60Hz to 120Hz though you have to manually enable the better rate in settings to get a smoother scrolling experience.
I still find scrolling on a Samsung phone a bit smoother.
Made with the most recycled material of any Google Pixel A series phone, it now features a completely flat back, making it easier to slip in and out of your pockets and type on while on the desk.
One of the most impressive features is the insane battery life.
This is not a phone you need to charge every day by any stretch.
With extreme battery saver enabled, you can get up to 120 hours of battery life.
For those wanting to take it on trips or even long walks, the budget friendly phone also offers a two-year trial of Satellite SOS, enabling you to connect with emergency services without Wi-Fi or mobile coverage.
While the Pixel 10a lacks the bigger zooms of flagship phones, it takes very good pictures and videos.
It has a 48MP main camera and a 13MP ultrawide camera.
The camera has some pretty cool AI-driven features including Add Me, where you can add yourself into a photo scene you have taken by getting someone to take a second photo.
There’s also features like Auto Best Take, Camera Coach, Edit Photos by Asking, Night Sight and Real Tone.
Auto best take automatically stitches together the best faces in group photos to create one image, while Camera Coach, is a built-in AI tutor that helps users frame their shots better. We did a series of shoots using the Pixel and then did some AI driven editing.
There are options like ‘surprise me’ which produced some surprising and not so surprising results depending on the photo.
Some of the edits actually resulted in glitches but you can easily try something else or revert back to the original.
The AI is pretty good at adding realistic looking additions to your photos.
We added a whale on a beach, eagles in flight, a dolphin jumping out of the water, as well as completely changing the backgrounds of pooch portraits on a cloudy day.
Unlike Apple, which is more determine to keep its photos realistic, Google doesn’t seem to be mind what you do with yours.
In more normal uses, portrait mode was reliable in producing good face exposure and natural looking bokeh.
In our testing in super low light, we found the photos and video better than we expected, based on reviews we had read, though you could see some noise, particularly in the distance.
While the camera offers a 2x zoom and a digital zoom of up to 8 times, at the higher end of the zoom there was definitely some graininess.
When it comes to AI in general, Google, as you would expect, delivers a mixture of both useful and fun features.
You can screen calls to allow you to focus on tasks at hand, brainstorm weekly meal plans, and use Nano Banana to see what your selfie might look like in another decade.
Google has introduced new colour options including berry, lavender, and fog, alongside the standard obsidian.
The Pixel 10a is equipped with a newer Exynos 5400 modem but largely the same hardware including the Tensor G4 processor. While it lacks in-built magnetic charging, it supports marginally faster wired and wireless charging.
If you are looking for a mid-priced phone it is definitely worth considering, though if you already have the Pixel 9a model, it’s hard to justify upgrading.
