Google Pixel 8 vs Pixel 7a: Good things come in small packages

Get Google Pixel 8 Pro at Amazon and save $60

Google's 2023 Pixel 8 Pro flagship is available at Amazon. At the moment, the 128GB model in Obsidian is 6% off. Limited quantities are available.

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Get Google Pixel 8 for $120 off on Amazon

The Google Pixel 8 is available at Amazon right now. The smartphone sells for 17% off, which equates to $120 in savings. Only the model in Obsidian arrives at that discount right now, but it's available in limited quantities.

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The Pixel 7a is unapologetically Pixel, with a familiar and friendly design language that's mostly in line with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. Gone is the black strip at the back of the phone, one of the signature device elements of the Pixel 6 series. Instead, the Pixel 7a has a so-called 3D Metal Visor in the same color as the side frame of the phone. As you might expect of an 'affordable' Pixel, the back side of the phone is made of plastic, while the frame of the phone is built from recycled aluminum. 

The big difference, however, is in the size itself. The Pixel 8 boasts a 6.2-inch display, a smidgen larger than the 6.1-inch one on the Pixel 7a, but at the same time, the Pixel 8 is the more compact and lighter phone, so it surely has a way more efficient design.

The Pixel 8, on the other hand, is a fresher take on the Pixel design, with slightly more curved edges and contours. The 3D Visor at the rear is slightly larger, and the device is available in a slew of fresh new colors. 

The Pixel 7a box comes neatly stuffed with a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable in the box, a USB Type-A to USB Type-C adapter, the usual booklets, and a SIM ejector tool. No charger in the box of this one; this is the new normal.

The Pixel 8 comes with Google's new Actua display, which can hit up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness. That's neat and would surely leave the Pixel 7a in the dust when it comes to overall brightness. The Pixel 8 also allows up to 120Hz of refresh rate, but its display is not an LTPO one like the Pixel 8 Pro, so the user can only manually switch between 60 and 120Hz in the settings. Meanwhile, the Pixel 7a can only only display content at 60 or 90Hz, which isn't as smooth. Aside from that, the Pixel 8 has a much brighter display with noticeably superior outdoors legibility, but besides that, both devices have very decent OLED displays.

In terms of display size and qualities, the Pixel 7a reiterates the Pixel 6a specs for the most part. It comes with a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED display with relatively thick bezels, a punch-hole display, and a fingerprint scanner embedded into it. Notable is the bump to 90Hz refresh rate, which makes interface navigation noticeably smoother and more rewarding. The phone supports displaying HDR content.

Display Measurements:

The Pixel 7a and the Pixel 8 both come with in-display fingerprint scanners and photo-based face unlocking on board. The fingerprint sensor on the Pixel 7a is fast and snappy, but you have to make good contact with the scanning area. You can also use the faster and more convenient Face Unlock, though it definitely isn't as secure as the fingerprint scanner. 

At the same time, the Pixel 8's face unlock is rated as secure as possible, so you can unlock the phone and use the photo face unlock for authenticating fintech apps. 

Although it's perceived as "affordable", the Pixel 7a is actually powered by the flagship-grade Tensor G2 chipset, which is the same one that clicks and ticks inside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. It's fast enough as of today's standards, but it should be stressed once more that Google's line of custom Tensor chips were never about raw performance and high benchmark scores. Instead, it puts artificial intelligence as well as machine-learning at the forefront.

In my personal experience, performance on the Pixel 7a is more than decent. You will have to adjust your expectations accordingly, though, so don't expect any record-breaking fps numbers in 3D games. 

 

With my regular usage, the Pixel 7a is perfectly capable of handling everything I throw at it with ease. The smoother display definitely leaves the impression that the phone is much faster, which definitely helps with its perceived performance. There's just 128GB of storage available on board, so you will most likely have to rely on a cloud-based storage solution at some point. 

The Pixel 8, on the other hand, comes with the 64 bit-only nona-core Tensor G3 chipset, as well as a faster GPU and a new TPU unit for AI and ML computations. The Pixel 8 comes with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of native UFS 3.1 storage. 

In terms of software support, the Pixel 7a comes with Android 13 and will get three major software updates as well as five years of security support. This means that you should expect Android 14, Android 15, and Android 16 to grace the latest Pixel phone, and it will receive security patches until 2028. 

Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 will receive the humbling seven years of software updates and major Android versions up to 2030, which is stupendous!

The Pixel 7a comes with a 64MP wide-angle camera utilizing the imaging prowess of a brand new camera sensor for the Pixel lineup - the Sony IMX787. At 64MP, it sounds like a very decent bump in resolution, but don't expect the Pixel 7a to output 64MP photos. Google uses quad-binning to combine four pixels into one, outputting 16MP photos. Said four pixels can let in way more light than a single one, thus improving the low-light capabilities of the phone. 

The ultra wide-angle camera is also a new one. The Pixel 7a comes with the 13MP Sony IMX712 sensor, whereas most previous Pixel phones relied on the 12MP Sony IMX386 previously. 

At the same time, the Pixel 8 comes with a 50MP main camera with improved light sensitivity thanks to the wide f/1.68 aperture on deck. The ultra-wide, however, remains a 12MP one. The selfie camera is a 10.5MP one, but unlike the Pixel 8 Pro, we don't get autofocus.

In broad daylight, there's hardly any difference between the camera samples taken between the two phones, or if there's any, it's not something worth noting. Great dynamics and details, as well as that signature Pixel style with enhanced contrast and colors is what you get with either. Interestingly, the Pixel 7a stands its ground to the Pixel 8. 

The low-light performance of the two phones is quite comparable, with the only difference being an ever-so-slightly better dynamics on the Pixel 8. Still, nothing too drastic at all.

In terms of zoom, the Pixel 8 has a slight edge, with clearer details visible. 

When it comes to portraits, the Pixel 8 disappoints. The background blur is too severe and looks too out of place, while the Pixel 7a has that more natural look that appears more pleasing to the eye. 

The camera samples speak for themselves: little to no differences in terms of ultra-wide camera performance, either.