Google Pixel 6a: This phone’s smart in every sense
Google first announced the launch of its Pixel 6a at the beginning of the year—the latest A-series smartphone is now available for purchase on Flipkart at Rs 43,999. My first impressions: it’s a compact device and will be a delight for those who abhor tablet-sized phones, it’s fast with smooth performance, decent cameras and strong battery. Let’s check out the finer details of this Google phone.
The Pixel 6a is available in two classic, yet modern colours—Charcoal (our review unit) and Chalk. The smartphone comes in a single storage variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It will receive five years of security updates, alongside the latest features and updates, introduced by Google. Pixel 6a will also be among the first Android devices to receive the upcoming Android 13 update. With IP67 protection, it can take a little water and dust, so you can take your phone wherever you go. The Security hub helps to protect your phone, account and passwords by keeping all your security settings in one place.
The Pixel 6a uses Google’s own Tensor chip, giving it the same processing and graphical grunt as the earlier Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The benefit of the chip is that the phone is superfast and responsive. Apps launch fast, pages and images load quickly and everything runs smoothly. Tensor also powers advanced features like Live Translate, which enables you to chat in 11 languages in real time.
Pixel 6a’s interface, Material You, helps you to find things easier and get things done faster. The entire phone UI updates to reflect whatever image you choose as your wallpaper. And every few months, you get new wallpapers, called Curated Culture.
The Pixel 6a includes a dual rear camera setup—the main lens and an ultrawide lens. The camera is built to adapt to your needs with features such as Night Sight, which makes low-light photography a breeze, Magic Eraser in Google Photos that makes distractions disappear, and Real Tone, which authentically represents all skin tones.
Pixel 6a comes with highly accurate speech recognition features including Recorder, Live Caption, and Live Translate (described above). You can use your voice to record and transcribe notes in real time, edit your audio clips, and share them with Recorder; it will even tag transcripts with keywords.
The smartphone comes with an Adaptive Battery that can last over 24 hours and up to 72 hours when in the Extreme Battery Saver mode — a first for Pixel phones.
Key takeaways: I liked the Pixel 6a for its pocket-friendly design. The phone is quite fast when it comes to routine phone tasks, cameras are quite competent, and the battery life is good enough. Highly recommended.
— Dimensions: 152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9mm (H x W x D)
— Display: 15.6cm (6.14-inch) Full HD+ Display
— Processor: Google Tensor Processor
— Operating system: Android 12
— Memory & storage: 6GB RAM, 128GB storage
— Cameras: 12.2MP+12MP (rear), 8MP front camera
— Battery: 4410mAh
— Estimated street price: Rs 43,999
You might also be interested in: Nothing Phone (1), Samsung Galaxy A73 5G, Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G.
