Google Pixel 7a vs Pixel 6a: Which one should you buy?

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  Google Pixel 7a

  Brand

  Google

  SoC

  Tensor G2

  Display

  6.1-inch FHD+ gOLED @90Hz

  RAM

  8GB

  Storage

  128GB

  Battery

  4,385mAh

  Google's latest mid-ranger brings several improvements over last year's model, making it a great option for the budget conscious. The Pixel 7a packs the flagship Tensor G2 chip, flagship-tier cameras, an improved 90Hz display, more RAM, better durability, and wireless charging support.

  Pros & Cons

  • Overall performance very close to the flagship Pixel 7
  • The best camera for a mid-ranger

  • Slow charging speeds
  • Costs a bit more than rivals

  $499 at Best Buy

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  Google Pixel 6a

  Brand

  Google

  SoC

  Google Tensor

  Display

  6.1-inch FHD+ OLED, 60Hz

  RAM

  6GB

  Storage

  128GB

  Battery

  4410mAh

  The Pixel 6a is a great budget smartphone that will serve you well for many years to come. It packs a powerful set of cameras, Google's in-house Tensor chip, and a couple of other interesting features for around $300 right now.

  Pros & Cons

  • Affordable price tag
  • Great software experience

  • Google's Tensor chip tends to run
  • Only a 60Hz display

  $449 at Amazon

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The Google Pixel 7a enters the fray as the newest member of the Pixel family. This is the company's best A-series phone ever, unsurprisingly, launching with a more buttoned-up design, an improved high-refresh-rate display, and the flagship Tensor G2 processor. It blurs the line between Google's flagship Pixel series and the mid-range A-series further, but the improvements cost a pretty penny as the company is now asking $499 for it in the U.S.

Interestingly, Google has decided to keep the Pixel 6a around, and it'll continue selling at a significantly lower price. You can grab one for around $320 right now, which probably makes you wonder whether you should spend the extra cash for the Pixel 7a. Sure, the new phone looks and behaves like a flagship, but is it the right choice, especially for those who are trying to watch their budget? Let's see how the Google Pixel 6a stacks up against the Pixel 7a.

Google Pixel 7a vs Pixel 6a: Pricing and Availability

The Google Pixel 7a is fresh off the assembly line, and it's available for pre-order now. You can only buy it with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and it'll cost you $499 in the U.S. The Pixel 6a, on the other hand, has been out for a while now, and it's readily available to purchase. You can get one for as low as $325 at the time of drawing this comparison, so you're looking at around a $175 price difference. The Pixel 6a is also limited to a single configuration that tops out with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The Pixel 7a is up for grabs in four colors — Charcoal, Snow, Sea, and a Google store exclusive Coral color. The Pixel 6a comes in Charcoal, Chalk, and Sage colors.

Google Pixel 7a vs Pixel 6a: Specifications

Let's talk about the supposed improvements of the Pixel 7a from the specs sheet, shall we?

• 	Google Pixel 7a	Google Pixel 6a
  Brand	Google	Google
  SoC	Tensor G2	Google Tensor
  Display	6.1-inch FHD+ gOLED @90Hz	6.1-inch FHD+ OLED, 60Hz
  RAM	8GB	6GB
  Storage	128GB	128GB
  Battery	4,385mAh	4410mAh
  Ports	USB Type-C	USB Type-C (USB 3.1)
  Operating System	Android 13	Android 13
  Front camera	13MP	8MP, f/2.0
  Dimensions	6 x 2.87 x 0.35 inches (152.4 x 72.9 x 9mm)	152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9mm (5.99 x 2.82 x 0.35 inches)
  Colors	Charcoal, Coral, Snow, Sea	Chalk, Charcoal, Sage
  Weight	6.8 ounces (193g)	178g (6.27 ounces)
  IP Rating	IP67	IP67

Design and build quality: The Pixel 7a looks and feels like a true flagship

Google's new Pixel 7a looks almost identical to the flagship Pixel 7 it released not too long ago. The differences are so subtle that you'll have a hard time telling them apart, especially if you compare the same color variants of the two side-by-side. This also means the new Pixel 7a looks different, dare I say "premium". It's essentially a refinement to offer a more cohesive design with the same color and textured aluminum from the side rails of the phone carrying over across the camera visor. The aluminum frame around the body of the Pixel 7a is also color-matched to coordinate with the back panel's color, as opposed to just a black-colored frame on the Pixel 6a.

Both phones in this comparison have a plastic back that you'll want to protect with the best Pixel 7a cases or the Pixel 6a cases available, and they both rock a Gorilla Glass 3 cover glass on the front. You're also looking at an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning both phones are equally durable too. The Pixel 7a and the Pixel 6a also have similar dimensions overall, but the newer phone is a few grams heavier. It's only a small change that shouldn't translate to a huge difference in the real world.

All things considered, the Google Pixel 7a and Pixel 6a share a lot of similarities when it comes to design. The build quality is also on-par, but the Pixel 7a feels more like a finished product with its cohesive design, the color-matched aluminum frame around the body, and more.

Display: 90Hz vs 60Hz refresh rate

The new Pixel 7a sports a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED panel with support for up to 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pixel 6a carries a similarly sized 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED panel that tops out at 60Hz refresh rate. Both panels look identical to each other, with similarly-sized bezels, sharpness, colors, and more. The marginal difference in the overall display quality shouldn't be a deal-breaker, especially considering the price difference. The difference in refresh rate, however, will be more noticeable if you're accustomed to a 90Hz refresh rate and above. Both phones, as mentioned earlier, sport a Gorilla Glass 3 cover glass for protection, and they also carry a punch-hole cutout on the top along with an in-display fingerprint scanner.

Both displays offer a very similar experience barring the obvious difference in refresh rate, but it shouldn't be a night and day contrast as we noticed in Samsung Galaxy A54 5G vs Google Pixel 6a comparison.

Internal hardware and performance: Google's Tensor runs the show

The Pixel 7a is powered by the same Google Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel 7 series, so you can expect it to deliver a smooth and reliable experience for day-to-day usage. The Tensor G2 is not as powerful as Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but it makes up for the lack of raw performance with machine learning (ML) chops. The Tensor G2 is designed to be better at handling Google's AI tasks like audio transcription, image processing, Google Assistant interaction, and more. It's just a more intelligent chip that enables a lot of smart features.

The original Tensor chip inside the Pixel 6a is no different because it laid the foundation for everything that's possible with the Tensor G2. Both chips are equally capable, but you may notice a slight difference in processing speeds with the newer Tensor G2 being more swift and consistent overall. It's safe to say that the difference between the original Tensor and Tensor G2 isn't as significant as, say, the differences between the Tensor G2 and something like the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The Pixel 6a with the original Tensor chip is known to run a little hot at times, but you're likely to run into that issue with the Tensor G2 with heavy workloads as well. We have a dedicated guide highlighting the differences between Tensor G1 and Tensor G2, so be sure to read that to get more insights.

The Pixel 7a, however, packs more memory compared to the Pixel 6a. You're looking at 8GB of RAM on the newer model versus 6GB of RAM on the last-year Pixel 6a. There's no difference between the two when it comes to internal storage as they both top out at 128GB. The lack of additional storage variants is a bit of a bummer, especially considering you don't get microSD card support on either of these phones. The Google Pixel 7a has a slightly bigger battery, but both phones will easily last you for a day on a single charge. There's nothing to write home about the charging speeds on both phones as they top out at 18W wired charging, which is very slow by today's standard. The Pixel 7a earns a brownie point for the added convenience of wireless charging at 5W, though.

The overall software experience on both phones should also be very similar. You can expect them to be among the first in line to receive the latest software updates. It goes without saying that the Pixel 6a will run out of software updates a bit sooner as it's been out for over a year now. The Google Pixel 6a is guaranteed to receive Android version updates until at least July 2025, and security updates until at least July 2027. The Pixel 7a will have an additional year of support compared to the old model. You will, however, miss out on some software features on the Pixel 6a like Photo Unblur, Clear Calling, and more, as they demand more powerful Tensor G2 chip.

Cameras: The Pixel 7a has new and improved sensors

The Pixel 7a brings a new set of cameras to the mix. It packs a 64MP, f/1.9 sensor with a 1/1.7-inch image sensor size, which is a huge step up from the Pixel 6a's 12MP, 1/2.5-inch sensor. The new phone also gets a 13MP ultra-wide camera to go against Pixel 6a's 12MP ultra-wide shooter. You'll definitely notice a big difference between the images captured using the Pixel 7a's 64MP sensor versus the Pixel 6a's old sensor. XDA's Senior Editor Ben noticed that the Pixel 7a's photos can go toe to toe with Pixel 7 in many instances, even though the flagship model has better hardware on paper.

The new 13MP ultra-wide sensor on the Pixel 7a can also capture good photos during the day but shows usual signs of weakness at night. But the fact that it stacks up well against some flagships on the market should speak for its quality overall. The Pixel 7a also has an updated 13MP camera for selfies which should help you capture photos and video footage compared to the Pixel 6a's 8MP front camera. Both phones can record 4K videos at up to 60fps using the rear cameras, but only the Pixel 7a can record 4K videos using the selfie camera. We haven't had a chance to capture the same set of photos using both phones for a side-by-side comparison just yet, but we'll leave some samples captured using both phones below for you to check out.

Google Pixel 7a camera samples:

Pixel 6a camera samples:

Which phone is better to buy in 2023?

It's pretty obvious that the new Pixel 7a is the better phone in this comparison. It's arguably the best mid-range phone you can buy right now as it feels a lot similar to the flagship Pixel 7. It handily beats the older Pixel 6a model with a better processor, more RAM, a faster refresh rate display, longer software support, and more. It also looks and feels like a flagship, and supports wireless charging. It's almost like comparing the Pixel 6a with the Pixel 7, so you should definitely buy the Pixel 7a if you want a better experience and if it fits your budget.

That's not to say the Pixel 6a is a bad phone to consider in 2023. The Tensor G1 is still good enough to handle most tasks, and it also has excellent cameras in its segment thanks to Google's image processing. It remains one of the most reliable budget-friendly options out there that punches above the rest in its price range. In fact, the Pixel 6a is the one we recommend to buyers on a budget who don't need all the bells and whistles, and still get a good Pixel experience overall.