A trimmed version of a flagship, for most companies, is about cutting down on processing power. Joining the likes of Apple is Google with the 6a that retains the Tensor power (Google-built custom processor). But a not-so-regular in the Indian market, as the company does not bring its flagship launches to India anymore, Google has stiff competition at hand.
If there is one thing Google is exceptionally good at is the design of Pixel smartphones. I loved the dual-tone design of the earlier Pixel models which made it stand apart from the mundane smartphone designs. The same design ideology has continued with the Pixel 6a with some innovation. A jet-black strip mounting camera module running at the top of the rear divides the panel into three – light grey at the top, dark black strip and shiny dark grey.
Although the rear is made of plastic, it doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy. Volume and power controls are on the right edge, SIM tray on the left and charging port along with speaker at the bottom. It misses out on the audio jack. What I loved the most about Pixel 6a is the compact form factor. Even with a 6.1-inch screen, I was able to hold and even type using just one hand. The screen feels bright with decent sunlight legibility. However, it only supports a 60Hz refresh rate. Does it matter? It is noticeable if you have used a device with a high refresh rate and more so while gaming. The screen has a punch hole at the top centre for the 8MP selfie camera and a fingerprint scanner underneath for biometric authentication towards the bottom. The latter was a little slow in unlocking the device. And the Pixel 6a is IP67 certified, which makes it resistant to accidental drops in water or rain.
The Pixel 6a comes with a dual-camera setup at the rear – a 12.2-MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera– with a neat and intuitive camera UI. The camera is super quick to focus and capture images. However, take a couple of seconds to process the image and save it to the gallery.
I tested the camera extensively while capturing images of my lush green plants, beautiful shades of Delhi sky, food and faces. The images captured were clear and sharp with natural-looking colours. For instance, it captured the details and the blue colour of the butterfly pea flower perfectly. Even the shades of orange and pink of the evening sky post monsoon shower it captured looked natural. The results of the ultra-wide camera are in sync. For low light photography, the Night Mode comes to the rescue as it reduces noise from the images. But more than the hardware, it is the software which is at play with the Pixel 6a. For instance, the Magic Erase tool within the edit option automatically suggests the objects that can be done away with. There is also an option to manually erase the objects by circling them. And when it was difficult to remove the object, the camouflage option changed the colour of the object to make it less distracting.
Powered by Google’s flagship chip – Tenson - the phone’s good at handling daily tasks - right from handling documentation to browsing, streaming to video calls, and basic gaming to image and video editing. However, it isn’t at par with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8th Gen 1 processor or Apple’s A15 Bionic chip. There were instances where the Pixel 6a felt a tad bit slow. For instance, while editing video footage on the device. But what I loved the most was the vanilla Android user experience. The Pixel 6a comes with Android 12 with Material You UI out of the box. The access to shortcuts from the top has toggles for camera and mic access along with battery saver and screencast. The phone was free of bloatware - just Google apps and services. Within the Google apps, some handy features give the Pixel 6a an edge over the competition. For instance, the Recorder app can generate a transcript even without connecting to the internet. While this is a handy feature for taking notes for meetings, it wasn’t accurate with the Indian accent. Google has also focused on security by adding the Titan M2 chip and the phone will also get five years of security updates.
The Pixel 6a is available only in 128 GB storage variant. Of the inbuilt storage, 100 GB was accessible. 28GB was utilised by system and pre-installed apps. And, unlike many Android phones with the option to reassign storage for additional RAM, this feature is not available on the Pixel 6a.
The Pixel 6a scores in the battery department as well. With adaptive battery mode turned on, the 4,410mAh battery easily lasted a day on heavy usage, and if used sparsely it lasted a day and a half.
Verdict: Simplicity at its best is what defines Google’s Pixel 6a perfectly. But with plenty of options to choose from in the sub-Rs 45,000 price category, Pixel 6a scores on the clean user interface, camera and editing tools, and the power and security it offers.
At a Glance
Specs: 6.1-inch display, 12.2-MP main + 12MP ultrawide camera, 8MP selfie camera, Google Tenson chip, Android 12 with Material You UI, 128GB processor + 6GB RAM, 4410mAh battery Price: Rs 43,999
Colour: Charcoal, Chalk
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