Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Pixel 8a vs Pixel 8: Google’s Weird Upgrade”.
Do you ever look at two phones and kind of feel like you’re, seeing double the new Google pixel 8A and the almost 9-month old pixel 8 are in so many ways, almost identical same processor, RAM storage, design, similar battery capacity, even the screen size and weight? Very nearly the same, and yet these two are priced $ 200 apart, which is a not inconsiderable chunk of change to go from 500 for the budget, pixel up to 700 for the phone that sits just below the flagship pixel8 Pro. So what gives and what are the many hidden differences between these two quite appealing, Google phones and ultimately, which one should you buy? I’M Alex Doby. This is pocket now, let’s jump in and find out so picking these two up. There are a few points of contrast. You notice right away, despite there not being a huge difference in the footprint the pixel 8A has a slightly chunkier feel to it.
I guess mainly because of the dimensions of those aluminium sidewalls, although the overall thickness of both phones is pretty much the same. That metal bumper is slightly wider in the 8A, the cheaper phone is also more rounded, with the wider radiuses of these Corners foreshadowing. The look we’re expecting to see from the pixel 9 – that’s in addition to very clearly wider screen bezels in the 8A and a noticeable chin area down below. Now, I’m not the kind to get too hung up on screen boarders.
Nevertheless, these are a Hallmark of Cheaper devices around the back, though, Google has done an excellent job, making the 8A almost indistinguishable from its more expensive siblings in terms of look and hand feel the back panel is matte plastic, but you really wouldn’t know it just from A casual inspection, no smudges, no Creeks, just a pleasant soft touch, finish, there’s very little difference between this finish and the frosted glass used in much more expensive handsets, and while the camera bar doesn’t flow seamlessly into the outer frame like it does in the pixel 8. The AA has tight manufacturing tolerances and a sharp look. The pixel 8 has a more obviously glass back panel. With a glossy finish and picking this up, I do appre app the smaller form factor and narrower bezels and in fact, using this regular pixel.
8. Has me looking forward to the small pixel 9 Pro that 9 Pro apparently is distinct from the bass. Pixel 9 this year should fill the same footprint with a triple camera setup and other goodies that have previously been exclusive to the larger pixels.
Now, Google’s packed in a pretty great display in both phones, the pixel 8A carries the same actual display branding as its more expensive cohorts and the same Peak brightness level as well at 2,000, nits or 1400 across the entire High display. Also, the same full HD resolution and smooth 120 HZ refresh rate. That’S a big deal for the 8A, in particular a nice bump up from 90 HZ in last year’s pixel 7A and yes, the optical in display. Fingerprint scanner works great in both phones, too. You need to nitpick to find the areas where the pixel 8 outperforms the cheaper model, but they are there. For starters, the auto brightness can take a bit longer to adjust in the cheaper phone. That’S not something that really bothered me too much in regular use, but it’s something I I did notice when pulling out both phones in quick succession to capture photos, although both phones are rated the same for brightness, the pixel 8 reached those higher brightness levels, more responsively And the second difference I have my pal cam Bunton, who I’m borrowing these phones from to thank for noticing, because there’s no way I would have spotted it had he not mentioned it at wider angles. The pixel 8A screen is more prone to some color Distortion in whiter areas. It’S not egregious, but you can definitely see some flickering from clean white to slightly pinkish Hue at off angles with the 8A.
I’Ve got to admit, though I would not have noticed this, had it not been pointed out to me. So thanks for that cam now I can never unsee it you’re. Also, looking at Gorilla Glass victus in the display of the pixel 8 versus vintage gg3 over on the pixel 8A, that doesn’t necessarily mean much for cosmetic wear and tear, but the much newer glass used by the 8 should be considerably more resistant to shattering. If you’re unlucky enough to Fumble it onto the ground, speaker quality is also pretty much a wash here, not all that much in it, but perhaps in part due to its plastic construction.
I noticed speech and music being just a touch tinier in the EA versus the Fuller sounding output of the pixel 8. Again, the difference here really is quite minor, though so, with that said, let’s take the opportunity here to quickly blast through all the things that haven’t changed, going from Pixel 8 to 8A same tensor G3 chip at the heart of both phones. Obviously, that silicon is still not the greatest for gaming, especially compared to any recent Snapdragon, but it’s perfectly fine for everyday high-end phone stuff and Benchmark wise. The 8A scores are in the same ballpark as the pixel 8, also 8 gigs of RAM and both plus base 128 gigs of storage and both are single Sim, but also support eim for added flexibility. Battery capacities are almost identical to just a handful of milliamp hours. Being shaved off in the 8A and as such, I noticed almost zero difference in longevity between these two phones easily a full day with 4 to 4 and 1/2 hours of screen on time.
The only real difference I noticed was the pixel 8 a pulling ahead of the 8 in stress tests at high brightness levels. Even then that’s a difference that only really shows itself during Benchmark tests. Charging speeds, however, are a different matter. Pixel 8 isn’t going to blow you away with its rapid charging. Just over 27 wats over a wire is among the slowest out there, but the pixel 8A maxes out at a decidedly geriatric 18 wats and wirelessly you’re still stuck at an anemic 7.5 wats battery life. Isn’T so bad that you often need to worry about a midday refill, but when you consider the OnePlus 12r cost the same as the 8A and charges up to 100 wats, then yeah. That contrast is pretty Stark. The most meaningful Hardware difference, though, is the camera system.
That’S because all three cameras primary Ultra wide and selfie pack, larger sensors in the pixel 8 and in the case of that main camera, quite a substantial difference. The 8 boast the flagship tier one of a 1.31 in part, while the 8A just has a much smaller one of a 1.7 3 in. In fact, on the 8A, the camera Hardware hasn’t really changed from the pixel 7A. So any improvements you’re going to see from last year’s a series are going to come down to that newer, tensor chip and its image processing. One upgrade I do appreciate, though, is ultra HDR photo support in pictures taken from the pixel 8A, just like the 8 and 8 Pro when viewed back on the right display. This really adds more lifelike lighting to your photos, so the cheaper phone puts in an impressive performance when going up against higher and cousin in a lot of situations.
Colors dynamic range and shooting speeds were all pretty much comparable between the 8 and 8A. The main difference. I saw when shooting with the primary were that the pixel 8 routinely captured more fine detail than the 8A likely on account of that larger sensor and the same held true for the ultrawide as well. As you can see here, though, to a lesser extent.
Despite that, though, the pixel8 actually has an ever so slightly narrower field of view in its ultrawide versus the 8. Not a huge deal, but worth noting the difference in fine detail is even more apparent when you crop in either at two times in hybrid Zoom mode or five times, and especially at the maximum eight times that both of these phones allow in the shot from the A tier you can see much more fine detail in this sign if you go pixel beeping and in portrait photography, pixel phones have been ahead of the curve for a while, and I found both cameras produced pleasing portrait pictures with pretty accurate Edge detection, even when punching In it two or three times in nighttime photography, I actually found less difference than I expected between 8 and 8A, though the cheaper phone with its smaller sensor, did tend to activate night mode, more often, and for a longer period of time than its price, a counterpart Which you would expect given the difference in sensor sizes, but the difference in overall image, quality and low light, especially from the primary camera pretty negligible, in keeping with its other camera specs. The 88 also has a slightly smaller selfie camera that captures slightly less fine detail compared to the pixel 8, despite the difference in the other direction in terms of resolution, but the 88 does have a slightly wider field of view that will help you fit just a Bit more scenery into your shots, Google’s HDR, plus processing magic is doing quite a bit of heavy lifting here, but both cameras produced pleasing selfies that looked pretty similar to me and in video mode there are one or two cavates like the fact that pixel 8A doesn’t Support 60fps capture from its Ultra wide using that camera you will need to bump down to 30 fps to shoot at 4K and that same trade-off applies to the front facer as well.
But the biggest difference here I found was that the pixel 8 did a much better job of exposing its video in moving scenes. Footage from the 8 at 4K, 30 shot at a walking pace, preserved much more detail in Darker areas of the scene and generally the object segmentation and whatever HDR plus magic is happening behind. The scenes just seems to produce cleaner, more evenly exposed footage in the pixel 8 in video short, with the ultra wide. The difference wasn’t quite as Stark, but I still feel like the pixel 8 pulls ahead here, most likely, thanks to its slightly larger sensor, size, the pixel software experience is also worth touching on, even if it is basically identical across both phones. It’S my favorite flavor of Android, mainly because of the clean look and feel, and the many ambient Computing features that Google’s built out over the past 8 years.
Call screening can help you filter out spam callers now, playing can pick out and identify background music without an internet connection and circle. The search is a great recent addition for quick, visual search. Queries that’ll become even more powerful, with the upcoming Android 15 update for both of these phones and that’s before you even get some more recent photo related AI powered editions like the magic editor for moving around subjects in shots or best take for adjusting faces in group. Shots the full pixel software suite is supported on both phones. The only thing of any consequences, you’re missing out on are the Pro Camera experience.
That’S limited to Google’s Flagship model plus both phones are supported for an impressive 7 years of Android OS update, which is especially impressive for a device that costs as little as the pixel 8A. So the pixel 8 here is obviously the more advanced more premium phone of the two. The form factor is near perfect. You benefit from improved camera Hardware, Slimmer, bezels and the convenience of quicker charging, but is it really $ 200 better than the pixel 8A? When that pair of Benjamins represents a sizable proportion of the cost of the 8A itself, my feeling after a week and a bit with these two phones is probably not. The pixel 8 is nicer, but it’s not that much nicer and I feel like most people weighing up a pixel 8A when the 8 is also on the table, would pretty much be just as happy with the cheaper phone, which is why my pick out of this Pair is the pixel 8A, however, prices do change and the pixel 8 is coming up on 10 months on the market at the time we’re making this video. So if you see the pixel 8 discounted to the point where that price difference starts to creep below the $ 100 Mark, then yeah I’d advise you to jump on the hypothetic deal and get the pixel 8 instead anyway, as things stand with the pricing right now, The pixel 8A at $ 200 cheaper, is our overall canonical winner, but I would say definitely keep an eye on those pixel 8 deals, especially as the phone approaches its first birthday, because if you can score a decent discount, then it’s also a really nice slightly more Premium offering that’s it for now. Let us know in the comments which one you’d pick out of this pair stay tuned And subscribe for more comparisons like this coming very soon.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see see you next time. .