Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a

The Google Pixel 7a is the company’s brand new mid-range smartphone. This handset got announced during Google I/O 2023, and it does bring a number of improvements over its predecessor. Having said that, in this article, we’ll compare the Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a. Some of you are probably wondering whether to upgrade, or to get the Pixel 6a considering its lower price tag.

Well, we’ll try to help you get answers to some of your questions here. We’ll first list their specifications side by side, and will then move to compare them across a number of other categories. You’ll get a comparison between their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. Having said that, let’s get this show on the road.

Specs

Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a: Design

It is easy to notice that these two phones are related, but there are obvious differences visible as well. They both have a centered display camera hole at the top, and a square-ish design. They also both have a camera visor on the back, but different ones. The one on the Pixel 7a is covered by metal, while the one on the Pixel 6a is covered by glass. They both protrude on the back, but are nowhere near the level of the Pixel 7.

Both phones also include flat displays, with thin bezels. The bottom bezel is thicker than the rest of them on both phones. You will also find a plastic backplate on both of these devices, which is combined with a frame made out of aluminum. The physical keys on both phones sit on the right-hand side. The power/lock button is placed above the volume up and down buttons. A fingerprint scanner is also included in both phones, but it’s not visible, as it sits under the display (an optical one).

The two phones are almost equally tall and thick, but the Pixel 6a is a bit more narrow. The Pixel 7a probably has slightly thicker bezels, hence the difference. It is also lighter, noticeably lighter. It weighs 178 grams, compared to 193.5 grams of the Pixel 7a. Now, both phones do offer IP67 certification for water and dust resistance. Both of them sit really nicely in the hand, but are slippery at the same time.

Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a: Display

The Pixel 7a features a 6.1-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) flat OLED display. That panel has a 90Hz refresh rate, and it offers a 20:9 aspect ratio. It is protected by the Gorilla Glass 3. The Pixel 6a, on the other hand, also has a 6.1-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) panel, but it’s different. This is also an OLED display, but it has a 60Hz refresh rate. The aspect ratio is the same, though, as is the Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

Both of these displays look good in general. They offer vivid colors, good viewing angles, and good touch response. The Pixel 7a does get a bit brighter, though, which will be useful outdoors. Also, if you do notice the difference between low and high refresh rates, this will be quite a difference for you. The jump from 60 to 90Hz is quite obvious, especially when you’re scrolling or doing something similar.

Now, as far as display protection goes. The Gorilla Glass 3 is definitely not the best solution. It is quite dated at this point, and we’ve always had issues with it picking up micro-scratches. It’s a shame Google didn’t use newer display protection here, but all those problems can be avoided if you end up using a screen protector, of course. All in all, these displays are not bad at all.

Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a: Performance

The Pixel 7 comes with the Google Tensor G2 SoC. That is Google’s latest processor, by the way. It fuels the company’s flagships too. The phone also includes 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.1 flash storage. The Pixel 6a is fueled by the Google Tensor SoC. The phone comes with 6GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 flash storage.

The Tensor G2 is the more powerful processor here, but the difference is not as big as you may think. The extra RAM inside the Pixel 7a does come in handy, but we didn’t really notice any difference in performance because of it. Neither phone is outstanding in keeping apps actively running in the background, even though they’re good at it. The point is, they’re on the same level.

The same can be said about performance. The Pixel 7a may be a bit faster, but the difference is not really that noticeable. In regular, everyday tasks, you will notice the difference in refresh rate more than you will the difference in sheer power. Neither phone is great for gaming, however, even though they can play the vast majority of games perfectly well. If you plan on playing a lot of demanding games on your phone, however, you may want to look elsewhere. Overall, however, the performance is great (and comparable), not counting in gaming, of course.

Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a: Battery

There is a 4,385mAh battery inside the Pixel 7a. The Pixel 6a, on the flip side, includes a 4,410mAh battery. Now, the difference in battery capacity is not that big, but we did notice quite a difference in actual performance. The Pixel 7a lingered around 6 hours of screen-on-time most of the time. We’ve seen much better numbers from some other people, so this may be just a bug, or perhaps a rogue app we can’t pinpoint. It should be able to offer much more than that, to be quite honest.

The Pixel 6a offers really good battery life, it can cross 7-7.5 hours of screen-on-time without a problem, even more at times. It all depends on what you’re doing on your device. As per usual, do note that your mileage may vary. You’ll be using different apps, in a different way, in a different place (signal), so… yeah, you could get entirely different numbers than we did.

When charging is concerned, the Pixel 7a supports 21W charging, while the Pixel 6a offers support for 18W wired charging. The Pixel 7a also supports wireless charging, but it’s so slow, it’s not really worth mentioning. Well, it could be useful if you charge your phone overnight. Neither of the two phones comes with a charging brick, unfortunately. If you don’t have a PD3.0 charger, you’ll need to get one.

Google Pixel 7a vs Google Pixel 6a: Cameras

The Pixel 7a features a 64-megapixel main camera, and a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera (120-degree FoV). The Pixel 6a, on the flip side, has a 12.2-megapixel main unit, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera (114-degree FoV). The hardware is obviously not the same, but when it comes to Google’s camera performance, image processing is quite important. So, are these two phones identical when it comes to camera performance? Well, no, not really.

In the daytime, they are very similar. This goes for both the main and ultrawide cameras. They produce similar-looking images, with similar color balance, and general output. The differences are visible when you’re shooting in HDR conditions, as the Pixel 7a tends to light up the darker areas a bit more. The differences are subtle, however, and some of you may even prefer the Pixel 6a’s output.

In low light, however, the differences are more noticeable. Both phones do a great job, but with a different color profiles. That is not always as noticeable, but it’s there. In some situations, it’s extremely noticeable. In some shots, the color profiles look a lot different. The Pixel 6a tends to provide colder images, which is what we’re used to when it comes to Pixel phones. The Pixel 7a leans towards the warmer side of things, which makes low light images a bit more realistic. Both phones do a great job, though.

Audio

You will find a pair of stereo speakers on both of these phones. Those speakers are good enough on both, but they’re nothing to write home about. Considering these price tags, they’re quite good.

What you will not find on either phone is an audio jack. You will have to use a Type-C port at the bottom for wired audio connections. If you prefer wireless audio, however, Bluetooth 5.3 is included on the Pixel 7a, while the Pixel 6a comes with Bluetooth 5.2.