India Gets Another Pixel Handset - Google Pixel 6a | TechTree.com

India Gets Another Pixel Handset - Google Pixel 6a

Google Pixel 6a is now up for preorder in India at a starting price of Rs.39,999 and early reports suggests it's worth every rupee

 

India's wait for a Pixel smartphone continued for three years before finally Google relented and announced preorders on the Pixel 6a starting on Thursday. The device, which was announced at the Google I/O event in May, is priced at Rs.39,999 for the single variant that boasts of  6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. 

It also comes with Google's in-house Tensor SoC with the Titan M2 security chip. The device ships Android 12 out-of-the-box for which Google has promised a five-year security update. The offer also clubs a free three-month YouTube premium subscription and 100 GB of cloud storage from Google One on the handset. 

The handset can be pre-ordered on Flipkart, which will begin shipping them out on July 28. The device competes with Carl Pei's introductory Nothing Phone (1) and the OnePlus 10R, given that both are priced below Rs.40,000. It may be a good idea to check out the Nothing vs Google Pixel 6a comparison that was published by 91Mobiles recently. 

What makes the Pixel 6a tick?

Apart from being a lifesaver budget device, the Pixel series of devices have oscillated between the unique to the mundane in its lifetime, till the Pixel 6 flagship ticked many boxes such as a new hardware design, the first in-house chip, and some top-notch camera hardware. Now, the Pixel 6a carries on the company's philosophy of bringing a stripped down version. 

And this is where the Google Pixel 6a does well by cutting corners without making us feel the pinch on user experience. This mid-tier handset uses build material that's more plastic but in case you have a safety first approach to your handset, this shift doesn't matter. There's also the downgrade from Gorilla Glass Victus to Gorilla Glass 3 up front, though looks wise it's fine. 

The screen size has shrunk from 6.4 inches to 6.1 inches but done so without compromising on the 1080p and OLED though there's a slightly higher pixel density. The refresh rate has also gone down to 60Hz from it's predecessor's 90Hz though one must factor in the much larger dimension of the Pixel 6. 

The wireless charging has disappeared and the cameras get a downgrade as well, shaving off the 50MP wide and 12MP ultrawide dual sensors that leaves us with just a pair of 12MP wide/ultrawide shooters to play with. Having said so, the Pixel 6a does do a good job of capturing quality shots, thanks to some recent software advances. Features like the Magic Eraser and inclusion of the Tensor chip from Pixel 6 delivers some good value for money. 

The chip delivers great power gains as compared to the Pixel 5a. The 6GB of RAM is a downgrade from the Pixel 6's 8GB but it should get the job done pretty easily given what we've seen the Tensor chip accomplish. Storage option remains the same and the battery actually goes down a notch from 4614 to 4410, but that should get us through a day easily. 

Looks like we have a device that does get the best bang for our buck. To be honest you can pay that one extra rupee to round off the Pixel 6a cost to Rs.40,000 - just kidding!


TAGS: Google Pixel, Google Pixel 6a, Google, India

 
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