Google Pixel 6a: The most affordable Pixel is just as fast as its more expensive sibling models

The midrange Google Pixel 6a smartphone is fairly compact, measuring 152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9 mm (~6 x 2.8 x 0.35 in) with a screen diagonal of 6.1 in. Competitors with a similar form factor are fairly rare. But this is not the only thing that is special in the Pixel 6a, since Google's most affordable Pixel smartphone also scores with its equipment.

Google Tensor SoC, 6 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage

Just like its higher priced Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro sibling models, the Google Pixel 6a is also run by the inhouse Tensor SoC. For midrange standards, the Pixel 6a delivers a very respectable performance with this, which is also helped by 6 GB of LPDDR5-RAM and 128 GB UFS 3.1 storage. Our test also shows that the 6.1-inch smartphone has no problems at all to display current games smoothly even at maximum details with its ARM Mali-G78 MP20 graphics chip.

AMOLED panel with HDR10 and a high brightness 

However, the Pixel 6a is limited in another place, which is its AMOLED display. Its refresh rate is 60 Hz, which represents a clear step back compared to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with their 120 Hz. Despite its benchmark results that are practically just as high, the Pixel 6a doesn't feel quite as fast with this as its Pixel siblings, since scrolling and menu changes look visibly less smooth. However, this is really only noticeable and annoying to those users who are already used to 90 or 120-Hz displays.

Basically, the 2400 x 1080 Pixel resolution panel offers no reason for complaint, since it impresses in the test not only with a high color accuracy and support for HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG, but also offers a very high brightness at significantly more than 700 cd/m². The highest brightness achieved by the AMOLED display almost reaches a four-digit value.

The Pixel 6a will also get Android 15

With its long update period, the Google Pixel 6a offers an additional positive feature. It should get Android security updates for at least 5 years, and Google also wants to offer Android updates until at least July of 2025. Starting with Android 13, which was already provided for the Pixel 6, this means that it should still get Android 15.

You can find the full test of the Google Pixel 6a here.