Google Pixel 6a Review: Pixel Perfect — almost

A good device is like a good book — it is an immersive experience that is not spoiled by overwrought prose, or, in the case of the gadget, not stuffed with poorly conceived and executed technological proof-of-concepts.

Google's latest midrange device, the Pixel 6a, is a good device. Despite its middling specs, it delivers a top-notch experience — the odd hiccup aside — for a device of its size. Most of the technological under-the-hood wizardry is thanks to Google's flagship processor, the Tensor, which powers all the 6 series devices. Because of the tensor, despite only 6 GB of RAM, the Pixel 6a performs like a champ.

During my 10-odd days with the Pixel 6a, I experienced no bugs, no crashes, barring the widely reported under-the-screen fingerprint scanner, but more on that later.

Currently, the Pixel 6a is on sale for what I consider a midrange-premium price point of Rs 43,999 — a tad on the higher side considering the older lenses, a capable battery and a plastic housing.

But I challenge you to actually be able to notice any of that. Thanks to Google's software wizardry, the cameras produce best-in-class results, with the proprietary Magic Eraser — a feature that allows you to virtually crop out or camouflage any part of a photograph is phenomenal. Bye bye photobombers, or the annoying motorcycle that otherwise ruins a picture-perfect shot of a straight-as-a-dart highway.

Here's a good example of how the Magic Eraser works. The little bottle of hand sanitiser and the parked scooter (both, left) have been "erased" in the image on the right. (Images: Vijay Anand)

The pleasantly purple sprig of flowers in the image on the left has been camouflaged in the image on the right. (Images: Vijay Anand)

The Pixel lineup has for long reigned as the king of smartphone photography and with good reason. It's not so much the camera hardware as the computational photography that make Pixel photographs stand out, be it a portrait shot or a night mode photograph.

A platter of delectable sushi shot in extremely lowlight. (Image: Vijay Anand)

This portrait shot was taken at night, albeit under a bright light. (Image: Vijay Anand)

(Image: Vijay Anand)

(Image: Vijay Anand)

Look, honestly, I can throw a bunch of numbers and technical specifications at you and most of you would either not know or care. All that matter are two things — how does it feel in hand, and how does it perform?

Well, unlike its more powerful siblings, the Pixel 6a comes housed in a plastic shell with an aluminium frame. Google somehow, through engineering excellence, ensured that the plastic back doesn't feel plasticky at all. In fact, if you held the Pixel 6 in one hand and the 6a in the other, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the materials used.

But the plastic does make for a lighter phone, and, with a 6.1-inch OLED display, makes it seem very compact. It certainly is comfortable in one-handed use and the Full HD screen is crisp, responsive, and punchy. The only point that goes against the screen is that its refresh rate has been capped at 60 Hz, but how many of you out there really care? Or can even tell the difference?

I certainly couldn't, and I was using the 6a after nearly a month with the Nothing phone (1), which comes with a much larger OLED screen and the 120 Hz display. Sure, the change in refresh rate is apparent enough when you're looking for it, but I doubt many of you will be nitpicking once you use this phone.

Despite its middle-of-the-road specs and a higher-than-ideal price point, the Pixel 6a is an extremely capable phone that will get three years of Android OS updates and five years of bi-monthly security patches.

Sure, there are phones with better specs available for cheaper, so in the end, it all comes down to a matter of choice. Do you get the Nothing phone (1), which, with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage — not to mention those disco lights at the back — caps out at Rs 37,999? Or do you buy the 6a, which, for Rs 43,999, does not offer many things that the Nothing phone does, but does offer that unique Pixel experience?

Yes, while I still strongly advise against being too keen on the screen refresh rate while buying a phone — heck, half the iPhone lineup doesn't have it — the fact that the 6a offers only 60 Hz is a bummer.

Also, its under-screen fingerprint scanner is not the most reliable. I've endured frustrating moments when it simply wouldn't recognise my digit despite multiple attempts, necessitating an app restart to be able to unlock the screen. Some other reviewers have reported that unregistered fingers have been able to unlock the phone, but that has not been my experience. The phone will only unlock when one of my fingers pushes against it. That said, the whole unlocking experience has a nice tactile feel to it. Others have complained that the fingerprint reader is too slow. And yes, it is. But, that extra millisecond it takes to unlock, with the tiny haptic feedback, makes it feel like you're pushing a button, and it's nice.

The Pixel 6a, while priced on the higher side, is a damned good device and runs Android 12 like a champ. And, if reports are to be believed, Android 13 only improves on the Android 12 experience, so expect the 6a to become even better when it gets the update in a month or so.