The Pixel 8A: A Surprisingly Strong Flagship?

In recent years, Google's flagship series has been known for its exceptional performance and camera capabilities. However, this year's model, the Pixel 8A, raises some interesting questions about what makes a great smartphone. In particular, how does it stack up against more expensive flagships from other manufacturers? To find out, I put the Pixel 8A through a series of tests to see just how well it performs.

One of the first things that struck me was how well the Pixel 8A performed in the stress tests. It starts off at the same level as the regular Pixel 8, but remains more performant over the full 20 cycles. In fact, by the end of the test cycle, it's scoring higher than both the Nothing Phone 2 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, and remaining cooler than both of them too. This is impressive, especially considering that the Pixel 8A is $200 cheaper at launch. What this tells me is that Google has managed to eke out the best performance from the Tensor G3 chip inside the Pixel 8A, despite it not being the most powerful processor on paper.

The Thermals appear to be better than last year's Pixel 7A as well. In my hands-on time with the phone, I noticed it just feels snappier than both the Pixel 7A and the Pixel 8. This is great news if you buy the Pixel 8A, because you know you're not getting a hardware hamstrung version of the Tensor G3 chip. The GPU performance is clearly below that of the Pixel 8, but it's still very good.

But how does the Pixel 8A compare to its competition? There are several phones in the $500 price range that I looked at for this comparison, including the OnePlus 12R and the Nothing Phone 2. In the US, there aren't many options available in this price range, but some more expensive phones have been discounted to $500, making them worth considering.

The OnePlus 12R is the most powerful phone in this group, thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. However, it's also the most expensive option at launch. The Nothing Phone 2, on the other hand, has a more mid-range processor, but it's still a great option for those looking for a snappy smartphone.

In the CPU test, the Pixel 8A performed pretty much on par with all three phones for single-core processing, but a little bit behind for multi-core testing. The OnePlus 12R, with its newer and more powerful chip, does significantly better in this area. However, I'm not sure if Google is holding back the phone's performance to improve battery life or if there's a bottleneck with productivity somewhere.

One thing that did surprise me was how much of a difference real-world use makes in terms of performance. The Nothing Phone 2 certainly feels snappier than the Pixel 8A, and I can see why it would be appealing to those looking for a more affordable option. However, when it comes down to it, the Pixel 8A is still a great smartphone that delivers excellent performance.

Moving on to stress tests, things get very interesting. The Pixel 8A starts worse off than all three of its competitors, but remains more performant throughout the 20 runs. In fact, by the end of the test cycle, it's scoring higher than both the Nothing Phone 2 and the Galaxy S23 FE, and remaining cooler than both of them too. This is not bad at all for a phone that is $200 cheaper at launch.

The Pixel 8A will handle long but casual gaming sessions very well, only being surpassed by the OnePlus 12R in terms of performance. However, if you're looking for a $500 phone that can handle longer and more intense gaming sessions, then the OnePlus 12R is definitely worth considering. The Pixel 8A's smaller size, better cameras, wireless charging, and stronger IP rating make it an attractive option.

One thing that's clear from these tests is that the Tensor G3 chip isn't as bad as I initially thought when it comes to performance in a $500 phone. It may not be the most powerful processor on paper, but it's more than enough for most users. The fact that Google can eke out the best performance from this chip in the Pixel 8A is impressive, and sets a good precedent for future flagships.

Ultimately, whether or not you buy the Pixel 8A will depend on your individual needs and preferences. If you're looking for a snappy smartphone with excellent camera capabilities and a strong IP rating, then it's definitely worth considering. However, if you need raw power above all else, then you may want to consider other options in this price range.

But what I do know is that the Pixel 8A offers a different set of advantages than its more expensive flagship counterparts. With Google's promise of timely software updates and a great camera system, it's definitely worth considering for those looking for a reliable and affordable smartphone.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe Google pixel 8A is by far one of the best budget pixels Google has ever made it also has the same tensor processor as the regular pixel 8 on paper which made me wonder is it really as powerful as the pixel 8 and is this the most powerful $500 phone that you can get compared to the competition so I ran some Benchmark tests to find out all right look I know that Benchmark tests don't really matter in the real world most phones today can do everything we want them to do but we use Ben marks to get a general idea of how well a phone behaves especially under stress does it overheat does it slow down or does it keep running along nicely and we've seen that this kind of stuff matters with previous phones in the pixel a series Google says that this is the same tensor G3 as the one on the flagship pixel 8 and 8 Pro but that doesn't really mean much in our experience the 6A didn't perform as well as the 6 and the 6 Pro and the 7A was also a little slower and a little worse than the 7 and the 7 Pro so is that the case again with the pixel 88 to answer this I ran geekbench 6 to measure CPU performance pc Mark work 3 to see how well the pixel 8A handles office and productivity tasks and several 3D Mark stress tests to look at GPU performance and then I compared these against last year's pixel 7A to see how much the 8A has improved and against the regular pixel a to see if the tensor G3 and the 8A is really just as good and the results are actually positive this time around the pixel 8A CPU performs better than the 7A especially for multicore tasks and it isn't really that far off from the pixel 8 all three phones are pretty equal for the productivity tasks though it's curious that the older tensor G2 in the 7A handles those better than the Noir tensor G3 in the 8A and 8 more on that in a little bit though the more interesting test results are the GPU stress tests basically we run the same test over and over again over many cycles and we measure the phone's temperature to see how much it heats up and how the performance holds up over time I wasn't surprised to see that the pixel 8A handles these better than the 7A but I was surprised to see it do better than the regular pixel 8 in both the wildlife and the wildlife extreme stress tests it starts at the same level as the regular pixel 8 but remains a bit more performant over the full 20 Cycles it also ends the last cycle a degree or two cooler than the pixel 8A last year's pixel 7A manages to keep it school too but the GPU performance is clearly below both the 88 and the 8 what all of these tests tell me is that unlike last years Google has managed to eek out the best performance from the tensor G3 inside the pixel 8A The Thermals appear to be better and the performance is just as good if not sometimes better than the more expensive pixel 8 that's great news if you buy the pixel 8A because you know you're not getting a hamstr strong version of the tensor G3 and I know noticed it in my hands on time with the phone too it just feels snappier than my pixel 7A and just as good as my pixel 8 next I wanted to look at how the pixel 8A does compare to the competition there's a problem though in the US there aren't that many phones in the $500 price range there's the OnePlus 12r and the OnePlus 12r and the OnePlus 12r but you get it this price range seems to be left a bit empty by all the smartphone Brands but some more expensive phones are now discounted to $500 so they're worth considering in this comparison think of it like this if you have around $500 to spend today you can either buy a new pixel 8A at its launch price or an older phone uh that has already dropped in price so what's the better option with that in mind I also looked at the nothing phone 2 which is frequently discounted to 550 and the Samsung Galaxy s23 Fe which is now down to 500 all three competitors I'm looking at run qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon 8 ch among them the s23 Fe has the oldest chip the OnePlus 12r has the newest and the nothing phone 2 is in the middle and here's how the pixel 8A fared in the CPU test it was pretty much on par with all three phones for single core processing but a little bit behind for the multi-core test the OnePlus 12r with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 does much better but we already knew that everything about that processor is more powerful than Google sensor G3 the PC Mark test is where thex pixel8 A's low score gives me pause once again given how well the phone performs for most other tests I'm not sure if Google is holding back the phone's performance to improve battery life or if there's a bottleneck with productivity somewhere I can't say I've noticed such a big difference in real life but my nothing phone 2 certainly feels a little snappier than the pixel 8A moving on to stress tests things get very interesting the pixel 8A starts worse off than all three of its competitors but remains more a throughout the 20 runs by the end it's scoring higher than both the nothing phone 2 and the Galaxy s23 Fe and remaining cooler than both of them too for a phone that is $200 cheaper at the initial official pricing that's not bad at all the pixel 8A will handle long but casual gaming sessions very well only the OnePlus 12r does better thanks to its more modern chip and better Cooling and if you're looking for a $500 phone that can handle longer and more intense gaming sessions then by all means just definitely check out the OnePlus 12r it's going to be far better than any of the others basically what I learned here is that the tensor G3 chip isn't that bad when it's in a $500 product I might not like Google's tensors a lot more for more expensive flagships like the pixel 8 and the 8 Pro but for the pixel 8A it's just more than enough the phone surprisingly stands its ground to the competition despite not having the best chip on paper as the test showed it's still not the most powerful phone in this $500 price range that's the OnePlus 12r but it offers a different set of advantages it's smaller has better cameras wireless charging and a stronger IP rating for water resistance plus it has Google 7-year update promise and should get Gemini Nano as a beta with an update to me this is much much more appealing than just pure power what do you guys think did you buy the pixel 8A or is this a phone that you're considering buying let me know in the comments and don't foret get to follow Android Authority for all the latest news reviews tests and morethe Google pixel 8A is by far one of the best budget pixels Google has ever made it also has the same tensor processor as the regular pixel 8 on paper which made me wonder is it really as powerful as the pixel 8 and is this the most powerful $500 phone that you can get compared to the competition so I ran some Benchmark tests to find out all right look I know that Benchmark tests don't really matter in the real world most phones today can do everything we want them to do but we use Ben marks to get a general idea of how well a phone behaves especially under stress does it overheat does it slow down or does it keep running along nicely and we've seen that this kind of stuff matters with previous phones in the pixel a series Google says that this is the same tensor G3 as the one on the flagship pixel 8 and 8 Pro but that doesn't really mean much in our experience the 6A didn't perform as well as the 6 and the 6 Pro and the 7A was also a little slower and a little worse than the 7 and the 7 Pro so is that the case again with the pixel 88 to answer this I ran geekbench 6 to measure CPU performance pc Mark work 3 to see how well the pixel 8A handles office and productivity tasks and several 3D Mark stress tests to look at GPU performance and then I compared these against last year's pixel 7A to see how much the 8A has improved and against the regular pixel a to see if the tensor G3 and the 8A is really just as good and the results are actually positive this time around the pixel 8A CPU performs better than the 7A especially for multicore tasks and it isn't really that far off from the pixel 8 all three phones are pretty equal for the productivity tasks though it's curious that the older tensor G2 in the 7A handles those better than the Noir tensor G3 in the 8A and 8 more on that in a little bit though the more interesting test results are the GPU stress tests basically we run the same test over and over again over many cycles and we measure the phone's temperature to see how much it heats up and how the performance holds up over time I wasn't surprised to see that the pixel 8A handles these better than the 7A but I was surprised to see it do better than the regular pixel 8 in both the wildlife and the wildlife extreme stress tests it starts at the same level as the regular pixel 8 but remains a bit more performant over the full 20 Cycles it also ends the last cycle a degree or two cooler than the pixel 8A last year's pixel 7A manages to keep it school too but the GPU performance is clearly below both the 88 and the 8 what all of these tests tell me is that unlike last years Google has managed to eek out the best performance from the tensor G3 inside the pixel 8A The Thermals appear to be better and the performance is just as good if not sometimes better than the more expensive pixel 8 that's great news if you buy the pixel 8A because you know you're not getting a hamstr strong version of the tensor G3 and I know noticed it in my hands on time with the phone too it just feels snappier than my pixel 7A and just as good as my pixel 8 next I wanted to look at how the pixel 8A does compare to the competition there's a problem though in the US there aren't that many phones in the $500 price range there's the OnePlus 12r and the OnePlus 12r and the OnePlus 12r but you get it this price range seems to be left a bit empty by all the smartphone Brands but some more expensive phones are now discounted to $500 so they're worth considering in this comparison think of it like this if you have around $500 to spend today you can either buy a new pixel 8A at its launch price or an older phone uh that has already dropped in price so what's the better option with that in mind I also looked at the nothing phone 2 which is frequently discounted to 550 and the Samsung Galaxy s23 Fe which is now down to 500 all three competitors I'm looking at run qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon 8 ch among them the s23 Fe has the oldest chip the OnePlus 12r has the newest and the nothing phone 2 is in the middle and here's how the pixel 8A fared in the CPU test it was pretty much on par with all three phones for single core processing but a little bit behind for the multi-core test the OnePlus 12r with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 does much better but we already knew that everything about that processor is more powerful than Google sensor G3 the PC Mark test is where thex pixel8 A's low score gives me pause once again given how well the phone performs for most other tests I'm not sure if Google is holding back the phone's performance to improve battery life or if there's a bottleneck with productivity somewhere I can't say I've noticed such a big difference in real life but my nothing phone 2 certainly feels a little snappier than the pixel 8A moving on to stress tests things get very interesting the pixel 8A starts worse off than all three of its competitors but remains more a throughout the 20 runs by the end it's scoring higher than both the nothing phone 2 and the Galaxy s23 Fe and remaining cooler than both of them too for a phone that is $200 cheaper at the initial official pricing that's not bad at all the pixel 8A will handle long but casual gaming sessions very well only the OnePlus 12r does better thanks to its more modern chip and better Cooling and if you're looking for a $500 phone that can handle longer and more intense gaming sessions then by all means just definitely check out the OnePlus 12r it's going to be far better than any of the others basically what I learned here is that the tensor G3 chip isn't that bad when it's in a $500 product I might not like Google's tensors a lot more for more expensive flagships like the pixel 8 and the 8 Pro but for the pixel 8A it's just more than enough the phone surprisingly stands its ground to the competition despite not having the best chip on paper as the test showed it's still not the most powerful phone in this $500 price range that's the OnePlus 12r but it offers a different set of advantages it's smaller has better cameras wireless charging and a stronger IP rating for water resistance plus it has Google 7-year update promise and should get Gemini Nano as a beta with an update to me this is much much more appealing than just pure power what do you guys think did you buy the pixel 8A or is this a phone that you're considering buying let me know in the comments and don't foret get to follow Android Authority for all the latest news reviews tests and more\n"