In an interesting turn of events, Google unveiled the flagship Pixel 7 (review) and Pixel 7 Pro (review) in the country shortly after taking the wraps off the affordable Pixel 6a (review). Understandably, the Pixel 6a is a stellar phone in its own right, and the device costs substantially less than the Pixel 7 too. So, if you were looking to get a brand-new Pixel and can’t quite make up your mind about which phone to get, read on as today, I will be pitting the Pixel 6a and the Pixel 7 through their paces. In the end, I will talk about which device makes the most sense for you so, without any further ado, let’s get on with the comparison.
Design
Right off the bat, you’ll notice that the Pixel 7 offers a more premium design with a denser, heftier chassis that employs a mix of glass and metal for its construction. The Pixel 6a, on the other hand, ships with a plastic back which lends it an inferior in-hand feel. Having said that, the Pixel 6a is substantially lighter and the device tips the scales at just 178 grams. In contrast, the Pixel 7 is bound to ache your wrists more as the phone weighs close to 200 grams (197g, to be precise). So, if you don’t mind forgoing a premium build in favour of a more ergonomic chassis, the Pixel 6a is the way to go.
On the flip side, if you value a phone’s aesthetics and want to make a splash, you’ll find the Pixel 7 more up your alley. You can even get the phone in nicer colourways, including a lemongrass hue which gives the device a distinctive appearance. And, while both phones come with an Ingress Protection rating, the Pixel 7 one-ups the 6a’s IP67 rating with its IP68 certification. What’s the difference, you might be wondering? Well, the Pixel 6a can hold its own when submerged in up to 1m of water for a period of up to 30 minutes. The Pixel 7, can be submerged in up to 1.5m of water.
Now, unless you’re a thalassophile, the difference in IP ratings will probably not be a deal-breaker and you might find both, the Pixel 6a as well as the Pixel 7 to your liking. That said, the Pixel 7 decidedly trumps its affordable sibling in the battery department as the phone supports wireless charging too. So, if you have it out for wired charging solutions, the Pixel 7 is the phone to get.
I should also add that both phones ship with snappy in-display fingerprint sensors. That said, the Pixel 6a doesn’t ship with facial recognition smarts and solely relies on its fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication. Furthermore, the devices benefit from a stereo speaker setup as well, however, I found the audio output from the Pixel 7 a smidge richer and fuller. Other than that, the handsets ship with a USB Type-C port at the bottom, however, the Pixel 7 leverages a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, which offers faster data transfer speeds as compared to the USB 3.1 Gen 1 port deployed on the Pixel 6a. Lastly, the Pixel 7 comes layered with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on the back, as well as the front. In contrast, the Pixel 6a uses Gorilla Glass 3 to keep the display scuff-free.
Display
Speaking of which, both, the Pixel 7 as well as the Pixel 6a feature a 6.3-inch, FHD+, OLED display. The screens on both phones ship with a punch-hole notch and are bordered by fairly sleek bezels as well. Unfortunately, Google hasn’t disclosed the peak display brightness value for the Pixel 6a. However, during my stint with the devices, I could comfortably use the duo under harsh sunlight. Furthermore, the screens got satisfactorily bright when playing HDR media too, which is great. And, since we’re on the subject of media streaming, you will be glad to know that both phones can relay HDR media via OTT services like Netflix too. In fact, both devices support the HDR 10 codec, and correspondingly, you should be able to watch shows like the Witcher at fantastic quality on the devices.
If anything, the Pixel 7’s panel refreshes at 90Hz, whereas the display on the Pixel 6a is capped at 60Hz. While you could make do with a 60Hz screen, a 90Hz display will render animations and UI transitions much more smoothly. Furthermore, your gaming experience will be that much better when running titles like CoD Mobile which, by the way, can now output up to 90FPS on select phones. Consequently, you will be able to maximise the in-game FPS on a bunch of titles should you opt for the Pixel 7 over the Pixel 6a.
Performance, Software, and Battery Life
The Pixel 7 draws a lot of parallels to the Pixel 6a in the performance department too. In fact, the handset’s Tensor G2 SoC retains the core architecture of the original Tensor chipset. To wit, both the SoCs employ two Cortex X1 cores, albeit the ones on the Pixel 7 have been clocked a tad higher at 2.85GHz. Furthermore, the SoC replaces the Cortex A76 cluster with two Cortex A78 cores. Be that as it may, I didn’t notice a stark performance difference between the phones, which is evident by the benchmark numbers overturned by the two devices as well.
I also noticed that the phones would run games at the same graphics and FPS settings too. CoD Mobile, for instance, maxes out at Very high graphics and Max FPS presets on the two devices. Do note that you can run the game at Ultra FPS preset on the Pixel 7 as well, however, the same can be accredited to the device’s HRR display. Rest assured, if you prioritise a phone’s performance above everything else, then you can opt for either of the two handsets.
The scenery remains unchanged in the software department too and both the devices ship with stock Android 13 from the get-go. That said, the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro benefit from some exclusive features, including but not limited to Photo Unblur, which can reduce the blur and graininess in older photos with the tap of a button. You can read more about it here. I’d also like to point out that both phones will get at least three OS upgrades and up to five years of security upgrades, which is great.
Moving on, both the phones ship with eerily similar battery packs too. The Pixel 6a features a 4,410mAh cell, whereas the Pixel 7 houses a 4,355mAh unit. That said, the Pixel 6a charges slower at 18W and takes close to two hours to refuel completely. The Pixel 7, on the other hand, can charge at 20W and takes a little over 1.5 hours to go from 0-100 percent. And, as prefaced previously, the Pixel 7 can charge wirelessly at 20W too.
Cameras
Camera-wise, the Pixel 7 has its more affordable sibling beat. But, before I dissect the duo’s camera capabilities, allow me to run the specs by you. Starting with the Pixel 7, the handset comes with a 50MP primary sensor that works alongside a 12MP ultrawide shooter. For selfies, the device features a 10.8MP snapper up front. The Pixel 6a, on the other hand, utilises a 12.2MP primary sensor which works in tandem with a 12MP ultrawide sensor. For selfies, the device comes equipped with an 8MP front-facing camera.
As an example, in the slider attached below, you’ll notice that the blue drums appear sharper in the Pixel 7’s photo. Furthermore, the colour of the green generator is truer-to-life in the 7’s snap as well. I have attached a 100 percent crop of the sample below, so take a gander.
Much to my dismay, neither of our two contenders ships with a dedicated telephoto sensor. That said, the Pixel 7 can take a crop of its main sensor in a bid to zoom into the subject. And, thanks to Google’s excellent computational photography chops, the quality of the 2x crop from the Pixel 7 is on par with a 2x optical zoom lens as well.
That said, the Pixel 6a’s 2x output leaves a lot to be desired and images generally appear grossly oversharpened. Furthermore, the photos are flush with noise too. The same goes for lowlight stills as well wherein, the Pixel 7’s output mitigated lens-flaring better. That’s not all, as the snaps offered sharper details around the edges of the frame too.
On the bright side, both phones click fantastic selfies during the day. The photos reciprocate the subject’s skin tone to a tee and offer good facial details as well. That said, the Pixel 7’s portrait selfies exhibit a neater cutout.
In fact, in the slider attached above, you can tell that the blur effect has seeped into the edges of my hair in the 6a’s snap.
Verdict
The Pixel 6a currently retails for Rs 34,999 and for the price, undercuts the Pixel 7 – which, by the way, costs Rs 59,999 – by quite some margin. In fact, the smartphone’s performance is on par with the Pixel 7 and the device touts a similar software update roadmap too. What’s more, the phone ships with a bright, OLED display which – much like the screen on the Pixel 7 – can relay HDR media and the handset is IP67 certified as well.
On the flip side, the Pixel 7 comes with a snappier, 90Hz display. Moreover, the smartphone takes a resounding lead in the camera department and even comes with added niceties like support for wireless charging. Lest I forget, the device features a more premium design too. Be that as it may, buyers looking for a reliable daily driver will find a lot to like about the Pixel 6a. In fact, unless you plan on clicking a ton of photos or playing high-octane games on your phone, the Pixel 6a’s discounted price is extremely enticing, to say the least. Do let me know in the comments below which of the two phones you’d rather buy and as always, stay tuned to our blog for more tech updates.
