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You Can Pre-Order Google’s Pixel 6a in Canada for $599: Hands-On
Google on Thursday launched pre-orders for its newest smartphone, the Pixel 6a. It’s available for $599 in Canada and comes with free Pixel Buds A-Series earphones. The Pixel 6a was first announced back in May.
Available in Sage, Chalk and Charcoal, the Pixel 6a has a 6.1-inch display (60 Hz), offers over 24 hours of battery life, 6GB of RAM and is powered by Google Tensor, the company’s in-house chip also found in its flagship Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. This means you get all the latest machine-learning-related workloads right on the device, such as Live Translate.
There are two rear cameras, 12.2 MP wide and 12 MP ultrawide, supporting optical and electronic image stabilization with 4K video recording. You get all the camera features from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, except Motion mode on the Pixel 6a.
The Pixel 6a also supports 5G, Wi-Fi 6, has stereo speakers, dual SIM (single nano SIM and eSIM), plus you get 5 years of Pixel updates.
Google sent us the Pixel 6a to go hands-on with and we can say it’s a respectable phone for Android users at a very competitive price. The device was snappy like the Pixel 6 Pro, and felt better in the hands versus its pro sibling (less slippery sides). Despite the plastic back, the Pixel 6a still feels like a solid phone.
The built-in fingerprint reader on the display worked really well and is something not available on Apple’s budget competitor, the iPhone SE (you get Touch ID).
Every time we go hands-on with a Pixel smartphone you realize just how many Google applications there are. If you’re deep into Google services, you’ll feel right at home with the phone. Lots of customization is available with Android 12 and the ‘Material You’ user interface and the haptic feedback when typing is something Apple could borrow from.
If you’re comparing to the iPhone SE, the Pixel 6a lacks wireless charging and storage is only available at 128GB. But the phone matches the iPhone SE with IP67 splash, water and dust resistance (the Pixel 6 lineup has IP68).
In the box you get a USB-C cable plus USB-A to USB-C adapter with the Pixel 6a. No power brick is included.
Pre-orders of the Pixel 6a in Canada are showing delivery in the first week of August.
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I can’t disagree with the overall conclusions here, but I’m disappointed that MacWorld failed to mention that in many important ways, the newest iPhone SE is a vastly better smartphone for slightly less money.
It’s very significantly faster, it supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision for video, and of course it has an objectively better OS now and a vastly superior one coming this fall. While I’m delighted to hear that the Pixel’s in-screen touch unlock is working well and that it will get five years of updates (maybe —Google has been known to change its mind on that), the iPhone SE will be supported for longer and with better annual OS updates.
We know from previous years that Google’s entire Pixel range sells maybe 12M units worldwide per year. Compare that to Apple selling the same number of iPhones roughly every two weeks, and I think it’s fair to say the market has already spoken on the Pixel line’s popularity.
As MW itself notes, the Pixel is best aimed at, and will best suit, existing Android fans. It’s certainly not going to win over any iPhone buyers, so one has to wonder why MacWorld thought it worth an article that’s neither an in-depth compare nor a full review.
The iPhone SE is a relic from 2014. The newest iPhone SE 2022 is still using the same small 4.7″ low resolution LCD display from 2014. The iPhone SE display only supports a contrast level of only 1400:1. Where as the Pixel 6a larger 6.1″ higher full HD+ resolution display, which supports HDR, and has a contrast level of 1,000,000:1. Plus the Pixel 6a supports both types of of 5G where as the iPhone SE does not. The Pixel 6a supports faster Wifi 6e, and Bluetooth 5.2. The iPhone SE supports slower Wifi 6, and slower Bluetooth 5.0. Plus the Pixel 6 a has superior cameras (wide, and ultra wide) over the IPhone SE 2022 single camera.
The Pixel 6a comes with 6 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage for it’s base price. The iPhone SE 2022 comes with 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage for it’s base price.
The Pixel 6a has superior AI/ML capabilities over any iPhone, including the latest iPhone 13 pro Max. The Pixel has call screening, and the best on board speech recognition over any iPhone. It is second to none.
As far as wireless charging being missing. Anyone can purchase a USB-C wireless charging receiver (tag) from Amazon for only $10. Just plug it into the USB-C port on the Pixel 6a, then put a case on that smartphone, and now you have wireless charging on a Pixel 6a, via it’s USB-C port.
The Pixel 6a is superior over the iPhone SE. Hands down!
When you buy the Pixel 6a you also get free wireless Pixel Buds. Why you didn’t mention that is beyond me. Especially since those buds are around $140 CAD.
I did it’s in the first sentence 🙂 but it seems the website doesn’t mention it anymore?