Google Pixel 8a is here
THERE’S been more happening in the hyperactive smartphone market this week, with one of the biggest players, Google, announcing the mid-range Google Pixel 8a model.
Key features include a 64MP, f/1.9 wideangle camera with optical image stabilisation, a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide and a 13MP f/2.2 sel e camera. The AI features now include Best Take, which helps you get more consistent group shots; Magic Editor, which includes Magic Eraser functions; and Circle to Search, which lets you nd information about items of interest in a shot that you’ve taken. These were rst seen on the full-fat Google Pixel 8.
Computational photography and AI goodies aside, however, the camera hardware remains largely unchanged from the 7a. This could be a marketing issue for Google as the new phone currently costs £170 more than its predecessor, which we named as one of the best budget phones out there. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel 8, with its more powerful camera array, only costs £70 more, and if you stick with the older 7a, Google is throwing in a charger, too. The Pixel 8a is also said to have a more durable design, and it has a revamped display that is 40% brighter than the 7a’s (with a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling), and the option of 256GB storage.
The price of the Pixel 8a starts at £499, and it will be available from 14 May.