Fantastic still images for a mid-range phone; Performance punches above its price bracket; Slick design and strong build;

Price bump over last year’s effort; Charging speeds remain behind rivals;

Phenomenal camera for the price; Excellent Google software; Strong performance; Water-resistant;

Slow charging; Wireless charging is unreliable; Not as fast as the Pixel 7; Only 90Hz display;

Google’s Pixel “a” series has been around for a few iterations now (since the Pixel 3a) and typically offers great value for the price, considering the internals are mostly identical to their flagship lineup.

Solid design, Same Tensor processor as Pixel 7/7 Pro, Decent camera with great photo features like Face Unblur and Magic Eraser, Great battery life, IP67 rating, Wireless charging, Very reasonably priced

Different camera than in Pixel 7/7 Pro, Photo quality a bit odd once using the Super Res Zoom feature, Camera bump begs for case to be used, Only one RAM/storage configuration available

Google’s mid-range series of smartphones has never been this good. While I would have liked to see better battery performance, the rest of the Pixel 7a is a triumph.

Excellent camera for the price, Plenty of upgrades over the Pixel 6a, Smart software, Some nice colour options, You want a great phone for a good price: The Pixel 7a ticks a lot of boxes and comes with features often ditched at this price.

Middling battery life, Achingly slow charging, You’re after a multi-day device: The battery life isn’t bad – it’s just not a phone that’ll handle extended heavy use throughout a day and it won’t go multiple days between charges.

Great big small phone. With the release of the Pixel 7a, Google have updated and improved on their mid-range series - not only in terms of processor choice, but also with brand-new features.

bright 90-Hz OLED screen, IP67 certification, 6-GHz WLAN and USB 3.2, wireless charging, good main camera, long update supply

neither DC nor PWM dimming, slow fast-charging, limited USB port, severe throttling under load

After some battery wobbles that had me temporarily concerned, I've quickly come to regard the Google Pixel 7a as the best affordable phone you can buy right now. It's got the power, the cameras and the looks to impress.

Performance capability well beyond its price point, Great camera improvements for this generation, Android software just runs best on Google

Battery life isn't great – and charging rather slow, Pricier and chunkier than its predecessor, Screen is fairly heavy on bezel

The Pixel 7a is a big improvement over the more expensive Pixel 7, making it very easy to recommend. Excellent contrast Punchy colours Dynamic sound Poor dark details Tough competition from Sony

The Google Pixel 7a offers flagship power and the Pixel camera in an affordable package, closing the gap with the Pixel 7. The price is creeping up, however, so if you want that great camera, you might want to wait for the inevitable discounts.

Flagship power, Pixel camera (with a caveat), Quality build, Good clean software and timely updates

Ultrawide camera switching bug, Display not the brightest

The Pixel 7a is an excellent addition to the Pixel lineup. Cheaper Pixel phones are still getting more expensive, but I think the new features justify the price increase. I still hope that Google is thinking about even cheaper Pixel phones, in the $300-$350 price range that the original Pixel A...

Solid design, Good performance, Great camera, Upgraded display, Wireless charging

No telephoto camera, Price increase

The Apple iPhone 14 is no match for the just-released iPhone 14 Pro, but if you ignore that, it’s one of the most effective phones around.

Great cameras, front and back, Fast performance, Good battery life, Innovative safety features

Design too familiar, Some average features