As Google kicked off its I/O developer conference, the first order of business has been introducing the Pixel 6A. This new Pixel, at $449 (about Kshs 52,000 at prevailing exchange rates by the time of publication), will be the most affordable Pixel 6 Series model that you can buy this year. So what does it bring to the table?
First, the $449 price tag is what the Pixel 5A launched with last year, which makes comparison with it inevitable as well as the comparison with the base Pixel 6 model which the Pixel 6A heavily borrows from in terms of both style and internal components.
Starting with style, just like the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 6A has a raised horizontal camera bump and a two-tone body. The fingerprint sensor has also been removed from the back and placed under the screen.
The Pixel 6A is slightly smaller than the Pixel 6 with the OLED display topping out at 6.1 inches. However, the overall styling is so similar that, without looking at the Pixel 6A and Pixel 6 side by side, it will be incredibly difficult to differentiate one from the other.
Despite the camera setup looking very similar, the hardware underneath is different in order to bring the Pixel 6A’s pricing into the midrange category.
The Pixel 6A has a dual camera array consisting of a 12.2-megapixel (f/1.7) wide-angle lens alongside a 12-megapixel (f/2.2) ultrawide shooter. On the front is a single 8-megapixel (f/2.0) camera mounted at the top of the screen.
Google claims that this rear camera setup for the Pixel 6A will be able to record 4K video up to 60 frames per second (fps), and slow-motion clips at up to 240 fps. The selfie camera, on the other hand, has the ability to record at 30 fps in 1080p.
Comparing this to the Pixel 6, the dual camera array on the flagship consists of a 50MP (f/1.9) wide-angle lens alongside a 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide shooter. The selfie camera on the other hand is the same on both devices.
The good news is that the Pixel 6A shares the same Tensor chipset as the more expensive Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, which bodes well for its CPU performance against other midrange devices. The device will also ship with Android 12 out of the box, but an update to Android 13 later in the year is basically guaranteed.
Just like the Pixel 5A, the new Pixel will not have different variants, as is the case with most smartphones these days. The 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage is standard across all markets.
Speaking of markets, the Pixel 5A officially only shipped to Japan and the USA. This time around, Google is expanding its market with the following countries listed to receive the new Pixel; Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom and United States.
However, if you want to snag one of these, and then ship it to Kenya, you will have to wait a little longer as they are not yet available for sale. The Pixel 6A is slated for sale on July 28th, but the pre-orders will begin one week earlier on the 21st of the same month.
