There were rumors that Google was about to kill the Pixel 8a and the \u201cA\u201d series of Pixel phones in general, but fortunately this isn\u2019t the case \u2013 at least if leaked live photos of the unreleased Pixel 8a are legitimate. That being said, I\u2019d be lying if I said Google\u2019s hypothetical decision to discontinue the Pixel \u201cA\u201d series of phones would have shocked me.<\/p>\n
The reason? Just look at how similar the 2023 Pixel 7a is to the 2022 Pixel 7. The bigger head-scratcher \u2013 due to Google\u2019s bizarre release schedule, the Pixel 7 had already dropped to $500 when the Pixel 7a launched at the same price point, making the existence of both phones extra confusing.<\/p>\n
So, without a doubt Google must do something to set the vanilla Pixel flagship apart from the mid-range \u201cA\u201d series device ASAP, and while the new, higher $700 starting price of the Pixel 8 will help, I think I might have a better idea of what the Pixel 8a should represent.<\/p>\n
Now, will this turn out to be the case? I\u2019m not sure. But perhaps Google is a regular PhoneArena reader, and would consider my business proposal for the Pixel 9a and Pixel 10a, if not for the 8a. Because why wouldn\u2019t the 4th highest-valued company in the world take advice from the 4th lowest-paid writer in tech?<\/p>\n
Live images of the alleged Pixel 8a, expected to launch in the summer of 2024. Whether Google really considers ditching the Pixel \u201cA\u201d series or not, it\u2019d be sad to see a phone, which represents such great value, leave the smartphone scene \u2013 especially in the US where there\u2019s a shortage of awesome mid-range and budget smartphones.<\/p>\n
But I think there\u2019s a way to keep the best-selling Pixel lineup alive in the long-term, and the way I\u2019d do it is to do something that\u2019s considered unconventional in the smartphone world \u2013 make the phone cheaper, and potentially less capable on paper.<\/p>\n
If Google\u2019s only two options are to make the Pixel 8a more expensive, or kill the Pixel A series altogether, I\u2019d rather them turn the Pixel A into a budget-friendly phone with less pretentious specs but at a more accessible price point.<\/p>\n
Hey Google! Why not turn the Pixel 8a into a (more) budget-friendly phone? Was the Pixel A series a better offer when it started at $399? Turning Pixel 8a into a more budget-friendly $400 phone will help differentiate it from the Pixel 8 and avoid another \u201cPixel 7a vs Pixel 7\u201d; also, this would help achieve a consistent $300 gap between all of Google\u2019s phones \u2013 $400 for the Pixel 8a, $700 for the Pixel 8, and $1,000 for the Pixel 8 Pro<\/p>\n
A phone with Google\u2019s brand promise, which doesn\u2019t cost more than $400 should be appealing to a wider range of people, especially in developing countries \u2013 we\u2019ve already seen evidence of this with the popular (for Google\u2019s standards) Pixel 4a and Pixel 5a<\/p>\n
The $500-600 smartphone market has become incredibly saturated in the past couple of years, meaning the Pixel 8a and Pixel 9a will have a harder time standing out<\/p>\n
To the question of \u201chow would Google manage to hit a $400 price target\u201d when trying to make a better phone than the Pixel 7a, which starts at $500-600, I\u2019d say\u2026 they don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n
The Pixel A phone can be a more affordable device, which doesn\u2019t try too hard but nails the basics. Think of it as Android\u2019s iPhone SE \u2013 although, I\u2019m aware Apple\u2019s current SE model is super dated and with poor battery life, but that\u2019s a different story. Other than that, there\u2019s no denying Apple\u2019s idea of the iPhone SE is to make a basic but reliable phone at a budget-friendly price.<\/p>\n
A $400 Pixel 8a vs a $500-600 Pixel 8a \u2013 why a cheaper Google mid-range phone might be a good idea<\/p>\n
Hypothetical $400 Pixel 8a<\/strong><\/p>\n Hypothetical $500-600 Pixel 8a<\/strong><\/p>\n In the end, I\u2019m well aware some enthusiasts wouldn\u2019t agree with my \u201cwatered-down\u201d version of the Pixel 8a, and I\u2019d understand that. In fact, if I could, I\u2019d also choose to use a phone with a more premium feature set.<\/p>\n Truth being told, the vast majority of \u201cnormal users\u201d don\u2019t care about the \u201cmust-have\u201d extras we, tech nerds, consider important. For example, most people would never be able to tell you if a phone is made out of plastic or glass.<\/p>\n And as seen in the tablet above, I\u2019ve tried to put together a hypothetical Pixel A series phone that not only doesn\u2019t bring major compromises but makes smarter choices like a more reliable side-mounted fingerprint reader instead of an in-display one.<\/p>\n Ultimately, converting the Pixel \u201cA\u201d back into the $400 phone it used to be, would make it far easier to recommend. Especially considering the increasing prices of phones nowadays. And last but not least, it\u2019d make the \u201cjust pay a bit more and get the flagship\u201d argument less valid.<\/p>\n Or perhaps that\u2019s Google\u2019s idea of the Pixel A-series now \u2013 upselling the pricier Pixel flagship?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why the Pixel 8a Should Be a More Budget-Friendly Phone There were rumors that Google was about to kill the Pixel 8a and the \u201cA\u201d series of Pixel phones in general, but fortunately this isn\u2019t the case – at least if leaked live photos of the unreleased Pixel 8a are legitimate. That being said, I\u2019d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":224674988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":255,"footnotes":""},"categories":[255],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224674987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple-tips-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224674987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224674987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224674987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224674988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224674987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224674987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonescanada.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224674987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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