Google Pixel 10a – Google’s most affordable mobile

When a new phone is launched, we expect a certain level of hardware updates compared to the corresponding model last year. If only that it has faster processors, and doesn’t have something else that outweighs it, such as better cameras.

For the Google Pixel 10a, the list of news is short and insignificant compared to the Pixel 9a. The chipset that powers the phone is, for example, the Google Tensor G4, instead of the new Tensor G5 found in the other Pixel 10 models. This is a departure from how Google has so far handled its a-models, and a pedagogical problem. Google likes to claim that the computing power in their new chipset is crucial and tailored to the experience in the Pixel. The A series, in turn, is marketed as the cheapest way to access Google’s cutting edge Android and AI capabilities. But if the Pixel 10a uses last year’s chipset, it either means the phone isn’t guaranteed the same software functionality over time as the more expensive models in the series, or the Pixel 9 series can handle the tasks just as well and the Pixel 10 series doesn’t add much. If we look at the news in software that the Pixel 10a has, one of Google’s selling points is that they update their mobiles with new functions for a long time. And with almost exactly the same hardware, there’s no reason the Pixel 9a won’t get all those features soon. The Pixel 10a is promised seven years of updates just like the Pixel 9a was and will thus be updated a year longer, but that could just as easily have been achieved by extending the update promise to the Pixel 9a.

Last year’s performance

Coming back to the chipset, Google’s chipsets don’t impress in performance tests, but Google claims that because they are tailored for their phones, they feel faster than what the tests show. There is undeniably something to it, but it is still the case that you can sometimes feel that the phone is stuttering, for example when searching in Google Maps. For the most part, it feels as fast as you want a phone to be.

The design is new, according to Google, but that depends on how you look at it. The camera island is completely recessed into the plastic back, which then becomes completely smooth, but its elevation on the Pixel 9a was very small, and otherwise the dimensions are identical. It is nice in many ways to have a completely smooth back, for example the phone rests firmly on the table when you use it, and there is no edge that can get stuck in the pocket. But partly I wonder if the glass in front of the camera lenses isn’t scratched more easily this way, partly it should be said that Google achieved this by making the entire phone unusually thick for a mobile today.

The black frames around the screen are also thick. It gives a slightly cheap impression, but that’s okay, the phone is de facto quite cheap. The screen has the same dimensions and resolution as its predecessor, and like it is of the Oled type with a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling, but the screen is a bit brighter, with a sunlight mode of 2000 nits. The screen glass is also of a slightly more durable type, Gorilla Glass 7i instead of Gorilla Glass 3.

The Google Pixel 10a has also received slightly faster fast charging compared to its predecessor. it can now be charged with up to 30 watts, or 10 watts if you charge wirelessly. However, the battery is at 5100 mAh as before, and the battery life is quite okay without impressing.

What’s notably missing from the Pixel 10a compared to the other Pixel 10 models is Pixelsnap, Google’s equivalent of Apple’s Magsafe, their implementation of the Qi2 standard that makes wireless charging so much more convenient thanks to magnetic attachment. If there is any function we had the right to expect from the Pixel 10a that could justify having an otherwise identical mobile, it would have been Pixelsnap. It’s all made extra weird by the fact that the Pixel 10a is slightly magnetic, so it sticks to a magnetic charger in a way that, say, the Galaxy S25 doesn’t, but not enough to keep it from sliding off. It’s almost like you suspect that Google built the phone with Pixelsnap, but the magnets were too weak, so they deleted that feature from the specifications and pretended it was nothing.

Slimmed down cameras

The camera setup is the same as the Pixel 9a, that is, a main camera with a smaller-than-average sensor and a wide-angle camera with an even smaller sensor and lower resolution. It’s also the same cameras minus the telephoto camera that sits in the Pixel 10. Google calls it the best camera setup in the price range. Here I think that, for example, Xiaomi with its Poco mobiles rightly has objections, but it is clear that the camera is better than expected considering the size of the sensor. I am comparing it with the Samsung Galaxy S25, and for that matter I have compared the same cameras in the Pixel 10 and 9a with other mobiles such as the more expensive Pixel 10 Pro and overall I get pictures with fine sharpness and color reproduction on par with the Galaxy S25 which has a larger sensor. In poorer light conditions, however, you notice the smaller sensor and the dark images are not quite the same class as the more expensive mobile phones. and if you shoot zoomed in, the images feel mildly AI-enhanced already at twice the magnification.

In many ways, it is still the software you want in a Pixelmobile. In addition to Google giving Pixel users some of their own functions that are not found in regular Android, they introduce new functions over time with so-called Pixel Feature Drops.

These functions are largely linked to AI, and as usual they mainly fall into the two categories of language processing and image processing. The sad thing is that we as Swedish users do not get access to the full set of functions for various reasons, either because it does not have support for Swedish or because it has only been launched in a limited number of countries. Examples of features that are missing are the call assistant that can answer junk calls for you or convert multi-choice menus in telephone exchanges to buttons on the screen, as well as the Magic Editor image editor where you can edit a picture you took with AI text prompt.

Call recording

Telephone functions that we do get, however, are call translation between about ten languages, of which Swedish is one. If you turn on the feature, a voice reads it out and the person you’re talking to translates, and the voice mimics your voices in a slightly ghostly way. Another function that has been available for Pixel in the US for a long time but has now come to Swedish mobiles is the ability to record phone calls with the mobile.

When it comes to image editing, in any case, you get access to the option of moving details in the image or erasing unwanted details with the help of AI, but this is hardly unique to Google, but is rather standard in mobiles in a slightly higher price range today.

Google has some smart functions of its own that come into effect as soon as you take the picture. One of them is the camera coach, which you can activate to get guided instructions on how to take better photos, for example by changing the angle or getting closer to highlight the subject. For those who are often dissatisfied with their photos, it can be a good way to learn more about photography. If you want to take group photos, there is the Add Me function where you change who takes the photos and then the photos are edited with AI so that everyone is included. Sometimes it’s successful, sometimes it’s obviously artificial. Best Take is a function where, when taking group photos, you get everyone’s best face, either by selecting the best moment or, if necessary, by editing multiple exposures into one with the help of AI. When I try the function, it is noticeable that it is active that the camera needs a couple of seconds to take the picture. It is difficult to judge the result because you are faced with fait accompli and therefore cannot compare with how it would be if the function was not active. In at least one case, it lets through a picture where one of two people in the picture closes their eyes.

To the extent that the Pixel 9a hasn’t already received these features, they will come to the older phone shortly, and in general, individual software features are not an argument to choose one Pixel phone over another. If it’s the software features you’re looking for and you’re less interested in the cameras, the Pixel 10a is just as affordable, but not as affordable as the Pixel 9a, which can now be found even cheaper.

Questions and answers

Is Google One with AI and storage included in the price of the phone? Yes, but only for three months.

Does the screen work well in sunlight? Yes, a little extra brightness is welcome here, and the screen is fully legible in the sun.

Is it true that Google’s Quickshare feature works with Apple’s Airdrop on the Pixel 10a? Yes, that’s right, but the function will of course also come to other Pixelmobiles.

An alternative

As seen, the Pixel 9a is almost identical to this mobile. At the time of writing, you can buy it new for under SEK 5,000, almost SEK 2,000 less than the Pixel 10a costs.

Camera example

For having such a small camera sensor, the Pixel 10a delivers good images in most conditions, even in twilight light like here.