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Intro
First of all, can we talk about something for a second?
Google is the worst company on Earth
at keeping things a secret
and I don't think it's on purpose.
Like, some people think it's an intentional leak,
and "Oh, they're letting stuff get out about their phones,
so that's a free press."
No, I think they're just bad at it,
like, bad at it.
So everything about the phone is already out
before it even comes out.
That's just the way it is with Pixel phones now,
Pixel anything.
Anyway, this is the Pixel 7A.
You've probably heard about it or seen some things,
and it turns out pretty much everything you've seen is true,
because it's a Pixel.
But really what you should know
is this is the new mid-ranger from Google,
and it's a bit more expensive than the previous one.
7A costs $499,
and it's very similar to the Pixel 7.
Let's talk about it.
So first things first,
Wireless Charging
Yes, the price did go up.
The Pixel 6A was $449 at release.
This is the 7A,
so there should be a good reason to add 50 more dollars.
So let's just start with what's new,
which is wireless charging and a new 90-hertz display.
Honestly, these are welcome features.
Wireless charging is a nice one for convenience.
I will say it's not fast wireless charging.
It's only seven and a half watts here.
So I've noticed when I'm navigating,
and this is wireless charging in my car,
And it's got high-brightness GPS stuff going,
It just holds its charge.
It doesn't lower or go up,
It just stays the same.
But hey, if you have a wireless charger
sitting around at the desk at work,
or at the bedside,
or something like that,
It'll be good for a trickle charge overnight,
which not every phone in this price range can say they have,
So that's good.
Display
And then the 90-hertz display is a funny one,
It's off by default on this phone.
Like, when you first take it out of the box
and start using it,
It's a 60-hertz phone,
but you can go into the display settings
and turn on Smooth Display.
Suddenly it's 50% more frames
and it's dramatically smoother,
about as smooth as the Pixel 7 was.
It's also the same Tensor G2 chip
and the same eight gigs of RAM,
So performance feels pretty similar
to the Pixel 7 at 90 hertz.
It makes a big difference.
I do not enjoy using this phone at 60 hertz for this price.
It did seem a little bit choppier
like it was dropping frames
and operating at 45 to 55 hertz.
So, yeah, turn on that 90 hertz.
Build quality-wise,
that is where you'll see...
At least on paper, it does take a small step down
from the Pixel 7 (tapping phone).
Plastic back.
And the rails are still metal,
which is nice,
and it is also IP 67 instead of IP 68.
But honestly, you'd be hard-pressed to notice,
just, like, using this phone, holding it,
There's no creaking, no bending,
Nothing screams low quality about this build at all,
so I think that was well done.
And this is a slightly smaller
6.1-inch flat display, still 1080p,
and it's up to 90 hertz like I said,
and it does have some serious color-shifting
and banding when you get off-axis,
but honestly, you know, it's still bright,
It still looks good enough for this price.
It's Gorilla Glass 3.
And also even though the display is slightly smaller,
The slightly thicker bezels
Just bring it right back up
to the same size as a phone
as the Pixel 7.
So it feels like another fair trade.
And then there is a new set of colors.
This little light blue is called Sea, as in the ocean.
It's the sea.
But there's also Charcoal and Snow,
which are the black and white ones,
then there's also a red, like, coral colored one.
That one is an online-only Google store color.
Pretty fire.
But, you know, channel-sponsored brand
Skin
will let you spice it up.
I've never actually shouted out
The JerryRigEverything Teardown skin,
because usually, Dbrand has to wait for someone
to do the teardown.
Luckily though, they were able to pull some strings
and get this one made ahead of time,
so it's ready right for launch,
and this is a rare first look
at the inside of the phone on camera through this skin.
And it's 15% off too,
along with everything else on their site right now
For you guys,
as long as you go to dbrand.com/mkbhd
and use code "EVERYTHING".
But the bottom line, it still very much looks like a Pixel.
The metal wraparound visor,
the pill cutout for the cameras,
the antenna bands in the right places,
the slot speakers (buttons clicking),
The buttons are still very clicky.
I mean, they've done the hardware well.
This is a very good trade-off for the hardware price.
And then do I even need to get into the software?
'Cause this story kind of writes itself.
They do all the same software stuff
in the A-series phones
as they do on the more premium Pixels, which I like.
Not everybody does that.
So all the same features,
all the same stuff that I like about every other Pixel
is also here.
I've called the Pixel the smartest smartphone in the world
Because of how good Google Assistant is,
How good the voice-to-text is
With all the on-device transcription,
the incredible Voice Recorder app,
The Google Assistant stuff that screens calls
and waits on hold for me.
The Now Playing feature that hears songs in the background
wherever you go and identify them for you.
The Material You stuff throughout everything
that identifies your wallpaper
and matches your system colors to it.
And, of course, the promised three years
of software updates,
which hilariously isn't the longest-promise support
in the industry anymore.
That goes to Samsung phones,
which promised, like, four to five years of support.
Nevertheless, no surprises here.
So really my only two question marks
When I got this phone there were batteries and cameras.
So battery would be kind of interesting,
'cause it's roughly the same size battery
as the Pixel 7,
So would it have the same battery life or not?
But then also cameras,
because for the first time in a while,
There are new cameras in here.
All new cameras that we've never seen in a Pixel before,
so a departure from the tried and true.
So first, for battery, 4,385 milliamp hours,
Battery
18-watt charging, kind of slow,
and seven-and-a-half-watt wireless charging, even slower,
and then total battery life,
I'm gonna say average at best.
So it's a full day of use,
but nothing more,
Even at 90 hertz,
which is fine.
You know, it's mid-range,
so I have quite a few days
with three to four hours of screen time
at 90 hertz with my typical usage
And I'd have like 10% left at the end of the day.
So I'm not worried about it dying
Before the end of the day,
unless it's crazy heavy,
but even then wireless charging can kind of save you
if you wanna prolong its death a little bit.
We'll see how this ages over time,
but for now, I'm giving it a C-plus, battery.