Pixel 10A hands-on: More like a slightly better Pixel 9A

Google’s midrange Pixels have been our top pick for budget Android phones for a while. They offer good cameras and most of what you need at a budget-friendly price. But this year’s upgrade feels so minimal, I’d liken it more to a Pixel 9A+. Or a Pixel 9B.

The $499 Pixel 10A is supposed to be a slightly worse Pixel 10. But it’s more like a slightly better Pixel 9A. And that’s a bit of a bummer. Very few of the features that make the Pixel 10 series compelling trickled down to the 10A this year.

You don’t get all the good stuff that makes the Pixel 10 series more compelling. There’s still last year’s Tensor G4 chip and 8GB of RAM, which isn’t enough to power the more advanced AI features Google launched on Pixel 10, like Magic Cue or Pixel Screenshots, the latter of which debuted on the Pixel 9. Do you care? Maybe not! I like Magic Cue, though. And my guess is that skyrocketing RAM prices play a role here. It could explain the lack of additional AI features, but I can’t blame RAM prices for what otherwise feels like a more “meh” update.

So what do you get from the Pixel 10? You also get the 10’s SOS satellite communications, in case you get lost out in the woods, and a bear is chasing you, and you need to point your phone at the sky and tell someone that a bear is chasing you and that you need help.

The Pixel 10A also borrows a couple of new AI tricks, like Auto Best Take (not just Best Take), which automatically selects the best picture from a bunch, like the one where everyone in a group shot is facing the camera. This worked well during a quick test at Google’s office. Similarly, it offers Google’s Camera Coach, which walks you through some ideas on how to take the best picture of a subject. I tested this with a fake orchid, and the suggestions on how to frame it were almost certainly better than anything I’d have thought of because I am not a great photographer and usually just pull out my phone for a quick picture of my kids doing something silly.

You’d be hard-pressed to spot the design differences, so I’ll lay them out for you. Google says it’s its most durable Pixel A-series phone yet. The display is stronger thanks to a new Gorilla Glass 7i covering and gets a bit brighter (11 percent to 3000 nits) at its peak, like when you’re trying to see the screen in the sun. It has the same IP68 waterproofing.

The bezel around the screen is slightly narrower (10 percent narrower, to be exact). The cameras are all the same as last year, but the 13-megapixel and 48-megapixel sensors on the back now lie fully flush with the frame instead of sticking just a hair above it. Even the colors look similar to last year, but the berry color is the best: You won’t find that shockingly bright color on any other phone, and it’s the one you should buy. Other colors include lavender, fog (gray), and obsidian (black). Google’s also launching fog and berry Pixel Buds 2A, so you can match.

The Pixel 10A also doesn’t have PixelSnap, Google’s version of MagSafe that lets you use any magnetic snap-on charger or accessory. That’s a bummer, I love that, and I think it should be here. Still, you get a wee bit faster wired and wireless charging. Wired charging jumped from 27-watts to 30-watts, and wireless charges at 10-watts instead of 7.5-watts.

Preorders for the 10A begin today, and it hits shelves on March 4. It will be available with 128GB or 256GB of storage. A lot of people buy Pixel A-series phones for the pure Android experience and frequent updates. I don’t think they really care about having every last AI or hardware feature Google makes. But it just doesn’t feel like Google brought enough of the Pixel 10 to the Pixel 10A this year. That’s why it’s more like a 9A 2.0.

Photography by Owen Grove / The Verge