• Google Pixel 6a smartphone
    Google Pixel 6a
    Incredible value

    The Pixel 6a is the best budget smartphone you can buy right now. It may not be the cheapest, but it delivers outstanding value, featuring Google's powerful Tensor chip, an impressive camera for a phone in its class, and five years of security updates.

    Pros
    • Shares the most important features of the pricier Pixel 6
    • Impressive camera
    • Five years of security updates
    Cons
    • Lacks wireless charging
    • No headphone jack
  • Pixel 5a front and back
    Google Pixel 5a
    Classic design

    The Pixel 5a is a great budget option for those looking for a larger smartphone with a classic design. Despite being three years old, it still delivers advantages such as a larger display, a longer battery life, and a decent camera system. It offers a 6.3-inch OLED display (2400 x 1080 pixels), Snapdragon 765G processor, and 6GB RAM. It features a dual-camera setup with a 12.2 MP main and 16 MP ultra-wide lens, a robust 4680 mAh battery, 128GB storage, and runs on Android 12. Designed with a metal frame and plastic back, it's IP67 water and dust resistant, supports 5G, and retains the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack, all at a wallet-friendly price of $449. However, it's nearing the end of the road for software updates.

    Pros
    • Great battery life
    • Includes a headphone jack
    • A good camera
    Cons
    • Only three years of security patches
    • Older chipset
    • Lacks wireless charging

The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro may be Google's latest powerful new flagships, but you don't need to splurge on the latest and greatest to get the best mobile experience. Even with the recent release of the Pixel 7a, last year's Pixel 6a is still a surprisingly strong contender that remains at the top of our list of the best budget smartphones, thanks to the incredible value it offers for its lower price tag.

The Pixel 6a packs in the same Tensor chip that made the Pixel 6 Pro a front-runner in performance and computational photography, and while the Pixel 7a gets some modest improvements over the Pixel 6a, those come with a higher price tag. Meanwhile, the Pixel 5a has been discontinued, so it's getting harder to find, yet Google is keeping the Pixel 6a around with an even more affordable price tag.

Price, specs, and availability

On paper, the Pixel 6a and Pixel 5a share broad interiors, such as similar RAM and storage capacities, cameras, and screens, plus the same IP rating and price. However, they stand apart in a few key areas, with different chipsets, screen sizes, battery capacities, and dimensions — all of which provide a noticeably different user experience.

Even though the Pixel 6a has some noteworthy upgrades over the Pixel 5a, it always tended to sell for around the same price. But now that the Pixel 6a is last year's model, Google has officially dropped its price tag to $299, making it the best value budget phone you can buy. The Verizon-specific mmWave version of the phone will now set you back an extra $100, but you should ignore that and just buy directly from Google unless you need the fastest 5G speeds. That isn't usually a priority for a phone in this class, and Verizon's mmWave coverage is pretty sparse.

Your best bet for picking up a Pixel 5a at an affordable price is going through the used market. When it first launched, the Pixel 5a was only available in the US and Japan, but now you'll find used models in many other countries. That route can score a phone as cheap as $150, which is well below the original $450 launch price. That said, we've seen the Pixel 6a priced as low as $250 with carrier activation, and we'll likely see even better deals now that the base price has dropped just below the $300 mark. Those prices are hard to beat for such a powerful phone, and I'd highly encourage anyone choosing between these phones to opt for the newer model.


  • Google Pixel 6aGoogle Pixel 5a
    SoCGoogle TensorSnapdragon 765G
    RAM6GB
    Storage128GB6GB
    Battery4,410mAh128GB
    Operating SystemAndroid 134,680 mAh
    Front camera8MP, f/2.0Android 14
    Dimensions152.2 x 71.8 x 8.9mm8MP f/2 fixed-focus (83° FoV)
    PriceFrom $450156.2 x 73.2 x 8.8mm

Design and durability

Pixel 5a vs 6a batch 2 (2)

The Pixel 6a and Pixel 5a are made out of very different materials. The older Pixel 5a shares a design with the Pixel 5, which means the phone's body is a bioresin coated aluminum, with the camera island set in one corner as a rounded square. In practice, it's a solid-feeling unibody design with pleasantly curved edges and few seams. The corners can be prone to picking up a bit of shine over time if you don't use a case, and the bioresin can pick up light scratches, but it's hard to actually gouge, and it's exceptionally durable.

The newer Pixel 6a, on the other hand, has adopted the design language of Google's Pixel 6 line. For instance, it has a two-tone back with two separate pieces inset in an aluminum frame, divided by the Robocop-looking camera visor; the plates on the back are pretty durable plastic rather than glass. Although mine has picked up some light scratching (visible when light is at the right angle), I mistook it for glass in my earlier tests since I had difficulty scratching it with a metal implement. With such durability, the 6a is likely to age well, even if left exposed.

Pixel-6a-review-renamed-with-dashes (10)

Of course, there are some complaints about the Pixel 6a's design. For one, the Pixel 6a camera bar does not have the same aluminum-covered frame as the Pixel 7 series. The lack of camera coverage can lead to lens flare issues, which you do not want to see in your photos. Still, the 6a camera bar remains a solid design as long as you know its potential problems.

The two phones are also different sizes. The Pixel 6a is noticeably smaller than the Pixel 5a, making it easier to use one-handed. Having used both phones, I consider the Pixel 6a closer to the Goldilocks smartphone size for portability. It's not the small Android phone some people dream about, but it is closer to a mini phone than the Pixel 5a.

Both phones share an IP67 rating, so taking the occasional call in the rain shouldn't be a problem. However, I should point out that the Pixel 6a marks the end of the headphone jack in Google's mid-range phones, so you'll need Bluetooth headphones or a dongle to get your audio connections.

Pixel 5a back on a striped background

The Pixel 6a also has an in-display optical fingerprint sensor, while the Pixel 5a's rear-mounted capacitive fingerprint sensor is more reliable and faster. There have also been recent concerns about the security of the Pixel 6a's fingerprint sensor, with some claiming that others can unlock the device. But it seems Google has fixed this through a recent security patch. As long as you can handle the slower optical sensor on the Pixel 6a, both phones should provide a secure experience.

Lastly, Google has expanded the color options for the Pixel 6a. You can get it in three colors: Charcoal (black and gray), Chalk (white and gray), and Sage (green and... green). The Pixel 5a is only available in a mostly black colorway that is just dark green. More choices are always better, so chalk this up as a win for the Pixel 6a.

Displays

Google Pixel 6a comparison

The Pixel 5a and Pixel 6a have 1080p displays with the same aspect ratio but are different sizes. The Pixel 6a has a smaller 6.1-inch display and has its "hole-punch" camera set in the top middle of the screen, while the Pixel 5a has a noticeably larger 6.34-inch display with its hole-punch camera set in the corner.

The two displays are both OLED, but I found the Pixel 5a screen slightly higher quality than the Pixel 6a screen. While all OLED displays are subject to the so-called "OLED lottery," my Pixel 6a did have noticeable issues with uniformity at night, causing dark themes to appear as if they had a splotchy gradient. So on paper, the two screens are similar, but in practice, the screen on the Pixel 5a looks just a little better. Still, the Pixel 6a's screen is slightly sharper since it has a similar resolution but is smaller.

The brightness between the two screens was about the same for me, with each getting bright enough to use in daylight without any issue and dim enough for night usage. Both screens have the same 60Hz refresh rate, too, so you aren't sacrificing any smoothness in choosing between the two phones, though some other devices at this price support higher refresh rates. They are also both covered in Gorilla Glass 3 — not the most impact-resistant glass, but plenty durable and scratch-resistant. Plus, each display supports technologies like HDR for playback of high-quality content in compatible streaming apps and an always-on display if you want to enable it.

Front and rear cameras

Pixel 5a vs Pixel 6a (4)

The Pixel 6a and 5a have the same primary camera (12.2MP f/1.7 IMX363 with OIS) using the same sensor and identical or nearly identical optics. That means photos you take in the default mode should look basically the same between the two phones. They're excellent cameras and take superb-quality low-light photos with some of the best processing and color science you can get.

The ultrawide cameras between the two phones vary, though. The Pixel 5a hits a higher resolution at 16MP and a slightly wider 118.7˚ field of view. Still, it has an arguably lower-end sensor, using a Sony IMX 481 that offers 1.0μm sub-pixels. The Pixel 6a has the same wide-angle camera as the more expensive Pixel 6 and 6 Pro at 12MP with a slightly narrower 114˚ FoV and an IMX 386 with larger sub-pixels at 1.25μm. (Regarding the field of view, the Pixel 5a may use some distortion correction that effectively makes its angle slightly narrower.)

All those numbers and details mean that the Pixel 6a's ultrawide camera offers better low-light performance at a slight loss of resolution, which I'd argue is an upgrade over the Pixel 5a. In addition, both phones have an 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera and should take similar selfie photos.

The Pixel 6a is powered by the same Tensor chipset that the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro use, giving the Pixel 6a access to Google's newer photographic technologies, like Magic Eraser touch-ups, Face Unblur to fix photos of kids in motion, Motion Mode photo capture modes, and Real Tone for better skin tones.

On top of that, the Pixel 6a processes captured images more quickly than the Pixel 5a, so you'll spend less time sitting and waiting for photos. Sticking on Tensor also means that (at least in the foreseeable future) new tricks added to devices like the Pixel 7 can usually be backported to the Pixel 6a, either through official channels or with the help of dev-made mods.

Hardware and performance

Render of Google Tensor G2 chipset with metallic object in background.
Source: Google

The Pixel 5a and Pixel 6a have very different chipsets inside them. While the Pixel 5a packs an older Snapdragon 765G, the Pixel 6a has the relatively new Tensor chipset designed by Google and Samsung. I can fire off core counts and gigahertz for you to compare, but those details obscure the fact that the Pixel 6a is much faster than the Pixel 5a.

In my Geekbench benchmark scores, the Pixel 6a is roughly twice as fast as the Pixel 5a across both single-core and multi-core results. Google said at the Pixel 6 launch that the CPU performance of the new Tensor is around 80% faster than the 765G, and GPU performance is about 370% better. My experience with both phones agrees with these numbers — the Pixel 6a is noticeably faster than the Pixel 5a across all use cases.

I'd argue that neither phone is built for gaming, but the Pixel 6a hits higher frame rates in more demanding titles than the 765G. However, it also runs noticeably hotter and seems to consume more power than the Snapdragon 765G. In light use and day-to-day tasks, the difference in power between the phones probably won't be very noticeable, but the Tensor's speed shines through when you're doing AI-related workloads like voice typing or translation. It even supports related features like real-time transcription and translation, which the Pixel 5a's chipset can't quite handle.

A phone with an illuminated display sits atop a woodgrain table.

There's one other fundamental way that performance in a phone matters that we sometimes forget: phones need to connect to a network and make calls. That's what they did before we made them all so smart, and that's one way that the Pixel 6a falls behind. As with the more expensive Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, you'll notice reduced signal strength and more cellular connectivity issues on the Pixel 6a than you would on the Pixel 5a. If you live in an area with strong coverage, that might not be a problem. But out in more rural areas, you will notice the Pixel 6a losing signal in areas where other phones may still have it, and that's what I observed in my testing.

Finally, it's unclear how much of an upgrade this actually is, but the Tensor chip in the Pixel 6a is paired with a Titan M2 security coprocessor, while the Pixel 5a has the original Titan M.

Battery life and charging

Pixel 5a vs Pixel 6a and a charging cable

The Pixel 5a lasts for ages on a charge. In my testing, I was able to break ten hours of screen-on time across three days, and I'm convinced that with very light use and battery-saving measures applied, it might be possible to reach 4–5 days on a charge (or longer). This phone just goes on and on with its 4680mAh battery. The Pixel 6a, in comparison, offers merely "good" battery life.

Having used both phones back-to-back, I know they're both all-day phones. But the Pixel 6a is, at best, a two-day phone, reaching around 6 hours of screen-on time in my testing. Part of that has to do with the slightly reduced 4410mAh battery capacity Google gave the newer model, but the more significant difference is likely due to the chipsets used by each phone.

As discussed previously, the Tensor in the Pixel 6a is much more powerful — and almost certainly much more power-hungry as a result. Even while just playing games, I noticed the Pixel 6a would suck through its limited capacity even faster. The Pixel 5a's slower chipset may be a performance disadvantage, but it seems to make the phone last much longer on a charge. Google is two generations into its Tensor chipset but has yet to blow us away with extended battery life.

Pixel 5 a in a glass bowl on a table

Both phones charge at the same 18W rate, which is arguably pretty slow compared to other phones. That means you will have to spend a little more time charging the phone, and you can't just plug it in for a few minutes and expect to see a big difference. Google says that to hit full speeds, you'll need a good PPS charger. Also, neither phone has wireless charging, which is not uncommon at this price.

Overall, the Pixel 6a has a pretty good battery life, and most buyers are unlikely to be disappointed. Still, the Pixel 5a lasts much longer on a single charge, and it's arguably one of the few reasons to choose the older phone.

Carrier support and connectivity

The Pixel 6a is the newer phone, supporting some new sub-6GHz 5G frequencies that the Pixel 5a doesn't, but the distinction is currently immaterial. Both phones support the full suite of sub-6GHz 5G bands deployed by US carriers, and both should be 5G and VoLTE certified to work on all US carriers — though some unlocked Pixels have had issues on AT&T's FirstNet network.

Complicating our discussion slightly, the Pixel 6a also comes in a mmWave 5G version compatible with Verizon's network and costs an extra $100. Frankly, that connectivity isn't worth the extra money, but it's an option if you want to pay more for a Verizon-locked phone version. Also, note that neither phone makes our current list of the best 5G phones.

Three Google Pixel 6a phones are resting atop each other on a rug.

The Pixel 6a supports Wi-Fi 6 and 6E (802.11ax), but the Pixel 5a can only connect to Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) networks. This means the Pixel 6a can reach faster speeds on compatible Wi-Fi networks using the new standards, plus it can connect to the brand-new Wi-Fi frequencies that just opened up. Even if you aren't shopping for this sort of feature right now, Wi-Fi 6E support could be a substantial benefit in a few years if and when you upgrade to a compatible router.

The Pixel 6a also supports Bluetooth v5.2, while the Pixel 5a can only do Bluetooth v5.0, meaning the Pixel 6a will support the new Bluetooth Audio LE standard, thereby offering long-term perks of battery life improvements and other benefits for compatible Bluetooth audio devices. This kind of future-proofing is arguably pretty crucial because, as I mentioned before, the Pixel 6a doesn't have a headphone jack.

Special features, software, and updates

The software update commitment is one big way that the Pixel 5a and 6a differ. Of course, the Pixel 5a is the older phone, so more of its lifespan has been used up at this point. But even so, Google promises a mere three years of OS updates and security patches, so it will continue getting updates until at least August 2024, and it's capable of running the Android 14 betas. However, that could be the end of the road for major Android updates; after that, the phone will become increasingly less secure to use as unpatched security vulnerabilities start to build up. Although Google's Project Mainline might update critical components past that date, I don't recommend using a phone that no longer receives security updates simply because you can never be sure.

The Pixel 6a, on the other hand, benefits from Google's new software commitment that debuted with the Tensor-powered Pixel 6 series. Google still only guarantees three years of OS updates, but it also promises an extra two years of security patches, meaning the phone will be safe to use until at least July 2027. That's three extra years of life compared to the Pixel 5a, and a pretty significant benefit if you're amortizing the cost of ownership over the years. That means you'll be able to keep the Pixel 6a a lot longer, saving you money on a new device. The Tensor chip is also likely to remain relevant for much longer and deliver solid performance.

pixel-6a-7-pro-android-13

Both phones run nearly identical versions of Android. Still, we've already touched on a few software features that the Pixel 6a gets with its Tensor chipset that the earlier Pixel 5a doesn't get, like real-time translations, better voice input, and camera features such as Magic Eraser and Real Tone. Both phones benefit from quarterly Feature Drop updates, but the Pixel 6a should get more features over time than the Pixel 5a, given that new chipset.

So far, we have yet to see most of the Pixel 7's exclusive features trickle down to the Pixel 6 or 6a. There are a handful of features coming from Google's latest phones to its older devices, though in many cases, these are coming to all currently supported phones — Pixel 4a and newer. However, Real Tone enhancements are confirmed to arrive in the 6 series, and it seems like Clear Calling could also make its way to older Tensor-powered hardware. Other tools, such as face unlock, require specific Pixel 7-related hardware and won't arrive on the Pixel 6a in any form.

Which one should you buy?

The Pixel 5a has an advantage in battery life and screen size, but the Pixel 6a beats it in nearly every other way. For example, the Pixel 6a will get updates for three years longer than the Pixel 5a. The Pixel 6a also has Google's more powerful Tensor chipset, some small but significant camera upgrades (an improved ultrawide sensor and new camera modes), and more advanced computational photography features.

There may be less reason to upgrade to a Pixel 6a from a Pixel 5a, but if you're comparing the two for a new purchase, the 6a is the easy winner, as it remains our top pick for best budget Android Phone and makes our list of the best Android phones overall. It also won our award for the best budget phone in 2022 for delivering incredible value, and that was before Google dropped the price to its current level.

Google Pixel 6a smartphone
Google Pixel 6a
Winner

The best budget pick

The Pixel 6a is an improvement on its predecessor in almost every way. While it loses out on a headphone jack and can't quite compete in the battery department, the improved performance, camera, design, and five years of security updates all make it the obvious winner.

Nevertheless, if you're on a very tight budget, the Pixel 5a could be worth considering if you can find a great deal on one. The biggest knock against it is that you won't be guaranteed any updates or security patches after August 2024, but it will still get Android 14 later this year and could be a good pick if you're just looking for a phone to tide you over until the next generation of Pixel phones lands.

Pixel 5a front and back
Google Pixel 5a
Runner-up

Better battery and bigger screen

The Pixel 5a is a reasonable budget pick for folks who prefer its classic design. It boasts a larger display, a longer battery life, and a decent camera system. However, it's now three years old and nearing the end of the road for software updates.