Introduction

The Pixel 10a is the latest from Google’s affordable A-series smartphone. This year’s release is a bit peculiar, as it seems the company has essentially just re-released last year’s Pixel 9a under a different name.

To call the two phones “similar” would be a massive understatement. Both phones share the same hardware down to the chipset, battery, display, and cameras, and have essentially the same design, as well. So what exactly is new this year?

Truthfully, not much. On the surface, the design has been touched up slightly and now features a completely flat back. The glass on the front has been updated to something from this decade, and there are some new colors with matching cases. Rest is just some software features borrowed from the other Pixel 10 phones.

Google Pixel 10a specs at a glance:

• Body: 153.9×73.0x9.0mm, 183g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 7i), aluminum frame, plastic back; IP68 dust tight and water resistant (immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.30″ P-OLED, HDR, 120Hz, 2000 nits (HBM), 3000 nits (peak), 1080x2424px resolution, 20.2:9 aspect ratio, 422ppi.
• Chipset: Google Tensor G4 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.1 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3×2.6 GHz Cortex-A720 & 4×1.9 GHz Cortex-A520); Mali-G715 MP7.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 16, up to 7 major Android upgrades.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.7, 25mm, 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 1/3.1″, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.2, 20mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1″, 1.12µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5100mAh; 30W wired, PD3.0, 50% in 30 min, 10W wireless, Bypass charging.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi region; BT 6.0; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers; Satellite SOS support.

Is that something worth spending money on? Hell, is that even something worth spending time reading about? Well, there’s only one way to find out.

Unboxing

The Pixel 10a comes in very minimal packaging that is made entirely out of paper. Inside, the only things of note are the phone and a 2.0 spec USB-C to USB-C cable.