As Google has unveiled its new affordable flagship with the Pixel 10a, we’re keen to see how it compares to the two year old Pixel 8a.
So whether you’re still using the Pixel 8a and are debating whether or not to upgrade, or you’re on a tight budget and are looking for the best mid-range phone for less, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve compared the specs of the newly announced Pixel 10a to the Pixel 8a to help you decide between the two Android handsets.
For a wider range of options to compare, visit our best smartphones and best Android phones guides.
Price and Availability
The Pixel 10a is currently available for pre-order and will launch officially on March 5th. It’s the cheapest of the Pixel 10 series, with a starting price of £499/$599, and comes in a choice between four colours including Lavender, Berry, Fog and Obsidian.
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208265
Now nearly two years old, the Pixel 8a is no longer available to buy directly from Google’s website although you can nab the handset from a third party retailer like Amazon. Its price varies, however at the time of writing it was available on Amazon for just over £300.
Google Tensor G4 vs Tensor G3
Although the Pixel 8a is two years older, its chip is only one generation younger than the Pixel 10a’s own. That’s because Google has fitted the Pixel 10a with the 2025 Tensor G4 chip rather than the newer Tensor G5 chip that powers the rest of the Pixel 10 series. It’s a surprising decision from Google, as the brand normally equips its entire Pixel series with the same chip.
While it’s disappointing that the Pixel 10a won’t benefit from Tensor G5, its G4 chip should offer speedy-enough and reliable performance overall. Considering we found that the Pixel 9a, which also runs on Tensor G4, absolutely flew through everything from doom-scrolling on TikTok to AI photo editing and using CapCut, we can assume the Pixel 10a will do just as well.
Instead, the Pixel 8a is powered by Tensor G3 which was also found in the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Sure it’s an older chip, but the Pixel 8a offers a smooth performance and we rarely notice any severe slowdown in everyday use. While it didn’t receive very high benchmarking scores, this shouldn’t be surprising as the focus of all Google’s Tensor chips is AI performance over sheer power.
Pixel 10a doesn’t have a rear camera bar
One of the most obvious differences between the Pixel 10a and Pixel 8a is with their respective designs. The Pixel 8a sports the divisive rectangular camera bar at its rear which, frankly, looks seriously dated when compared to the Pixel 10a and rest of the Pixel 10 line-up.
In comparison, the Pixel 10a looks like most other Androids. Instead of the pill-shaped camera bar seen in the rest of the Pixel 10 series, the Pixel 10a’s cameras sit flush with the back. It looks nice and means the handset can lay flat on a surface, but it does seem a shame to lose the camera bar that’s become synonymous with Pixel handsets. Of course, whether you lament the loss or not will come down to your own personal preference.
Pixel 10a has a larger and brighter display
Although the difference isn’t quite as big as comparing the Pixel 10 Pro vs Pixel 10 Pro XL, it’s still worth noting that the Pixel 10a has a larger display at 6.3-inches. The Pixel 8a’s display is 6.1-inches.
Whether you prefer the larger display or not really comes down to personal preference, as some want their handsets to be as small as possible while others prefer a bit more screen real estate to play with. Either way, the Pixel 8a still feels comfortable in hand and can be easily slipped into a pocket without much issue.
Plus, with a peak brightness of 3000 nits, the Pixel 10a promises to be considerably brighter than the Pixel 8a, which maxes out at just 2000 nits instead. That means the Pixel 10a should be more comfortable to use outdoors and in bright sunlight.
Pixel 10a promises much faster charging
Charging speeds have never been a strong point for Pixel handsets, with the Pixel 8a supporting a measly 18W. We found this resulted in the handset taking a whopping 115 minutes to get from 1-100%.
Fortunately, Google has made some improvements with the Pixel 10a although the phone still falls short from the likes of Poco F7 Ultra which offers support for up to 120W speeds. Instead, the Pixel 10a now supports 30W charging, the same as the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro. While we’re yet to put those speeds to the test, it’s worth keeping in mind that the Pixel 10 and 10 Pro both took between 91 to 100 minutes to fully charge. It’s an improvement, but still not particularly fast.
Both have dual rear cameras, but the Pixel 10a’s are different
Pixel handsets have long been praised as being among the best camera phones and, although the A-series doesn’t quite boast the prowess of its pricier Pro alternatives, they generally are confident snappers.
Both the Pixel 10a and Pixel 8a are equipped with two cameras at their rear. On paper, the Pixel 8a actually sounds like it has a better set-up, with a 64MP main and 13MP ultrawide while the Pixel 10a is equipped with a 48MP main and also a 13MP ultrawide. However, this isn’t actually the case.
First introduced with the Pixel 9a, the 48MP main lens has a larger sensor compared to the Pixel 8a’s (1/1.73in to 1/2.0in) which results in a boost to light, detail and colour. It also sports a wider f/1.7 aperture too.
This, combined with Google’s image processing that delivers accurate results, means the Pixel 9a is excellent at taking photos in most lighting conditions. As the camera set-up appears unchanged with the Pixel 10a, we can expect the same results here – although we would have preferred to see some tweaks.
This isn’t to say the Pixel 8a isn’t a confident snapper. We were left consistently impressed with its performance, with images retaining detail and colours appearing balanced and without any oversaturation. Plus, the Pixel 8a does include some of Google’s AI editing tools including Magic Eraser, which works well although can be quite slow at times.
Speaking of AI, the Pixel 10a also benefits from a few new AI-powered photography tools including Auto Best Take and Camera Coach which offers guidance on how to take the perfect shot, based on your current shooting environment.
Early Verdict
It’s difficult to provide an early verdict at this stage. On one hand, the Pixel 10a sports a stronger camera set-up, faster charging and a more modern looking design in comparison to the Pixel 8a. Having said that, the Pixel 8a is only one chip behind the Pixel 10a and is still a confident and reliable camera phone that’s more pocketable, thanks to its smaller stature.
We’ll have to review the Pixel 10a to provide a more conclusive verdict. However, it’s fair to say that the Pixel 10a might not quite be the major upgrade we would have expected over its older sibling.
