Google Pixel 6a

[casper_uk]

I received confirmation I will get the £90 for Pixel 3A recycle so pleased with that.

I'm happy enough with the 6A. I'm not a big phone user though, don't do mobile gaming. I like a good camera and the Google ecosystem although I think I would get a lot of that on any android phone.

The Asus Zenfone 9 seems to be getting good reviews, but mostly about the battery - I must be the only person not bothered about battery I have a charger at home, its charges it, when I go to bed has 50% left. The end. If it needed more at work I'd buy a charger for work. Also the end. I am interested in the smaller sized phones though.

I miss the chin coz frankly I have no idea how to operate a phone with gestures

I picked a boring case, might put some stickers on it.

Confirmed £90 for my 3a today also, very happy! I am really enjoying the 6a, it seems so much faster, with a much better battery. I can go 2 days easily before charging it now. I turned gestures off, it's similar to the 3a now (they call it 3 button navigation on the 6a).

 

[keyser van someone]

Thanks peeps, yes found the 3 button navigation buttons under accessibility settings. Solid phone, it's just missing that sweet 90/120Hz display (never owned a phone with that yet) but I expect that will be in the 7A.

 

[kona786]

Thanks peeps, yes found the 3 button navigation buttons under accessibility settings. Solid phone, it's just missing that sweet 90/120Hz display (never owned a phone with that yet) but I expect that will be in the 7A.

I'm not so sure.

I reckon high refresh will be reserved for the mid and top tier.

 

[AndyCr15]

The Nothing Phone 1 is £399 and has a 120hz screen. I think screens are getting better and cheaper all the time...

 

[kona786]

The Nothing Phone 1 is £399 and has a 120hz screen. I think screens are getting better and cheaper all the time...

Nothing isn't Google. Google exchanged HFR for a flagship SoC.

High refresh is on the redmi 10 budget phone from last year. Made no difference to Google's decision.

 

[AndyCr15]

No, I'm just saying I think it's coming. Others moved that way, I expect Google will, especially as 120hz becomes more a standard.

 

[LiE]

No, I'm just saying I think it's coming. Others moved that way, I expect Google will, especially as 120hz becomes more a standard.

Could be in the 7a.

 

[unwashed potato!]

No, I'm just saying I think it's coming. Others moved that way, I expect Google will, especially as 120hz becomes more a standard.

Spoken like a true nerd

In the real world, not one person I know, even some what techie people, know what a scene refresh rate is.

I imagine Google are aware of this.

 

[AndyCr15]

In the real world, not one person I know, even some what techie people, know what a scene refresh rate is.

They wouldn't know what 30 frames per second or 60 frames per second means? Or which is better? No one needs to know the detail really, but people want nice-looking screens. I doubt they could explain (or know what) HDR is either, but show them two screens, one with and one without and they would likely pick the one with. It's about the result, not how it's done.

 

[unwashed potato!]

but show them two screens

which doesn't happen lets be honest.

this is what happens. they know 120 is a higher number than 60, but they don't know the difference.

they know that £300 is a lower number than £400, and they do know the difference.

they know that the cpu is important, and they know what a good photo looks like.

if someone says, the refresh rate of the screen is better on this one, but on this other one, it takes better photos and has a better cpu, google know which phone people will pick.

us sexy nerds care about these things for good reason, but not one single person i know, other than my nerd friends, care about refresh rates, or even then, probably couldn't understand why it matters.

 

[AndyCr15]

But that's not my point, to compare them. My point was, like you say 'they know a good photo' they also know a good screen... it's actually one of the most obvious things when you try a phone in a shop. More so than a good camera.

it takes better photos and has a better cpu

I personally think you've tripped yourself on your own argument. I don't think they will know what the CPU is or that a Tensor is better or worse than a Snapdragon 778.... you think they would?

 

[unwashed potato!]

But that's not my point, to compare them. My point was, like you say 'they know a good photo' they also know a good screen... it's actually one of the most obvious things when you try a phone in a shop. More so than a good camera.

yes but all screens are good. a viewer will see it's brightness/vividness, not that it refreshes slightly faster is my point.

even when apple made their "retina" display, they dumbed it down for good reason as saying it has a brightness of 1000 gaziilion wont mean anything, or a pixel density of 2.5 etc.

the pixel density is a good example of something that will too be nothing to everyone. they know that the number 5 is higher than the number 4. but they don't know any difference and what a pixel density of 4 means to them over what a pixel density of 5 means to them, just the same as a refresh rate.

I personally think you've tripped yourself on your own argument. I don't think they will know what the CPU is or that a Tensor is better or worse than a Snapdragon 778.... you think they would?

nope i don't think they would. i wasn't clear.

they know that a better cpu is important. they know when they get told, this has a better cpu, what that means for them. if you tell someone on the street, this has a faster cpu then your current phone, any ideas what the beenfit of that is, they will say "it runs games faster, it loads app quicker, it starts up faster". they don't know the details, but know what importance of a cpu.

if you tell them the refresh rate of the screen is faster, and ask them what that means for them, they will at best say "it loads apps faster"and you will then say actually no it doesn't, that's the cpu, then you ask again what it means to them, and they wont have anything to come back with.

 

[kona786]

There's a guy who just spent £5k on a gaming pc at work and he doesn't care about high refresh on his phone or pc.

Literally out of 100 people I know only maybe 3 or 4 care about it.


The 6a is aimed at this lot.

 

[unwashed potato!]

exactly.

leave the refresh rates for us sexy nerds, while the general puny public are happy with the 40MP cameras thinking that means better photos

 

[AndyCr15]

yes but all screens are good. a viewer will see it's brightness/vividness, not that it refreshes slightly faster is my point.

First point, twice as fast isn't slightly faster tbf. Second, apparently, some people really can see the difference between 60hz and 120hz.... (i'm not one of them) I'm saying they might notice how nice and smooth the screen is compared to their own phone in their hand.

they know when they get told, this has a better cpu

And my point being they know the screen is important and they get told the 6a's isn't as good as the Nothing Phone 1's... it's the same situation. The difference being, they might actually be able to see it unlike a different CPU.

There's a guy who just spent £5k on a gaming pc at work and he doesn't care about high refresh on his phone

Are you sure? He spent that and doesn't care about FPS? If he spends that much and doesn't know FPS is useless without the screen refresh rate then tbh he's one of those people with more money than sense, surely?

Tbh, we're going round in circles now. Both sides will keep saying the same thing, so I'll just bow out of this thread now to save myself a week of arguing

I do agree that most people won't care, but they also won't care what the CPU is, they will just want an Android or an Apple and that's as much as they need to know. All I'm saying is some (average) people will be able to see the difference and want the 120hz. Btw, I'm not one of them, I was just saying some will and I expect Google will go that direction soon.

(Out of interest, in my last survey, which was 2017 so quite old, more people rated screen important (87%) than internal specs (77%) when looking to buy a new phone. It was in fact the most important thing, with OS update speed being second at 83%)

 

[kona786]

@AndyCr15

Yes he plays sim racing on VR and sees no real difference over 60hz.

And as for smartphone, ask Joe public and they'll trade the high refresh screen for more battery life. That's how important 90/120hz is to them.

It's reserved for the enthusiast and the 6a isn't that type of phone.

High refresh is like the 4k Bluray market. It's a niche.

 

[Zaphan58]

Got mine the other day and so far liking it. A nice upgrade on my old Huawei. What cases have people gone for? I can't find much that goes well with the Sage.

 

[LiE]

Got mine the other day and so far liking it. A nice upgrade on my old Huawei. What cases have people gone for? I can't find much that goes well with the Sage.

I've ordered a Bellroy case (https://bellroy.com/products/leathe...racotta&material=leather&size=pixel6a#slide-0) as that looks smart, but I'm also tempted by this minimal case https://phnx.shop/en-gb/collections...cts/pixel-6a-mnml-case?variant=40138541432911 (with code 9to5google)

Mine came today



Taking some adjusting going from an iPhone, muscle memory is a hard thing to over come. Like scrolling these forums feels very different.

Edit:

Case has arrived, lovely fit and finish, buttons feel spot on.

 

[n30_mkii]

Any recommendations on a screen protector? Mixed reviews on most on the rain forest. Thanks

 

[LiE]

The Pixel 6a is being returned. Really frustrating because it’s a excellent phone in many ways let down by some fundamentals.

This leaves me with no viable Pixel phone, as I’m doubtful the 7 will be any different. I’m also only interested in stock android and a good camera so that doesn’t leave me any other Android phones.

My current options are basically go for an iPhone 14 Pro and run Google apps or hope that Google doesn't half arse the Pixel 7.

FWIW, here are the things that I didn’t like about the 6a:

• On cellular data and browsing the web the phone got very warm.
• The adaptive brightness is too slow. If I take my phone from my pocket and it’s bright out, I can’t see the screen for what feels like an age while the brightness adjusts to a level where I can see the screen.
• The edges of the plastic back aren’t flush with the side of the phone in several places meaning it’s quite sharp when holding the phone.
• The gap between the bezel and the frame is bigger than normal so it collects a lot of dust.
• The grill for the ear piece is huge and collects a lot of dust.
• The screen doesn’t feel as responsive I’m used to.
• There are tons of random micro shutters and lags in various places. Some of the animations are junk.

So 6a is boxed up ready to return and I’m on my backup iPhone 6s which has a 3 hour battery