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The new Google Pixel 7a is a pretty great sub-$500 smartphone. But one thing that most people will be wondering about is, how many updates will it actually get?
Well, the good news is that Google has committed to three years of OS upgrades (that means that it’ll get Android 14, 15 and 16) and five years of security updates.
Now is that as good as Apple or Samsung? Not really. But looking at the price of this phone, this might be the longest software support for any phone under $500. Which is definitely good to see.
Google’s Pixel 7a is a stunning, cheap smartphone
The Pixel a-series has always been really popular for Google. And that’s because it offers up a lot of its flagship features, at a lower price. The Pixel 7a is now $499 (or $549 with the mmWave model), which is $50 more than the previous model was, but there are quite a few upgrades here.
For instance, the Pixel 7a has three new cameras on-board this time. Really the first camera upgrade since the Pixel 3a. So this time around, there’s a new 64-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera. Google has also added in a 90Hz display, after all of the crying about the Pixel 6a having a 60Hz display.
On top of that, Google has bumped the RAM up to 8GB here, and added wireless charging. Now wired and wireless charging is still kind of slow, but it is available. It’s pretty tough to find a phone this cheap with faster than 18W charging. As well as 7.5W wireless charging.
It has a 6.1-inch FHD+ gOLED display this year, with the Tensor G2 processor. That’s the same processor as the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. It also has a 4385mAh capacity battery inside. So all around it’s a pretty good phone that will stay updated for at least 3 years.