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If you’re using flagship Sony earbuds and headphones like the WH-1000XM6 and the WF-1000XM6, the Google Pixel 10a is the best new budget device you can get because it’s the easiest way to get Android Head Tracking especially in the US. The other brands that do support it are Samsung and Sony, but Samsung limits head tracking to their own Galaxy Buds, so that’s not great, and Xperia phones aren’t widely available, you can only get them in a few select countries.

So if you’re a Sony user on a tight budget but you want real Dolby 5.1 cinema sound, not just regular spatial audio, and you want head tracking watching stuff on Netflix and Google TV, the Pixel 10a is an easy choice.

Also the fact that since it’s a Google device, you’re going to be the first to get all the important features and security updates. The most recent example is Quick Share to Apple AirDrop!

It used to be that if you wanted to AirDrop something from an Android device to iPhone, you’ll need some app to do it, but Google recently built it into Android’s Quick Share feature, and as of now, it’s exclusive to Pixel 9 and 10 series devices. And it works both ways - you can send, and you can receive AirDrops to your Pixel 10a also from an iOS device.

The Pixel 10a’s build quality is top notch for a budget device. It doesn’t feel cheap, and they kept pretty much everything from the Pixel 9a, with the same substantial feel with no camera bump so it’s completely flat on the table. And their cameras are decent also if you just need something basic.

Camera Performance

And I’m not just talking about AI camera features like Magic Eraser, Add me, Best Take, and so on. I’m saying it’s decent because even if it’s not that impressive specs-wise, for example, ultrawide and front camera sensors are only 13MP, and it doesn’t do telephoto - you are still getting smooth, contrasty pictures. The only thing I don’t really like about its camera is this bloom effect it applies at 8x digital crop. Looks dreamy but I prefer a bit more sharpness.

For videos, it doesn’t have 8K video so it only shoots up to 4K 60FPS, and I have to say that videos only look good up to 1x. Beyond that, you get fuzzy quality typical of digital crop video.

👉 View the video quality here.

Sound Quality

As for the sound quality of the Pixel 10a’s stereo speakers, they do sound pretty decent, both left and right channels are volume matched and sound pretty loud. The tuning is more focused on the midrange and there’s not a lot of low end, but audio still sounds pretty full and rich, good for music, games and videos.

👉🏻 Have a listen to the sound quality samples

Cons

What I’m not too happy about is that it still uses the older Tensor G4 processor, not the current-gen G5, and I find that very interesting because that’s not what they did with the previous gen budget models. They usually got the latest Tensor chip of that day, so maybe they’re admitting that the G5 wasn’t such a big leap over G4, even if it was using the newer 3nm process from TSMC, so why not save a bit on cost and use the older chip instead.

Anyway, running benchmarks on 3DMark using the Wild Life Extreme test, it’s averaging about 16fps and is far from the top devices in terms of performance. That’s with one of the most graphically intensive benchmarks! So if you’re playing with medium settings on most games, they’re going to be okay, just don’t expect top tier frame rates.

Conclusion

So the Pixel 10a is not going to wow people in terms of specs, and it is a very competitive landscape when it comes to budget devices, but there are tangible reasons to get it that have little to do with specs, and everything to do with the fact that this device is the definitive Google experience at a lower cost, and that if you’re using Sony headphones, the most accessible way to get Head Tracking with actual Dolby 5.1.

Check latest price:
Google Pixel 10a - https://amzn.to/4cdJt5M

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