And the company isn’t stopping anytime soon. Despite the success of Pixel 6, Google is adamant on keeping the tradition of releasing a Pixel A phone in the same series, marketed at more a budget audience. Hence, the Google Pixel 6A exists and has already been leaked to oblivion. We know what it looks like, what features and specs are expected, and that it’s debuting soon. But, today, we got our first glimpse of what the performance on the Pixel 6A could look like. Now that Google has Tensor, its own custom smartphone chip, it will be used to power even the budget Pixel phones, a first for both Google and Android manufactures in general. We usually only see Apple adopt this strategy of equipping its budget offering with a flagship processor, but now Google looks to do the same with Pixel 6A. Having Tensor power the mid-ranger, Pixel 6A will be able to retain the camera prowess of the more expensive Pixel 6 and churn out great performance numbers at the same time.
Geekbench results
Speaking of great performance numbers, that’s exactly what we see in the latest benchmark leak for the Pixel 6A. Earlier today, Android Headlines spotted an entry on Geekbench showing the Pixel 6A beating the standard Pixel 6 in both single-core and multi-core tests. The difference in the score was minimal but still present nonetheless, the fact that a mid-range phone would not only be able to keep up with the company’s best but actually beat it, is impressive to say the least. These slight improvements in performance could be attributed to more polished software. As we all know, Pixel 6 had problematic software at launch and Google has made great efforts to mitigate the bugs since then. Pixel 6A is expected to ship with Android 12 out of the box so that could further explain the higher scores. However, it should be noted that the Pixel 6A is reported to feature 6GB of RAM whereas the standard Pixel 6 comes with 8GB, once again making the Pixel 6A’s lead even more impressive. I should also add that since the discrepancy is so minimal, perhaps running the same test several times and averaging the score could give the standard Pixel 6 the lead, given that Pixel 6A’s higher scores were just a product of luck. Regardless, we’ll soon know if these tests really hold their weight in the real world when Google announces the phone at the Google I/O conference happening later this month.
Google Pixel 6A is coming
From previous rumors, we know that Pixel 6A supposedly features a 6.2″ Full HD+ display that is most likely locked at 60Hz. Moreover, in the battery department, the mid-ranger will be rocking a 4800mAh cell along with 128GB of non-expandable storage. As for the cameras, the hardware is not identical to the standard Pixel 6. While the Pixel 6A is expected to ship with two cameras, one of which is the same 12MP ultrawide sensor, the primary lens has been swapped out for a 12.2MP shooter instead of the 50MP found on the Pixel 6. Design-wise, the phone looks very similar to the existing Pixel 6 lineup. In fact, reports say that Google is using the exact same design for the Pixel 6A as they did for the standard Pixel 6, just with cheaper materials to cut down on the costs. You can see in the pictures below how the bezel-less front of the phone is interrupted by a hole-punch camera cutout at the top, while that camera visor at the back looks awfully familiar. No word on pricing as of yet but it will retain its place in that sub-$500 bracket.
