The Pixel 10a doesn’t have a camera, and it’s pretty cool

For years now, smartphone makers have made the camera bump on devices bigger to chase camera improvements. Even though that kind of design makes cameras better, sometimes, it creates usability issues. With the Pixel 10a, Google has taken the innovative approach of completely removing the camera bump and creating a flat phone that lies completely flat.

While this is an exciting change in the world of big camera bumpers, Google has made some major design changes with its new budget smartphone. The Pixel 9a looked very similar, with a much smaller camera bump.

I have an old black unit, but Google offers the phone in Lavender (a mix of blue and purple colors), Berry (coral), and Mist (a gray-green tone).

The 6.3-inch screen size is the same as last year’s device, but the display is now brighter at 3,000 nits. Google is using the Actua series of screens it used with other Pixel 10 series devices to make it more usable in bright conditions. The display is capable of up to a 120Hz refresh rate, but the unit comes with it set to 60Hz, so you’ll need to manually change that through the phone’s settings.

Build-wise, the Pixel 10a is on par with the Pixel 10, with a few differences. For example, the Pixel 10 has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back. The cheaper 10a has plastic on the back and Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protection on the front. The budget device also has a larger 5,100 mAh battery, compared to 4,970 mAh in the base Pixel 10. The Pixel 10 Pro XL has a 5,200 mAh battery.

There are only minor differences between the Pixel 9a, Pixel 10a, and Pixel 10, most of which have to do with performance and computing power. The most obvious hardware difference is that the budget series of phones uses the Google Tensor G4 CPU, compared to the Tensor G5 and Pixel 10. The Pixel 10 Series of phones charge at 30W via USB-C, up from the 23W charging capacity of the Pixel 9a. Wireless charging is supported at 7.5W for the Pixel 9a, 10W for the Pixel 10a, and 15W (magnetic) for the Pixel 10.

Battery charging and new charging capabilities come in handy as the battery easily lasts all day, including running your regular apps, a few hours of video watching, and light gaming. Also, the bright display makes the device a better all-around experience in different lighting conditions. Yes, the 10a has chunkier bezels than its more expensive cousins, but it doesn’t make much of a difference in day-to-day use. After all, you get a device at a lower price than a flagship.

The Pixel 10a uses the Tensor G4 chip, which was also used in the Pixel 9a. That means there are no performance benefits this year, which you might notice if you’re switching between multiple apps. Due to the chip and the 8GB RAM combination, the Pixel 10a cannot use the updated Gemini Nano model, which means it has fewer AI features on the device than the Pixel 10a series.

The feature list not available on the Pixel 10a includes notification summaries, the Pixel screenshot app, Magi Cue (which gives you suggestions across apps like Gmail, Messages, and Maps), call notes, and on-device call translation.

The phone features a 48-megapixel primary camera and a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera, the same as last year’s device. The main camera is good for most situations, even in low light. But given the old and small sensor in ultrawide, it tends to lose some details. Also, it doesn’t have autofocus.

The Pixel 10a has an AI camera trainer feature that can guide you to capture an object. This feature adjusts the frame of the shot to make sure the object fits better in the picture. There’s also Auto Best Take, which combines photos to create the best shot of a group of photos, which is useful when taking group photos. The phone also has support for super-res zoom up to 8x, but the processing and quality is not the same as the Pixel 10, which offers up to 100x zoom with this feature.

Notably, some AI features may reach the Pixel 10a via Pixel Drop, as Google often manages to activate them on older models.

Google offers seven years of software updates for this device, which is essential to get both operating system updates, as well as feature drops and security updates. Although this is not a Pixel 10a exclusive, the phone has a quick sharing feature that works with AirDrop. This means I can simply transfer photos, as I did in this story, to my MacBook with a few taps. Previously, I had to connect the Pixel 10a to my MacBook via a USB-C cable.

At $499, good battery life, a bright display, and fast charging are the pluses of the Pixel 10a. At this price, the phone offers good value for money with a simple and flat design. However, if you’ve had last year’s Pixel 9a, there’s no reason to switch. Also, the $499 Nothing 4a Pro offers tough competition to Google’s budget device with better specifications, such as a large and bright screen, a capable Qualcomm processor, a dedicated telephoto lens, and a fast 50W charging speed.