Google Pixel 10a review: A phone Google should have skipped

Pros:

Cons:

Rating: 3.5/5

Price: Rs 49,999

Did Google really need to launch the Pixel 10a? That was my first thought when I saw the phone’s spec-sheet. Actually, that was my second thought. The first was whether they mailed me the wrong spec-sheet as it largely looked like a carbon copy of that of the Pixel 9a.

Over the past couple of years, we have seen brands like Apple and Samsung release more or less the same phone with a faster processor with an incremental model number. With the Pixel 10a, Google thought of bumping up the difficulty level of the spot-the-difference contest by not changing the SoC either.

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So what has really changed here, if anything? Let’s find out across all the key parameters.

Google Pixel 10a - Design: Barely any noticeable changes but still good

The phones look pretty much identical to its predecessor with just one minor change at the back. The tiniest of bumps around the camera island present in the Pixel 9a has been completely flattened here.

While it doesn’t look bad, the little protection that the camera glass would have had when keeping the phone on its back is gone now. Another change being the SIM card slot has moved from the bottom edge to the left edge.

The only real visual differentiators in the Pixel 10a are the new colour options it launched in. Call it irony but we got the Obsidian (black) variant for review - the only colour variant common to the Pixel 9a and 10a. That probably got my creative juices flowing even more.

Similarities aside, the phone still feels good in hand with a solid build and premium finish. If anything, the plastic back feels slightly sturdier than the Pixel 9a.

Google Pixel 10a - Display: Same as the 9a but marginally brighter (on paper)

The Pixel 10a uses the same 6.3-inch 120 Hz OLED display as its predecessor with HDR compliance but with a slightly higher peak brightness (3000 nits vs 2700 nits). For all practical purposes, the performance is exactly the same.

The screen is bright and calibrated quite well for colour accuracy. The screen protection has been upgraded from Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to 7i. The conspicuously thick bezels around the display continue to be present, which we now believe is a signature design element than a design flaw.

Google Pixel 10a - Hardware and performance: Same old hardware that throttles more

Pixel 10a uses the same processing hardware used in the Pixel 9a - the biggest reason for the uproar against this phone. We are talking about the Google Tensor G4 SoC, which is still fine for a sub-40K phone but not one priced at 50K.

Let me explain why. Before the Pixel 10 series, all the phones in a given series used to have the same SoC. For instance, the Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Pixel 9a would both be powered by a Tensor G4. The Pixel ‘a’ model typically launches six months after the main series, and using a six months old processor is perfectly acceptable. But using a year and a half old chip with the same launch price is not.

Pixel 9a benchmark scores

As expected, the benchmark scores of the Pixel 10a are in the same ballpark as that of the Pixel 9a but with one unexpected issue.

At launch, the performance of the Google Tensor chips is known to throttle a lot as the temperature rises. They tend to get a lot more stable with a handful of software updates over the next few months. That is exactly what we observed with the Tensor G4, with the stability going up from less than 60 per cent to 75 per cent in six months from the Pixel 9 to the Pixel 9a.

Pixel 10a benchmark scores

For some inexplicable reason, the Tensor G4 in the Pixel 10a has a stability of less than 60 per cent, which was the case with the G4 over eighteen months ago. How did the company mess this up? The only reason I can think of is Google altered the thermal dissipation hardware on this phone and seems to have made it worse. I hope that’s not the case and that the throttling reduces after a software update or two.

Google Pixel 10a - Camera: Absolutely no change here

Barring the Pixel 10, none other phones in this series have seen a change in the camera setup from their respective predecessors. Given the theme here, the Pixel 10a sees no change either. You get the same 48MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and a 13MP ultra-wide camera with fixed focus and 120 degrees FOV at the back and a 13MP selfie camera up front with an ultra-wide lens.

The performance is exactly the same as that on the Pixel 9a. The only change here is software based, and specifically the addition of Camera Coach, an AI-powered assistant that provides real-time guidance for taking better photos for those who need it. It is a good feature to have, but I am sure it will land up on the Pixel 9a sooner rather than later.

Google Pixel 10a - Software: One year of additional OS and security updates

Incidentally, we had done a long-term review of the Pixel 9a after it received the Android 16 update. The Pixel 10a has Android 16 out of the box, which makes the two phones pretty much identical on the software front now. However, the 10a will receive one additional major Android update since it launched a year later as compared to the 9a. Both phones will continue getting updates for seven years from their respective launch dates, which is great.

As one expects from a Pixel phone, you get the latest and cleanest Android experience without any bloatware or ads, and with the newer Material 3 Expressive design language. The user interface is fluid, totally lag free and void of any major bugs.

You get a handful of AI tools for object and speech recognition, language translation, along with ‘circle to search’ and the popular Google apps that are seamlessly integrated. There is a lot to explore and more features keep getting added month on month via Pixel Drop.

Google Pixel 10a - Battery: Same as the 9a with extra-slow charging as before

The Pixel 10a uses the same 5100 mAh battery as the Pixel 9a but with one notable upgrade (on paper). It now supports 30W faster USB-PD charging as opposed to 23W on its predecessor.

But do not rejoice just yet as it takes five minutes ‘more’ than the Pixel 9a to take the battery from empty to full, and that means two full hours. I don’t think it actually draws 30W but things may improve a bit (and they better) after a software update or two. However, keep your expectations firmly in check.

Even the far more expensive Google flagship phones in the Pixel 10 series are known to have extremely slow charging speeds. So we do not expect the company to grace their entry-level offering with a superpower (called normal charging speed on most Chinese brands).

But Google seriously needs to make some major changes in this department and fast. Well, we keep saying that in every Pixel phone review; hope springs eternal after all.

Google Pixel 10a - Price and verdict: A decent phone that serves no real purpose yet

The Google Pixel 10a is priced at Rs 49,999 in India for the 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage variant and is covered by a one year warranty. Now going back to the very first line of the review - did Google really need to launch the Pixel 10a? Yes, but not like this. What is the point in launching the same phone again after a year, and when that phone very much exists and sells for 10K less? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to understand the logic when the great minds in the company approved this.

If the brand wanted to use a generation-old SoC on the Pixel ‘a’ phones going ahead, they could have waited another year and used the Tensor G5 on the Pixel 11a in 2027 while the rest of Pixel 11 lineup got the G6. Google should have simply skipped the Pixel 10a and so should you while the Pixel 9a continues to sell for less than 40K or till the price of the 10a drops to that level.