The best Google Pixel 7a alternatives: 5 phones to consider before you buy

The Pixel 7a became official on May 10, 2023. A year later, its successor has arrived.  While it’s no longer the latest and the greatest, the Pixel 7a is still one of the best mid-rangers you can buy but only if you can find it on sale and in stock. Right now it isn’t available directly from Google, though Google Fi still offers the device. Amazon also stocks it, typically at a discount of around $75 over retail.

Looking for a good budget phone but not sure if you still are interested in a Pixel 7a in 2024? In this guide, we break down all the best options for those who are looking for an affordable yet powerful smartphone. Be sure to also check out our Pixel 7a review for our verdict.

Update (May 27, 2024): This post was originally published on May 10th of 2023, but has been updated to address the new Pixel 8a.

The best Google Pixel 7a alternatives

Pixel 8a

The Google Pixel 8a is the most obvious alternative to a Pixel 7a in 2024 and starts at $499. The Pixel 8a makes the move to the Tensor G3, finally addressing the Pixel A’s heating woes. A lot remains the same from the Pixel 7a, including the camera.

While last year’s Pixel 7a only has a 90Hz refresh rate, the Pixel 8a finally makes the jump to 120Hz. It also features wireless charging, although it’s limited to 7.5W wireless charging speeds.

You’ll find this to be a near-premium handset in every department and in many ways, it’s just the Pixel 8 with a slightly cheaper body and camera.

It’s also worth mentioning the battery has seen a slight upgrade going from 4,385mAh to 4,492mAh. In reality the battery life should be pretty similar to the Pixel 7a, which means it  can make it through a whole days use with no real issues.

Overall, we believe this is Google’s most polished mid-range phone to date.

What makes it stand out

• Great value: The Pixel 7a isn’t the cheapest phone you can buy, but it does offer the most value for the money. It has features and performance that you’ll only find on much more expensive devices.
• Excellent camera performance: With an easy-to-use camera app and Google’s proprietary smarts, the Pixel 7a is easily among the best camera phones you can get in this price range.
• Powerful Tensor chip: Previously only found in the Pixel 7 lineup, the Tensor G2 chip gives this budget phone flagship-level performance.
• Clean software: Coming straight from Android’s source, the Pixel 6a’s software is as clean as it gets. Plus, it will get additional software features for years to come.
• One-handed use: In an age when most phones are massive, the Pixel 7a keeps it manageable. It’s comfortable to use with one hand, easily pocketable, and highly portable.

Samsung Galaxy A54 5G

The Galaxy A54 5G is one of the most obvious rivals to the Pixel family. The Galaxy A54 5G packs a design almost as premium as a true Galaxy S flagship. Previously it was on sale for as little as $350, but right now it’s back up to $449. While this isn’t quite as good, it’s still a decent price for what you get.

The Galaxy A54 5G is powered by an in-house Exynos 1380 with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. While this chip isn’t as powerful as the Tensor G2, we found it performed at near flagship levels in most basic tasks, and even with gaming and other productivity, it managed to handle quite well. One nice extra you won’t find with a Pixel is microSD expansion. On the flip side, the Galaxy A54 5G has an amazing display. The 6.4-inch panel gets sufficiently bright and has a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. While it’s not quite as good as a flagship panel, it comes very close.

Google and Samsung are both leaders in mobile photography, and while the Pixel 7a looks great, the Galaxy A54 5G doesn’t disappoint either. Samsung’s kitchen-sink approach to features is well alive in the camera app. The photos were solid, too, with decent color accuracy and detail. Until we spend more time with the two phones side-by-side, it’s hard to say which has the better camera, but both phones offer some of the best photography you’ll find in the mid-range.

It’s a known fact that Pixel phones aren’t great when it comes to battery life, but that’s not an issue for the A54 5G, thanks to its hefty 5,000mAh battery. During our tests, we found it could easily make it through an entire day’s use with change to spare. In our review, we’d typically go to bed with at least 35% battery.

iPhone SE (2022)

If you’re exclusively an Android user, the iPhone SE (2022) probably isn’t for you, and you might be better off with another option on the list. For those that are open to another platform, the iPhone SE (2022) packs a ton of features and performance into a surprisingly well-priced iPhone.

The iPhone SE (2022) is an odd device, shoving modern-day specs into a basically decade-old design. Unless you love small phones, you’re not buying this one for the looks or its tiny 4.7-inch display. What you do get is a powerful Apple A15 Bionic processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. While the storage space is paltry, don’t let 4GB of RAM fool you. Apple’s optimizations mean you need a lot less RAM than you do with an Android device. As for the actual SoC? The A15 Bionic easily keeps up with the Tensor G2 and offers a similar flagship-quality experience at a mid-range price.

Just like Samsung and Google, Apple is known for its photography chops. Unfortunately, Apple’s mid-ranger just doesn’t hold up to this promise. Its single 12MP shooter is fine for basic images with decent enough detail — in good lighting. It’s not that the iPhone SE (2022) has a bad camera for a mid-range phone; it’s just that all the options that came before it on the list manage to give us a better photography experience.

Just like the Pixel 7a, the iPhone SE (2022) isn’t a battery champion, but it can make it through a whole day with at least a few percent to spare. On the bright side, it’s one of the only mid-range phones outside the Pixel 7a to have wireless charging. Like the former device, it’s only 7.5W Qi charging, but still it’s a nice extra few phones offer at this price.

Motorola Edge (2023)

Motorola has been on a roll recently, with popular devices like the Motorola Edge Plus (2023) and the Motorola Razr Plus. While both of these phones look great, maybe you’re looking for a cheaper option. The Motorola Edge (2023) is about $100 more than the Pixel 7a, but at least it’s still a pretty affordable device when you consider its specs. It’s also often on sale for the same or less than the Pixel 7a.

Like its predecessor, this isn’t a small phone, thanks to its beefy 6.6-inch pOLED with a refresh rate of 144Hz and peak brightness of up to 1,200 nis. Overall this is a good display and a notable upgrade from last year’s model with much better color accuracy.

Under the hood, you’ll find a Mediatek Dimensity 7030 SoC, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Performance is actually quite good with this chip, making it more than capable of running all your favorite apps and games.  There’s also a 4,400mAh battery that’s more than enough to get through a day and a half on a single charge with moderate usage. Even heavy usage should make it through a day with no trouble at all. Once it does get low, you can quickly charge things back up with impressive 68-watt wired charging speeds that are many times better than the Pixel 7a.

The Motorola Edge (2023) has a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera. While they can take decent enough photos, especially in good lighting, the experience is much less impressive than the Pixel 7a. If you are really into photography, this phone might not be the best fit.

Google Pixel 8

The Pixel 8 could be the perfect Pixel 7a alternative if you like what Google is offering but want fewer compromises than you’ll get with the Pixel A series. Best of all, you’ll also get the improved Tensor G3 processor that doesn’t seem to have the same level of overheating issues as the processor found in the 7a and the Pixel 7. Beyond the SoC, you’ll find higher storage options up to 256GB, a nicer 6.2-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and several new AI features. Battery life should also be a bit better with the Pixel 8.

Of course, what really makes the Pixel 8 stand apart from the Pixel 7a is a more premium glass and metal design, as well as a more powerful camera package. You’ll find a few other differences, like faster wireless charging and IP68 water and dust resistance versus IP67 on the Pixel 7a.

If you don’t mind spending a few hundred more, the Pixel 8 is a much more powerful phone than the Pixel 7a and its seven year OS update policy will ensure it keeps running smoothly for many years to come.

Nothing Phone 2

The Nothing Phone 2 is a bit more expensive at $599, making it priced more similarly to the Pixel 7 and is $150 more than the Pixel 7a. Still, if you can spend a bit extra, this is a pretty decent Pixel 7a alternative. Depending on your variant, you’ll get either 8 or 12GB of RAM and storage options as high as 512GB. There’s a much faster processor here than you’d get with the Pixel 7a, as the Nothing Phone 2 comes equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.

The camera on the Nothing Phone 2 isn’t bad per say, but it’s nowhere near what you’d get with the Pixel 7a. On the bright side, you get a bigger display at 6.7 inches, and it has other advantages, including a 120Hz variable refresh rate and 1,600 nits peak brightness. The battery on the Nothing Phone 2 is also vastly superior, at 4,700mAh. This is a phone capable of making it through a day and a half, while the Pixel 7a struggles to make it through a full day.

The Glyph is another reason to consider the Nothing Phone 2. The somewhat gimmicky set of lights on the back makes the phone stand out in a crowd, even more so than the Pixel 7a’s unique design. They also have legit uses for setting timers, making custom flash patterns for contacts, and more.