We usually try to keep our phones 2-3 years, but even though we just got our Pixel 6a’s ~12 months ago, we’ve upgraded. I was having some oddities charging my phone sometimes and Tyla had trouble with the fingerprint sensor with one of her hands. Neither was a major problem, but I noticed that the 7a’s were on sale for $370 and our 6a’s were worth $200 on trade in. So for $170 per phone, we could upgrade. Why not? The 7a is a pretty big jump from the 6a in that it has face unlock, wireless charging, and an even better camera. We only paid $300 for our 6a’s so they basically cost us $100 for a year of use.
Even after a year of usage, the batteries on our phones were easily lasting through the day and the pictures that it took were gorgeous. I’m still a very big fan of the Pixel “a” line of phones. I would wager that if you had Pixel 7a and a flagship $800-$1000 device, most people couldn’t tell the difference. The only thing that might tip them off is screen size, but personally, I’m not a fan of the gigantic phones. I want someting that easily fits in my pocket. The 7a is exactly the same dimensions as the 6a, but don’t worry: they moved the buttons about 1 mm so you have to buy new cases.
If you’ve been on the fence about trying out the Pixel *a lineup, expect to see more sales on them as we get closer to the next batch of phones being released. I expect to see them on sale in the $300-325 range over the next few months. They’re fantastic devices and the cameras in them rival any phone at any price.
As is the norm when we upgrade devices, here’s an updated device history:
 | Sanyo SCP-4000 (?) May 2001 |
 | LG 4500 April 2004 |
 | Motorola Q September 2006 |
 | HTC Touch May 2008 |
 | HTC Touch Pro 2 January 2010 |
 | HTC Trophy June 2011 |
 | HTC 8x December 2012 |
 | Nokia Lumia Icon January 2015 |
 | Samsung Galaxy S7 October 2016 |
 | Google Pixel 4a September 2020 |
 | Google Pixel 6a March 2023 |
 | Google Pixel 7a February 2024 |