6. It fits perfectly in my pocket
Here’s how much I trust the durability of the Pixel 8a: I haven’t even ordered a case for it yet. I just slide it into my pocket and go. The engineering team wanted the 8a to be the most durable, sustainable A-series yet so it lasts for as long as possible — excellent news given the A-series phone now comes with seven years of software support. The upgraded matte back feels very secure in my hand (and my fingerprints don’t leave a mark!). The smaller size helps with this, too. The 6.1-inch phone feels just right in my hand and slides nicely into my pocket, so I don’t need to worry about it falling out.
7. There’s plenty of storage
Generally speaking, when you opt for an A-series phone, you’re getting a smaller, less expensive phone with less storage. That’s a problem for me, because I do indeed like a pocket-friendly phone (see above!) but I also take way too many photos and videos. Now that the Pixel 8a comes in a new 256GB option in Obsidian, the many, many timelapse videos and astrophotography photos I take (and can’t bring myself to part with or forget about) don’t have to get deleted just to save some room.
8. It makes scanning so, so easy
No scanner, no problem. During my first week with the Pixel 8a, I found myself using it as a scanner quite a bit to photograph receipts, financial documents, passport photos and beyond, then save them as text or PDF documents (and this feature was added relatively recently in a Feature Drop). Once I point the camera at whatever it is I want to scan, the scan option automatically pops up to take a photo and separates the document itself from whatever is behind it. Then I can use the Clean tool and drag my finger over areas I want to fix. There’s also an option to remove shadows, which I think makes it look more official. Then I can save it to my Drive folder, download it or share right away.