The Pixel 6a is a wake-up call for mid-range phones — iPhone SE we’re looking at you

Putting together a capable mid-range phone is easier said than done. For an entry-level phone, the focus is solely on covering the essentials, while high-end flagships have carte blanche to offer just about every possible feature. Mid-range phones, however, demand an intricate balance between these two extremes. They’re not cheap enough to get away with any major compromises, nor do they have the luxury to include all high-end specs. Each phone maker follows a different playbook to combat this conundrum, but the phone I’ve been using for the past two weeks may have cracked the code perfectly: Google’s Pixel 6a. 

The new Google Pixel 6a is a high-end phone in every way but its price. When I first picked it up, I was taken aback by its refined experience and build quality. It was nearly impossible to tell it’s half the cost of  premium flagship smartphones. And at a starting price of $449, it’s an exceptionally good value and hard to fault. The reason why Google’s accomplished this feat is because of how it approached its latest mid-range phone. 

For its best-selling A-series phones, Google worked from the ground up to keep the costs down and focus on replicating the signature Pixel experience with a slower Qualcomm chip. Previous A-series phones, therefore, have often felt and looked like a far cry from their superior, more expensive siblings because other than the smooth performance and camera software, they lagged behind in pretty much every regard. The Pixel 6a, on the other hand, is nearly indistinguishable from the Pixel 6 and that’s thanks to Google’s new in-house silicon, Tensor. 

Tensor affords Google the freedom to offer consistent performance throughout all price segments and channel its resources into elevating other aspects of the phone. Most importantly, Tensor allows Google to work backward from its higher-end Pixel 6 and compromise on a few supplementary and cosmetic features to bring down the price while nailing the essentials. And that’s why the Pixel 6a can go toe-to-toe with the Pixel 6.