Google's new Pixel 8a.
This story was updated on May 10th. Update below.
Google is continuing its run of aggressive offers on its hardware with the release of the latest Pixel 8a. But are the pre-order deals worth it, or should you wait for the inevitable price drop?
As it stands, Google is giving away a $100 store credit with all Pixel 8a pre-orders and if you have a Google One subscription, you will be able to claim 10% back in store credit.
The company is also offering some respectable trade-in deals with every Pixel 8a purchase. If you already own a Pixel phone, Google will give you $210 for the Pixel 7 Pro and $200 for the Pixel 7a. But owners of older Samsung phones get a much better deal, with the Galaxy S22 Ultra netting a decent $320.
That is a good price considering the S22 Ultra was released the same year as the Pixel 7 Pro. Although, with the Samsung phone’s raft of new AI abilities, you might want to keep it.
Google's best trade-in deals are unsurprisingly saved for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, both netting the maximum value of $499. The iPhone 13 (128GB) is also being traded for up to $250, which is still more than the Pixel 7 Pro or the Pixel 7A—reflecting the reality of which brands hold their value in the long term.
As ever, it’s never worth trading a recent high-end flagship phone for a slightly newer mid-range handset. These also appear to be temporarily enhanced trade-in prices because Google says these offers end on May 19th. Buyers have 30 days to send in their device for trade-in, and the credit will be issued as a refund on the card used for the Pixel 8a purchase.
Elsewhere, the Pixel 8a product page has more than a few prompts about signing up for Google One, the company’s subscription storage service that (in some territories) bundles in a free Fitbit and Nest Aware subscription.
If you pre-order the Pixel 8a, Google will give you three months of Google One with 100GB for free, three months of YouTube Premium for free, and six months of Fitbit Premium for free.
But the real deals are saved for Google’s Pixel Tablet. The company is offering serious money for very old tablets as trade-in value. For example, a 7th generation iPad, which was released in the glorious pre-pandemic year of 2019, will net you $399 off the Pixel Tablet, which itself costs $399. Over on Reddit, Pixel tablet buyers are raving about the “absolutely crazy” savings.
“It's absolutely crazy. I just traded in [a] 7th gen iPad that I bought for $360 in March 2020 for $400,” one Redditor said. Others have also noted high trade-in prices for sixth-generation iPads and 1st generation iPad Pros.
Google says that these enhanced trade-in prices will last until May 20th. It’s also no coincidence that the company launched this offer on the day that Apple announced its new iPads—a clear signal that Google is (for now) taking its tablet division seriously.
If you have an older iPad sitting around, or you can pick one up for cheap somewhere, and you’re looking for a new Android tablet, this is a solid deal. But, for the Pixel 8a, I would advise patience because that headline price will drop dramatically over the next few months, if Google’s repeated discounts of the flagship Pixel 8 range are anything to go by.
If you have Google One, you will still be able to claim 10% off in the future. Straight money-off a handset is better than the $100 store credit Google is offering Pixel 8a buyers right now.
Pushing Google One, combined with the enhanced trade-in prices (a tactic straight out of Samsung’s playbook), is part of the company’s new aggressive pricing strategy. Google’s hardware is simply a gateway to a more lucrative revenue stream for the company, absorbing you into its ecosystem via as many subscriptions as possible. Read more on that here.
Update May 10th: Pixel 8a buyers will get an instant update when they first boot up their phones, which also happens to be a Pixel 8 exclusive: AI generated wallpapers.
The feature is currently exclusive to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, but a system update spotted on Verizon’s website, by Android Authority, shows that the feature is making its way to the Pixel 8a. This will come via the May 2024 security patch, which was announced on the same day as the Pixel 8a.
Android Authority points out that reviewers tested the phone with an earlier build of Android 14, so it looks like Pixel 8a buyers will have to update the phone when they set it up to get the latest patch.
AI generated wallpapers are exactly what they sound like. Users have the choice to create wallpapers based on limited prompts, which will then generate a new image to use as a background.
This is not an on-device AI feature, the necessary processing to create the images is done in the cloud by Google’s servers, so there’s no reason for it to be a Pixel-exclusive skill. But the company likely wants to maintain a clear differential between its Pixel phones and other Android handsets (although some Samsung devices also support AI generated wallpapers).
It looks like Google’s other headline AI features like Circle to Search, Magic Editor and Call Assist will also make it over to the 8a. Google’s promise to keep the phone updated for seven years with OS and security patches, alongside feature drops, likely means that more AI tools will land on the phone down the line.
