00:00Back in March, I put the Pixel 7a and nothing phone 2a through a photo shootout, which unanimously
00:05gave the win to Google. It wasn't that close. You could say with complete certainty that the
00:09Pixel 7a has a superior camera. But now that I have the Pixel 8a, I think it's time to find out
00:15what Google has done to make it a better camera phone photography. I love mid-range phones,
00:19even if they don't have all the bells and whistles that the best phones out there offer.
00:23That's why I've captured over 200 photos with the Pixel 8a and 7a, with a little help from
00:28my colleague to find out what year-over-year improvements, if any, are there with the Pixel 8a.
00:3310 categories, two devices, one winner. I really hope there's a big difference.
00:39As usual, I've looked over all the photos on my computer to get a better idea of their differences.
00:44On paper, the Pixel 8a pretty much reads identical to last year's 7a. That's a 64 megapixel main
00:50camera paired with a 13 megapixel ultra-wide. The only camera spec that's different is the wider
00:5596.5 degree field of view with the Pixel 8a's front-facing camera, a slight improvement over
01:00the Pixel 7a's 95 degree field of view. Let me say that for its price, the Pixel 8a takes top-notch
01:07photos. But look at the shots of the church door. They look almost identical. Both phones definitely
01:12capture the piercing red color of the church door, including the ornate details in the archways,
01:16the stonework, and I can even make out the sign posted on the right side. The only difference
01:20from what I can see is the slightly warmer color temperature of the Pixel 8a, but apart from that,
01:26they're identical. I think this one's a tie. Switching over to their ultra-wide cams,
01:30it's again a deadlock when I look at these photos of the church. Their excellent dynamic
01:34range performance brings out the details of the stonework against the bright sky and the areas
01:38of the church. I also like how they make out the details on the stained glass windows, even in the
01:43areas where it's in the shadow. But again, can I see a major improvement? This shot of the tree is
01:48an excellent way of judging their dynamic range performance. Nothing really stands out to me again
01:53because both phones do nicely to boost the exposure in the shadows, which contrasts nicely with the
01:58brighter areas I'm seeing. This one's a tie in my books, which I'm sort of disappointed about with
02:02three categories in. In my Pixel 8a review, I said it's the phone I'd actually buy with my own money,
02:08and that's true because the last two phones I've bought were under 500 bucks. So far though, I'm
02:13not seeing the development I would have hoped for. Their MSRP is the same, but given the emphasis
02:17Google has put on AI, I thought I'd see some difference by now. Okay, when I first look at
02:22these colorful beach chairs, I thought the photos looked identical. However, when I look at the shots
02:27more closely, I can tell there's a little bit more saturation with the Pixel 8a, especially the orange
02:32table set on the left and a magenta chair on the right. Since I do like the pop that the Pixel 8a
02:37shot gives off with its slightly more vibrant colors, I'll give it the win here. But really,
02:41their color science is similar. This is Richard, my colleague in the UK. The selfies he's taken for
02:47this may look similar, but the difference here is in the skin tone. The Pixel 7a has a slightly warmer
02:52composition and looks a little sharper too. Just zoom into the stitching pattern of his shirt as
02:57well as his scruff and hairline to see how it's just sharper. For this one, I'm giving it to the
03:01Pixel 7a. Now it's my turn with these portrait photos. There are hardly any major differences
03:06about them apart from my skin tone, which makes my face look shinier with the Pixel 8a. Both do a nice
03:12job of isolating me from the background, giving the edges around me that softer touch I look for
03:17with these types of photos. This one's a tie for me because it can sway either way depending on
03:22preference. Neither phone technically has a dedicated macro mode like on other phones, so you
03:27can't get super close to subjects. With these close-up shots of this pink flower, I had both
03:32phones around four inches away, but part of the challenge is getting to that minimum focal distance.
03:37The deeper pink colors with the Pixel 8a shot look better for me, but the Pixel 7a has the
03:42better exposure. Details are a toss-up, so this one can also go either way. Neither phone has a
03:48dedicated telephoto lens, so that leaves zooming to the main camera and a little help from pixel
03:53binning. Details on these images of the church steeple are more smudgy, but that's expected.
03:59I can still make out the red color in the flag along with the brickwork around the church,
04:03so this one's a deadlock. The high contrast scene of this panoramic shot seems to give both Pixel
04:09trouble, which I can tell clearly from the vertical lines that crop up, but it's more apparent with
04:13the Pixel 7a. It's still a problem for the Pixel 8a, but those lines are more subdued, and for that
04:19reason, I'm giving it to the Pixel 8a. And finally, we come to their low-light performance. I want to
04:24start off with these high contrast photos with the street lamp illuminating the walkway. They both
04:29handle the scene differently, with the Pixel 8a producing the warmer color tones that catch my
04:33attention. However, if you look at the shadowed areas of the tree in the far background, I can
04:38see that the exposure is a little bit better with the Pixel 7a, but it's not enough to make it look
04:42better in my eyes. Moving on to a more pitch dark setting, these glass jars on the shelf are
04:48shockingly visible. That's almost hard to believe since there's no ambient light directly in the
04:53scene. However, it's a close match up here because both do well to expose the entire shot evenly,
04:58but the Pixel 8a seems to look a little bit brighter with the middle jar. However, I don't
05:04think this is enough to say it's the clear winner because it's barely visible to the untrained eye.
05:09Well, this shootout turned out differently than what I expected. In a way, I'm a little
05:14disappointed. Usually there's a meaningful level of improvements, but I can't say there's any here.
05:19I was hoping that the Pixel 8a could push out a little better results. However, some of the AI
05:24features from the Pro models have made it over to the Pixel 8a, and that can make it more appealing
05:28for you. I know it does for me. For example, there's Best Take, which lets you swap faces and
05:33photos, Magic Editor, which takes the hassle of editing your photos, and also Audio Magic Eraser,
05:39which removes background noise from videos. And like I pointed out in my Pixel 8a review, which
05:43is on tomsky.com right now, it has a brighter screen, longer battery life, faster refresh rate,
05:49and a more charming design. All of this for the same price as the Pixel 7a. So what do you think?
05:54Are you disappointed like me, or do the AI features make the upgrade worth it for your photography?
05:59Let me know in the comments below. You can follow us on all socials at Tom's Guide for
06:03on-the-ground reporting and behind-the-scenes coverage, and follow me at John C. Velasco.
06:08I'll see you in my next video.
06:19you
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