The Sundarban 
Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf
Revealed Mar 24, 2026, 5:01 PM EDT
Shimul studied pyschology as her major nonetheless by no means seemed back at her stage as soon as she graduated. She began her shuffle in faculty as a social media intern and eventually became a social media manager for publications fancy iGeeksBlog, Guiding Tech, and MySmartPrice, along with popular tech influencers fancy Rajiv Makhni.
For the initial years of her career, she focused primarily on social media except she joined MySmartPrice, the place she stepped into the world of user tech writing. That’s the place her savor for writing really took off, especially by way of the Apple ecosystem, Android smartphones, and finding suave methods and methods that make everyday lifestyles easier.
When she’s now not reading or writing, you may probably get her cooking and making clear everyone tries her delectable meals.
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I’ve always had a comfortable location for Pixel phones. In fact, they’re the simplest Android devices I actually win mad about. Samsung probably sits comfortably in 2nd place for me, nonetheless beyond that, most Android phones don’t really maintain my attention. Google’s Pixel A-series sits in the mid-range, promising the Pixel skills with out the flagship brand tag. Every year, though, the same criticism pops up. It appears to be like almost identical to its predecessor and even carries similar internals, making the launch feel less fancy a original phone and more fancy a unbiased a tiny refreshed model of the outdated-fashioned one. Honestly, I roughly agree with that.
However I wanted to sight it for myself. So, when I finally got my hands on the Google Pixel 10a, I was extraordinarily peculiar. Does it actually deserve all that criticism, or is the web legal being a tiny dramatic again? After the usage of it for about a week, I mediate I have the answer. I now know the total lot about it: the place Google absolutely will get things apt, the place the software falls short, and who this “budget-friendly” Pixel is really meant for. Because whereas the Pixel 10a tries to accomplish a lot, it also reveals a lot about Google’s mid-range strategy.
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Flat across the board
Minimalist appears to be like and a cheeky splash of color
Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf
When I first picked up the Pixel 10a, my immediate reaction was its top class feel. It has this soundless, almost titillating texture that makes you want to maintain conserving it and actually employ it, rather than achieve it down after a minute.
One factor that really stood out to me was the flat, unibody form — even the camera module follows swimsuit. There’s no bump at the back, which affords the total software a very clean, uniform watch, and I actually fancy that. Its all-flat form means it sits flawlessly on any surface, and because of that flat rear panel, it actually appears to be like slimmer than the 9mm thickness suggests.
With regards to weight, it feels neatly balanced too. Or now not it’s miles never heavy, which makes it comfortable to maintain for longer periods, whether I am watching a YouTube video or legal scrolling via Instagram, and the aspect frames’ straight contours strike a cord in me of an iPhone. That said, Google has always managed to present its phones a top class touch, which helps them stand out in the sea of Android devices.
The unit I acquired in the Fog colorway appears to be like relatively clean and understated. However honestly, the one that really caught my behold was the berry risk, a vibrant crimson-crimson shade that instantly stands out. It surely spoke to me. Don’t win me bad, though. The Fog accomplish appears to be like great too and has a more refined, elegant vibe. However if I had been selecting one for myself, I’d probably hasten along with the berry with out thinking twice. All things notion to be, the Pixel 10a appears to be like critically legal, and I am really impressed by it.
Made for the basics, nonetheless does them beautifully
Gentle the place it matters
Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf
The Google Pixel 10a runs on the same Google Tensor G4 chip as the Pixel 9 series, including the Pixel 9a. So in the occasion you watch at it that way, now not powerful has really changed if compared to the Pixel 9a, at least on paper. In real lifestyles, though, it be been a fairly soundless skills for me. I have been the usage of it for the total lot I usually accomplish: watching random YouTube videos, scrolling via Instagram late at night, reading things I am drawn to, taking photos, and legal going about my daily apps and tasks. I even had it with me on a week-long day shuttle, the place I was constantly the usage of the camera and relying on it at some point of the day. It handled all of that with out any hiccups. Performance felt consistent, the battery lifestyles held up really successfully, and it by no means really got in my way.
Credit: Brady Snyder / MakeUseOf
There was a moment I did watch. On a really sizzling beach day, the phone got relatively warm. However to be fair, that was more because of the harsh sunlight than anything I was doing on it. It settled down soon after, though there was a immediate moment when it felt a tiny too sizzling to make employ of it comfortably.
Now, whereas it can handle heavier stuff fancy gaming, video enhancing, or leaping between a bunch of apps, you can’t maintain pushing it fancy that all the time. Manufacture it repeatedly, and you may start to watch the phone slowing down a bit. At the end of the day, that is now not a phone constructed for hardcore performance, and it doesn’t attempt to be either.
The camera, the software, and the battery
No longer flashy, legal really, really legal
Credit: Shimul Sood / MakeUseOf
The camera setup on the Pixel 10a hasn’t really changed, and that’s now not a bad factor. You detached win a 48MP primary camera and a 13MP ultra-vast.
