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Comment by microtonal | Hacker News Reader

Maybe if I had better understanding of the Pixel capabilities I may have bought one.

I am not sure if you'd want one? I returned the Pixel 7a after a few days. Stock Android is great, the camera is top-notch and goes head-to-head with iPhone. But the fingerprint sensor is mediocre (they use an optical sensor) and charging is very slow. The issues make it not-great as a daily phone. People have reported similar issues with the 7.

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That was my experience as well. Generally speaking the Pixel 7a is a competent phone with one (big) flaw. The battery life is truly terrible, and the charging speeds are glacial. I was honestly expecting more, especially as its advertised as Google's best. The forums are full of people complaining about it and the responses are almost the same: Turn off 5G!! Turn off wifi scanning! Turn off bluetooth scanning too! Dial down the screen refresh rate!

Returned the phone and got an iPhone 13 instead; and as painful as it was switching to iOS after 13 years of Android, I don't regret my decision. The iDevice comes with its own niggles, but at least I don't have to worry about battery life (yet). Maybe google will figure it out by the time the Pixel 8a comes out.

You may be right. If I had known the flaws I might not have bought it. But I still need to know the upside to even consider it, and that falls on Google, not me.

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