Pixel 6a

I'm thinking about a refurbished Pixel 6a, I found one on Reebelo that seems to be a pretty good deal. Here is the phone. I'd probably get the "good" condition one for $113. And I could qualify for a free battery upgrade from google, so battery heath from an older device may not be an issue. I also think that the Pixel UI would be nice after using OneUI for so long.

What do you guys think?

I haven't written a smartphone review since ~2014 but this phone made me want to write reviews again so here it is, my review of the Pixel 6a after one week of usage.

I'll first address the negativity around the device by saying that people often make up problems themselves (especially when coming from a different brand) and the negative minority is always most vocal, not just when it comes to smartphones but also movies (Avatar 2 is a great example right now), music, etc...

Now, let's being:

• Build quality & screen: This thing feels *very* premium. It really is on the flagship level. The back is plastic but it feels like glass. Sure, the power and volume buttons do feel slightly cheap (plasticky) but it doesn't take away from the overall build quality. It's also very comfy to hold thanks to the rounded edges. Also, it's great to see a regular 6.1" phone in an era where phones are becoming impractically big.
  The screen is "only" 60hz which is completely fine if we're being honest. Great example of issues that people make up. Regular users won't be affected by this in any way.
  Oh, and almost forgot the fingerprint scanner. It's located on the screen and while I've read a lot of negative comments about it, I had no issues, works perfectly.

• Software: My phone came with Android 13 out of the box and I have 0 complaints. Actually, I believe this is the fastest phone setup process I ever went through. On my previous phones it took forever to connect the google account and actually get going. Also there's a list of Google apps where you can select what you want or don't want installed, like translate, TV and similar so you can select what you actually want and not have like 30+ useless apps. There's been 0 lag, both during regular use and gaming. Apex runs flawlessly, Genshin Impact also works, I tested that one because people are adamant that it won't even run on the phone.
  OS is clean and simple, you can disable Google apps that you don't use and there's no third party bloatware like Facebook, Whatsapp and similar which come pre-installed with certain phones and can't be disabled/uninstalled.

• Battery: Okay now here's one that is probably getting the most complaints. I'm 110% sure that people are claiming the battery life is bad because Adaptive Battery is still doing it's thing, badly. It's AI powered, and like everything else that's AI powered, it's got flaws. Buddy of mine got a Pixel 7 Pro and it took 3 weeks for everything to settle down and for the battery life to be as it should. It's really different for each user and phone. If you don't want that hassle, just turn the thing off. I had Adaptive Battery both on and off, and I honestly prefer it off. I don't play games a lot, Apex every now and then but it's mostly the regular apps that I'm using (Instagram, Reddit, Duolingo and camera) and I easily get ~a day out of a full charge.
  Phone never got hot (warm at most) during regular use. Not even during more intense camera sessions which is great. For comparison (from my experience) I used S22 Ultra for a similar photo shoot once and it got so warm I couldn't hold the damn thing after about 8 minutes.

• Camera: It's really the main reason why people are getting a Pixel. It's perfect. It's considered the best smartphone camera of the year for a reason. Daytime shots are stunning, low-light shots are great as well. EIS works really good. One thing to know, when you use the camera at night or in dark places, the viewfinder will looks all fuzzy and grainy but don't worry, once you take the shot, it'll come out just fine.
  The sensor combined with the new Tensor chip and software are doing wonders.
  As for the selfie camera, if that's really important to you, you might get disappointed. It's just alright during daytime but at night your pictures and videos will look a bit... muddy.

• Speakers: Not much to say about this. They're just regular phone speakers, nothing amazing nor horrible. Could use a bit more bass but overall very usable. There's no headphone jack which is my only complaint, but it's not just this phone that dropped the headphone jack so I can't hold it against the phone. I knew what I was buying.

• Signal & Connectivity: Eh, another thing people complain about and also something I had no issues with. WiFi works perfectly fine however far away I get from the router. As for cellular data, where I'm at, we're still using 3G and 4G so I can't say anything regarding 5G, but these two work fine. And I haven't tried eSim yet.

All in all, Pixel 6a is a great phone and I can't recommend it enough. Before I got it, I watched some real world test videos and can confirm that basically all of them were accurate - and the comments I read on GSM Arena and Reddit, eh, not so much.

10/10.