The latest generation of the budget Pixel model has been recently released. Google Pixel 8a is now available to purchase, which joins the Pixel 8 & 8 Pro lineup this year. This model consists of Android 14 OS out of the box and will soon be eligible to receive Android 15 OS once the new stable update arrives. The Pixel 8a is expected to get into one of the best-in-class mid-budget segment Android smartphones, which is as powerful as the premium Pixel 8 device. But you may ask how many years of software updates will arrive on Google Pixel 8a?
In short, the Pixel 8a device will get 7 years of major Android OS updates and security patch updates, including Feature Drops. So, the younger sibling isn’t at all different from the bigger siblings. So, that means your Pixel 8a will be competitive in the smartphone market for seven years, which will be up to 2031. That’s huge for a mid-budget Android smartphone when every brand releases the best devices every year.
Talking about the seven years of major software updates, the Feature Drops will ensure your Pixel 8a device won’t miss out on any important updates from Google for so many years. As Google provides Feature Drops quite periodically in a year, your phone will run smoother and faster, just like a new handset. If we talk about the Pixel 8a technical specifications, it comes with a 6.1-inch OLED 1080×2400 pixels resolution screen, always-on display, Android 14, Google’s in-house Tensor G3 chipset, etc.
It does have 8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB of internal storage with UFS 3.1, a dual rear camera setup of 64MP+13MP sensor, a single 13MP selfie sensor, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, navigation & positioning system, NFC, USB Type-C 3.2 port, etc. The handset features some useful sensors like an under-display fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass sensor, barometer, and more. The only possible downside seems to be that the battery is 4492 mAh, which can be slightly smaller as compared to standard 5000mAh batteries on other smartphones.
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One thing is clear: the claimed seven years of software updates can be a huge deal for users because these days we generally don’t use our smartphones for more than 4-5 years due to battery issues and low-performance issues. Even Apple iPhones can get up to 4-5 years of iOS updates actively, and then users may need to replace their iPhones with a new one. But this time Google has done a new marketing trick to attract more customers who can convert into loyal users for at least 5–6 years with the Pixel 8 series.
Now, it’ll be interesting to see how many years the Pixel 8a model will survive, depending on the active software updates. Smartphone longevity and performance optimization mostly depend on bug fixes, stable software updates, the latest security patch releases, and more. However, low battery juice after a few years, device overheating, poor RAM management issues, reduced camera quality, etc. can force users to shift over to a new handset.
