My Pixel 10A Review: An Entry Point to Android for iPhone Owners

Pros

• iPhone-convert friendly
• Simple, clean phone design
• Good at photography

Cons

• Missing several Pixel 10 features
• Similar to the Pixel 9A

• My Pixel 10A Review: An Entry Point to Android for iPhone Owners
• Pixel 10A design, battery, features
• Battery benchmarks
• 30-minute wired charging test
• Pixel 10A cameras
• Google Pixel 10A: Bottom line
• Google Pixel 10A specs vs. Apple iPhone 17E, Google Pixel 10, Google Pixel 9A
• How we test phones

Five years ago, I was a happy Google Pixel 3 XL owner, but in 2021 I found myself ready to switch to Apple's iPhone. I was lured over by the tech giant's promise of longer software and security support, which at the time was far longer than the three years of support Google promised its Pixel 3 phones. But now that I'm looking for my next phone, and Google now promises seven years of support for its Pixel phones, I'm tempted by the Pixel 10A's $499 price and features. On the other hand, I've become invested in Apple's world of apps, iMessage and FaceTime, all of which are notoriously difficult to switch from.

Looking at the Pixel 10A from that lens, I like what it offers. The Pixel 10A's setup wizard is designed with the expectation that an iPhone-convert could be using this phone. In addition to letting me transfer my data using a cable -- which has been an option on Android for years -- the setup process offers the relatively new ability of transferring an eSIM over from iOS to Android. 

The Pixel 10A works with AirDrop, which immediately came in handy. It allowed my father to send over a photo of our family dog playing in the snow in full quality, without me having to direct him to a separate app or cloud service. The feature, which debuted on the Pixel 10 as a software update during the fall and is also coming to the Pixel 9 (but not the 9A), is available here on the 10A at launch. And having that access could be quite meaningful for someone coming to the Pixel 10A from any of Apple's iPhone SE models. Those phones sold for under $500, making the Pixel 10A a tempting Android option in the same price range that doesn't require giving up AirDrop.

Watch this: Unboxing Google's Pixel 10A: Everything That Comes With the $499 Phone

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But if AirDrop isn't important to you, the Pixel 10A is extremely similar to last year's Pixel 9A. So much so that, for the first time, we can't recommend picking up the A-series model over the more expensive Pixel 10. In prior years, the A-series phone performed so closely to its pricier counterpart that we'd advise saving the money. This year, however, aside from some modest charging improvements, the Pixel 10A performs equally as well as the Pixel 9A did in most of our review benchmarks.

If you're coming from the Pixel 6A or earlier, this means you'll gain a lot by upgrading to the 10A, and perhaps even if you're coming to it from a Pixel 6 or Pixel 5. But I wouldn't pick this phone up if you're hoping for it to be a lower-cost Pixel 10: It simply has not picked up enough of the Pixel 10's new features to make it feel like part of that line.

Google's Pixel 10A in its berry color.

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Pixel 10A design, battery, features

Google's Pixel 10A is an attractive phone, just like last year's Pixel 9A. The 6.3-inch display needs some adjustments to get the most out of it, though. I had to manually turn on its 120Hz refresh rate (it defaults to 60Hz) as well as the always-on display. The same was true on the 9A, and I appreciated small tweaks such as the slightly higher 3,000-nit peak brightness and the now fully flush camera on the back. Yes, it lies flat on a table.

I like my review unit's berry color, and how that color extends to the aluminum frame. Even though the Pixel 10A doesn't include the PixelSnap magnets found on the Pixel 10 series, my magnetic wireless chargers still latch onto the charging coil, making alignment a little easier. A Google representative confirmed this, noting that the attraction is not as strong as the PixelSnap system. I'd still recommend getting a third-party case with magnets if you want accessories to truly stick to the phone.

My magnetic battery pack can attach to the Pixel 10A but it isn't very secure compared to the official PixelSnap or MagSafe systems.

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The Pixel 10A's battery performs on par with the Pixel 9A. On my most intensive days of constant use, it delivered an impressive six to seven hours of screen time. When I mostly used it before and after work, it easily lasted two days on a single charge.

When I ran the Pixel 10A through our battery benchmarks, it performed identically to the Pixel 9A. Both phones depleted from 100% to 78% during our three-hour streaming test, as well as from 100% to 95% in our 45-minute endurance test. Considering both phones include a 5,100-mAh battery with similar screens, this wasn't much of a surprise. 

The Pixel 10A's Weather app can generate an AI forecast.

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The Pixel 10A's 30W charging speed requires a 45W adapter, and in our 30-minute wired charging test it recharged from 0% to 57%. That's slightly faster than the 9A, which reached 46% in the same test. Wireless charging was roughly the same for both phones, with the 10A gaining 11% compared with 10% on the 9A.

The Pixel 10A uses the same Tensor G4 processor as the 9A, and in everyday use it handled web browsing, Pixel-exclusive features including Live Transcribe and games at medium graphics settings without issue. It includes only a handful of AI features compared with the Pixel 10 series, but it runs those just fine. You won't get the Pixel 10's Magic Cue for contextual information based on your text messages, but you do get Camera Coach, which scans a scene and offers suggestions for framing your shot.

Google's various Gemini services are available, but most rely on the cloud rather than on-device processing. They feel less like Pixel-exclusive features, since they'll likely make their way to most Android phones over time. The Pixel 10A also isn't yet able to install Geekbench 6 or 3DMark Wild Life Extreme -- the apps we use for our processor benchmark tests. I'll update this review once they become available.

The Camera Coach feature pointing to a theater.

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I'm still pleasantly surprised that Android's Quick Share somehow works with Apple's AirDrop, especially since so many people rely on it to share photos and files. But there is a slight learning curve: Both the Pixel 10A and an iPhone need to set their receiving mode to "Everyone for 10 Minutes." In addition to using AirDrop with my family, I was also able to send photos and videos from the Pixel directly to the MacBook I use for work.

My iPhone can easily AirDrop a photo to the Pixel 10A, with the Pixel using Android's Quick Share to complete the transfer.

Joseph Maldonado/CNET

One lingering challenge for anyone leaving an iPhone is fully deregistering your phone number from iMessage. This issue isn't unique to the Pixel 10A, but during my testing it quickly became clear that even after turning off Apple's messaging service, some texts were still getting lost in the ether. Apple does offer a deregistration website to ensure iMessage is fully turned off, but it remains an annoying part of the transition from iPhone to Android.

The cameras on the Pixel 10A are flush with the back of the phone.

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Pixel 10A cameras

The cameras on the Pixel 10A are just as good as those on the Pixel 9A. This isn't a bad thing, but aside from camera AI features designed for specific situations, you're working with the same, capable 48-megapixel wide-angle camera and 13-megapixel ultrawide camera.

On my snowy Saturday walk through Riverhead, New York, I took sample photos that capture lots of detail with the phone's main camera. If you zoom in on the snow, you can see numerous footprints preserved even in the lower-light area at the bottom left of the frame. You can even make out the brick tones on the red-brown building in the background.

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Taken on the Pixel 10A's main camera at 1x zoom.

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This photo of the same location, taken on the ultrawide camera, sacrifices some detail to get in the wider pathway on the left. Notably, you can't see the texture in the brick in the back of the frame or as many footprints. The "fishbowl" effect that's common on ultrawide cameras is noticeable on the tree to the right. Nevertheless, the colors remain consistent between the two shots, which is something I don't typically see in cheaper phones, where images can look wildly different.

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Taken on the Pixel 10A's ultrawide camera.

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Taking another photo with the main camera at 2x zoom brings out more of the different shades of white and gray on the building in the center of the frame. The Heatherwood logo behind it is clear, though the smaller website text below it isn't.

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Taken on the Pixel 10A's main camera at 2x zoom.

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Taking the phone into lower light, the Pixel 10A still performs well with minimal image noise. In this photo taken with the main camera at the Barcade in Lower Manhattan, the Pixel 10A appears to have brightened up the scene after detecting that I was in a darker environment. I'd say it might even be overcompensating.

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Taken on the Pixel 10A's main camera at 1x zoom.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

This photo, shot with the ultrawide lens, captures a darker look that more accurately reflects how the bar felt in person. That's not necessarily a criticism of the Pixel's photo processing, but it's worth noting because it shows how the 10A handles photos at its default settings.

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Taken on the Pixel 10A's ultrawide camera.

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The 12-megapixel selfie camera also captures plenty of detail in this photo, taken at the same spot in Riverhead. It keeps the focus on me, picking up individual hair strands and facial details. The background falls somewhere between the main camera and the ultrawide examples -- you can still see some footprints and building details, but subjects farther back, like the red building, appear more washed out.

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Taken on the Pixel 10A's selfie camera.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

The Pixel 10A cameras capture video at up to 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, which looks smooth but doesn't offer the same level of clarity as the phone's photography. But it'll certainly do the job for cute pet videos.

Playing Fortnite on the Pixel 10A.

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Google Pixel 10A: Bottom line

Google's $499 Pixel 10A could be a great upgrade if you're considering a switch to Android from an iPhone SE or earlier. The iPhone-friendly setup process and the inclusion of Apple's AirDrop could help ease some of the transition jitters that are common when moving from an iPhone to an Android phone. It also could be a compelling option if you're coming from Google's Pixel 6A or earlier, as the upgrades the 10A offers -- its larger screen, faster charging speeds and bigger battery -- will be noticeable.

But unlike prior A-series Pixel phones, the Pixel 10A is missing a lot of the more signature features from the $799 Pixel 10. If you need PixelSnap, Magic Cue and especially a third telephoto camera, you're better off springing for the more expensive model, since the 10A doesn't include them.

If you do decide you want the Pixel 10A, however, the first thing you should do is check its current sale price against any other store that's still selling the Pixel 9A. If you can find the Pixel 9A at a significant discount, you'll find it includes most of the same capabilities -- barring AirDrop compatibility and the flatter back. But if you find the Pixel 9A is still $499, definitely go for the Pixel 10A for its improvements.

For me, while the Pixel 10A would make an excellent starter Android phone for someone leaving an iPhone, the price range is quite competitive with similar options. The just-announced 256GB iPhone 17E at $599 matches the price of the 256GB model of the Pixel 10A, and used phones like a 256GB Pixel 9 Pro can be found for $545 and include a telephoto camera. It still makes the Pixel 10A a good value, but it's no longer the clear, decisive choice that Pixel A-series phones were. 

How we test phones

Every phone CNET's reviews team tests is used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it holds and whether it has an IP rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools such as GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions, from bright sunlight to dark indoor environments. We try out special features such as night and portrait modes and compare our findings with similarly priced competitors. We also check battery life by using it daily and running a series of battery-drain tests.

We take into account additional features, including support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others, that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether the phone, at whatever price, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET's initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.