It’s impossible to recommend a cheap Google Pixel phone | Digital trends

I hated explaining which cheap Pixel 8 phone to buy when I reviewed the Google Pixel 8a. Ultimately, I decided to say the Pixel 8a is the cheap Pixel phone you should buy… except for the times when you shouldn’t.

This confusing situation is all Google’s doing and is truly terrible for us as consumers. It’s not entirely to do with the specs and design of the phones, but with the uncertain pricing of the Pixel 8a and the Pixel 8 and the staggered release dates for both.

Prices are not set in stone

The retail price of the Pixel 8a starts at $499, and the Pixel 8 starts at $699, which doesn’t sound complicated at all. When I was writing my review of the Pixel 8a, I had a hard time pinpointing exactly why you should spend an extra $200 to get the Pixel 8, which is no small feat compared to that more expensive phone, but rather a confirmation of how good the Pixel 8a is compared to it. It does almost the same things, with only minor changes that might not bother everyone, so why spend more?

So that’s it then? A turnkey situation where you can compare specs and decide if the Pixel 8 is worth enough to you personally to spend that extra chunk of money to own it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and it’s here that it becomes quite difficult to say which phone is the best to buy – and it’s all because the price of the older Pixel 8 fluctuates quite a bit.

Just weeks before the Pixel 8a was announced, the Pixel 8 could be purchased at Best Buy and Amazon for $549 – a significant discount from its regular retail price and just $50 more than the Pixel 8a. At this price you should Certainly choose the Pixel 8 over the Pixel 8a, and even if these two deals aren’t running when you read this, I’d expect that if they happened once, they’ll happen again, as retailers jostle to drum up interest in the parent becoming phone.

Release date chaos

That’s right, I said getting older, as the Pixel 8 is making some progress. It was released in mid-October 2023, more than six months before the Pixel 8a arrived on the scene. It makes the phone ripe for discounts, as it won’t be long before the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro are announced and the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will suddenly (and unfairly) be much less desirable. Generating interest in a 2023 smartphone halfway through its lifespan is a common practice.

This gap between the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8a is already puzzling, and the resulting discounts on the Pixel 8 make the 8a a tough sell if you’re forced to ignore these kinds of direct sales prices. Additionally, deals have already started for the Pixel 8a, with Amazon including a $100 voucher with the phone, effectively reducing it by that amount. Why has this already happened? When a slightly better version is available for just a little more money, lowering the regular retail price of the “lesser” but newer phone (or sprucing it up with a tempting deal) will keep it from staying on the shelves.

What should you, the enthusiastic buyer, do in this frustrating situation? You can wait for a deal on the Pixel 8 instead of buying the Pixel 8a, but also make sure you look out for a deal on that phone, which may not sell quickly due to the Pixel 8 deals spotted recently. The Pixel 8a is a very good phone, but you should buy the Pixel 8 if it only costs $50 or even $100 more. But also if the Pixel 8a suddenly appears for $399 are also a brilliant purchase. The fact that these scenarios have already happened makes it virtually impossible to recommend one over the other.

It’s not just Google

Google’s staggered release dates for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a only add to the pricing and decision-making chaos, but several other manufacturers are also playing around with pricing in ways that make it difficult to make a final and informed choice to make. Motorola endlessly lowers the price of its phones, including the Razr Plus and Razr (2023) flip phones, to the point where it should just call the lower price the retail price and stop messing around.

Samsung’s retail prices are also just guidance, especially during the pre-order period where trade-ins and additional discounts can make an upgrade to the new model look very attractive. But wait, there will be more discounts or offers to come, so it’s just a matter of patience if you prefer to buy your next phone at a lower price.

Motorola and Samsung’s pricing games are less irritating because the phones in question all come out at the same time and the price structure adjustments generally apply to all models. You choose your phone and decide whether to wait for a better price or not. This isn’t the case with the Pixel 8a, as it launches many months after its closest competitor, and its retail prices are much less applicable to the older phone, which in turn impacts the price of the new phone.

Which Pixel 8 should you buy?

It’s still good advice to buy the tech product you want now and not wait for the next big thing, because if you don’t you’ll just be waiting forever. Moreover, it is usually good advice to buy the latest model. But in the case of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a it’s not that simple, so which one do I do Real recommend?

If you can find the Pixel 8 for under $600 or are willing to wait until you do, then it’s a great buy. If you see the Pixel 8a for under $400, this is also a great buy. If both are at full retail price then the Pixel 8a is very good, but if I were to buy it I would always think about what the Pixel 8 would have looked like if I had been patient. If I had bought the also very good Pixel 8 at full price, I’ll always wonder if I could have saved some money and still been just as happy with the Pixel 8a.

There you have it, a clear recommendation on which one to buy, all because of aggressive pricing and annoying release date strategies that make it very frustrating to choose a Google Pixel phone. Until Google just announces its entire Pixel lineup at once, maybe just buy an iPhone 15. That way, the incredibly rare and usually paltry discounts on Apple devices ensure you always know where you are.

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