{"id":491712,"date":"2026-03-24T00:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/491712\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T00:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:47:08","slug":"pixel-10a-is-a-textbook-definition-of-the-e-waste-we-dont-need-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/491712\/","title":{"rendered":"Pixel 10a is a textbook definition of the \u201ce-waste\u201d we don\u2019t need in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

\u24d8 Notebookcheck<\/p>\n

<\/a>CheckMag The Pixel 10a isn’t a bad phone, but should it exist in the first place? This minimally updated rehash of the Pixel 9a struggles to show its value as discounted rival options steal the spotlight, and concerns about electronic waste get louder.
Martin Filipov Published 03\/23\/2026
Android<\/a> Google Pixel<\/a> Opinion<\/a> Smartphone<\/a><\/p>\n

Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a phone nerd – I know enough about smartphones to tell you that not every new generation is meant to be revolutionary. And then there\u2019s the new Google Pixel 10a<\/a>, which just feels… unnecessary. Like, really unnecessary. <\/p>\n

Fine, on paper there are a few \u201cupgrades\u201d you can spot by reading the spec sheet. The Pixel 10a gets slightly higher peak brightness, tougher Gorilla Glass (let\u2019s be honest, you\u2019re still putting a screen protector on it), marginally faster charging, Bluetooth 6.0, and satellite connectivity. <\/p>\n

And that sounds OK – until you realize that the remaining 95% of the phone is identical to last year\u2019s Pixel 9a. We\u2019re talking the same size. The same 5,100 mAh battery. The same old Tensor G4 chip. The same design. Even the new colors are just slightly brighter shades of the old ones. <\/p>\n

If this \u201crevolutionary leap\u201d feels familiar, it\u2019s probably because we\u2019ve seen similar \u201cinnovation\u201d before – like when Apple shipped the iPhone 13<\/a> with 6GB of RAM (instead of 4GB) and called it the iPhone 14<\/a>. But Apple can get away with that – you know, probably because it\u2019s the only company making iPhones. <\/p>\n

Google is far behind Apple\u2019s leading position on the market – yet when I look at the Pixel 10a, I don\u2019t see a carefully timed product release; I see a company running on autopilot. \u201cWe need something new because Apple and Samsung have new phones coming out\u201d is not a business strategy. <\/p>\n

The timing of the Pixel 10a launch makes even less sense when you look at deals like the Galaxy S25 FE<\/a> (256GB), which launched at $800 but now goes for $500\/\u20ac500 (or less). That\u2019s a proper premium flagship with a class-leading chip, excellent cameras, and all the AI features you could want (if you care about them). Against that backdrop, the Pixel 10a doesn\u2019t look competitive – it looks confused.<\/p>\n

\tPixel 10a raises a key question: Should you buy a new phone from a phone-maker making phones on autopilot?<\/p>\n

The way I see it, the disappointing jump from the Pixel 9a to the Pixel 10a isn\u2019t just about timing or pricing. It\u2019s about identity, and earning people\u2019s trust. Don’t get me wrong, the likes of Samsung and Motorola also ship iterative upgrades like the Galaxy A37, which does bring a new Exynos chip, but might very well be identical to last year’s Galaxy A36<\/a>. <\/p>\n

However, the Pixel \u201cA\u201d series used to mean something – it was the mid-range Android phone to buy if you wanted good value and the best camera in the price segment. For a few years, it felt like Google understood what Pixel users wanted – or at least what Google itself wanted. However, for the past 2-3 generations of the Pixel \u201cA\u201d series, that clarity has faded, and the Pixel 10a makes it painfully obvious. <\/p>\n

Instead of pushing the mid-range market forward, Google has repackaged last year\u2019s phone with microscopic changes and called it new. To bring it back to the beginning of the story, that\u2019s something Apple would do. But people who buy Android phones buy them because they offer more for less – in other words, because they aren\u2019t the iPhone 16e.<\/p>\n

\t\"An<\/a>An iPhone 16e<\/p>\n

Also, the world is already drowning in electronic waste – of course, not because of me. I\u2019m still using my iPhone 13 Pro from 2021, because I\u2019m a saint. Or because I\u2019m cheap. Whatever. Instead of creating more of that e-waste, Google could\u2019ve discounted the Pixel 9a more aggressively – or waited another year and launched a genuinely \u201cnew\u201d Pixel mid-ranger when it had meaningful upgrades ready. Like Nothing is doing with the Nothing Phone (4), which makes Nothing the first phone-maker officially committing to a biannual release schedule. Anyway\u2026 Let\u2019s hope the Pixel 11<\/a> series isn\u2019t just a more expensive Pixel 10.<\/p>\n

Own experience and research<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

\u24d8 Notebookcheck<\/p>\n

<\/a>CheckMag The Pixel 10a isn’t a bad phone, but should it exist in the first place? This minimally updated rehash of the Pixel 9a struggles to show its value as discounted rival options steal the spotlight, and concerns about electronic waste get louder.
Martin Filipov Published 03\/23\/2026
Android<\/a> Google Pixel<\/a> Opinion<\/a> Smartphone<\/a><\/p>\n

Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u24d8 Notebookcheck CheckMag The Pixel 10a isn’t a bad phone, but should it exist in the first place?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[173757,2596,268,844,269,262,2306,267,261,2333,270,266,263,129,86,265,264,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-491712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-10a","tag-android","tag-benchmarks","tag-google","tag-graphics-card","tag-laptop","tag-mobile","tag-netbook","tag-notebook","tag-pixel","tag-processor","tag-reports","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-technology","tag-test","tag-tests","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}