Technologies
Pixel 7A vs. Galaxy A54, Pixel 6A: Which Should You Buy?
These three phones are cheap and offer great all-round performance. But which one is worth your money?
Buying an affordable phone doesn’t mean suffering with nasty design and slow, frustrating hardware. These days you can get a phone that looks and acts almost like a flagship, and still have a bunch of cash left in your pocket. Google’s latest entry-level phone, the Pixel 7A, packs an amazing lineup of specs, at a very attractive price. Yet the older Pixel 6A remains on sale for even less and is a great option for people on a tighter budget.
Meanwhile, Samsung has a solid value offering in the form of the Galaxy A54 5G, which ticks all your everyday, essential boxes and can frequently be found on sale at an extremely competitive price.
But which of these phones should you buy to make the best use of your money? I put the three side by side to help you choose.
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Price
As the most recent phone, it’s no surprise that the Pixel 7A is the most expensive, costing $499 directly from Google. It technically replaces the Pixel 6A, though both phones are on the market. The 6A has now been reduced to only $349, and it’s been seen for even less with store discounts.
The Galaxy A54 runs Android 13 at its core, with four years of Android generation updates promised by Samsung.
Samsung sells the Galaxy A54 5G for $449 — slightly undercutting the Pixel 7A but costing a full $100 more than the Pixel 6A. Since its launch in March, though, we’ve seen it discounted further ($375 on BestBuy at the time of writing), so it’s always worth shopping around and seeing if you can save a few more bucks.
Display size, quality
At 6.4 inches, the Galaxy A54’s display is larger than the 6.1-inch displays of both the Pixel 6A and 7A. During general use, we also found that it appeared brighter, making it easier to read outdoors under sunshine. Though its resolution is marginally higher than that of the Pixel 7A, side by side there’s no noticeable difference in terms of sharpness.
The Pixel 6A has a standard screen refresh rate of 60Hz, and the 7A ups that to 90Hz. Frankly, it isn’t something you’d really notice during everyday use. The Galaxy A54 takes that further, providing «up to» 120Hz. Using both phones side by side and scrolling through menus simultaneously, I couldn’t see much difference. Maybe the more keen-eyed among you could, but even so, it shouldn’t be a reason to consider one over the other.
The Pixel 6A’s display is smaller than the Galaxy A54’s and appears less bright.
Processor performance
With its more recent Tensor G2 chip, you might expect the Pixel 7A to be the more powerful model, but on benchmark tests, it actually falls just behind the 6A. It’s a marginal difference, though, and during everyday use it isn’t something you’d ever notice. Both phones are swift, with smooth navigation, fast-loading apps, and gaming that’s handled perfectly well.
The A54 performed the worst on the tests, with quite disappointing scores on benchmarks, particularly against the more affordable 6A. Still, I found it to be capable of handling all my daily essentials, and it only really seemed to slow down when I was playing more graphically demanding games, like Genshin Impact, at higher quality settings.
Cameras
Both Pixels offer standard and superwide cameras, eschewing the telephoto zoom camera found on the pricier Pixel 7 Pro. The Pixel 7A beats the older 6A with higher resolution sensors, but overall image quality is comparable. Both phones capture shots with great dynamic range, accurate colors and plenty of details.
The Galaxy A54’s main camera adds a lot of saturation to its images.
The Pixel 6A’s shot looks much more natural.
The Pixel 7A’s colors are more similar to the 6A’s, but its higher resolution sensor delivers more details.
The Galaxy A54 adds a 5-megapixel macro camera to its main and ultrawide lenses, but beyond the odd novelty close-up shot of a bug, it’s pretty redundant. Its main camera has a generous 50 megapixel resolution, but its images are disappointing compared with both Pixel phones. Colors tend to look unnaturally saturated, with high-contrast skies sometimes resulting in blown-out highlights.
The main lens also tends to produce quite cold-looking images that dramatically shift to warmer tones when you switch to the ultrawide lens. Both Pixels, however, do a good job of maintaining color tones when switching between normal and wide views.
The A54’s main camera sometimes delivers quite cold-looking images.
Switching to the ultrawide lens results in a much warmer image. I prefer this look, but it’s frustrating to see so much color shift between the two cameras, which isn’t as much of an issue on either of the Pixel phones.
While the A54 5G is good for casual snappers just wanting vibrant shots of their kids at the beach, the Pixel 7A is worth a look if photography is more of a priority.
Battery
Though the Galaxy A54 packs a slightly more capacious battery than either of the Pixels, its slightly larger (and therefore more power hungry) display means its overall battery life is roughly on par with its rivals. On my YouTube streaming battery test, it drained slightly faster than the Pixels, but in overall use there’s little difference to worry about.
If you’re careful with your usage and avoid too much video streaming or gaming, then you should be able to get a full day out of any of the phones. All of them will need a full recharge every night.
All three phones offer 128GB of storage at their base configurations, but only the Galaxy A54 lets you expand that with microSD cards.
Software, storage and extras
All three phones run the latest Android 13 software, and both Google and Samsung promise five years of security updates for their phones. As it was launched last year, this will mean that the Pixel 6A will be cut off from support in 2027 while both the Pixel 7A and Galaxy A54 will still be safe to use into 2028.
However, Samsung takes things a bit further, by offering an additional fourth generation of Android version updates over the Pixels, which is worth keeping in mind if you want to ensure you’re getting the most out of your phone for longer.
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I much prefer the Pixel’s Android 13 interface though. It’s generally neater and easier to use than Samsung’s One UI skin. This is especially true with the A54, as Samsung preloaded a lot of third-party apps that make it feel cluttered and bloated.
While all three phones have base storage of 128GB, the A54 has an ace up its sleeve; it’s one of the last remaining phones that offers expandable storage with microSD cards. It supports cards of up to 1TB, and with a 128GB card costing only $12, you can essentially double the storage of the phone, providing tons of room for photos, videos and apps.
The A54’s additional macro lens is pretty pointless.
Which should you buy?
Samsung’s Galaxy A54 5G might have longer software support and expandable storage, but it falls behind both Pixel phones in most other respects. The cameras, user interface, processor performance and battery life is better on the Pixel 6A and 7A and either of those phones is where my money would go.
Deciding between the two Pixels is trickier, however. The 6A is incredibly cheap yet still offers excellent performance for all your daily needs and packs a great camera. If you’re looking for the best phone that also leaves the most money in your bank, then the older 6A is the one for you.
But the Pixel 7A’s camera is better and it includes other more recent features like wireless charging, face unlock, and as the more recent phone, it’ll receive software updates for longer. But those are expensive extras, given its $150 bigger price tag over the 6A.
The Pixel 7 (seen here with the Pixel Watch) is still great, but the new Pixel 7A is the better buy.
What about the Pixel 7?
The Pixel 7 is Google’s lower-end flagship that offers a similar set of specs to the Pixel 7A but costs $100 more. Though it’s a superb phone that earned a CNET Editors’ Choice Award, the arrival of the 7A has meant that it’s very difficult to justify spending the extra on the older model.
As CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco puts it: «After reviewing both phones, I’m convinced the Pixel 7A is the best value for most people.»
Technologies
Why Are Switch 2 Games So Expensive? Trump’s Tariffs May Not Be Sole Factor
It still comes down to money.
Wednesday’s reveal of the Switch 2 had a lot of buzz from Nintendo surrounding its successor to the Switch. One shocking bit, though, was the high price of its games. There’s a lot of confusion, especially with news of President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on many trading partners, including Japan.
After the Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo released the full details of the upcoming console and games on its website. The price of Mario Kart World shocked gamers and led to some disdain, as the $80 MSRP was $10 more than what most new games cost today. This led many to wonder if this would be a new normal for game prices due to Trump’s tariffs or if Nintendo was just being greedy. The answer, however, might be something completely different.
Are Nintendo Switch 2 game prices hiking?
To start, some details need to be cleared up. Some people have posted on social media that the price of Nintendo’s Switch 2 games, at least in the US, will be $90. That is incorrect, as of right now.
One X user posted Switch 2 EU prices for Mario Kart World, which start at 80 euros for a digital version and 90 euros for the physical copy. Typically, US and EU games match in price, which caused some to assume that this pricing would be the case for the US.
Nintendo Switch 2 games will be more expensive physically than digitally.
Mario Kart World will be 90 freaking euros phisically. pic.twitter.com/iXuRwzlFqH— Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) April 2, 2025
US retailers, however, already posted their Switch 2 game prices, and Nintendo-published games are listed at $80.
Will Trump’s tariffs cause the Switch 2 to cost more?
As for Trump’s tariffs, that is unlikely to be a driver of this price bump. Tariffs are not applied to digital goods, and when the prices were published, there were no tariffs on Japan. Plus, games are similarly expensive in other countries like Canada and the UK.
With that cleared up, why are Nintendo games on the Switch 2 so expensive? One likely reason is game storage.
Read More: All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free
The Switch 2 uses what Nintendo calls game-key cards, which are Switch 2 cartridges that don’t have all the game data on the cartridge itself. This helps save on production costs as storage is expensive. The original Switch cartridges went up to 32GB of storage, which doesn’t seem like a lot these days, with some games taking up 100GB or more of storage, but this is for the original Switch. Only a few games, like The Witcher 3, went above 32GB because the graphics for the Switch weren’t on the high end like with a PC, PS5 or Xbox Series console, where a Witcher 3 install size starts at 50GB.
Switch 2 games are going to be bigger in size — there is little doubt about it. CD Projekt Red confirmed it would put its Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on one 64GB cartridge, and there will likely be other games to surpass that 64GB. With the max size of the cartridge doubling in size, it adds to the price of the physical card, as not only does storage have to be bigger, but they will need to transfer data faster. That can get more expensive for physical copies, unlike optical discs, which are still the same price whether it has 20GB or 100GB on the disc.
What does all this mean for gamers?
This leads to a dilemma for publishers: Put the entire game on the physical card and sell it at a loss, increase the price of the physical copy with the full game on it or use the game-key card to have a card with minimal storage, requiring gamers to download the entire game.
Read More: The 17 Best Nintendo Switch Games Right Now
It appears that Nintendo went with door No. 2. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, knowing the company. Anyone who wants to save money on games knows that Nintendo will seldom bring the price down of its own games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, is 8 years old and is still full price on Nintendo’s website.
According to an industry analysis from Niko Partners, this new pricing could become the new normal in a couple of years when it comes to physical cartridges.
«While there has been some sticker shock regarding the price of games increasing from $60 to $70 or $80, these price points are set to become industry standard over the next two years, especially so for Nintendo first-party games,» Niko Partners said in a statement Wednesday. «One reason for the higher price is the increased cost of the new and faster Game Cards themselves, with higher capacities being more expensive to manufacture than a PS5 Blu-ray disc.»
Nintendo didn’t respond to a request for comment about the higher price of its games.
That said, this doesn’t explain the lower price of Donkey Kong Bananza, which comes out in July; that’s listed on Nintendo’s site for $70. This could mean the game isn’t using a larger storage card, but that can’t be said for sure until the game comes out. It’s unclear how things will change in the future.
Technologies
Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-orders in US Delayed Due to Trump’s Tariffs
The Switch 2 launch is still happening on June 5, and preorders outside the US seem unchanged.
Nintendo Switch 2 preorders in the US were to start April 9, but it appears those plans have changed due to the new tariffs imposed this week by President Donald Trump. It’s unclear if this means Nintendo will also have to increase the price of the Switch successor, which currently starts at $450.
Nintendo said Friday that it’s delaying Switch 2 preorders in the US, but its June release date is unaffected.
«Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,» the company said in a statement. «Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.»
Nintendo didn’t indicate if preorder dates outside the US would change, but Eurogamer reports that preorders are live at various retailers in the UK.
A tariff of 24% has been applied by the US to goods from Japan. Were that rate to be applied directly to the Switch 2’s announced price, it would rise to $558, but it would be up to Nintendo how much of the tariff it will pass on to consumers.
This is a developing story.
Technologies
Twelve South’s Foldable Wireless Charger for iPhone and Apple Watch Is Up to 27% Off at Amazon
This handy accessory makes it easier to travel with your Apple gear and stay charged wherever you go.
Whether you’re traveling for business or off on a wonderful family vacation, charging your stuff shouldn’t be something you have to worry about. Taking extra chargers and cables can be a pain, and they all take up space in your bag. But the handy Twelve South Butterfly SE charger is a compact alternative that can wirelessly charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time. And it’s available with up to 27% off right now at Amazon.
That top line discount applies to the pink version, though the white model is only $7 more and other colors are seeing 15% off the usual $100 price tag if you have a strong preference. It’s not clear how long the discounts will last, though.
Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.
The charger itself offers a way to wirelessly charge a iPhone and Apple Watch from a single AC outlet, and you can even charge your AirPods when your phone is done, too. And because this is a Qi2 charger you’ll get a full 15 watts of wireless charging for compatible devices — including the best iPhones.
When you’re not using the Butterfly SE, it folds up so it can be slid into a pocket, bag or luggage without taking up too much space. It really is the perfect partner for people who like to travel light.
Unfortunately, this charger doesn’t come with an AC adapter in the box, so you’ll need to provide your own. Make sure it’s rated for 20 watts or more. If you need to buy one, Apple’s 20-watt USB-C charger is just $15 right now.
Why this deal matters
We all carry multiple devices around with us these days. Anything that can make charging them more convenient is a win in our books, especially when you’re traveling. This charger takes up little space when it isn’t being used and charges quickly when it is.
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