When people ask me if I use an iPhone or an Android smartphone, my reflexive answer is “both.” But the truth is that the last Android phone I used as a daily driver was a Google Pixel 3 back in 2019. Later that year, I replaced it with an iPhone 11 Pro, which gave way to the iPhone 13 Pro that I currently own. Denying that I’m an iPhone user would be silly.
Still, there’s plenty to love about Android, and I like being well-informed about all the major computing platforms out there. So when Google recently offered me the opportunity to try its newest phone, the Pixel 7a, I took the SIM card out of my iPhone, stuck it in the Pixel, and lived the Android life for a couple of weeks.
Along with being an excuse to revisit Google’s mobile operating system, this experiment let me test how happy I’d be with a cheaper phone. As part of the “a” series of Pixels, the $499 Pixel 7a is a more economical alternative to Google’s Pixel 7 (which starts at $599) and Pixel 7 Pro ($899 and up). It also costs less than half what I paid for my iPhone 13 Pro.
That iPhone Pro does pack some features that the Pixel does not, including a 3X zoom camera on the back and twice the Pixel’s 128 GB storage. But the Pixel 7a has an impressively premium feel. The only design choice that feels like a cost-cutting measure is the fact that the phone’s back is made of plastic (albeit nice plastic), not glass. The two rear cameras it does offer—wide and ultra-wide—captured some great photos. Unlike its predecessor, the Pixel 6a, the 7a even offers wireless charging.
On the software front, Android is pleasingly polished these days, and similar enough to iOS gesture-wise that my fingers didn’t have much trouble acclimating themselves. Most of the apps I use on my iPhone have Android versions; the exceptions, such as Fantastical and Overcast, my calendar and podcast apps of choice, have decent-enough alternatives. I unreservedly adore Google’s Recorder app, a Pixel exclusive that not only records voice conversations but also transcribes them in real time. And the Pixel worked well with my Garmin smartwatch, Shokz headphones, Chamberlain smart garage-door opener, and various other accoutrements I’d normally control with my iPhone.
I also enjoyed taking advantage of Google’s more laissez-faire attitude to the apps I’m allowed to run on my phone. On an iPhone, you’re stuck with the interface Apple thinks you should use. Android lets you swap out Google’s launcher for an alternative such as the excellent Nova, which offers an endless array of customization options. Apple also doesn’t think you should run emulators on your iPhone and bans them from its App Store, but I downloaded one to the Pixel that let me play my favorite 1980s arcade games.
Though it’s tempting to think of temporarily putting my iPhone aside as a respite from Apple’s walled garden, I also own an iPad Pro, a MacBook Air, and two Apple TV boxes, and have no desire to dump them. So using the Pixel 7a was less an act of platform switching than an adventure in weaving one non-Apple item into my mostly Apple personal ecosystem. Overall, it worked well, though there are a few Apple technologies—such as AirPlay and AirDrop—that aren’t Android-compatible. There are plausible alternatives in every case, but I’d have to seek them out and adjust my work habits. That might be more than the average happy iPhone user would be willing to do.
In the end, however, two other factors would keep me from seriously considering a more permanent switch to the Pixel 7a, neither specifically tied to the fact that it’s an Android phone. As long as I’m looking at my phone and not wearing a mask, Apple’s Face ID authentication works with something close to 100% accuracy. Google gave the Pixel 7a both facial recognition and a fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen, but they often didn’t recognize me without some futzing. It felt a little like wearing a belt and suspenders and still having my pants fall down, and left me resorting to the less convenient authentication method of swiping a pattern on the lock screen.
And then there’s the Pixel 7a downside that would rattle me all the time. Google claims that its phone has an “all-day battery” that can last up to three days. But when I put it through the not-incredibly-demanding pace of my everyday habits, its battery gauge almost always flirted with zero well before bedtime. The three-day battery life turned out to necessitate using Google’s Extreme Battery Saver mode, which involves such onerous restrictions on the phone’s capabilities that I didn’t want to use it for even 10 minutes.
By contrast, my iPhone 13 Pro’s battery charge is never endangered by a typical day of use. There aren’t many smartphone features I crave more than great battery life—and losing it would be a painful step backward.
Still, even if the Pixel 7a isn’t the phone for me, spending time with it reminded me of why I was a happy Pixel 3 user for a time. By the end of 2023, there should be an iPhone 15, a Pixel 8, and a Samsung Galaxy S24. I’d much rather feel like I have the option of choosing among them than that I’ve boxed myself into being an iPhone person forever. And I do.
Which smartphone platform do you use, and why? What would it take for you to switch? If you let me know by dropping me a note at hmccracken@fastcompany.com, I might quote you in a future newsletter (unless you request otherwise). I’m interested in hearing from you even if you’re defiantly clinging to your flip phone.
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This story is from Fast Company’s new Plugged In newsletter, a weekly roundup of tech insights, news, and trends from global technology editor Harry McCracken, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday morning. Sign up for it here.
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