Pre-orders for Google’s next “budget” phone, the Pixel 6a, opened up yesterday to mixed reactions. While some raved about the fact that you could purchase a phone that brought you as close as possible to the full “Pixel experience” at a significantly lower price than a flagship, some took issue with the corners Google had to cut to get to the $449 price point.
The fact remains that the Pixel 6a is not a flagship phone and should not be expected to carry flagship specs. However, while it cuts some corners in things like build materials (thermoformed composite back and 60hz display) and the tried and trued, albeit much older, camera sensor; it matches flagship specs where it counts the most, which is the Tensor chip that powers the entire experience. Elsewhere, the 6a is no slouch either: It has a 12.2MP main shooter, 12MP ultrawide, 8MP selfie cam, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.
If you are holding on to an older Pixel and considering upgrading to a Pixel 6a, but find the price tag a bit hard to digest, I have some good news for you. Google is offering up to a beefy $300 back with the trade-in of an older Pixel phone when you pre-order a Pixel 6a between July 21st and July 27th. Of course, trade-in value varies depending on the year and condition of the device. 9to5Google worked out the numbers and came up with the below chart of the current trade-in value of older Pixel phones when pre-ordering a Pixel 6a versus what you normally get when purchasing another model, such as the regular Pixel 6.
Source: 9to5Google
From the above numbers, it’s obvious that Google is pushing for Pixel 6a sales, going so far as to offer $300 for a Pixel 3a. Incidentally, that’s the phone my son currently has, and before I knew about this offer, I checked T-Mobile to see how much they would give me for a 3a if I got a Pixel 6a through them. It was $15, fifteen whole dollars. Granted, I could have gotten maybe $60-$90 if I sold it through Swappa. However, through the Google Store, I could cash in on this $300 trade-in, get a free pair of Pixel Buds A-Series, and get a 10% Google Store credit since I’m a Google One customer. I personally couldn’t be happier with the deal I got.
If you have an old Pixel lying around or in a drawer somewhere, you should look into this deal. Remember that you will still need to pay the full $449 up front, as the trade-in credit doesn’t kick in until after you ship the phone back to Google and they evaluate it to make sure it isn’t broken. Other than that, I would say that you have a pretty solid deal here that you should take advantage of if owning a Pixel 6a was something you were considering.
