SINGAPORE - Google might have made the Pixel 7a, its new mid-range smartphone, too good for its own good.

The $749 Google Pixel 7a, which will go on sale in Singapore on Thursday, might eat into the sales of the premium $999 Pixel 7, since both phones have similar screen sizes, screen resolutions and processing speeds.

In some areas, such as battery life and camera lenses, the Pixel 7a even outshines its higher-end sibling on paper.

When tested a few days ago, the Pixel 7a powered through five hours of screen-on time each day, draining only half the battery capacity.

That is never the case with my own Pixel 7, which usually needs to be charged soon after lunch, unless I turn on the battery saver mode.

Doing so cuts the screen’s refresh rate to 60Hz, switches to 4G and turns off background apps, spoiling the fun of having a high-end phone.

The Pixel 7a’s improved battery life comes thanks to a roughly similar 4,385mAh battery and a smaller 6.1-inch Oled screen.

Between this and the Pixel 7’s 6.3-inch Oled display, it is hard to tell the difference. And as a power user, I would take the battery boost any day.

Google has found its groove with an eye-catching design that looks unlike other Android phones that try to mimic the latest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy flagship devices.

Available in charcoal, white or light blue, the phone rocks the Pixel’s iconic brushed metal panel, which sits lower on the back of the phone.

Fans of the pocket-friendly Pixel 4a will remain wistful, as the 7a still feels like a chunky phone to hold, especially with a case slapped on it.

Pixel A-series users no longer need to settle for a lower-end chip, as the Pixel 7a is powered by the same Google-built Tensor G2 chip that powers its current flagship phones.

The result: The mid-range Pixel performs like a premium device, with buttery smooth animations and the muscles for multitasking.

Google’s near-stock Android user interface is among the easiest to navigate; its design is both simple and beautiful.

You will find all the artificial intelligence (AI) smarts that Google fans have come to expect, including adaptive battery mode, the ability to sharpen blurred photos, and transcription capability for recordings.

Surprisingly, the Pixel 7a’s 64-megapixel wide lens and 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens at the back have a slightly higher megapixel count compared with the Pixel 7’s lenses. But in practice, the Pixel 7a’s images contain less detail in darker conditions, probably due to having lower light sensitivity compared with the Pixel 7.

With good lighting, the Pixel 7a performs just as good as most top-end smartphone cameras, with good detail and a nice pop to its colours. I found the pictures to be warmer than the Pixel 7’s and even closer to reality. 

In darker conditions, Google’s image processing does the heavy lifting to enhance blurred images and brighten dimly lit objects - rather aggressively, if I may add. And since the Pixel 7a is backed by the same chip and AI wizardry, the images look close to the Pixel 7’s. 

You will be hard-pressed to find a phone at this price that takes better photos.

Despite my praise for the Pixel 7a, it is worth noting that the Pixel 7, which launched in October, is available for around $700 on e-commerce sites.

Sold by third-party dealers, these phones are typically imported from Japan or the United States and have a shorter warranty as compared with those sold on the Google Store at full price.

This is a good price for a solid phone, with battery performance as the only real difference between the two for the average user.

But at the level of official prices, the Pixel 7a remains a puzzlingly good deal and offers a much better package than the higher-end Pixel 7.

In Google’s words: “To maintain a $749 starting price point, we did need to make some trade-offs. As a result, several features will not be available on Pixel 7a, such as Cinematic Blur and 10-bit HDR (high dynamic range) video.”

Given that I will be saving $250, that is fine by me.

The Pixel 7a is now available on the Google Store, Shopee and major electronic stores.