Winners and Losers: Google’s Pixel 7a camera wows, but the Tablet is a hard sell in the UK

OPINION: It’s been quite a week, full of new tech to drool over – but as ever we’re here to crown our winners and losers of the last seven days.

It might have been a short week here in the UK, but it’s been one of the busiest of the year for tech launches. Google kicked things with its AI – sorry, I/O – conference, while Sony announced the Xperia 1 V while Huawei debuted the P60 Pro – two phones hoping to nab that best camera phone tag.

We also reviewed perhaps the greatest Nintendo Switch game in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and we put the Steam Deck-rivalling Asus ROG Ally through its paces.

With all that in mind, who gets the honour of being this week’s winner, and who gets the wooden spoon?

Winner: We love the Pixel 7a’s camera

Google didn’t spend much of its nearly two-hour I/O developer conference talking about the three new pieces of hardware it launched. This is hardly a surprise, particularly as I/O is typically aimed more at developers and all three devices – Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold and Pixel 7a – had leaked substantially ahead of the event.

However, we’ve had our hands on the Pixel 7a for a week or so now and it does feel like Google’s new mid-range phone deserved a little more time to shine.

You can check out our early Pixel 7a review for the full lowdown on the £449/$499 phone, but the star of the show is predictably the new 64MP rear main camera. Google says this sensor is over 70% times bigger than the one inside the already very good Pixel 6a and the improvements are obvious.

For the price, we can’t find a better camera phone, with the Pixel 7a not far off rivalling the pricier Pixel 7 Pro in certain cases.

The Pixel 7a wasn’t the only new camera phone that deserves a mention this week. We spent some time, ahead of its European launch, with the Huawei P60 Pro – and wow, what a handset. This phone is not far off three times the price of the 7a, but it possesses one of the most pleasing camera systems we’ve ever seen.

Loser: What happened to the price of the Pixel Tablet in the UK?

The Big G might have picked up the winning gong this week, but we’ve crowned it the loser too. Sorry guys.

What irked us the most from all the Google hardware news this week wasn’t the price of the Fold, nor the fact that it’s launching with a 2022 chipset. No, our biggest qualm is the price of the Pixel Tablet in the UK.

Google’s long-teased tablet is available in the USA for the fantastic price of $499 (about £400 in a straight conversion without any taxes or anything added). This is only $50 more than the cheapest iPad, and it comes with the super handy charging speaker dock that turns the tablet into a Nest Hub.

However, in the UK the Pixel Tablet will sell for £599 ($750 in a straight conversion) making it £100 more than Apple’s base tablet and more in line with the £669 iPad Air.

This pricing strategy is even more confusing when taken alongside the Pixel phones. The Pixel 7a will sell for £449 in the UK and $499 in the USA, while the Fold will go for £1749 and $1799 respectively. It does feel like we’re getting a rough deal on the tablet by comparison.