The Google Pixel 8a is the latest and greatest in Google’s midrange A-series smartphone lineup. It costs an affordable $499, but boasts many features that make Pixel phones so popular, including great camera hardware, a Tensor G3 chip, and a 120Hz refresh rate on its 6.1-inch OLED display. All of this makes it a great option for most people who aren’t looking for cutting-edge specs.
However, you might be wondering if it comes with a headphone jack so you can use it with wired earbuds. Smartphone manufacturers have increasingly eliminated this feature in favor of pushing customers to their own line of Bluetooth earbuds and headphones. Does this also apply to the Pixel 8a? Here’s the deal.
We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Pixel 8a does not have a headphone jack. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since the Pixel 6a got rid of the headphone jack, and the Pixel 7a didn’t have it either.
This is an increasingly common phenomenon in the phone market after Apple started the trend by removing the headphone jack on the iPhone in 2016. Since then, Android manufacturers like Samsung and Google have followed suit, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a headphone jack on any device these days aside from maybe budget phones.
On the other hand, the Pixel 8a has a lot to make up for the lack of a headphone jack, as it comes with a 64-megapixel main camera, a 13MP ultrawide camera, and a 13MP selfie camera. You also get a variety of camera features, including Super Res Zoom and Night Sight. The Pixel 8a also has AI and Pixel features like Circle to Search, Gemini Assistant, Call Assist, Live Translate, and seven years of OS upgrades and security patches.
The Pixel 8a has Bluetooth, so pretty much any Bluetooth wireless headphones and earbuds should work with it. You can also pick up a pair of Google’s own Pixel Buds Pro or Pixel Buds A-Series. True wireless earbuds are great if you’re a more active person and want something unobtrusive to take to the gym, on a run, or any other activity where you want to be on the move without being tethered.
But if you refuse to give in and jump on the wireless earbud train, you still have the option of using your old wired earbuds; you’ll just need to pick up a 3.5mm-to-USB-C dongle adapter. This will fill up your USB-C port, so you won’t be able to charge and listen at the same time, but it will let you use your regular wired earbuds or headphones without being compelled to upgrade.
Preorders for the Pixel 8a start Tuesday, May 7, and the device will be available for regular sales starting Tuesday, May 14. It starts at $499.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.