What it’s good to know
- Google Pixel 9a arrives with a brand new look, ditching the same old pill-shaped aluminum digicam bar for a flat rear panel.
- The gadget comes with an prolonged battery lifetime of as much as 30 hours, sooner charging, and two new colorways: Iris and Peony.
- Like the opposite Pixel 9 gadgets, this price range cellphone additionally will get Android 15 out of the field, the brand new Tensor G4 chip, and 7 years of OS and safety updates.
- The $499 cellphone comes with all the newest AI options, together with Gemini Reside, Greatest Take, Add Me, Magic Editor, and extra.
Google has lastly introduced the price range cellphone to its Pixel 9 collection— Pixel 9a arrives with all the newest AI instruments you’d must get by way of your day-to-day actions. Google appears to have dropped us a Pixel-sized shock proper earlier than Google I/O 2025 and we aren’t complaining. Nonetheless, there are some vital modifications that the gadget got here with this 12 months so let’s get into it.
Proper off the bat, you see the Pixel 9a sports activities an all-new look, ditching its ordinary “Pixel-like” look, for a smooth, flat, rear panel that homes the digicam array throughout the cellphone. Whereas the large pill-shaped digicam bump appears to be all however gone, the cellphone has the identical rounded aluminum aspect rails as its predecessors.
For its show, the Pixel 9a will get a barely larger 6.3-inch pOLED display screen however has a 35% brighter than the Pixel 8a at 2700 nits — and a 120 Hz adaptive refresh charge, that brings smoother navigation throughout the gadget. Google says the Pixel 9a, very similar to the 8a has an Actua show, that means Google labored arduous to make sure correct shade accuracy, however that additionally means it makes use of PWM dimming. The display screen will get its safety from Gorilla Glass 3, Full 24-bit depth identical to its earlier mannequin.
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Attending to what lies on the coronary heart of this price range mannequin is Google’s Tensor G4 (4nm) chipset very similar to this 12 months’s flagship fashions, that’s mentioned to energy Gemini Nano and all the opposite AI options like Greatest Take, Add Me, Magic Editor and extra.
Speaking about energy, the Pixel 9a arrives with an enormous 5,100mAh, which is bigger than the usual Pixel 9 mannequin(4700mAh), giving it a lift in battery life. Google claims that the gadget could have over 30 hours of battery life with only one cost and might run for as much as 100 hours on Excessive battery saver mode.
With the large battery additionally comes sooner charging speeds because you would not wish to wait round in your cellphone to cost. The Pixel 9a trumps its predecessor with a 23W wired charging velocity and helps 7.5W Qi-certified wi-fi chargers.
Attending to the cellphone’s digicam system is now embedded into the again panel of the gadget, in contrast to some other Pixel cellphone so far. The gadget comes with a smaller 48MP main lens, sticks to the 13MP ultra-wide lens from the Pixel 8a, and a 13MP selfie digicam. All three lenses can seize 4K video, with 60fps for the rear cameras and 30fps for selfies.
Defending all of those options is the IP68 mud and water resistance that means the gadget can face up to submersion in water past 1 meter for greater than half-hour, like most best-selling Android telephones available on the market. It is very important notice that this resistance can put on over time, primarily based on utilization and different components.
Lastly, coming to the software program that powers all of it. The cellphone is alleged to come back with the newest Android 15 out-of-the-box. This may even assist energy all of Gemini’s newest options like Gemini Reside, Circle to Search, and Pixel-specific options like Name Help, Maintain For Me, Direct My Name, and extra. That mentioned, the price range Pixel 9a is on par with the remainder of the Pixel 9 collection, getting seven years of OS updates up till Android 22 together with safety updates by way of to 2032. The gadget comes with enhanced safety features like Automotive Crash Detection and theft safety as properly.
The Pixel 9a collection begins on the similar value level, $499, and is available in 4 colorways. Including to the present Obsidian and Porceline are two enjoyable colorways— Peony and Iris. The gadget comes with two storage choices like its predecessor: 128GB and 256GB storage together with 8GB of RAM. Whereas we’re but to get the precise date for presales and in-store gross sales, you might be the primary to get notified when the cellphone does drop. Google says the Pixel 9a can be out there for buy as early as April.
Battery & brightness enhance
The Google Pixel 9a shed its digicam bar to maintain a (comparatively) slim profile, taking inspiration from the Pixel Look ahead to its cameras. However for those who look previous the redesign, this is identical mid-tier {hardware} and Tensor-backed AI tips that you have come to count on from Google.
