Review: Google Pixel 9a

I've been testing Google's new smartphone, the Pixel 9a, during one of the most tumultuous economic periods I've ever seen. The situation is constantly evolving, but this week, the US announced tariffs on several countries, including Vietnam, where the Pixel 9a is manufactured. That means US businesses will have to absorb that cost when importing goods. Say hello to higher prices for US consumers.

Thankfully, Google is not changing the $499 price of the Pixel 9a. Even better news, this is still the best smartphone for the money. Tariffs may overshadow the launch of this Android handset, but if you're looking to upgrade your aging smartphone and don't want to spend $1,000 or more on a flagship, the full-featured Pixel 9a is a no-brainer. The seven years of software support that Google promises means you can keep it up to date long enough that, hopefully, the next time you need to upgrade, it won't be in the midst of a trade war. Hopefully.

Flat Design

One of the more “controversial” parts of the Pixel 9a—at least according to the discourse I've seen on social media—is the phone's design. It looks different from previous Pixel phones. Gone is the iconic camera bar that made Pixels distinct and easily identifiable in a crowd (you nerd).

Instead, the back of the phone is bare, and the dual-camera system is completely flush—no thick camera bumps here. The best part of having a phone with a flat back is that it doesn't rock on a table. The second-best thing is that it doesn't collect dust between the camera lenses like every other smartphone. It's clean and neat.

That said, there's a certain charm lost with this aesthetic. My unit is the iris color, which is doing a lot of heavy lifting in making this phone look appealing. The peony color also looks great. But in black and white, it's a dull, boring phone. I sincerely hope Google isn't getting rid of the camera bar in the upcoming Pixel 10 series. It gives an element of character in a category that's rife with blank, glass canvases.

The Pixel 9a otherwise looks and feels exceptional. The only thing that might give away its price is the thicker bezels around the OLED display, just like on the iPhone 16e, which is hardly a problem. Speaking of, I noticed the larger 6.3-inch screen getting exceptionally bright as the sun glared through the window on my above-ground subway commute; I had no trouble reading it. The 120-Hz screen refresh rate also kept everything looking nice and smooth, something Apple desperately needs to implement.

Google is employing the same top-end Tensor G4 processor as the Pixel 9 series, though you get only 8 gigabytes of RAM versus 12 on the Pixel 9 and 16 on the Pixel 9 Pro. For the most part, performance feels identical to Google's flagship phones. Apps launch quickly, multitasking is snappy, and it didn't struggle with the few mobile games I tried.

But the lesser RAM means a few Gemini-powered software features from the Pixel 9 series aren't available, like the Pixel Screenshots app and Call Notes, which automatically provides a text summary of your phone calls. I find these helpful, so it's a shame they're not here, but not enough to ding the phone's score for it.

I also had some issues with Assistant Voice Typing—the souped-up voice-to-text tech—though this may or may not be related. It got a few things incorrect as I spoke. That's common for other phones, but I usually have a nearly flawless experience on Pixels.

The big improvement over its predecessor is battery life. There's now a beefy 5,100-mAh cell, the largest to date in a Pixel phone. You're not going to get two-day battery life, but I've generally ended most days with a comfortable 30 to 40 percent left over. On the day of the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement, I was posting live for an hour on Bluesky, not to mention using Slack and enabling the hot spot function to edit and upload some photos from a tablet. By 5:30 pm, the Pixel 9a was at 15 percent. Heavy users may need to tote around a power bank.

I haven't had many issues with the rest of the hardware. I like that I can wirelessly charge this Pixel even if it's using the older, basic Qi standard. Wireless charging isn't a given on cheap and midrange phones, so this is a plus. Google has upgraded the IP rating to IP68 now, meaning the phone can be submerged for longer periods and still come out OK. The optical fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable, and this remains one of the only Android phones with a secure face unlock that works with banking and other sensitive apps. It's a shame that Google's face-scanning biometrics system still doesn't work well in the dark, and it's not as secure as Apple's Face ID (it can be spoofed).

The Pixel Eye

The dual-camera system consists of a 48-megapixel main sensor and a 13-MP ultrawide, with a 13-MP selfie camera on the front. As with virtually every Pixel phone, it's hard not to be impressed with the camera quality compared to its peers. This Pixel is also privy to many of the new AI software features Google debuted on the Pixel 9, like Add Me, Best Take, Reimagine, and Auto frame. I explored a lot of these features here and in my Pixel 9 review.

Images may not be as sharp as what you might get from the iPhone 16e's camera, but you'd only notice if you zoomed in. Whether it's during the day or at night, you can expect a sharp, colorful, and bright photo, one that can handle high-contrast scenes decently. Even some 4K 60-frames-per-second video footage I shot in a dimly lit karaoke room came out looking perfectly usable, if a bit grainy.

The camera goes a little further than just taking photos and videos this time around. One of the new features on the Pixel 9a, also available on other Android handsets, is Gemini Live's real-time video features. This is where you can point the phone's camera at anything and have a back-and-forth conversation with Gemini about what you're looking at. I moved the Pixel 9a around my desk and asked Gemini what products it saw, and it accurately pointed out a Keychron keyboard, a Hydroflask water bottle, and Monoprice Monolith studio speakers. It was impressive.

I am a fairly avid user of Google Lens, and I suspect Gemini Live's new functionality will soon start to replace it. It's so fast! The catch? You need to pay for Gemini Advanced, though you can get it bundled in a Google One plan with other perks. You also don't have to use Gemini Live for this kind of image recognition feature—you can upload pictures to the traditional version of Gemini and ask questions about it.

Even if you don't use many of the smart features in Google's Pixel phones, the Pixel 9a delivers a well-rounded smartphone experience that's hard to find elsewhere at its $499 price (though Nothing's Phone (3a) Pro comes close). Once you take advantage of Google's AI prowess, there are quite a few enriching features that are helpful day to day, like the long-standing Now Playing function that offers up the name of the song playing in your surroundings before you even think to ask. Call Screen is another that continues to reduce the number of spam calls that come my way.

This iteration of the A-series Pixel is more about refining the hardware than breaking new ground, but it's still an exceptional value.