Name: Google Pixel 9A Impressions: One Great Spec!
Uploaded: 2025-04-10T08:21:38.000Z
Duration: 6 min 50 s
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Adverbs of degree

I feel like I could start every Pixel video this way because they're always true, but I just got some hands-on time with Google's new budget phone, the Pixel 9a.

And right off the bat, there are a few things that I'm really happy about.

First of all, and most importantly, the price stays the same at 499.

So in a world where we have questions about inflation and tariffs and a whole bunch of other variables, this phone is the same price that the Pixel 8a was.

And then design-wise, okay, I have mixed thoughts about this.

So on one hand, it's pretty boring, and I just really don't find any of it that great.

Like, I feel like I just got done praising the Pixel series last year for stepping up their hardware game with really locking in their identity as the phone with the visor.

Like, you look at a Pixel, it's recognizable.

But on the other hand, you'll notice something.

There is no camera bump on the back of this phone.

Not just a little camera bump or a small set of rings.

And how long have we been asking phone manufacturers to do this?

Just go right ahead and make the phone thicker, get rid of the camera bump, and fill in that extra space with batteries.

And that's literally exactly what they've done.

It's an 8.9 millimeter thick phone, and we have now the largest battery that's ever been in a Pixel device, 5,100 milliamp hours.

So they did the thing.  So that by itself has essentially become the main value proposition to this new Pixel.

It's the cheaper one with all the pixel-y software goodness we already know about, and the huge battery.

Now, the new embargo that they're doing with this Pixel for some reason is kind of a massive red flag.

They're not allowing us to show any software at all like I usually do.

So that's why this whole video is just home screens.

But I did get to spend some time with this phone and using it off camera.

And I can tell you pretty much everything else about it is exactly as you'd expect.

It is powered by the same Tensor G4 chip as the flagship Pixel 9s, with eight gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of starting storage.

And it's also basically the same size as the Pixel 9.

So that's a 6.3 inch display with the hole punch at the top and the fingerprint reader under the glass.

And it honestly feels very close to a flagship in terms of build.

So you may notice that if you're the rare breed of person that doesn't have a case on their phone, but also people argue for that all the time in terms of shatter resistance.

And this phone is also now fully IP68, dust and water resistant now, unlike last year's 8a, which was IP67.

Last year, the Pixel 8a came out at the same price right around the time that the Pixel 8 was all the way down to like 550 bucks in price.

And it made too many sacrifices, felt a bit off of a flagship phone.

So it was kind of in this awkward place where it was not a very good deal.

And the Pixel 8 right above it was a really good deal.

This year though, I feel like there's been a massive push actually in both directions.

It makes less of those sacrifices and it's the same price.

And the Pixel 9 is actually, it was more pricey.

And so now it's down to like 649 at best.

So there's enough separation now between the two where I'm not just telling you to go buy the flagship.

The 9a actually represents a good bang for the buck.

It seems to be almost the same display as a Pixel 9, same 120 Hertz max refresh rate, which yes, is still off by default at 60, but also same brightness, same resolution, just a slightly worse contrast ratio.

And it's Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Victus 2.

And it isn't missing any of the software features that make a Pixel a Pixel.

So they might've gotten rid of some of the hardware stuff, but software wise, all that stuff is still there.

Gemini is everywhere, magic eraser, photo unblur, call screening.

Like the stuff that I really miss when I switch to another phone that's not a Pixel, it's all still in the A series.

And then still seven years of software updates and the Pixel drops and all that stuff.

It still has basic Qi wireless charging and it's gonna charge that big battery slower than the flagship, sure.

But then also with these dual cameras on the back, it's a 48 megapixel main camera plus a 13 megapixel ultra wide, and it still has night sight.

So if I just take the things that I think people who are buying these types of phones care the most about, you can think of the Pixel 9a basically as like a Pixel 9 minus some camera chops plus a way bigger battery.

And that's a sacrifice I think a lot of people are totally cool with and it's way cheaper.

So in general, like are people really gonna notice the plastic on the back versus glass?

Or are they gonna notice a slightly slower charging when the battery's bigger?

You have a case on your phone anyway, like I don't think that's gonna be a huge deal to a lot of people.

So I think at this price, it's actually pretty perfect positioning.

So there's four colors available again, black and white are still here.

And there's also what they're calling peony, which is this pink one and iris, which is closer to like a purple or blue depending on how the light hits it.

I think that's the one that looks best, but now I'll leave you with this.

Okay, so good phone, good price, good value.

I think they're in a good place with the Pixel 9a, but we are also a few months away from starting to see probably accurate leaks of the Pixel 10 series.

And then the Pixel 10 is gonna come out and that obviously won't be as cheap as A series, but the Pixel 10 shaping up to be very interesting.

And I don't wanna overhype it because I feel like we could easily be very disappointed, but the rumors about Pixel 10, some of them suggest a pretty big performance increase with Tensor G5 that could make it much more fluid, much more competitive with Snapdragon stuff.

So if you're specifically a person like me, who's maybe trying to maximize performance per dollar and who really cares about that type of thing, it might be worth waiting for a potentially awesome Pixel 10.

But I feel like I already regret saying that in this video because the 9a is a perfectly good phone.

You can definitely go get that phone and be happy.

I should just say expectations are the thief of joy now just to get it out there, but I'll be watching Pixel 10 stuff.

Either way, 9a drops into a world where the iPhone 16e was looking a little bit ridiculous.

And now we can feel validated calling it ridiculous because we've got all these other pretty good looking budget phones coming out.

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