Remember the Google Pixel 8a of last year? Yes, that phone with a rounded design like the Pixel 9 series, a Google Tensor G3 chip, a 120Hz display, 7 years of OS updates, and a pretty respectable 4492mAh battery, all for $499. Well, we now have the Google Pixel 9a, and this is a notable upgrade from last year, as the phone brings more power and extra battery to the table for the same $499 starting price.
Design-wise, the Google Pixel 9a does not look like it belongs to the Pixel 9 series. It does not have a similar camera module as the Pixel 9 series and instead gets a simple dual camera setup placed in the top left corner. The camera module protrudes just a little bit, making the back almost completely flat. The phone has the same rounded form factor as the Pixel 9 series, but the bezels on the front are just too much. The frame is made of aluminum, but the back is plastic.
The phone is IP68-certified (versus IP67 last year) and supports wireless charging. There are stereo speakers.
Speaking of the specifications, the Google Pixel 9a has the Google Tensor G4 chipset under the hood (reportedly a less powerful version than the one inside the Pixel 9), and the phone has 8GB RAM as standard in all the variants. The battery is 5,100mAh, and this makes it the Google Pixel phone with the largest battery. There is 23W wired charging, and the phone also supports 7.5W wireless charging.
The display is slightly larger this year at 6.3-inch and it is a Full-HD+ Actua display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1800 nits HDR brightness, and 2700 nits peak brightness. For comparison, the Pixel 8a featured a 6.1-inch display with a 1400 nits HDR brightness, and 2000 nits peak brightness.
The display is quite similar to the one on the Google Pixel 9. But one big difference is the display protection. While the more expensive Pixel 9 uses a Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection for the display, the Pixel 9a settles for the old Gorilla Glass 3. There is an optical under-display fingerprint scanner, not an ultrasonic one like the Pixel 9.
There are two rear cameras. The primary camera has a 48MP sensor with an f/1.7 lens with OIS support, and the ultrawide camera has a 13MP sensor with an f/2.2 lens. The selfie shooter has a 13MP sensor. The phone can shoot 4K 60fps videos from the rear camera and 4K 30fps videos from the selfie camera. Some software features include Magic Eraser, Auto Frame, Reimagine, Magic Editor, Best Take, Photo Unblur, Audio Magic Eraser, Macro Focus Video, etc.
Finally, the Google Pixel 9a runs on Android 15 out of the box, and Google has promised 7 years of OS updates for this phone.
The color options are named Obsidian, Porcelain, Iris, and Peony. The price starts at $499 / €549 /£499 / ₹49,999.