Pixel 9a Review - ONE Camera issue to fix… 😳
What I’m about to say about the Pixel 9a is based on its current pricing before the new tariffs because it may get a little more expensive. This phone is made in Vietnam, assembled in China, but I think it’s actually shipped from Vietnam, so the tax on that may be 10% or 46% depending on the negotiations.
But as of now, it costs 499 USD, the same as the Pixel 8a, which at this moment is very competitive. The Pixel 9a does have some improvements over the 8a like the larger screen, better build quality, I mean, this metal design feels super premium and substantial, almost no camera bump, the camera being entirely flushed with the back, it’s got better water resistance, and it has Google’s latest Tensor G4 processor.
But this Tensor G4 is different from what you get from the flagship 9 Pro series. It doesn’t support Satellite connectivity. Now this only means that you can’t send or receive SOS messages via Satellite because it is still paired with the older Exynos 5300 Modem unlike the 5400 modem in the flagship series. Not a big deal for people who don’t go mountain climbing, or who don’t think WW3 is going to happen any moment
Camera (Photos)
The main camera does have fewer megapixels. 48MP vs the 64MP from before, but it also has a large ½” sensor which means it can take in more light, producing cleaner shots in low light. Testing this theory shows that indeed it performs pretty well in low light, even without using the Night Sight feature.
Like the previous model you can only get up to 8x Super-Res zoom with pictures, and up to 5x digital crop with videos which is okay at this price. Now, if we’re just looking at it in terms of specs, it’s not as competitive as something like, for example, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro and its 3x periscope with 60x digital zoom. But if you’re looking at the actual execution of the camera, the 9a delivers on color accuracy in all lighting conditions, whereas the 3a Pro has a tint shifting issue at the time of this video’s recording.
You also get all of Google’s AI photo editing like Photo Unblur, Best Take, Magic Eraser, but my favorite is still the ‘Add Me’ feature which opens up a new way to create fun images that we first saw on the Pixel 9 Pro series. One thing that it doesn’t have is Video Boost, which uploads a RAW version of the videos you shoot into the cloud in order to upscale them.
Pixel 9a’s ‘Add Me’ Feature
Camera (Video)
I noticed that this option is missing from the Pixel 9a’s video mode, but even without it, you can still shoot on the regular 4k 60, zoom up to 5 times digital. Shooting video, it’s relatively stable footage decent in well lit scenes, white-balance is quite stable, but I wasn’t too impressed with the noisiness in low light situations. This is something I hope Google can improve in a future fix.
Its microphone pickup is very good though. My voice sounded clean, and it could isolate my voice very well from the ambience.
👉 Have a look at the videos samples
Sound Quality
About the sound from its speakers, it’s a pretty loud phone in the mids. It’s got a stereo setup, one speaker above and below. Doesn’t have much low end, but it is loud and clear enough to be heard in outdoors situations. Although I will say it’s not the loudest I’ve heard, so sometimes I do have to max out the volume but often, even 70-80 percent is loud enough. It doesn’t have much spaciousness to it though, and there aren’t any sound settings I could apply to the speakers so that games like COD Mobile sound better.
Now, about the audio codecs it supports, it only supports SBC, AAC and LDAC. It’s good that it has LDAC because that’s a very common Hi-Res codec. But if you’re using something like the Bose QC Ultra earbuds, you won’t have aptX Adaptive support let alone aptX. This in way, it is a downgrade from the 8a because that one did support codecs like aptX HD and LC3.
👉 Have a listen to the sound quality
Performances
But on the graphics front, I didn’t have any issues as I was able to run at both Max graphic quality and Max frame rate settings. As usual, choosing Ultra frame rate will kick the quality down to Medium. In terms of thermals, it doesn’t run hot for much of my one hour of gaming, just slightly warm at the back with much of that heat being carried to the edges. So thermal management is on point so far with the Tensor G4, although it’s not a powerhouse like the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Verdict
In short, I don’t see the Pixel 9a as a big upgrade over the 8a, so all of you with the 8a, you can rest easy. But if you’re in the market for a budget device, the reason the Pixel 9a is still a solid choice is that you’ll be among the first to get the latest OS updates from Google. In fact this ships with Android 15 as default whereas other budget phones are usually on Android 14. Moreover this still is the stock Android experience without any of the bloat that comes with competing budget devices. If you prefer that, get it, but if you’re looking for a powerhouse in terms of camera and GPU, there are alternatives.
