Google Pixel 9a Review: No Camera Bar, No Nonsense — The Smartest Budget Pixel Yet

Google Pixel 9a Review: Google has added a twist to the most affordable Pixel with the Pixel 9a. The phone gets a decent spec boost, a new design and most significantly, starts at a much lower price than its predecessor, the Pixel 8a. All of which make this the best Pixel on the market for those on a budget. 

Google Pixel 9a Review: Quick Pointers

What we love:

  • Compact design 
  • Good battery life 
  • Good main camera 
  • Typically smooth, Pixel-like performance 
  • Clean interface with assured updates
  • The price (lower than before)

What we don’t:

  • Slightly plain in appearance (no camera bar)
  • Underwhelming secondary camera 
  • Slow charging speed (and STILL no charger)
  • The price (still expensive in spec terms) 
  • Gorilla Glass 3 now seems old

No Camera Bar, This Pixel Looks Different 

The Pixel's 'a' variant has generally followed the design of its more premium siblings, but the Pixel 9a breaks out of this design mould. The phone comes in three colours: Obsidian (black), Porcelain (white-ish) and an all-new Iris (a light shade of purple). We got the Iris version, and were it not for the G on the back, we would not have thought this was a Pixel. 

That is because the Pixel 9a is the first non-folding Pixel in a few years to come without a camera bar on the back. The back of the Pixel 9a is smooth, flat plastic and on the top left corner has a pill-shaped jet back camera unit, which remarkably (in this day and age) does not jut out at all. The sides are straight and the front is dominated by a tall, flat display. 

The Pixel 9a continues the 'a' series tradition of being relatively compact. At 154.7 mm, it is slightly taller than the Pixel 8a (152.1 mm), and is wider too (73.3 mm against 72.7 mm), but is still compact compared to most other phones.  

It is 8.9 mm thin (not super slim, but not tubby either), and tips the scales at 186 grams, which is remarkable when you consider that it actually has a larger battery than the Pixel 8a, which was as slim but very slightly heavier at 189 grams. 

The phone has a very solid, substantial feel to it, and although the back is plastic, it looks premium and can be mistaken for glass. The sides are aluminium and the front comes with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, which seems ancient for this day and age, but is handy, and best of all, the phone comes with IP68 dust and water protection, which means it will easily survive a fall in the water. 

The non-jutting camera unit and the Iris shade made our unit stand out from the usual phone crowd, as did its relatively compact size. This is the most different-looking Pixel we have seen for a while. 

Getting A Spec Bump Up 

The Pixel 9a comes with a spec sheet that is surprisingly close to the premium Pixel 9 and well ahead of the Pixel 8a. This is most noticeable in terms of a bigger display and battery. The Pixel 9a comes with a 6.3-inch OLED Actua display with 2424 x 1080 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate and 2700 nits peak brightness, similar to that on the much more expensive Pixel 9. 

It has a Tensor G4 processor similar to the ones seen on the other Pixel 9 phones, backed with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage, which is lower than the 12 GB RAM on the Pixel 9, but is a good number. It also comes with a 5100 mAh battery, which is the biggest on the Pixel 9 series, bigger even than the 5060 mAh one seen even on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. 

Charging speeds remain slow, however (23W wired, 7.5W wireless), and there's no charger in the box. The real difference between the 9a and its more expensive siblings comes in the camera department - whereas the Pixel 9 had a 50 megapixel main sensor with OIS and a 48 megapixel ultrawide, with a 10.5 mm selfie camera with autofocus in front. 

The Pixel 9a has a 48 megapixel main sensor with OIS, a 13 megapixel ultrawide, and its 13 megapixel selfie camera has no autofocus. Of course, this being a Pixel, you get the latest version of Android, Android 15, a clean interface with no bloatware, and a massive seven years of OS and security updates. 

A Smooth Operator With Great Battery Life

The Pixel series has been known for its smooth performance, unburdened by bloatware and the Pixel 9a continues this tradition. The phone glides through routine tasks like Web browsing, messaging and social media doom scrolling easily, and the display is great for viewing videos, with stereo speakers making the experience more absorbing. The Tensor G4 is not a gaming chip but you can get through Call of Duty and Asphalt at high graphics settings, although some lags seem to creep into Genshin Impact if played at high graphics. The Pixel 9a also comes with all of Google's AI goodness. Features like Gemini, Gemini Live, Circle to Search, Creative Studio, Call transcriptions, AI summaries and translations work very well indeed. While the AI performance is a notch below what we see on the 9 and 9 Pro, it is still streets ahead of any other phone in its segment. 

A lot of this AI sorcery is also seen in the photography department of the Pixel 9a. The main sensor takes pictures that are typically Pixel-like: rich in detail, although the colours sometimes seem a little faded in bright light conditions, and very good low light images too. 

While there is no telephoto sensor, you get very useful 8x zoom, which delivers images that can be easily used on social media. Video quality from the main sensor is good as well, although sound remains a bit of an issue. Google's computational photography skills blend with AI to let one do much more with videos and images, with features like Magic Eraser, Add Me (which lets you add the photographer to the snap), Macro Focus (super for close ups) and a truckload of edit options in  Magic Editor, which lets you change size and textures of objects, change the framing and even add and remove objects with AI. 

The main sensor delivers a superb performance and is among the best at this price point, but the 13 megapixel ultrawide and a similar 13 megapixel selfie sensors are underwhelming in comparison - perhaps Google could have taken a page out of the Cupertino Camera book and stuck just one sensor on the Pixel 9a. 

The biggest star of the Pixel 9a show for us is the battery. The 5100 mAh battery makes the Pixel 9a the longest-lasting Pixel we have used in terms of battery life. Even with extensive AI use and photography, we got through comfortably more than a day of usage, and if we were careful, we got close to two days. Mind you, the 23W charging speed meant that it took 90-100 minutes to recharge the phone completely and the 7.5W wireless charging speed is of very limited use. 

Google Pixel 9a Review: Final Verdict

The Pixel 9a is available in a single 8 GB / 256 GB RAM and storage variant at Rs 49,999. This is actually much lower than the Pixel 8a, whose 8 GB/ 256 GB variant would have set you back by Rs 59,999 (even the 8 GB/ 128 GB variant was priced at Rs 52,999). 

However, in terms of pure specs, the Pixel 9a still seems a little on the expensive side. After all, you get the iQoo 13 with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and a bigger display, battery and cameras for a few thousand Rupees more. 

There is also the OnePlus 13R, which comes with a larger display, a very good processor, more megapixels and a big battery and a fast charger at a lower price. And well, those wanting a compact camera phone have the option of picking a Xiaomi 14 Civi, which comes with a very good processor and lots of Leica goodness, again at a lower price. 

However, the Pixel series was never about specs and benchmarks. At its price, the Pixel 9a is easily the most affordable new Pixel phone out there in the market - the Pixel 9 starts at Rs 74,900 and while the Pixel 8a is still around and boasts that distinct camera bar design, it is not as adept at handling AI as the 9a is, and is below the Pixel 9a in several regards. 

Simply said, the Pixel 9a is perhaps the best option for those who want a Pixel experience on a budget. You get the standard Pixel features - a clean UI, AI features, a good main camera, assured updates, and even outstanding battery life, at a price that is the lowest in the current Pixel range by some distance. All of which makes the Pixel 9a 'A' perfect Pixel for those on a tight budget.

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