The Pixel 9a Has A Mid-Range Price Tag With Flagship-Grade Features

Google Pixel smartphones represent the best that Android offers. While they may not have the most feature-rich interface, Pixel smartphones offer a smooth Android experience with clever software trickery.

While flagship Pixel phones hover around $1,000, Google’s affordable ‘a’ series offers the best software with slight hardware compromises. The latest iteration in that lineup is the Google Pixel 9a.

The Pixel 9a offers incredible value for a phone priced under $500. It may not be a spec-monster like other options, but it strikes the perfect balance between capable hardware and elegant software. Here’s why I think the Pixel 9a is redefining mid-range smartphones.

6 Reliable cameras

Almost as good as the Pixel 9

Google’s smartphones have never been about raw specs or numbers. That remains true with the Pixel 9a. The best example of that is the camera setup on the 9a. At the rear, there’s a 48MP primary shooter with an f/1.7 aperture, and a 13MP ultrawide camera. These aren’t jaw-dropping numbers. Still, the cameras on the Pixel 9a click stunning pictures with the typical high-contrast look that we’ve come to expect from Google’s smartphones.

Despite costing a fraction of the Pixel 9, the 9a produces images that are hard to differentiate from its flagship counterparts. The ultrawide camera produces softer images, especially when the lighting isn’t ideal. However, that’s the case with most phones in this price range. The selfie shooter is also impressive, producing natural skin tones and good dynamic range.

To the untrained eye, the Pixel 9a clicks photos that look like images from the Pixel 9, meaning it has a top-tier camera setup.

5 Robust AI integration

Truly useful features

Google pulls off impressive results with the cameras on the Pixel 9a, thanks to its algorithmic prowess. From the beginning, Google relied on computational photography and AI to improve the camera output on Pixel phones. That expertise has carried over to other aspects of photography, including editing pictures using AI.

For starters, the Add Me feature allows you to take group pictures without the help of an external person. Then, there’s Magic Editor that removes unwanted objects or people from an image, and replaces elements in the background with a command.

It’s not only about photo editing. Google’s Gemini integration is persistent across the UI, making the Pixel 9a an AI powerhouse. You can transcribe voice notes and calls, use the circle to search feature from any screen, generate images using Pixel Studio, and more.

A few AI features are reserved for the more expensive Pixel phones, but the current features should be sufficient for most users.

4 Extended software support

7 years of updates

The Pixel lineup represents Google’s vision with Android, so it makes sense for the brand to offer extended software support to Pixel devices. That’s what Google is doing, even on the budget-oriented ‘a’ series.

The Pixel 9a will get seven years of Android version updates and security patches, which means it will remain up-to-date till 2032. That’s a massive move in terms of longevity, since those who don’t prefer upgrading their phones every few years can still enjoy the latest software features and security fixes.

The Pixel 9a is the only phone in this price range slated to receive software support for a long duration. Apart from letting consumers use the phone for longer, the move generates less e-waste, as fewer people need to upgrade to new phones due to software limitations.

3 Solid battery life

The largest battery on a Pixel

Last year’s Pixel 8a had a 4,400mAh battery, a low capacity by today’s standards. With the Pixel 9a, Google upgraded the cell, bringing the capacity to 5,100mAh. This makes it the largest battery on a Pixel phone, going past the 5,060mAh cell on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Club this with the small-ish display, and you’re looking at a phone that lasts a long time on a single charge.

The charging speeds are slow, so when you run out of juice, you will wait two hours or more to top it up to 100%. However, I will happily make this compromise if the battery lasts me an entire day, and I only have to plug in the phone at night before going to bed.

2 Impressive performance

Google’s most powerful SoC

Google’s Tensor series of chipsets has had a reputation for being underpowered and inefficient compared to rival SoCs from Qualcomm and MediaTek. However, the Tensor G5 on the Pixel 9 series fixes several flaws, resulting in reliable performance when carrying out most day-to-day tasks. It still falls short when gaming or video editing, but it’s an improvement over older iterations.

The modem on Pixel devices has always been questionable, with several users reporting patchy network and connectivity issues. However, that seems to be fixed to a large extent with the Pixel 9a.

I’m more confident in recommending the Pixel 9a thanks to the marked improvements in processing power.

1 As close as it can get to the number series

Meaningful omissions

Every brand cuts corners when making a product that’s priced lower than its more expensive offerings. While Google has done that, it chose parameters that don’t impact the end-user experience much. For instance, the back is made of polycarbonate instead of glass, the camera module doesn’t look as premium as the Pixel 9, and the bezels around the display are thicker.

While these factors reduce the premium appeal of a smartphone, they don’t take away from the functionality. The compromises are there, but aren’t apparent. The fact that Google achieved that is commendable, in my opinion.

The Pixel ‘a’ phone with the least compromises

Google’s Pixel ‘a’ series has always had good offerings, but most have had a major compromise, leading to reviewers recommending alternatives in the same price range. While Google has cut corners with the Pixel 9a, those changes don’t impact the end-user experience as much, making it a solid deal for the price.

The Pixel 9a ticks all the right boxes when it comes to the core pillars of a good smartphone, making it the default recommendation for anyone who wants a reliable mid-range phone under $500.