Google Pixel 9a Vs. Pixel 9: Comparing The Differences

The latest phone from Google now has a merchandise day of April 10, which gives you clip to comparison nan specs of nan Pixel 9A pinch those of nan 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. And though nan new Pixel 9A is perfectly a less-expensive offering, it has respective surprises worthy scrutinizing.

The merchandise of nan caller Pixel 9A completes this year's Google telephone lineup -- and now we cognize it's arriving successful early April. We besides person each nan specs for nan company's astir affordable phone.

With budget phones, nan mobility is always, "What's missing?" For example, Apple ditched MagSafe and stuck pinch a azygous camera for nan iPhone 16E -- which still comes successful astatine $599. With nan caller Pixel 9A, what is Google giving up to deed a friendlier $499 price? Surprisingly, immoderate specs meet aliases transcend those of its pricier siblings.

Hey, amended battery

People consistently complaint artillery powerfulness arsenic nan astir important information for a caller phone, and present Google delivered. The Pixel 9A has a higher-powered artillery than immoderate of nan different Pixel 9 phones. With a capacity of 5,100mAh, that's much than nan Pixel 9 Pro XL's 5,060-mAh artillery and a bully jump complete nan Pixel 9 and 9 Pro that each person a 4,700-mAh one.

The Pixel 9A is pokey astir replenishing nan battery, pinch a fast-charge complaint astatine 23 watts alternatively of 45 watts connected nan different phones (and, of course, a charger is not included). Wireless Qi charging maxes retired astatine 7.5 watts compared pinch 15 watts connected nan others.

A larger artillery capacity successful nan Pixel 9A should support much aggravated computational work, on pinch nan aforesaid Google Tensor G4 chipset arsenic nan different models. It will tally nan aforesaid Gemini AI features, though pinch little headroom: Its 8GB of RAM is mostly considered nan minimum magnitude of representation to tally nan algorithms and on-device processing utilized by AI. The Pixel 9 has 12GB of RAM, while nan 9 Pro configurations person 16GB of RAM. For storage, nan Pixel 9A comes successful conscionable 128GB aliases 256GB capacities.

Shaving costs pinch competent cameras

Not surprisingly, nan cameras are a measurement down from nan different Pixel 9 phones, reinforcing that mobile photography is an area group are consenting to salary much for. The main wide camera captures 48-megapixel photos, compared pinch nan 50-megapixel wide cameras connected nan others -- which isn't a important difference. It is simply a driblet from nan 64-megapixel main camera connected past year's Pixel 8A but does support macro attraction to guarantee close-up photos are successful focus.

The ultrawide camera, however, records conscionable 13-megapixel images, compared pinch nan 48-megapixel ultrawide cameras connected each of nan different models. Still, ultrawide cameras astatine 12- aliases 13-megapixel resolutions are still much communal connected phones from different companies, and they create bully wide-angle images. Selfies via nan front-facing camera are besides 13-megapixel resolution, which is simply a measurement up from nan 10-megapixel camera connected nan Pixel 9 but dwarfed by nan 42-megapixel cameras connected nan 9 Pros.

A return to flatness

We each play on erstwhile telephone companies uncover nan thickness of their phones, which is measured by nan extent of nan bodies and usually doesn't see nan now-ubiquitous camera bumps. As agelong as most of a telephone is svelte, it's easy to place nan other fewer millimeters dedicated to nan camera assembly -- and nan wobble erstwhile placed connected a level aboveground for immoderate phones.

Why? Because nan cameras are immoderate of nan astir important features of a modern phone. We'll judge a small cantilevering successful speech for 10x optical zoom.

Someone forgot to punctual nan Pixel 9A designers, though, because its dual camera lenses are astir flush pinch nan remainder of nan phone's back. There's still a mini elevation, which CNET's Patrick Holland described arsenic "enough to drawback your nail connected it," but compared pinch nan pronounced camera ledge connected nan different Pixel 9 models, nan Pixel 9A rests astir flat.

The other broadside of nan assemblage has nan aforesaid 6.3-inch OLED surface arsenic nan Pixel 9, measuring 2,424x1,080 pixels for a 422 pixels-per-inch density and a 60Hz to 120Hz adaptable refresh rate. It moreover maxes retired astatine 2,700 nits for illustration nan Pixel 9.

The phone's dimensions, however, are somewhat larger than nan Pixel 9, being 1.9mm taller, 1.3mm wider and 0.4mm deeper. Even so, nan Pixel 9A is nan lightest of nan phones astatine 186g (6.6 ounces).

Watch this: First Look: Google's Pixel 9A Gets a Large Battery and New Design

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To comparison nan specs betwixt each Pixel 9-series phones, excavation into nan specifications below:

Pixel 9A specs vs. Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL