The Google Pixel 9a is Google's best chance to get Pixel prices under control, given that the company has increased the price of its mainline Pixel series by $100 for two years in a row. During those two years, the Pixel A-series regularly impressed with annual improvements that make it feel like a mainline pixel despite the reduced price.
But there's always room for improvement and differentiation. Only a few rumors for the Pixel 9a currently exist and, surprisingly, some rumors even say Google may ditch the A-series completely. But we still think we'll be getting a Pixel 9a this coming year based on everything we know. After reading this guide, you'll probably agree, too!
Google Pixel 9a: Price and availability
Last year, one analyst noted that the Pixel 8a wouldn't exist, but that clearly didn't pan out. So far, we have rumors that the Pixel 9a exists and will feature a bigger display than the Pixel 8a, but a few trends with the Pixel family seem to be telling a bigger picture.
This year, Google expanded its lineup of phones with the release of the Pixel 9, which includes four different models: The Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. But contrary to what some folks thought, Google hasn't released a true budget Pixel 9 phone yet, leaving room for a future Pixel 9a.
Google once again raised prices of its Pixel phones year-over-year, adding $100 to each model. That means there's an ideal spot for a Pixel 9a to take over at $499 or so, as it would be several hundred dollars cheaper than the $799 Pixel 9, the cheapest current model in the Pixel 9 family.
Google Pixel 9a: Design and displays
Historically, the Pixel A-series has used a design similar to that of the main series but with a few tweaks. In the Pixel 8a's case, the corners had a slightly wider curve than the Pixel 8 series, making it even more of a squircle.
Google took a massively different design direction with the Pixel 9 series, dropping the friendly curves of the last four Pixel releases and going for a much more industrial design. In a way, it looks a lot like if you took a Pixel 4 and mixed it with an iPhone 15.
But we've now seen an alleged Pixel 9a twice now, with both leaks sporting a very different design from any recent Pixel phone.
If leaks are to be believed, the Pixel 9a will look more like a Nothing Phone 2a or the old Essential PH1 than the mainline Pixel 9 series. Given that Google raised the prices of the main series by $100, this would give the company the perfect excuse to keep the price of the Pixel 9a low while maintaining that it's a budget line with a cheaper-looking design.
Google is also said to be keeping the smaller Pixel 9's fun colors for the Pixel 9a, including Iris and Peony colorways. Peony is said to be the same striking pink color as the Pixel 9, while Iris sports a "blueish-purple" hue.
The leak also notes that the Pixel 9a will be 154mm tall and 73mm wide making it slightly larger than the 152.1 mm x 72.7 mm dimensions of the Pixel 8a. A second leak corroborates those numbers and also mentions the thickness at 8.9mm while the display could see an increase to 6.1, 6.2, or even 6.3 inches.
Surprisingly, this same leak notes that the camera portion extends the thickest portion to 9.4mm, seemingly contradicting the other two leaks that show an almost completely flat and flush camera housing.
Google Pixel 9a: Cameras
As of late October, we've only seen one rumor point to camera changes for the Pixel 9a. That rumor notes that Google will be swapping out the 64MP sensor on the Pixel 8a with a 48MP sensor on the Pixel 9a. While this sounds like a downgrade on paper, it's actually supposed to be the same main camera sensor that's in the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
That same rumor says that the Pixel 9a will feature the same 13MP ultra wide-angle camera as the Pixel 8a, so no changes on the second rear camera.
Some of the best new Pixel 9 camera features, like Add Me, should make their way to the Pixel 9a. We don't have a list of which features Google might include just yet, but we expect most of them to make an appearance.
Google Pixel 9a: Specs and performance
The Google Pixel 9a should use the same Google Tensor G4 processor as the Pixel 9. While this is an assumption, of course, it would logically follow that Google would use the same processor in all phones with the Pixel 9 moniker as it has historically shared the same processor across the Pixel line in any given generation since the Pixel 6a.
That means the Pixel 9a would use the same processor as the more expensive Pixel 9 Fold and Pixel 9 Pro XL, despite the huge price gap that's likely to occur.
Tensor G4 is only a minor upgrade over the Tensor G3 in most respects, although it's capable of processing specific AI-related tasks faster than some other leading flagship processors. It also runs quite a bit cooler than the Tensor G3 but at the expense of being slower in gaming and other heavier graphics processing-based scenarios.
Google is not expected to deliver a massive upgrade to its Tensor line until Tensor G5, currently slated for the 2025 release of the Pixel 10 series.
The Pixel 9a would likely ship with the Tensor G4 processor, which is only a minor upgrade over the Tensor G3 inside the Pixel 8a.
One late October leak claims that Google will be supercharging the battery capacity of the Pixel 9a up to 5,000mAh in size. Comparatively, the Pixel 8a uses a 4,492mAh battery. Given the battery efficiency enhancements with Tensor G4, the Pixel 9a should have the best battery life of any Pixel A-series in a long time.
It's highly unlikely that we'll see many major upgrades for Pixel 9a components since Google just upgraded most of the requested items — like the display refresh rate — in the Pixel 8a.
Google Pixel 9a: Wishlist
As with any new phone, there are a few things we'd love to see Google improve on the Pixel 9a over existing phones like the Pixel 8a.
A lower-priced option
The Pixel 6a, 7a, and 8a are all great phones that offer a lot of value, but a $450-500 phone is still financially out of reach for a lot of people. In fact, the Galaxy A-series makes up the bulk of the sales for Samsung. Google's Pixel market share continues to grow, and there's little doubt the Pixel A-series has a big part in this.
How much more could it grow, then, if Google offered a truly budget-priced model? We're talking something under $300 that could still offer the Pixel experience, even if it had to cut back on some of the more premium features of the Pixel series — like the latest Google Tensor processors or upgraded camera modules.
Keep the Tensor
Having a chip like the Tensor G4 inside a mid-range phone like the Google Pixel 9a is downright incredible. One of the best reasons to buy a Pixel A-series phone over the rest of the $450-500 competition is the processor, as it's far better than anything you'll likely ever find at that price range. We're hoping the Tensor G4 comes in the Pixel 9a, as we expect it will.
A real dark mode
Dark mode is a lie on more phones than I'd like. Unfortunately for Pixel owners, the Pixel is one of the worst offenders of this sin. I'd love to see Google give users a proper "lights out" dark mode where the background is completely black instead of this dark grey nonsense Google has been using for years.
It'll both be better for battery life and help with the next request!
Flicker-reduction option
As the nits delivered by displays continue to grow higher and higher each year, more companies are using OLED displays that don't dim in a traditional way. Instead, they use Pulse Width Modulation (or PWM), and people like me are, unfortunately, very sensitive to this kind of display flickering.
While we have some tips and tricks for PWM-sensitive folks, the best solution is for manufacturers to offer a flicker-reduction option. Companies like Motorola and OnePlus offer anti-flicker solutions on their phones, and we know Google can do it if they really wanted to.
Faster charging
Google has largely been using the same 18W charging speed for its phones since the inception of the Pixel line. While it upgraded the Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 to 30W, the Pixel 8a still only supports 18W charging.
Phones like the OnePlus 12R, which costs the same $499 as the Pixel 8a, offer 100W wired charging at the expense of removing wireless charging. Considering how truly slow (and probably useless) 7.5W wireless charging is, I'd be happy to see wireless charging go away if it meant we could get faster wired charging.
