Google Slashes Pixel 9a Price For First Time In New Deal
The Google Pixel 9a gets its first discount. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
Google hasn't been shy about repeatedly discounting the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro series, with the flagship phones receiving a major discount earlier this month. But the newer Pixel 9a has resolutely remained at full price since its April launch, until now.
Google has knocked £50 ($66.78) off the Pixel 9a for shoppers in the U.K., which brings the price down to £449 ($599.70). The deal also comes with enhanced trade-in prices and three months of Google One, YouTube Premium and six months of Fitbit Premium. There's also 10% cashback (in store credit) for Google One subscribers who buy the phone.
The Pixel 9a being the cheapest of Google's phones means the subscription freebies don't match up to the Pixel 9 or Pixel 9 Pro, which offer six months and 12 months of Google one respectively.
This is also one of the few times that Amazon hasn't matched Google's new Pixel 9a price. The retailer has been one of the cheapest places to buy smartphones in the last year, either matching manufacturer sales or undercutting them.
For example, a recent Galaxy Z Fold 6 Amazon deal matched Samsung's huge $350 discount if (which was only available if no device was traded-in to Samsung). The difference being that Amazon accepted a trade-in discount on top of the price cut, which beat Samsung's promotion price (even with Amazon's poor trade-in valuations).
We're a long way from the huge price drops Google has applied to the Pixel 8a and 7a in the last year because the device is still so new. Google discounted the Pixel 8a by the same amount (£50) around this time last year and the company likes to follow similar pricing patterns with its smartphones.
If you're looking for some hope that the Pixel 9a price will drop further, the Search company dropped the handset's price by £80 ($106.85) in July 2024 and then by £100 ($133.56) in September.
Google's U.K. trade in pricing isn't the best. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
U.K. and European trade-in pricing lags far behind the U.S. across almost all manufacturers. That is no different for this Google Store sale—even with the enhanced pricing—which Google says maxes out at £405 ($540.93). That top figure is reserved for unrealistic trade-ins like the Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 range. But Google will pay a comically small amount for high-end phones with years of software support left, including its own Pixel devices.
You will get far more for these phones on the secondary market for the next couple of years. That is particularly true for the Galaxy Z Fold 6—although I wouldn't recommend selling that to buy a Pixel 9a. For more realistic devices to trade-in, the prices are even worse, although they're closer to their eBay and Swappa auction price. The Galaxy S22, for example, will net you £112 ($149.59), while the Pixel 6 is priced at £98 ($130.89).
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Motor Trend
11 minutes ago
- Motor Trend
2025 Volvo EX90 Performance First Test: A Few Buttons Short of Perfection
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The Flagship Volvo Driving Experience The tech will likely push some shoppers outside their comfort zones, but that's the only way an EX90 can make anyone uncomfortable. The Ultra trim's air springs and adaptive dampers relax the optional $800 22-inch wheels with rubber-band tires, turning hard impacts into soft, distant thumps. The cabin is a blissful sanctuary free from wind noise, road noise, and the constant thrum of an internal combustion engine. The front seats cradle you like a bean-bag chair and give a Swedish massage so good we dropped a $20 tip in the cupholder. Toggling the steering and suspension between soft and firm effects changes big enough to be felt and subtle enough that every combination is a natural fit for a Volvo with 'Performance' in its name. This car isn't fierce, it's fluid. Its 671lb-ft of torque pour out of the motors like fondue—smooth, creamy, indulgent goodness. Hitting 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and clearing the quarter mile in 13.0 seconds might not be all that quick by time-warping EV standards, but it's a quiet riot in a Volvo. Stopping a 6,084-pound SUV on all-season tires from 60 mph in just 110 feet is a revolt against the laws of physics. With one-pedal driving switched on, the right pedal transitions from acceleration to coasting to deceleration with uncommon grace. The regenerative braking isn't quite as aggressive as what you'll get in a Rivian or a Tesla, and the EX90 is better for it. No matter how quickly you lift off the accelerator, it's impossible to bobble your passengers' heads. All this makes the EX90 Performance unique in how it blends comfort and athleticism, which we want to stress is different than a luxury SUV that can switch between comfort and sport—plenty of German SUVs already have the Jekyll and Hyde thing covered. The EX90 never feels flustered by a fast curve or unsettled by a rough road. It is always smooth and quick at the same time. In the age of electronic controls and software-defined features, it's rare for a new car to be so laser focused on a singular, consistent driving character. The dynamics engineers appear to have a narrow idea of what a Volvo should be—the right idea. We have just one complaint about how it drives: There are brief moments where the EX90 is the mellowest 510-hp car we've ever driven. Stomp the right pedal from a roll at suburban or interstate speeds, and the EX90 takes its sweet time before rocketing toward the horizon. You can literally count out loud—one, two, three—before the full force hits you. If you want the immediacy EVs are known for, you have to activate Performance AWD, which keeps the front permanent-magnet motor engaged at all times at the expense of efficiency and range. Volvo EX90 Real-World Range and Fast-Charging Officially, the EX90 Performance with 22-inch rollers is rated for 300 miles, down from 310 miles with the Ultra's standard 21-inch wheels. Run through the MotorTrend Road-Trip Range test (a steady 70 mph from 100 to 5 percent charge), the EX90 scored a mediocre 247 miles. A 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS580 4Matic SUV and 2022 BMW iX xDrive50 hit 315 and 312 miles, respectively, in our testing (both models have since seen some slight revisions). The Volvo at least doesn't try to fool you into believing 300 miles is possible. While most automakers reset the range estimate to show the EPA figure (or close to it) every time you charge to 100 percent, the EX90 consistently indicated 250 miles of range with a full battery—a number that's realistically achievable if you drive the SUV to empty. The EX90's DC fast-charging performance also left us underwhelmed. While Volvo claims a peak of 250 kW, we saw power top out at 193 kW in our charging test that added 94 miles of range in 15 minutes. The Mercedes gained 126 miles and the BMW 122 in the same time. A Different Kind of Luxury In the Scandinavian tradition, the EX90 spoils occupants without being flashy. You don't buy it to inform your neighbors and coworkers that you've arrived. You buy it to tickle your eardrums with the $3,200 25-speaker Dolby Atmos–enabled Bowers & Wilkens audio system or to treat your lower back to those therapeutic seats. The only hint of ritzy opulence comes from the warm, white glow that shines through the sustainably harvested wood trim at night, a tasteful counterpoint to the ribbons of carnival lights used by the luxury-car establishment. If it helps to justify the near-six-figure price tag, you can rationalize the EX90 Ultra Twin Motor Performance as a pragmatic family vehicle, too. The three-row SUV comes in six- and seven-seat configurations with a booster seat integrated into the center position of the second-row bench. Squeezing into the third row will be a workout for passengers of all sizes, but the rear seats are a pleasant place even for average-size adults thanks to the abundant natural light pouring through the glass roof and a dedicated cupholder, USB-C port, and chest-level HVAC vent for each passenger. There's surprisingly generous cargo space behind the third row, especially if you make use of the spacious underfloor well that can swallow a couple of medium-sized duffel bags. Unfortunately, the decent-sized frunk has been rendered nearly useless by two curious decisions. Volvo segmented the tray into three sections to skirt the regulations that would have otherwise required an internal emergency release, and you can only open the hood by yanking a lever by the driver's left shin, a strange holdover from the internal combustion era. How Much Tech Is Too Much Tech? All that leaves us with one thing left to discuss: the software. To understand why the EX90 is the way it is, you first need a basic understanding of the central computing platform at the core of Volvo's Scalable Product Architecture 2 (SPA2). Rather than the old piecemeal approach where every widget in the car had its own computer, the bulk of the EX90's code runs on just two Nvidia chips and a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The same idea has allowed Tesla and Rivian to develop innovative new features, launch powerful and genuinely useful phone apps, and deliver over-the-air updates for any system in the vehicle. Volvo is chasing after those frontrunners, and the EX90 puts the company way out ahead of most legacy automakers in this regard. For buyers and shoppers, this change shows up as a pervasive Teslafication of how you interact with the vehicle. All the EX90's secondary controls save for the volume knob and audio power button have been digitized in the vertical 14.5-inch touchscreen. To activate adaptive cruise control or the lane-centering Pilot Assist system, you'll first have to retrain your neurons that grabbing the gear selector at 70 mph is a totally normal thing to do. The EX90 unlocks and flips out its door handles as you approach with the buttonless fob (or your phone loaded with a digital key) in your pocket, and the ignition powers up only when you shift into drive (you can actually get the car moving a fraction of a second before the power steering assist kicks in). Whether these are good or bad developments depends on your relationship with technology and your outlook on change—although surely we can all agree that giving the driver just two switches and a fussy capacitive button to control four windows is patently dumb. Not up for debate is the fact that the new infotainment system vaults Volvo from the digital stone age into the modern era. Volvo's current gas models (and the EVs based on them) are dated by tiny screens with grainy resolution and a clumsy interface at least five years past its expiration. The EX90's infotainment, built on Android Automotive OS, is exactly the reboot Volvo needs. The tiled home screen is dominated by Google Maps plus widgets for audio and a paired phone and two rows of controls along the bottom of the screen. The layout and logic feel like a bridge between the old way of doing things and Tesla's approach, which comes with a steepish learning curve. Download a few apps like Spotify, Waze, and PlugShare, and the EX90's native infotainment system almost makes the included wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto redundant, if only an automaker could find a solution for text messaging. The Work That's Left Unfinished It's one thing for a startup to reinvent how cars are wired from a clean sheet of paper and another thing entirely for a 98-year-old company to reimagine the way things have been done for decades. Reorganizing teams, bringing in fresh talent, creating new policies and processes, and throwing out all that time-tested software isn't easy, and in many legacy automakers it might cause the whole house of cards to collapse. The good news is Volvo appears to have exterminated most of the bugs from the system. Aside from one drive where the center screen failed to boot, our two weeks with the EX90 were happily error-free. You get a sense, though, that Volvo left some work unfinished to get the EX90 out the door even after it delayed the launch more than six months. Or maybe Volvo's evolving minimalist sensibilities have convinced the engineers that buyers want less control. 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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
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Tariff Ruling Threatens a $2 Trillion Fiscal Hole in Trump Plan
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Engadget
20 minutes ago
- Engadget
The PS5 Pro is $50 off in Sony's Days of Play sale
The Sony Days of Play sale is underway, and it includes the first official price cut for the PS5 Pro. The console has dropped by $50 to $650 in the US for the sale, which runs from May 28 to June 11. This is the first time Sony has discounted its Pro-level console. Retail partners like Amazon are matching the discount as well. If you don't have a PS5 already and can afford the Pro model, it's definitely the way to go to get the best PlayStation experience. It earned a score of 88 in our review, and it might have scored even higher if not for the price and the lack of a built-in disc drive. There are other discounts on consoles in the US and Canada as part of the sale. A bundle of either the standard PS5 or Digital Edition with a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 starts at $400/$510 CAD (for the Digital Edition). Sony says that will save you $120/$160 CAD compared with buying them separately. The PS5 standard and digital versions will be on sale in Europe and Asia too, starting at €400/£340/¥65,980. It's worth noting that Sony has considered raising the prices of PS5 hardware to offset the cost of tariffs. Microsoft this month jacked up the prices of Xbox consoles recently for that reason. So if you've been on the fence about getting a PS5 or PS5 Pro, now might be the time to snap one up. Elsewhere in the Days of Play sale, accessories are getting discounts. You can save on the PlayStation VR2 ($50 off), PlayStation VR2 and Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle ($50 off), Pulse Explore earbuds ($30 off), DualSense Edge controller ($30 off), PlayStation Access controller ($20 off) and the DualSense controller ($20 off). Things like PS5 console covers and external storage drives will get price cuts as well. You will, of course, be able to snap up PS5 games for fewer dollars than usual. MLB The Show 25 , the brilliant Astro Bot and Lego Horizon Adventures are among the many first-party games getting discounts. If you haven't played The Last of Us Part II and don't want to wait a year or two before finding out where the story of HBO's adaptation will go after that (somewhat unsatisfying) season finale on Sunday, you might like to snap up the remastered edition of the misery simulator, which will be included in the sale. Hundreds of other games will be featured. The list includes several Assassin's Creed titles, Grand Theft Auto V , Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth , Indiana Jones and the Great Circle , Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Balatro . On top of that, movies will be on sale through Sony Pictures Core Elsewhere, some PlayStation Plus plans are 33 percent off for new subscribers. Upgrading to the Extra or Premium tiers may cost you a third less than usual as well. That stinks for long-term PS Plus members who'd like to add another year or two (especially after recent price increases in several regions), but that's standard practice for plans such as these as companies try to boost subscriber numbers. Speaking of which, Sony is adding an extra few games to the PS Plus Game Catalog for Extra, Premium and Deluxe members. They are: Another Crab's Treasure (PS5, May 29) Skull and Bones (PS5, June 2) Destiny 2: Legacy Collection (PS5 and PS4, June 4) Grand Theft Auto III (PS5 and PS4, June 10) Another Crab's Treasure is a delightful Soulslike that was one of my favorite games of 2024. One of the best things about it is an accessibility option that gives you a giant pistol that can one-shot any enemy. Skull and Bones landed last year after years of delays and I'd say that "at no extra cost" is the best way to try it. Destiny 2: Legacy Collection includes hundreds of hours of gameplay with all of the expansions from the game's Light and Darkness Saga, except for the last chapter, The Final Shape . As it happens, the latest batch of monthly PS Plus games (which all PS Plus subscribers can claim and keep in their libraries as long as they maintain the membership) includes Destiny 2: The Final Shape , which will be available on May 30 for PS4 and PS5. The other titles, which you can claim starting on June 3, are NBA 2K25 (PS5 and PS4), last year's remake of Alone in the Dark (PS5) and the Jet Set Radio -esque Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (PS5 and PS4). That's a solid lineup! In addition, two bona fide all-timers are joining the Classics Catalog on June 5 for PS Plus Premium/Deluxe subscribers. Myst and its sequel Riven will be available to members on PS4 and PS5 at no extra cost. Premium/Deluxe subscribers will have access to two more game trials from May 28: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (PS5) and Sid Meier's Civilization VII (PS5 and PS4). Update, May 28, 12:53PM ET: Sony pushed back the date that it's adding Destiny 2: The Final Shape to the PS Plus Monthly games list from May 28 to May 30. This story has been updated accordingly.
