Google Pixel 9a review: Camera excellence with no frills

Time of India

22-04-2025

Ratings- 3.5/5
Google's A-series has long been the gateway to its premium Pixel experience at a more accessible price point, and the new Pixel 9a continues that legacy with a refreshed approach.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Priced at Rs 49,999 in India, the Pixel 9a positions itself as the most affordable entry into the Pixel 9 lineup—without cutting too many corners. It arrives with a redesigned chassis, a sleek new camera pill, and under the hood, the same Tensor G4 processor that fuels the flagship Pixel 9. While the smartphone sounds like a solid upgrade over last year's Pixel 8a—but how does it hold up in real-world use? Let's find out
Pixel 9a design
Using the Pixel 9a for the past few days, the first thing that stood out was how different it feels compared to earlier A-series phones.
Google has switched to a flat-edge design this year, and it's a noticeable shift if you've used the Pixel 8a or anything before that. The aluminum frame meets the back glass at sharp right angles, which gives it a more squared-off feel in hand.
The camera design also gets a major change. The signature Pixel visor that's been around since the Pixel 6 is gone. In its place is a small, pill-shaped camera glass. At once, it may look off and may become a talking point, but you get used to it.
Another surprise is the speaker placement. It's now on the right side at the bottom, instead of the left. In daily use, this actually helped while watching videos in landscape mode. As my hand didn't block the sound like it usually does with other phones. The buttons are still in Google's usual order, with the power button above the volume rocker.
The materials are what you'd expect at this price point. The front of Pixel 9a uses Gorilla Glass 3, which is a bit dated but holds up okay for daily use.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The back is plastic, with a smooth matte finish. It looks and feels decent.
One nice upgrade is the IP68 rating. That means it can handle dust and water better than the Pixel 8a, which was rated at IP67. In terms of size, the Pixel 9a lands in a sweet spot. With 154.7 x 73.3 x 8.9 mm measurements, it's nearly as big as the Pixel 9 (152.8 x 72 x 8.5 mm), but still smaller than most phones in this range. Having said that, Pixel 9a 's not a compact phone, but it doesn't feel too large either.
Pixel 9a display
The Pixel 9a comes with a 6.3-inch pOLED display, and after using it for a few days, it's clear that Google has stepped things up a bit here. The screen is slightly larger and sharper than the one on the Pixel 8a, and it's noticeably brighter. Outdoors, especially under direct sunlight, we had no trouble reading the screen.
That said, the bezels are still there. They're uniform on all sides, which helps a bit visually, but you do notice them while watching videos or gaming.
They are not a dealbreaker and are comparatively thick by today's standards.
With a 120Hz refresh rate, the display offers an instantly noticeable level of smoothness, whether you're scrolling through social media, switching between apps, or simply navigating the user interface. Its responsiveness makes interactions feel seamless and fluid. Additionally, the always-on display (AOD) allows for quick glances at the time or notifications without needing to pick up the phone.
However, during our review, we opted to disable the AOD to conserve battery life, as keeping it on does contribute to additional power consumption.
Under the screen is the optical fingerprint scanner which gets the job done.
There's no Dolby Vision support here, which limits some of the HDR playback options, especially on platforms that support it. You still get HDR10, and most users won't notice the difference, but if you watch a lot of HDR content, it's worth knowing.
Pixel 9a performance
Google Pixel 9a
runs on the same Tensor G4 chip that powers the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, and it shows. In everyday use, performance felt smooth and reliable. Apps opened quickly, multitasking was easy, and even during prolonged usage, the phone didn't slow down or heat up noticeably.
We used the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant, and it handled everything we threw at it—whether it was switching between apps, browsing with multiple tabs open, or even editing photos in Google Photos.
The UFS 3.1 storage also means apps load fast and large files don't take long to copy or move.
On the software front, the Pixel 9a ships with Android 15 and comes with a promise of seven years of major Android updates. That's more than most phones in this price range and gives the phone a long shelf life. The experience is clean, fast, and free from bloatware—typical of Pixel devices. It's also packed with Pixel-exclusive features like Call Screen, Recorder with AI summaries, and Magic Editor in Photos, all of which actually come in handy once you get used to them.
Face unlock and fingerprint both work well, and combined with fast software, unlocking the phone or authenticating apps feels seamless.
Overall, the Pixel 9a delivers the same core experience as the more expensive Pixel 9, which makes it a solid performer for its price.
Pixel 9a camera
The Pixel 9a has a dual camera setup on the back—a 48MP main camera and a 13MP ultra-wide. There's also a 13MP selfie camera on the front. The main sensor is new this year, but the ultra-wide and front cameras are the same as last year's Pixel 8a.
During everyday use, the main camera delivers impressive results, capturing sharp images with natural colors across various lighting conditions—whether in daylight, indoors, or early evening. It consistently produces clean, well-balanced shots with minimal effort, making it highly reliable. The Ultra HDR feature enhances images further, especially in brightly lit scenes, ensuring vibrant and visually striking photos on the display.
Zoom on Pixel 9a is all digital—there's no dedicated zoom lens. There's a 2x zoom toggle in the app, which works well and gives usable shots. Beyond 2x, image quality drops quickly. You'll see a loss in detail at 5x or 8x.
The ultra-wide camera does okay in good light. It maintains similar color tones to the main sensor. Google Pixel 9a has good macro capabilities and we got some nice close-up shots. Just get close to your subject, and the camera takes care of the rest.
Selfies look sharp and well-balanced in good lighting conditions, delivering natural skin tones and clarity. Performance in low-light settings is satisfactory. Portrait mode offers decent background blur. Edge detection occasionally struggles with precise subject separation.
Pixel 9a battery
Pixel 9a packs a 5,100mAh battery, and in daily use, it really holds up. With regular tasks like calls, chats, scrolling through social media, watching a few videos, and some light camera use, the phone easily lasted a full day.
Charging, however, is a different story. The Pixel 9a supports up to 23W wired charging and 7.5W wireless charging, but you don't get a charger in the box. It took more than an hour and a half for Pixel 9a to hit 100%.
Verdict
Google Pixel 9a comes with a starting price of Rs 49,999, and for that price, it gets a lot right. You get solid performance, clean software with long-term updates, good battery life, and one of the best cameras in this segment.
The display is sharp and bright, and the design—while plain—is practical. But there are trade-offs. Charging is not very fast, the camera app needs polish, and the plastic back.
All in all, if you value clean Android UI, reliable performance, and great photos over flashy features, the Pixel 9a is a phone worth considering.