Google Pixel 9A – cheaper mobile with surprisingly few disadvantages

Google's strategy is to launch its top models in the Pixel series this fall, and then release a cheaper model this spring. Because Google uses Pixel to showcase its latest software, the cheaper model has the same performance as the top models and is usually lost in other areas, such as material selection, screen and cameras.

In the past year, Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro have been released, where Pixel 9 costs SEK 10,800 and Pixel 9 Pro has a little better screen and an extra telecommunications camera for a few thousand dollars extra. Now you release Pixel 9A for SEK 6500, the same price range much like Samsung's popular Middle Price model Galaxy A56 and SEK 2000 less than Apple's iPhone 16E. Compared to Pixel 9, 9A has fewer disadvantages than ever.

For example, the screen on Pixel 9A has identical specifications with it on Pixel 9: 6.3 inches, 2424 x 1080 pixel, maximum brightness of 1800 nits in direct sunlight and 2700 nits at HDR display and an update frequency of 120 Hz. I have not been able to compare with the screen on Pixel 9 as I only have a 9 Pro available, but it is an excellent screen, especially after I hit the elevated update frequency that is by default. In direct sunlight I also notice that the maximum brightness is unevenly distributed so that the screen looks a little shaded along the sides. I remember the same effect on Pixel 9 but can't answer if it is more powerful here. It is possibly an aesthetic problem, the whole screen is still fully readable in the sun.

On the other hand, you react to the fact that Pixel 9A has the right thick black frames around the screen, thicker than you are used to cheaper models as well. The construction itself is perhaps what is most obviously a little cheaper than for Pixel 9. The frame is in aluminum but the back in plastic, and for that matter the screen glass in the older Gorilla ice cream 3, less durable than the gorilla ice cream Victus 2 that protects the screen on Pixel 9. Just a little rain splash.

Pixel 9A is also a little thicker on all joints which makes the phone feel a little clumsy. Unlike the Pixel 7A and 8A, 9A is thus not a little smaller and smoother model than Google's top models. However, the camera island is significantly less protruding on Pixel 9A. The slightly thicker design has also been used to insert a larger battery and Google calls Pixel 9A for it of their phones with the best battery life. This is true with our measurements, but only because Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro had a battery life noticeably below the average while Pixel 9A is in line with other manufacturers' mobiles.

Fast as a top model

As mentioned, Google Pixel 9A is operated by Google's system circuit Tensor G4, the same as in Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. Google says the important thing is not to beat any performance records but that the chipset is adapted to the phone's services and systems for best user experiences. This is exactly what you say if you can't beat performance records and in our performance tests Tensor G4 is at about the same level as the best chipset Qualcomm had two years ago. At the same time, it is not possible to assume that Google is right. In principle, the system never chops and the phone feels fast in all situations. It is also a much faster mobile than Samsung's corresponding intermediate model Galaxy A56.

The cameras are the area where Google has most obviously saved compared to the Pixel 9 series. The main camera is 48 megapixel, but the camera sensor is significantly smaller than the one in Pixel 9 and 9 Pro which is 50 megapixel. The wide -angle camera is also noticeably easier with its 13 megapixels and without autofocus. Telecommunications are completely missing, but it does it on Pixel 9 as well, only the Pixel 9 Pro in the series has it.

The smaller sensor should give images with poorer shades during zooming and less light sensitivity, and I photograph with Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9A and Samsung Galaxy S25 to see just how much worse the main camera is. Not much it turns out. Both color rendering and sharpness are slightly better for the pixel mobiles than for the Galaxy S25, but above all the images from the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9A are very similar. I am really struggling to create photos situations where the benefits of the Pixel 9 Pro camera should show up, but for photos in daylight, the pictures often appear to be taken with exactly the same camera when I blink between them. It may say something about how consistently Google finishes the images, but above all it makes it difficult for me to talk down the camera in Pixel 9a. To the extent that differences occur, they are usually to 9 PRO's advantage, but they are extremely small.

When I zoom in, it gets different. According to Google, both mobiles use the fact that you use sensors of around 50 megapixels to take images in 12 megapixels to create in zoomed images with two times magnification with maintained sharpness. This is clearly noticeable in the pictures from Pixel 9 Pro, but not at all in the pictures of 9A. They don't get sharper than if I zoom in an image to 200 percent on computer screen. The phone allows me to zoom up to 8 times magnification, and in general, the images become acceptable even at maximum zooming, but no real zoom ability has the camera.

When shooting in the dark, the difference between Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9A should be greater, and that is – in some pictures. But again, many attempts are required, in half -dunkel, the cameras are about as good and in pitch darkness about as bad. The wide -angle camera at Pixel 9A lacks autofocus and is nothing to boast about, but at the same time it belongs to the nature of the wide -angle images that there is more content and less details and I cannot say that I am disturbed that the wide angle camera is too bad.

The main camera also has a macro function which means that I can get sharp images even if they are really taken close. It works significantly better than, for example, the low -resolution macro camera that sits in the Samsung Galaxy A56.

Unpredictable AI functions

For Google, of course, the software is the main focus and the pixel mobiles in many ways mostly a way to get a platform for the services and AI features you work with. The phone obviously has Android 15 from the start, and is just like Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro promised seven years of system and security updates.

The pixel mobiles also have some features that you do not find in other Android mobiles, but it can be surprisingly difficult to determine exactly what functions it is. Partly because Google presents features as exclusive even though they are not. For example, in the material I received before the testing of Google Pixel 9A, I know, for example, that it will be the first with the feature where Gemini Live can see and understand what is shown on the screen. So I can start a Gemini live chat and turn on the camera and discuss what is shown with Gemini. I try to walk around the apartment and ask about houseplants and other things it sees, get good answers and can ask follow -up questions, all this in Swedish. But, it turns out, I can even with my three -year -old Galaxy S22, so not as exclusive as Google made it appear.

On the one hand, there are a wide range of AI functions that the phone has, but not when it is set in Swedish as a language. For example, I can turn on live translation, but are told that only the SMS and camera apps are supported in Swedish. This means that features such as recording and transcription of telephone calls and a wide range of other smart language functions disappear for Swedish users.

AI-based camera editing features are available, including Magic Editor, where you can specify an area in the picture and then with a text prompt write (in Swedish) what you want there in the picture and get a couple of suggestions. Auto Frame is a feature that is mainly used to straighten images that have become oblique and fill in the pieces that then ended up outside the picture. As usual with AI image editing, the result is sometimes astonishing, sometimes laughable. Above all, it is not something I would actually use for any purpose other than entertainment.

Despite the black frames around the screen and the plastic back side, there is thus very little at Pixel 9A which makes it worse than other models from Apple, Samsung and Google themselves for over SEK 10,000. But the price tag of several thousand smaller makes it an extremely affordable mobile.

Questions and answers

Are Subscription at Gemini Advanced in the price it does with Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro? No, but Gemini Advanced works so clearly on your mobile if you have paid for it separately.

Does the phone have wireless charge? Yes, Google has cost it on the phone, which is unusual in the price range.

Loading the phone quickly? No, rather strikingly slowly. It needs almost two hours to load full with a default -based fast charger.

An alternative

If it is to be a Samsung, the Galaxy A56 is closest to price. But you get a slower system circuit and not as many years of system updates for the price tag.

Camera example

The pictures in daylight usually get as good sharpness and detail in daylight as the pictures from Pixel 9 Pro.