Google Pixel 9A review: a midrange phone done right

A-Series has been very good over the past few years. In Pixel 9A, Google took a good medium phone and made it great.

It is $ 499, which seems suitable for what you get in 9A. Spend a little more in Pixel 9, and you will get some promotions such as the best Ultrawide and more random access memory, as well as small touches like Wi-Fi 7 instead of Wi-Fi 6e. But every time I wish something on the 9A that I did not offer, I went back to this price. At $ 499, it is easier to give up some things than it was, oh, iPhone 16E $.

More than just a list of specifications, Pixel 9A behaves like the device in a mature production line. When I transfer Pixel Watch 2 from another pixel phone to this phone, it only works. When I use a quick pair to connect some of the OnePlus earphones that I used with another Android phone, it only works. This was not always the case with the Google phones that you experienced, but the company has done much better in connecting points in its ecosystem for this generation of pixels. And $ 499? This is a true sweet deal.

Devices, screen and battery life

Last year, when I looked at Pixel 8A at home in Seattle, I thought the screen was fine, but my colleague Vjeran Pavic took the phone on a trip to Croatia and announced it was very dim. A fair point of the gray Seattle sky is not a big test for the eastern screen. So I have given additional attention to the 9A width, especially since Google claims to be 35 percent more brighter than the previous factor. I dealt with some rare sunny days in March well, and this may be acceptable to a person who lives in a ray of me. It is also bigger, at 6.3 inches compared to 6.1 inches, although the phone is slightly larger than 8A, which is a nice bonus.

9A gets another type of upgrade in the form of the IP68 classification, which means that it is resistant to dust and resistant to flooding water. The IP67 8A was also the waterproof, but 9A can remain in the deeper water for up to half an hour. There is a wireless charging, which is estimated even if it reaches 7.5 watts. And 9 A is exploding from the rest of the pixel chain by setting the cameras flowing with the back panel of the phone, instead of the raised tape. It is a distinct look, and I do not hate it, but the most surprising thing in my review unit is the vibrant pink “peony” color. This phone is not the standard black rectangle, and I can.

9A has the largest battery in the Pixel series with a 5100 mAh cell, and Google claims It contains the best battery life for any pixel when using the extremist battery saving mode. The battery life is good, if not great. Moderate day, often eliminates cellular data with a healthy dose of broadcasting video and four hours of screen time, the battery reduced about 50 percent by the end of the day. I have always tested the phone with a full -time screen enabled, the screen update rate at the highest preparation, and used a light mode instead of the dark mode. All these battery drain settings make the Pixel 9A battery average much larger.

Like the rest of the Pixel 9 series, the Google SIM is used 9A. It is associated with 8 GB RAM, and feels upset. Deal with it Eternal Diablo Without a problem, the deputy editor Todd Haslton noted. When you remember this is a $ 500 phone – with Seven years of program updates In it – it’s impressive.

I feel that the pixels have recently made their steps. Small modifications over the past generations added a big difference in daily use. When I am scrambling to log in to the Starbucks app while sitting in the drive, I can use face recognition to approve my credentials and clarify it with my password manager instead of wiping fingerprints. I can click on a claim to a group of pre -preserved ear headphones and be confident that the process will work without delivering it manually. These small moments add a better experience.

There is a lot of artificial intelligence here as well. There is better to exchange face, add me camera features, which are within your reach once every period. GIMINI Live has used a somewhat useful session, if it is a bit embarrassing, brainstorming. Related: If you know how to get a three -year -old child to use pre -school bathroom, tell me that. But 9a is Among the missing people some of the features of artificial intelligence On other Pixel 9 phones, such as ScreenShots and call notes, which you felt. He – she It runs a smaller version of AI from Google Of other phones pixel 9.

Pixel 9A has good cameras for $ 500. There is a main 48 -megapixel main camera with a 13 -megapixel Ultrawide and a 13 -megapixel personal camera. Not bad, given that Apple gives you only one rear camera at $ 599.

But 9A uses a 1/2 -inch smaller sensor from the other Pixel 9 phone. It will reach its restrictions in the low light, as their peers retain more subtle details. Portry’s situation is not impressive as well – there is an amusing look where parts of the topic should gradually fall out of focus.

9A produced some of the most famous and excessive pictures of the process of high contrast-of the type it has with the bad HDR-which I saw from the smartphone camera for a while. it’s not all Time, and they don’t look completely bad on the phone screen, where the prominent points are brighter thanks to Ultra HDR, but when you export it from your device, lose this information in many cases. If you are difficult to satisfy about the quality of your photos, this is one field where it makes sense to go up to a set up.

At its best, Pixel 9A feels as if it is absolute theft. In its worst cases, it looks like this, a $ 500 phone. The distance may be between $ 499 and $ 799 – the average pixel 9 – not much if you pay for it in installments, but it is a big difference if you pay from its pocket.

The best support for the 9A is that there is a lot that you will not notice while using this phone. You will not notice performance or battery life, because she is fine. They are not. distinct, But they are not significantly bad. Do not notice how smoothly using face recognition to open your password manager and log in to your banking application. On the phone that costs half of the premature first -class going, this is very good. This pink peony does not harm either.

The photography of Alison Johnson / The Forge