ThePixel 9aofficially launched today, and it proves thatGooglemakes thebest cheap phone.
Take a look at the pricing of the A-series over the years, spanning back to thePixel 3a.
That phone launched at $399 in 2019, yet it’s only increased by $100 to today.
The only anomaly is thePixel 4a, which was at a lower $349 cost.
Should you buy or skip the Pixel 9a?
On the flip side, there are a couple of reasons why to not consider it.
Is the Pixel 9a redesign good or bad?
But at the same time, I miss the camera bar design of the Pixel 8a.
And with its flat edges and rounded corners, it looks more iPhone than before.
That way, I can inspect how each new phone I review performs.
What do you think?
One area in particular where I see a huge improvement is macro photography.
Just take a look at the comparison shot I captured above between thePixel 9a and iPhone 16e.
There’s a lot more fine detail with whereas the Pixel 9a was much closer.
The iPhone 16e only has a single camera.
However, it looks like it does a better job of processing images from its 48MP camera.
This puts it well ahead of thePixel 8aandiPhone 16e, which both reached 1,378 and 1,028 nits respectively.
In fact, it looks a lot like thePixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XLfrom the front.
What do you think?
Is this design change good or bad?
It’s one of the manyPixel 9a AI featuresyou can tap into.
Compared to other phones similar to its price, nothing else comes close to matching what thePixel 9aoffers.
Call Screen lets me take phone calls without speaking to the person on the other end.
Best of all, Google Assistant’s conversational skills are pretty convincing.
That’s almost 2 hours longer than how thePixel 8alasted running on the same test.
If that’s not enough, it also beats its closest rival in theiPhone 16eby 27 minutes.
However, power users might have to recharge at some point.
Thankfully, its 23W wired charging speed gets it to a decent battery level.
Yet, thePixel 9acolors show how Google is doing better than other phone makers when it comes to this.
Both colors add a bit of charm to an otherwise cookie cutter phone design.
Then again, I’m likely to get a Pixel 9a case for the added protection and utility.
Just take a peek at the two side-by-side comparisons above to see the difference.
For me, the biggest thing is how the Pixel 9a deals with my skin tone.
The iPhone 16e lacks more muted in my opinion, whereas the Pixel 9a has better contrast and saturation.
This is still a savings of $100 over the iPhone 16e’s starting cost of $599.
However, carrier and retailer deals shave off even more.
Likewise, this also beats the 6 years of software updates with theiPhone 16e.
Take a look at the clip above.
Flush camera or camera bar?
