When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
In our experience, year-over-year gains between phone models are typically marginal at best.
At the 2-year mark, though, making the case ofr an upgrade becomes a lot easier.
Both are clearly strongbest cheap phonecontenders, as they pack a lot of features at a modest price.
But does the new model offer enough to make an upgrade worthwhile?
In ourPixel 7a review, we really loved how Google finally introduced wireless charging to the series.
(The Pixel 6a cost $449 when it hit the scene in 2022.)
For starters, its a bigger phone than the Pixel 7a but its still easy enough to handle one-handed.
The rounded edges of the Pixel 7a have made way for flat ones with the Pixel 9a.
Both models lean on plastic and aluminum frames with their designs, but they still feel solidly constructed.
That means the Pixel 9a can be submersed deeper in water without an issue.
In contrast, the Pixel 7as 6.1-inch OLED display reached 931 nits in our testing.
This makes scrolling and animations look much more fluid, especially when the Pixel 7a tops out at 90Hz.
Up front, the two phones share similar 13MP (f/2.2) selfie cameras.
Interestingly, the video capabilities of both phones are very similar.
They top out at 4K 60fps recording and a slow motion mode at 240fps.
For example, the Tensor G4-equippedPixel 9achieves GeekBench single and multi-core scores of 1,758 and 4,594 respectively.
But the newer Pixel 9a benefits greatly from all the new Google AI features it packs.
We cant stress enough about how they add more value to the Pixel 9a.
With the Pixel 9a, youll be able to accessGemini Liveand have more natural conversations with the AI chatbot.
Meanwhile, Google offered 5 years of software support for the Pixel 7a.
Both phones still top out at 7.5W wireless charging, though.
