Google Pixel 9a review

The competition

At the time of writing, a new Google Pixel 9a will set you back around $500/€550/GBP 465. For better or worse, that's pretty much the current definition of a midrange price point. Competitors aren't sleeping, and there are more than a few excellent devices to consider at around the same price.

Over at camp Samsung, you can get an 8GB/128GB Galaxy A56 for just over €400. That gets you a premium phone with Gorilla Glass Victus+ on both the front and the back, an aluminum frame and much thinner display bezels surrounding the larger 6.7-inch display. You also get an arguably more versatile camera system on the Samsung, complete with a dedicated 5MP macro cam. Though seeing how good the Pixel 9a macro shots are, that point is debatable.

Samsung Galaxy A56 • Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro • Motorola Edge 60 Fusion • Nothing Phone (3a) Pro

Quite expected, Xiaomi has at least a couple of great options in this price range. The most direct competitor is probably the Poco F7 Pro. It also offers a premium "glass sandwich" build with an IP68 ingress protection rating. The display uses a really bright, Dolby Vision-certified, 12-bit color panel. You also get proper flagship performance out of last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. It is paired with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. For the price, you also get a fast-charging 6,000 mAh battery.

Alternatively, if you are after some savings, you can still get a lot of the same in terms of the overall experience from something like the Poco X7 Pro or the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G

A Motorola Edge 60 Fusion will currently set you back around €330 for an 8GB/256GB unit with expandable storage. It's a premium device with an IP86/69 ingress protection rating as well as a MIL-STD-810H rating. Its display is a very bright HDR10+ unit. The provided chipset is decently powerful, and you can get a solid 14 hours or so of Active Use Score from the handset.

If cameras are a big priority for you, and you don't mind or perhaps even like the quirky aesthetic, then why not consider a Nothing Phone (3a) Pro. It costs right around €460 at the time of writing for a 256GB/12GB unit. The highlight of the show here is arguably the main camera setup, which features a dedicated 3x optical zoom periscope telephoto camera. That said, the rest of the specs are solid as well.

Our verdict

The Pixel 9a is a dependable, no-frills smartphone that handles all essential tasks reliably and efficiently.

If your needs are straightforward, the Pixel 9a will likely leave you satisfied. However, we won't blame you if the current market has set you up with higher expectations. Competitors are offering devices with more premium designs-think glass backs, displays with slimmer bezels, advanced camera setups with modern sensors, and fast-charging batteries. Unfortunately, Google seems content to overlook these developments.

In short, the Pixel 9a isn't a standout value nor ideal for those trying to get maximum bang for their buck. But it excels at being "good enough," and for many users, that's exactly what they need.

Pros

• IP68-rated body with no-nonsense design.
• Bright OLED with HDR.
• Solid battery life.
• Pretty good stereo speaker setup.
• Video output over the fast Type-C port and tri-band Wi-Fi in regions where it is allowed.
• Clean, stock Android experience, seven years of software updates and timely updates.
• Very little thermal throttling.
• Great all-around camera performance.

Cons

• No charger in the box.
• Uninspired, kind of retro design with thick screen bezels and plastic back.
• The UI makes use of the 120Hz refresh rate, but most games don't.
• Pretty slow charging.
• Taking photos with Night mode can be slow without great benefits.