Google Pixel 9a hands-on review

Camera

The Pixel 9a has a dual camera system on the back, which consists of a 48MP main camera and a 13MP fixed-focus ultra-wide camera. On the front is a 13MP fixed-focus unit. While the main camera is new this year, the ultra-wide and front cameras have been borrowed from last year's Pixel 8a.

In terms of video, the main camera can record video in 4K up to 60fps but the ultra-wide and front cameras can only do 4K at up to 30fps. If you want 60fps, you will have to drop down to 1080p on them.

The Pixel 9a is missing some features found on the more expensive Pixel phones. There is no Pro settings tab and the manual controls are limited, although you do still get RAW capture. There is also no Display P3 color space capture for photos or videos nor is there HDR capture for videos - even though both were present on the Pixel 8a - but you do get Ultra HDR support for photos.

The camera application is simple but feels counterintuitive compared to other brands' camera apps. You can't just swipe up or down to access additional settings. Instead, they are split into two settings buttons, which are easy to mix up during use. Video is a separate toggle and not just a camera mode. Most importantly, having all the UI and buttons on the bottom causes the camera shutter button to be oddly high up, which really messes up your muscle memory if you come from another brand's phone.

Moving on to the image quality, the main camera captures great quality images with a good amount of detail and natural, accurate colors in most lighting conditions. This is a reliable, consistent camera that you can get good results out of time after time. The Ultra HDR feature makes the images look especially appealing on the phone's HDR display in a way that cannot be adequately represented here.

Main camera

The Pixel 9a does not have a dedicated telephoto camera so all zoom duties fall on the main unit. There is a dedicated 2x digital zoom button in the camera app and you can manually zoom further up to 8x.

At 2x, the images are perfectly usable. You can clearly see that they are not native-resolution images but you need to really zoom in to notice.

2x digital zoom

Past 2x, the resolution starts dropping aggressively and you don't need to zoom in anymore to notice. This is where competing devices like the OnePlus 13R perform better as even though they have just a 2x telephoto camera, any additional zooming happens over the native 2x rather than just 1x so you get much more usable results at 3x or even 5x.

1x • 2x • 5x • 8x

In the opposite direction is the ultra-wide camera, which provides decent results in good lighting but does get softer as light levels drop. The edges of the frame remain soft regardless of the light levels but not distractingly so. The color calibration is on par with the main camera and thus produces consistent results, something aforementioned rivals such as the OnePlus 13R struggle with at times.

Ultra-wide camera

The Pixel 9a camera has one more trick up its sleeve, which is a macro mode. The new main camera has a very close focus distance, which enables using it as a macro camera. You don't need to enable any special mode; just get close enough to your subject and the camera will automatically categorize the image as macro. We were surprised just how close you could get to your subject and you can also toggle the 2x mode to get even closer digitally.

Macro images

Lastly, let's talk about video. The 4K video from the main camera looks good but is a bit soft and not especially resolving for 4K. You do get excellent image stabilization, however, along with good colors and dynamic range.

The ultra-wide video isn't very good. Even in broad daylight, there is noticeable noise in the image, especially in the corners. The image is also quite soft and looks more like 1080p than 4K. There's also no 60fps support unless you drop down to 1080p, which is even softer.

Overall, the camera system on the Pixel 9a doesn't seem notably improved over its predecessor. The new macro mode functionality is the only new feature here but you also lose a few things such as Display P3 capture, HDR video, and image resolution from the main camera. As such, this feels more like a sidegrade than an upgrade.

Conclusion

We have been using the Pixel 9a on and off for close to a month now due to all the delays this phone has seen since its announcement. Over that period, the phone has cemented itself as a perfectly usable, workhorse of a smartphone that does all of the basic tasks and does them well.

If that's all you require from your phone then you are going to be happy with it. But one can't help but want more at this point in time, especially when looking at the competition. A more premium design with a glass back, a display that doesn't have a moat around it, a feature-complete set of cameras with modern sensors, and a battery that doesn't take longer to charge than a modern electric car are table stakes now at this price range but Google remains willfully oblivious to it.

So no, this is not an especially good value proposition and not for people who want to stretch every last dollar. But it has mastered the art of being 'just enough' and for some people that's all it takes.