Google Pixel 9a

I've reviewed tons of midrange and budget smartphones over the years, and one thing is abundantly clear, midrange smartphones are better than ever. The Google Pixel 9a falls into this midrange definition, and it's just thrown more fuel on the fire. My...

The competitionAt 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...

Google’s Pixel 9a makes sense if you want seven years of updates but can’t wait for another big discount on the Pixel 9.

The Pixel 9a is a great phone that does nearly everything right. It offers a great design, now distinct from the flagship Pixel 9 collection, with improvements to an already solid camera offering, boosted performance and the longest battery life of any Pixel I’ve used to date. The thick bezels make an otherwise solid 6.3-inch OLED display look aged, however.

The Google Pixel 9a delivers flagship-level performance, terrific camera quality, and long-term software support, making it the best midrange Android phone you can buy.

Google’s Pixel 9a is its latest mid-range phone that updates last year’s Pixel 8a with a larger screen, a better Tensor processor, a bigger battery and faster charging.

If you already have a Pixel 8a, it’s not worth upgrading, but for anyone else the Google Pixel 9a is the best mid-range phone around. If you have around $500 to spend this is the smartphone to splash it on.

Even if you don't use many of the smart features in Google's Pixel phones, the Pixel 9a delivers a well-rounded smartphone experience that's hard to find elsewhere at its $499 price (though Nothing's Phone (3a) Pro comes close). Once you take advantage of Google's AI prowess, there are quite a few enriching features that are helpful day to day, like the long-standing Now Playing function that offers up the name of the song playing in your surroundings before you even think to ask.