5 red flags that make the Google Pixel 9a hard to recommend – Android Police

Google’s latest mid-ranger, the Pixel 9a, comes with a snazzy new design and a bigger display. It nails the basics and delivers an experience you only get on a Pixel phone. Still, I can’t recommend the Pixel 9a to anyone. It has several major flaws that are hard to overlook in everyday use. You are better off spending your money on another midrange Android phone.The Pixel A-series is back All major Android device manufacturers are racing to slim down the bezels on their flagship phones, raising the bar every year. These improvements trickle down to their mid-range phones, which get bigger, brighter displays with slimmer bezels.Google seems to work differently. It gave the Pixel 9a a major design overhaul, doing away with its iconic rear camera bar, switching to a flat frame, and using a bigger 6.3-inch display, an increase of 0.2 inches. From the rear, the Pixel 9a’s design punches above its mid-range price, thanks to the bold new colors. However, that feeling goes away when you look at its front.With a bigger display, you would expect Google to reduce the bezels on the Pixel 9a for a better screen-to-body ratio. In typical Google fashion, that’s not the case. One glance at the cheapest member of the Google Pixel 9 family from the front, and its thick bezels immediately stand out, and not in a good way. It gives the phone a budget feeling, making it difficult to justify its $500 price tag. I don’t remember seeing a mid-range Android phone with chunky bezels in the last few years.Given the intense competition in the mid-range smartphone space, it’s puzzling to see Google make design choices that take away from the Pixel 9a’s premium look. The Pixel 9a ships with a beefy 5,100mAh battery, considerably larger than the 4,700mAh cell found on its more expensive sibling, the Pixel 9 Pro. It is also a noticeable step-up in capacity from the Pixel 8a‘s 4,492mAh cell. The larger battery should help compensate for the inefficient Exynos 5300 modem, ensuring the Pixel 9a can make it through a day of heavy use.With a big bump in battery capacity, you would expect Google to increase the charging speed from 18W to a more respectable 30W to 45W. This would keep the phone’s charging time the same as its predecessor despite the bigger battery. Still, it improved the Pixel 9a’s charging speed by a small margin. Instead of 18W like previous mid-range Pixels, the 9a’s wired charging speed tops out at 23W, a jump of 5W.Charging the phone’s 5,100mAh battery from empty isn’t quick, with early tests suggesting it takes over 90 minutes to reach full capacity. For comparison, the OnePlus 13R, with its larger 6,000mAh battery, can charge twice in almost the same timeframe.Google isn’t making any improvements in the wireless charging situation. This means the Pixel 9a supports 7.5W Qi wireless charging, the same as its predecessors. Try charging the phone wirelessly from empty to full. You might as well leave it on your desk for half the day.Like the rest of the Pixel 9 family, the Pixel 9a gives Qi2 support a miss. You cannot use MagSafe-compatible accessories unless you use a case or third-party accessory that adds MagSafe support to the phone.Better cameras, faster charging, and more The Pixel 9a uses the same Tensor G4 chip that powers the rest of the Pixel 9 family. While its performance isn’t as good as the latest flagship chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek, it addresses a major complaint with previous-gen Tensors: overheating. Using Samsung’s newer and more advanced 4nm LPP+ node, the newest Tensor chip delivers better efficiency and consumes less power. Still, there’s a catch with the Pixel 9a’s Tensor G4 chip.It uses the same Exynos 5300 modem found inside the Pixel 8’s Tensor G3 chip, instead of switching to the newer Exynos 5400 used on the Pixel 9. The latter is faster and purportedly up to 50% more efficient. This is a big problem, as the Exynos 5300 modem is known for its high power consumption. Plus, the baseband is the key culprit behind the connectivity issues Pixel 8 users frequently face.The inferior modem will lead to poor or almost no network reception in areas with spotty coverage, deliver slower 5G speeds, and consume more power when mobile data is heavily used. For a phone that ships with a promise of seven years of OS updates, Google’s decision to use a subpar modem on the Pixel 9a feels like a serious misstep.The Pixel 9a’s Tensor G4 chip seemingly also uses an inferior packing technology, which could lead to higher heat dissipation. It shouldn’t run as hot as the Pixel 8’s Tensor G3, but don’t expect it to stay as cool as the other members of the Pixel 9 family.As someone who has used the Pixel 8 Pro for over a year and regularly struggles with connectivity issues, I can’t recommend the Pixel 9a solely because of its modem choice. On the Google Store, Google promotes its latest mid-range phone as “Pixel 9a, AI Magic Made Simple.” The product page is filled with Google talking about Gemini, Pixel Studio, and other AI features. For a phone heavily marketed for its AI capabilities, Google ships it with only 8GB of RAM.You might think that Google must have thought this through, which is why it ships the Pixel 9a with 8GB RAM. With large language models evolving rapidly and demanding more memory, smartphones will need more RAM, and not less, to handle increasingly AI-intensive tasks.What’s puzzling is that Google ran into a RAM bottleneck with the Pixel 8 in early 2024. Like the Pixel 9a, it ships with 8GB of RAM, unlike its Pro counterpart, which packs 12GB of memory. That extra RAM was crucial in bringing on-device Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8 Pro.At the time, Google claimed it couldn’t bring Gemini Nano to the regular Pixel 8 due to hardware limitations. This is despite both phones using the same Tensor G3 chip, with the additional 4GB of RAM being the only major difference. Following criticism, Google brought Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8 as a developer preview.This happened in early 2024, so it’s puzzling to see Google ship another phone over a year later with the same amount of memory. Sooner or later, the Pixel 9a’s 8GB RAM will become a bottleneck, preventing Google from delivering its latest cutting-edge AI features.Gemini Nano XXS says hello Despite its flaws, the Pixel 9a is a solid mid-range phone for $500. However, the base variant ships with 128GB storage, with Google commanding a $100 premium for the 256GB model. For the same $600 price, the OnePlus 13R is a considerably better option.It packs a bigger 6.78-inch FHD+ 120Hz OLED panel, a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, 12GB RAM (4GB more than the Pixel 9a), and a beefier 6,000mAh battery with up to 80W wired fast charging support. If these advantages are not enough, the OnePlus 13R uses a faster and more efficient Snapdragon modem.The OnePlus 13R delivers a better experience in daily use than the Pixel 9a in almost every department. Its triple-camera setup can’t rival Google’s offering, but this difference is limited to the ultrawide. The primary cameras on both phones deliver respectable results.The OnePlus 13R is not perfect, with the Pixel 9a edging it out in key areas. Google’s mid-range Pixel will get seven years of OS updates, while OnePlus only promises four major OS updates (until Android 17) and six years of security patches. The Pixel comes with a suite of AI features you won’t get on the OnePlus 13R.Still, the OnePlus 13R stands out as the better buy over the Pixel 9a. If you plan to use your phone for the next four years, its larger display, faster processor, and bigger battery will deliver a better long-term experience.The Pixel 9a punches above its weight, especially in the US market. While it is a good phone and there are reasons to buy it, some of its shortcomings make it a major dealbreaker. You might not think much about the older Exynos modem or the slower charging speed, but they’re bound to frustrate you in daily use. What’s more frustrating is that these are long-standing issues that Google looks past with every release. Until the company resolves them, you should look elsewhere.Google's Pixel 9a takes everything that was great about the Pixel 8a and looks to modernize it. With an all-new Pixel 9-inspired look and no camera bump, this might be the best $500 smartphone we've seen yet.We want to hear from you. Share your perspective in the comments below, and please keep the conversation respectful.Your comment has not been savedSo this was a OnePlus ad?The 13r ($500 most of the time) is the only other similar priced and specd android phone sold in the USA that’s why it’s being compared. If you read some international 9a reviews you would think the reviewers work for Xiaomi.Ah there it is. A One Plus ad! You guys are a joke sometimes. I mean really. “I can’t recommend the Pixel 9a because it has thicker bezels😮‍💨” The bezels look fine. And all you really need is 20w for a decent speed charging. It’ll also help preserve the battery longer. As for the modem, who actually cares. The question is in real world experience, do I get calls and text when I should? If so, then all of the smear tactics you use to talk about this phone is null and void. “8GB of RAM for AI is a joke.” Tell that to the iPhone 16 Pro Max😮‍💨. Furthermore, it’s an A series phone. If people really wanted the phone for the cutting edge AI performance they should go for the 9 pro and XL. 🙄 And finally “The OnePlus 13R is a better overall deal.” No. It’s not. Sure it has all these little cool features but software support for that phone is going to be garbage. Which means for the person wanting a new daily driver phone and doesn’t upgrade their device often, they’ll be left with a device that doesn’t get updates regularly and becomes outdated whole trying to catch up. A OnePlus ad with an acknowledgment of the “Pixel 9a edging it out in key areas.”And a list of “red flags” that wouldn’t affect my enjoyment of the Pixel phone in any way. None of the issues mentioned here are noticeable on my 9a. I don’t even charge mine past 80% and it still easily gets through the day… so the charging complaints and “inefficient” modem aren’t even a factor.And the bezels??? You’re really reaching on that one I buy Pixels for 3 reasons: always solid camera, many exclusive features (especially call screening), long update support.Glad everything you mentioned in the article I could care less about and doesn’t affect my use one bit. Upgraded from 6a, which was great. My 9a charges from 30% to 100 in about 30 minutes, plenty fast. AI is power robbing garbage to start with and I never use. The bevels don’t bother me one bit with dark mode and black background. I will never buy a giant phone over 6.2, that is what a tablet is for and I carry in front pocket. Fast wireless charging isn’t a big deal as wired is always better in any device. This phone is sleak as hell without that giant garbage camera bar. All of the articles are hating on the 9a like it is trash but every “flaw” mentioned are not flaws but someone’s own snobby opinion about certain aspects. I only paid $299 for this badass midrange as a Fi customer and I only keep phones for 2 years or so. Go spend your $1,000 if you wish on a few more petty specs. 🤙💯How are the speakers compared to the Pixel 6a? I actually think the 6a’s speakers are quite good, don’t want a downgrade That’s funny you mention that I broke my 6a and ended up using a iPhone xr for half a year till the 9a came out. I agree all the things brought up are whatever things I don’t care about. I put my phone on a case so bezels are kind of a afterthought. 23 watt charging isn’t bad at all if you turn off adaptive charging it’s much faster especially at first as it doesn’t use full power on the first few cycles. This seems like a one plus ad or someone really unhappy with their pixel 8 that is venting in this article.Had my 9a since launch day. Bought it precisely because I don’t want a larger phone like the OnePlus. Wish the 9a was a bit smaller tbh. Went from a Galaxy S22 to the 9a. Connectivity and battery wise the pixel is streets ahead. I get solid 5G now in my marginal area where I could barely get 4G. Also the battery life is nuts, two days easy. Couldn’t even get through a day with the S22. Performance is great, panel is bright. Apart from size and weight the only thing worse than the Samsung is the fingerprint sensor which is twitchy on the pixel. The Pixel 9a is to big, I’m not ever buying anything that big. I miss my Pixel 4a, I still love it, my pixel 7a will be with me longer now with a couple more years update. Google, make the damn phones smaller.By coincidence my 9a arrived today. I’m not fussed by the slower charging compared to other models as I’ll plug it in every night. I think Google’s aim is to maximise battery life which very rapid charging will reduce. I’ve already activated the 80% maximum charge to give the battery a gentle life.The thick bezel isn’t something I noticed as I’ve already put a clear cover on the phone to protect it -my phones spend a lot of time outside.However, I bought this phone for the camera and its macro performance as this suits my botanical interests.Not one of those is really an issue is itAnd still the Pixels keep coming out with connectivity issues. Thats unacceptable. There is no such thing as a minor connectivity issue. Let em keep it.This is how you say you work for OnePlus without saying you “work” for OnePlus!! LOLThe 9A should not be more than 300 dollars tops! Pixel’s are junk. I’ve had three of them now and they’re all junk. YMMVCool story, Joe. Not sure where you are coming from. I have had the Pixel 2, 6a and 9a. They all have been great. I left iPhone after 10 years for the Pixel 2 and never looked back. Apple is that you? 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