Silly, Google He has been designing his own smartphones for 15 years, since he launched the Nexus One. But it has been only in the last generations of its mobiles Pixel (line started in 2016) in which the company has been taken as an option to take into account And not as a niche product for the most understood users in the field.
That has had enough to do the pixel of series A, the most economical, and the support of 7 years of updates that Google began to offer with the previous generation. Now, 8 months after the launch of series 9, the most anticipated model arrives by many users: the Pixel 9a.
Its price places it as the pixel with better value for money
As has happened on other occasions, the 9th It looks a lot like older brotherswhich is very well given its price: € 549. The same that cost the 8th at the time of its launch (now Google sells it for € 100), but that in that case made it a doubtful choice, Since pixel 8 could already be found for a price only slightly higher. That does not happen this year. Google maintains the price of the upper model in € 899although in stores like Amazon or Mediamarkt it is not difficult to find it for € 749. They are € 350/200 of difference for a mobile that is very similar, so now it is more difficult to justify the purchase of the upper model and not the series A.
A “economic” mobile very similar to your older brothers
So similar that You have to turn it around to distinguish it. The characteristic Metal bar that houses the camera game, and that in the 8th his thickness was already reduced, here disappears completelyhaving for the first time a pixel that is completely flat when putting it on a surface. That it is a success or will not depend on the tastes of each one, but the truth is that the phone loses personality like that. In any case, already judging by the leaks that are already produced from pixel 10, This change affects only series A.
If you look ahead, the only difference is some slightly thicker bezels. Same screen of 6.3 inches that the rest of the pixel 9 (except 9 pro xl), similar screen technology (P-Oced facing OLEDas if possible for the average user atisbar differences between one and the other), same soda of 120 Hz and maximum shine of 2,700 nits (The highest in a pixel a). The experience of use, the same. They are only distinguished in screen protection, which is CORNING GORILLA GLASS 3 in the 9th (as in the 8th) and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in 9.
It is appreciated that the aluminum frame and the flat sides of the series are maintained, leaving behind the most awkward rounded lateral of the previous generation. The phone, despite the plastic rear instead of glass, looks and feels more premium than is usual in its price range.
The same power as the pixel pro 9 xl that costs more than double
Another interesting aspect of series A is that you share The same processor as the rest. In this, there is no difference between € 549 and 9 pro xl of € 1,199, more than double. And while the G4 socket is not as powerful as the best chips of Qualcomm and Apple for high -end mobiles, In this price range they are favorably compared with the usual options. You will not miss processing power or fluidity in handling, but RAM is something else.
The premises and ram
8 GB of RAM It is the minimum that manufacturers consider that a mobile must have to run artificial intelligence models locally. That is what the 9th offers, less than 12 and 16 of the 9 pro and pro xl, which forces some concessions.
To start, it does not use the same Gemini model. He Gemini Nano XS From the rest of Pixel 9 it is here replaced by Nano XXSlighter and with fewer capabilities. It does not remain active in the background, but only when any of its functions are used, and loses characteristics such as Pixel Screenshots (AI to search in stored images), Call Notes (generates summaries of what has been talked on in a call) or the app Pixel Studio (Generation of local images).
What is AI for you in a 9a pixel
In the 9th, the presence of Gemini Nano is mostly In calls and computational photographywhich is one of the strengths of the Pixel. Help a Improve the clarity of the voice that you listen to a call and also collaborate with The filter of calls and unknown numbersinforming who calls that he is an assistant of AI and asking about the purpose. I have not had the opportunity to try this characteristic, but on paper it sounds really useful. The app Recorder It also uses locally, in this case for transcripts.
If what you want is a more capable and multimodal assistant, there is Gemini with cloud processing. It is the default assistant that is activated by holding the ignition button and that incorporates Google’s latest news, such as the generation of images with images with Image 3access to the user’s screen and camera to request information and chat about what is shown, integration with Google apps as Gmail, YouTube, Messages and Mapsand access to the company’s latest AI models, although this varies depending on whether you are signed to Gemini Advanced or not.
Computer photography
AI also leads us to photography; Traditionally, one of the strengths of the Pixel. Not so much for the hardware per se, but for the results it offers together with AI. To recent functions, enhanced by AI, such as Include me, Better take, surrounds to search either Magic audio draftwith which the 8th already counted, they are added Macro Focus (which allows clear images to a distance of only 5 cm) and, with the Magic editor, Reimagine (which allows you to edit a photo using natural language) and Automatic frame (which improves the framing in your images).
One of the advantages of the Pixel is that they are the first mobiles to receive Google’s novelties (since last year along with the Galaxy s of Samsung), so there will still be news in this regard.
As for hardware, Pixel 9a Monta 2 cameras in its rear: a main 48 MP (In Pixel 8a there are 64 MP and in 9, 50 MP) and an ultra wide angle of 13 MP (as in the 8th; 48 MP in 9). In practice, The difference with the upper models is littleprobably due to the processing that Google makes of the images.
In conclusionthe new Pixel 9A is a more interesting proposal than last year, more balanced. Offers a High range performance in the mid -rangedesign Premiuman improved autonomy (with 5,100 mAhis the pixel with the most battery that Google has taken), a multitude of functions with AI, both in local and in the cloud, and the extended support of 7 years. As you fight, the same tendency to feel too hot in your hand at some moments that the Pixel 9 and the RAM justita that does not allow him to get the whole game to the AI when he runs at home. Yet, It is easier to recommend that pixel 8a.