Google Pixel 9A Review: New Feature That Every Phone Needs
The underdog impresses with ‘wild’ new AI features, longer battery and a whole new look.
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It seems 2025 is the year of the mid-range smartphones, and now one of the biggest underdogs has released their latest entry into the ring. The Pixel 9a is the newest member to join Google’s A-series, promising a feature-packed phone with a fresh look, upgraded camera and longer battery life.
This affordable flagship alternative sits between Samsung’s and Apple’s more budget friendly options, and includes a similar variety of AI-powered tools. So, how does the new Pixel smartphone hold up?
QUICK LINKS
- Design
- Camera
- Battery life
- Software updates and security
- How much does the Pixel 9a cost in Australia?
- Is the Google Pixel 9a worth buying?
IS THE GOOGLE PIXEL 9A WORTH BUYING?
Google Pixel 9a, from $847 at The Good Guys
Tried and Tested by Tahnee-Jae Lopez-Vito, Senior Shopping Writer Tech, Homes & Appliances
The Pixel 9a has converted me to becoming a Pixel user in my next (smartphone) life.
It’s been a great ‘gateway’ model after having mostly used Samsung and Apple, mainly thanks to the excellent camera quality, great suite of AI tools and decent battery life.
This new Pixel release could also be a fantastic option for people who want to experience AI features without splurging on a premium flagship smartphone, and basically anyone looking for an affordable buy that won’t leave you wishing you had a ‘better phone’ from the usual two suspects.
On the downside, it’s a little on the steep side for a mid-range option (although still cheaper than Apple’s $999 ‘budget’ alternative). Gemini can also be pretty slow and inaccurate at times. But the Pixel 9a is still fantastic value and definitely worth checking out.
HOW WE TESTED THE GOOGLE PIXEL 9A
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DESIGN
If Elle Woods in Legally Blonde went shopping for a new phone in 2025, this would be it. The Pixel 9a in peony – with its matching case – is the perfect pink explosion and fits really nicely in the hand. It also shares a similar look to the Pixel 9 with rounded corners and flat edges, but is a fraction larger and more lightweight.
But for me, the new flat camera bar unfortunately falls… well, flat compared to the sexier (and just as seamless) version on the previous Pixel 8a and other flashier-looking non-Pixel models with a thicker rear camera design.
On the upside, the company says the Pixel 9a is “Google’s most durable A-series phone yet”. It now features an improved IP-rating (IP68, compared to Pixel 8a’s IP67), new scratch resistant Actua display and metal frame. It’s additionally the “brightest Pixel display on an A-series”.
CAMERA
Google’s Pixel series offers some of the best smartphone cameras on the market, and once again it’s a winner.
The Pixel 9a boasts two cameras on the back (48MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera), along with a 13MP front-facing camera for selfies. You can also expect a few fun features to level up your Instagram posts, including the new Astrophotography mode and Astography timelapse mode to capture stars at night as well as Macro Focus for detailed close-up shots.
It gave great quality images and videos, including with low lighting, and didn’t have too much noise when zooming in. Unfortunately, the zoom only goes up to 8x so you won’t be able to get as close up compared to Pixel 9 Pro and other similarly ‘budget friendly’ marketed models like the Samsung A56 and iPhone 16e (both of which go up to 10x).
I also liked how you could easily adjust the brightness and colour temperature quite easily on the screen. Plus, you can take photos by raising your palm in front of the camera which can be handy.
It’s worth mentioning there are a few cool camera and editing settings, including:
• Add Me: Don’t have anywhere to place the camera? Take the photo of the group and get someone else to snap a picture of you, and the Add Me feature will stitch both images so everyone is in it.
• Best Take: Pixel’s ‘Best Take’ mode walked so Samsung’s Best Face feature could run. This feature grabs still shots from the motion photo to help you fix photos where someone has closed eyes, looks blurry or just not the best.
• Audio Magic Eraser: Filter out distracting sounds like wind or a person’s voice.
GEMINI
To be honest, I’ve never really been a big user of virtual personal assistants like Google Assistant, Siri or Bixby but the versatility of Gemini is slowly changing my mind.
Aside from calling contacts, sending messages, and setting (and cancelling) alarms, you can ask Gemini to give local restaurant recommendations or gift ideas, summarise emails, pause or replay videos, pop on your play your favourite Spotify playlist and more. You can also use Gemini to control smart home devices such as lighting or TVs (but they have to be connected to your Google Account).
In saying that, I found Gemini took a while to load sometimes and didn’t always give correct results. When I gave a voice prompt to “create a picture of a kitten riding a robot vacuum”, the AI-powered assistant misheard the word ‘robot’ for ‘rabbit’ and gave a cute fail.
But Gemini typically did well with offering recommendations, such as helping whip up an itinerary for my trip to Japan later in the year and drafting an out of office message.
I also just want to shout out the Hold For Me feature, a wild new tool which uses Call Assist to stay on hold so you don’t have to, and gives a notification once a representative is available.
LONGER BATTERY LIFE
The Pixel 9a comes with a juicier 5100 mAh battery and promises over 30 hours of battery life, or up to 100 hours with the Extreme Battery Saver. It can also be used with a wireless charger.
I found the battery typically lasted well throughout the day and survived everything between my 5:30am morning alarm and 8pm-ish ‘wind down’ routine without having to be recharged. But for heavier days when I’m taking a lot of pictures and video on top of playing Spotify non-stop, watching YouTube and constantly checking my phone, plugging it into a powerbank was definitely necessary.
MORE SOFTWARE UPDATES AND SECURITY UPGRADES
Similar to the Pixel 8a, the new Pixel 9a comes with seven years of software updates from the date of manufacture. This is a nice bump up from the three years of Android OS upgrades for the Pixel 7a (or five years of security upgrades).
For storage, the new Pixel A-series model comes with 8GM of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage.
HOW MUCH DOES THE GOOGLE PIXEL 9A COST IN AUSTRALIA?
The Pixel 9a starts from $849 and is now available to purchase from the Google Store as well as your usual favourite retailers, including The Good Guys and Vodafone. Although if you prefer to choose from a wider variety of colours (Iris, Peony, Porcelain and Obsidian), the Google Store is the way to go.
Compared to the other models in the Pixel 9 series, here are the prices:
• Google Pixel 9 Pro: from $1699
• Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: from $1849
• Google Pixel 9: from $1349
More Coverage
• Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: from $2699
*Product has been loaned by Samsung for a 100 per cent independent, honest review.
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