Google Pixel 9a vs Pixel 8a: these new features hidden the new affordable smartphone
The Pixel 9a is official, and Google now offers it as a pre -order. The smartphoen unveils a complete technical sheet for an unchanged rate if it is compared to its predecessor, the Pixel 8A, for potential improvements. Between the two generations, what are the changes? Here are the elements to remember.
Design: more sealing, more lightness
Several elements are to be remembered. First, the Pixel 9a is very slightly larger than its elder: it measures 154.7 x 73.3 mm, against 152×1 x 72.7 mm, and retains a thickness of 8.9 mm. It is therefore not part of the race for finesse that is taking shape today (Samsung Galaxy S25 Edgelikely iPhone 17 Air), but gains in lightness: it only weighs 186 grams, 2 g less than the Pixel 8A. This case, however, hides an improved sealing certification, since we go from a IP67 to an IP68. Concretely, this means that the Pixel 9a can be immersed longer, and at a larger depth.
Screen: the pixel 9a sees larger
It is one of the flagship elements that mark the difference between the two smartphones. The Pixel 8A sported a 6.1 inch display (1080 x 2400 pixels), and its successor goes to 6.3 inch, for a little more comfort in use. Its slab is still based on OLED technology – it is however a POLED slab, undoubtedly a little less expensive in terms of manufacturing – and retains both an adaptive refresh rate rising up to 102 Hz, or even a protection in Gorilla Glass 3. We still note that its maximum luminosity announced win 700 cd/m², Google promising up to 2700 cd/m².
Power and autonomy: Tensor G3 and big battery
The Pixel 8A was animated by a Tensor G3 chip, and its successor logically offers the Tensor G4 chip, inaugurated a few months later with the Pixel 9 series. It promises to be more powerful, and just as responsive, using its 8 GB of RAM. It goes without saying that this chipset is turned towards artificial intelligence, whether it is the use of Gemini on a daily basis or the retouching of generative images; It is therefore more the potential of its NPU than its raw power which interests here. Note that on the connectivity side, the smartphone does not evolve, retaining its compatibility with the 6th WiFi and with the Bluetooth 5.3.
Faced with the 4,492 mAh of Pixel 8A, the 9a includes a 5,100 mAh battery. Google thus announces an improved autonomy (up to 30 hours), and one can only hope to measure in the laboratory a clear increase in the laboratory, the Pixel 8a not being frankly distinguished on the ground.
Photo
The Pixel 9a sees larger on most of the criteria that make up its technical sheet, but does not give in to the temptation to multiply the megapixels to seduce. It thus presents a main sensor of 48 megapixels with an f/1.7 optics, this module replacing the 64 Mpx sensor and its f/1.9 optics integrated into the 8A pixel. On the other hand, Google does not modify the second module of its Pixel 8A (13 Mpx sensor, ultra-wide f/2,2 optics), which is therefore identical within the Pixel 9a. Same fight for the front module of the aircraft, which is based on a 13 Mpx sensor and an f/2.2 optics equivalent to 20 mm.
Software updates
Nothing changes between the two generations of Pixel A, since the 8a had inaugurated a promise of 7 years of updates. The 9a is accompanied by the same promise, but thanks to its launch a year later, was immediately offered Android 15. The Pixel 8A was released on Android 14.
