I tested the Pixel 9a and only found one thing wrong with Google's new phone

The biggest complaint I have after testing the Pixel 9a is that the design is a little boring. That's how good the firm's latest mid-range phone is. Even then, my peony pink review sample makes it stand out from the usual black glass slabs glowing into the faces of everyone around me.

No smartphone is perfect but it is difficult to find fault with the Pixel 9a, a £499 phone that is practically identical to the £799 released in August 2024. Save for a plainer design, slightly inferior cameras and a little less RAM, the 9a is for all intents and purposes the same phone for £300 less. I'm not quite sure what Google was thinking here, but it's good for you if you are in the market for a new phone.

Google has made a cheaper A-series Pixel since 2019, usually launching it about six months after its more expensive flagship Pixels. Corners must be cut to reach the lower price, but the 9a has, on paper at least, the same excellent 6.3-inch OLED display as the Pixel 9, down to the same 1080p resolution, 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and decent brightness. It's a noticeable improvement over 2024's , and the fingerprint sensor works excellently despite using older optical tech rather than the ultrasonic on the other Pixel 9s.

The bezel around the screen is quite thick but it honestly didn't bother me. The one thing I don't love is the new look for the back of the phone, but the changes make sense. Gone is the full-width bar that housed the dual cameras from the last few years of Pixel A-series phones. Instead, the lenses on the 9a barely stick out at all save for a very thin ridge to protect the glass when set down. It makes a nice change from most other phones that wobble when placed down because of their camera housing, but the design looks like a prototype and a little unfinished.

Paired with the matte plastic back and matt metal side rails, this chunky utilitarian look at least hides fingerprints and comes in black, white, blue or pink, more colourful options than the black or white offered by .

Inside is the same Tensor G4 chipset as the other Pixel 9 phones, again underlining the value of the 9a. Performance is only a touch below those devices as there is only 8GB RAM on the 9a compared to 12GB, so this is not a phone to play graphically intense games on.

The phone ships with Android 15 at launch, the latest version, and the software behaves exactly as it does on other Pixel phones, including the £1,099 Pixel 9 Pro XL. You don't lose any core software features by spending hundreds less, so you get the clever Add Me, Best Take and Magic Editor camera tools that can add you to a photo, choose the best smiles to composite an image from several taken, and change the look of the lighting or remove unwanted people and objects from images respectively.

Those images are taken by the Pixel 9a's dual cameras, which are led by a 48MP sensor that has optical and electric image stabilisation. This results in the crisp, clear, high contrast shots the Pixel phones have a reputation for. The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro have a superior 50MP main sensor that side by side takes better photos, but you really have to look to see the differences. The bottom line is the camera on the Pixel 9a is excellent, with colours saturated just right, shadows not too blown out and skin colours well represented, all things lesser phone cameras struggle with.

Having reviewed several generations of Pixel, I do think Google has pared back its distinctive photo style. I remember being astounded by the dynamic range of photos from the Pixel 2 and 3, and the also impressed me with its lower price and top-tier camera. These days, Pixel phones take images closer to the flatter and brightened images you'll get from an iPhone. When testing, I usually preferred the 9a's 1x shots to those on my £799 .

Google really hasn't stripped much away from the experience of shooting on a Pixel 9 or 9 Pro, with the same exact app and useful tools such as a macro focus mode for the first time on an A-series Pixel to get sharp images of close-ups. You also get a 12MP ultra-wide, which isn't as good as the lens on the pricier Pixels, and the 9a lacks the third telephoto lens you'll find on the Pro.

If you want to zoom, you're relying entirely on digital zoom, and though Google says results are decent at up to 8x, I found anything above 3x looks grainy. Selfies are also sharp and well produced via the 13MP front-facing camera, which can handle face unlock and app authentication.

Portrait mode on the Pixel is also great, and video is improving too. You can shoot in 4K and things don't judder too much thanks to the stabilisation tech, plus there are software smarts such as Audio Magic Eraser that can remove unwanted chatter, wind or road noise out of videos and concentrate on, usually, voices instead.

Google says the Pixel 9a can go for about 30 hours on a charge (with the biggest battery ever in a Pixel at 5,100mAh) and I found that to be accurate. This phone has great staying power and I never ran out of juice before I got home after a day out and about, though there is no charger in the box, only a USB-C to -C cable. To eke this much longevity out while still using the same processor as the £1,000+ Pixel Pro models is impressive, and there is wireless charging compatibility, though it's slower to top up this way than other Pixels.

Google promises seven years of software updates, which means the 9a should still be fully supported by early 2032, plus this model is the first A-series with IP68 dust and water resistance, hopefully ensuring it should survive a dunk.

I've left it this long to specifically mention artificial intelligence because I don't think it should be the primary reason to buy a phone. Google is pushing its AI hard, and the clever but superfluous camera software tools such as Magic Eraser are technically AI. But Google's insistence that Google Gemini is the be all and end all of apps should be approached with caution, just like Apple Intelligence and Samsung's Galaxy AI.

Gemini has replaced Google Assistant and can be used to, basically, Google things with your voice. I admit the natural-sounding voice that chats back to you is impressive, and the newer Gemini Live features where you can snap a photo and ask questions works well, whether you want information on the monument or painting in front of you or how to rearrange your living room effectively.

Much more annoying is Pixel Studio, a pointless app for creating images using AI from photos or prompts. The fun factor is low, and you can't uninstall it despite it taking up nearly 1.5GB of space.

Time will tell if AI becomes indispensable and truly drives people to buy a Pixel phone instead of one from Apple or . For now, the Pixel 9a is good enough to recommend without all that, to the point that its simplicity is its biggest asset. It has a sensible design, great battery life, nice screen and flagship-quality camera and seven years of support all for £499. Not many phones out there can match it for that price, though its main competitor is the , a phone with an outlandish design and inferior screen to the Pixel, but triple cameras and great software for £329.

If you don't need the latest handset, it's also well worth hunting down the Pixel 8a. for £349 or less and is a very similar phone as the 9a save for its slightly duller display.