Most of the headline acts on Stuff’s upcoming smartphones list are full-on flagships that promise unbeatable performance and killer cameras – but will also come with a wallet-punishing price. The Google Pixel 9a could be the affordable alternative: a more modest mid-ranger that can still take a stunning snap, and has enough oomph to go big on the phone world’s favourite new toy, generative AI.
With the Pixel 8a rapidly approaching its first birthday, the mainline Pixel 9 series out in the wild, and the 9a now having leaked more than a sieve, its arrival is surely mere months away at this point. We’ve got a near-complete picture of what to expect hardware- and design-wise, leaving software and price the biggest question marks. Here’s all the info so far, to tide you over until Google makes things official.
Google Pixel 9a expected price and release date
It’s hard to believe now, but there convincing reports that Google was shifting to a biennial release schedule for its mid-range models, and the Pixel 9a would be a casualty. Those rumours, which picked up steam when the mainline Pixel 9 phones were revealed, were quickly kiboshed once 9a hardware leaks started to appear online.
Google is now expected to reveal the the phone in March 2025, putting it up for preorder on March 19 and shipping to customers a week later on March 26.
That’s a departure from the firm’s typical launch cycle. Beyond a COVID-related reshuffle in 2020 (and a follow-up that saw a very limited global release), Google has stuck to May for its Pixel A-series launches. They’ve been timed around the firm’s I/O conference, which usually gets held during that month:
Pixel 8a – revealed May 14 2024
Pixel 7a – revealed 10th May 2023
Pixel 6a – revealed 11th May 2022
Pixel 5a – revealed 17th August 2021 (US and Japan only)
Pixel 4a, 4a 5G – revealed 3rd August 2020 (pandemic year)
Pixel 3a, 3a XL – revealed 7th May 2019
I’m hoping Google won’t follow wider phone world trends when it comes to pricing. The Pixel 8a landed at $499/£499, which while unchanged for US shoppers, represented a £50 price hike for UK customers from the £449 Pixel 7a. This was a further jump from the Pixel 6a’s $449/£399 starting price, and firmly took the series out of ‘affordable’ territory.
Hardware and design rumours
There have been enough leaks at this point we can be pretty certain the Pixel 9a will arrive with squared-off sides and a flat rear panel, not too dissimilar from the Pixel 9. The iconic camera bar won’t make an appearance, with the two rear sensors sitting flush to the phone body.
The above render, courtesy of OnLeaks and AndroidHeadlines, also shows a display with rounded corners and a central punch-hole selfie camera. They line up with the first images of the handset, which came from a private Vietnamese Facebook group via Twitter user ShrimpApplePro. That might sound unusual, but previous Pixel leaks have come out of Vietnam, so the images carried some weight. Subsequent photos of Pixel 9a handsets in the wild all but confirm this design.
Four colours are predicted: Obsidian (black), Porcelain (white), Peony (pink) and Iris (purple/lavender). The latter is entirely new for a Pixel phone.
It was originally thought to arrive with the same 6.1in screen size as the Pixel 8a, but Winfuture says the Pixel 9a will get a larger 6.3in panel instead. Expect a 2424×1080 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 2700 nit peak brightness, and HDR10+ support.
There was. never any doubt the Pixel 9a would be powered by a Tensor G4 chipset; Google has reused its home-grown silicon for the A-series since the Pixel 6a, and there’s no reason it won’t do the same again. Whether the Pixel 9a will jump to 12GB of RAM is more of an unknown; the base Pixel 9 was boosted from 8GB to play nicer with Gemini Nano on-device AI, something Google will surely want running on its most affordable model.
There’s a slim chance Google will debut new Gemini features on the Pixel 9a, then roll them out swiftly to the rest of the Pixel 9 range. Or it might just port the existing suite of software and AI-infused apps, then save the bigger updates for the next mainline Pixel generation. By the time the Pixel 9a rolls out, though, it should be doing so with Android 15.
Battery capacity and charging could be in line for an upgrade. Google is rumoured to have squeezed a 5100mAh cell inside the Pixel 9a, up from 4492mAh on the Pixel 8a, and has added wireless charging support. IP68 protection is expected, and Google may be using an older modem in order to cut costs. That’d be a big shame, as the newer modem in the Pixel 9 series is better across the board than the previous generation: stronger signal, less power drain, and better thermal management.
Photography is one area no Pixel phone ever disappoints, but whether it’ll be all-new sensors or simply a year’s worth of algorithm improvements is an unknown right now. The latest rumours point to a 48MP main snapper, 13MP ultrawide and 13MP selfie cam. While that’s a downgrade in terms of pixel count from the Pixel 8a, it could make up the deficit in several ways: a wider aperture, physically larger sensor, or improved algorithms.
What we’d like to see from the Pixel 9a
As much as Stuff raved about the Pixel 8a, giving it a full five star score, there are always areas Google could look to improve for the sequel. We’ve composed the usual wish list of features, with some being more likely to come true than others:
Faster charging speeds
Until recently, Apple, Google and Samsung were all pretty lax when it came to charging speeds. Apple changed that with the iPhone 16 generation, bringing 45W wired and 25W wireless charging to the entire line-up. While the Pixel A-series exists outside of the mainline Pixel bubble, it would still be great if it was first in line for a much-needed boost to charging, as a sign of things to come for the inevitable Pixel 10. I’m not even asking for a bigger battery (though that would always be nice) – just a little less time spent tethered to a power socket.
Get the price right
Google, don’t think we haven’t noticed how the Pixel A-series has gotten a lot more expensive in recent years. What started out as one of the best value phones around has moved further into mid-range territory, and is no longer the obvious choice for those on a tight budget. As Gemini becomes a more and more important part of the Pixel experience it’s hard to see how Google could lower the price of the Pixel 9a, while still using hardware powerful enough to run AI models on-device, but significantly undercutting the new Apple iPhone 16e would surely be a big win for the firm.
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