Google Pixel 9a

The Google Pixel 9a has a compact footprint, measuring 154.7 mm tall, 73.3 mm wide, and 8.9 mm thick, with a weight of 186 g and a total volume of roughly 100.92 cm³. Its most notable design credential is the IP68 ingress protection rating, which classifies it as fully waterproof under standard testing conditions. The device follows a conventional, non-folding form factor and does not feature a rugged build.

The Google Pixel 9a features a 6.3-inch OLED/AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 2424 px and a pixel density of 422 ppi, delivering a sharp and detailed image across the panel. The display runs at a 120Hz refresh rate and reaches a typical brightness of 1800 nits, while its 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio is well-suited to the deep blacks that OLED panels can produce. It supports HDR10 and includes an Always-On Display mode, though HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are not supported. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, and there is no secondary display. The device does not support HDR10+ or Dolby Vision content formats.

The Google Pixel 9a is powered by the Google Tensor G4 system-on-chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process with a thermal design power of 6W and an eight-thread CPU configuration running at 1 x 3.1 GHz, 3 x 2.6 GHz, and 4 x 1.92 GHz using big.LITTLE and HMP scheduling. It is paired with 8 GB of DDR5 RAM at 4200 MHz and 256 GB of internal storage, with a maximum supported memory ceiling of 16 GB. Graphics are handled by the integrated ARM Mali-G715 MP7 GPU clocked at 940 MHz, supporting DirectX 12, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 2. The chip includes integrated LTE, TrustZone security, and NX bit support, and is fully 64-bit compatible. Benchmark results place it at 1,071,616 on AnTuTu, 4500 on Geekbench 6 multi-core, and 1600 on the single-core test, while the processor also benefits from 8 MB of L2 cache and 4 MB of L3 cache.

The Google Pixel 9a has a dual-lens rear camera system combining a 48 MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture and pixel size of 1.12 µm alongside a 13 MP sensor at f/2.2 with 0.8 µm pixels, both using BSI CMOS technology and backed by optical image stabilization. Autofocus is handled via phase-detection and touch AF, with continuous autofocus available during video recording, though laser autofocus is not present. The rear camera supports 4K video recording at 60 fps with HDR10, as well as slow-motion video, timelapse, panorama, burst mode, and RAW shooting, while manual controls cover exposure, ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus. A dual-tone LED flash with two LEDs accompanies the main camera, but there is no RGB flash and no 3D or 360-degree capture capability. On the front, a single 13 MP camera sits at f/2.2 without a front-facing flash or a secondary lens, and it is not positioned under the display.

The Google Pixel 9a runs Android 15 and receives direct OS updates from the vendor, with the platform being free and open source and supporting multi-user operation. On the privacy side, it offers location privacy options, camera and microphone access controls, clipboard warnings, and the ability to block app tracking, though Mail Privacy Protection and cross-site tracking blocking are not included. The interface supports dynamic theming, theme customization, dark mode, extra dim mode, and widgets, while focus modes and Quick Start are absent. Productivity features include split-screen multitasking, Picture-in-Picture, full-page screenshots, a media picker, sharing intents, customizable notifications, notification permission controls, Live Text, and the ability to play games while they download. The device also supports on-device machine learning, offline voice recognition, voice commands, phone tracking, battery health check, app offloading, and a child lock, but it cannot be used as a PC and does not offer Wi-Fi password sharing.

The Google Pixel 9a houses a 5100 mAh rechargeable, non-removable battery with a rated battery life of 30 hours. It supports fast wired charging at 23W as well as wireless charging at 7.5W, though reverse wireless charging is not available and no charger is included in the box. The device features a battery level indicator and an ultra power-saving mode for extending usage when charge is critically low.

The Google Pixel 9a includes stereo speakers and a dual-microphone setup, but omits a 3.5 mm headphone jack and has no built-in radio. For wireless audio, it supports both aptX and LDAC codecs, while aptX HD and aptX Adaptive are not available.

The Google Pixel 9a supports 5G cellular connectivity and covers Wi-Fi 4 through Wi-Fi 6E, alongside Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC. It accepts one physical SIM and one eSIM, but has no external memory slot. The USB Type-C port runs at USB 3.2, while HDMI output is not available. For navigation, the device includes GPS with Galileo support, a compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, and barometer, though motion tracking, optical tracking, ANT+, a heart rate monitor, and an infrared sensor are absent. Biometric security is provided by a fingerprint scanner; 3D facial recognition and an iris scanner are not present, and no stylus is included. Safety features cover crash detection, while emergency SOS via satellite is not supported. EU SAR values are rated at 0.99 W/kg for the head and 1.39 W/kg for the body.

The Google Pixel 9a includes a video light, while its display is flat rather than curved and uses neither sapphire glass nor an e-paper panel.