Google’s next mid-range smartphone in the Pixel-A series is reportedly right around the corner. Unsurprisingly, Google has done a poor job of keeping the leaks in check. The latest one gives a full-fledged video review treatment to the upcoming Pixel 9a, diving deep into its hardware, specs, and performance based on real-life testing.
The video comes courtesy of tech influencer Sahil Karoul, and shows the phone in a light pink shade. In the video, Karoul mentions two storage variants — 128GB and 256GB — for the Pixel 9a. The packaging is nearly identical to the mainline Pixel 9 series phones, which also means there is no charging brick in the box.
Those bezels are an eyesore
As far as the core specifications go, the leak mentions a 6.3-inch OLED display with 1080 x 2424 pixels resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The peak brightness is claimed to be 2,700 nits, and there is Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 layer protecting the screen. What I can’t quite take my eyes off, are those chunky bezels.
Come on, Google!
As per the video, the Pixel 9a comes equipped with a 5,100mAh battery and supports 23W wired charging. There’s also support for 7.5 wireless charging, half of what the Qi2 standard can achieve. Notably, the frame is metallic, but the rear shell is not glass. Instead, it is said to be some kind of plastic with a matte surface finish.
Thankfully, the build is IP68-certified, which means it can shrug off a few occasional splashes without frying the internal circuits. As far as the performance goes, the Tensor G4 silicon is shown to reach a score of 1.04 million points on the AnTuTu benchmark.
Not a performance brute
To put those numbers into perspective, smartphones like the OnePlus 13 or the Red Magic 10 Pro, which are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite silicon, score above 2.3 million points on the same benchmark. In a nutshell, Google’s Tensor G4 silicon is nearly half as powerful as Qualcomm’s flagship silicon.
The Geekbench tally, on the other hand, stands at 1530 (single-core) and 3344 (multi-core). On the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress test, the phone delivered a top loop score of 2,604, with a stability score of 59.1% after repeated loop runs.
In gaming scenarios, the Pixel 9a is shown defaulting to Smooth graphics preset with the Extreme frame rate range in PUBG, which isn’t too shabby. The gameplay looks smooth, but there are intermittent stutters.
In the imagine department, Google’s next mid-ranger is claimed to offer a 48-megapixel primary snapper and a 13-megapixel secondary camera for ultrawide capture. For selfie and video calling duties, Google has armed the Pixel 9a with a 13-megapixel camera.
The main camera is said to be capable of 4K video capture at a 60fps frame rate, but the digital zoom range is capped at just 8x level. Given the rumored $500 asking price of the Pixel 9a, it’s quite a poor situation, especially when compared with budget-centric phones such as the Nothing Phone 3a series.
The Pixel 9a will try to undercut the iPhone 16e in the market. However, it will face an uphill battle against the likes of the OnePlus 13R and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, both of which offer a far superior Android package.
