The newborn Pixel 9a returns to sane design and so should the Pixel 11 in 2026

Another day, another new phone, but this isn't yet another Pixel "a"-series phone: it's the Pixel 9a. This one is special. It's so special that it could mark the place where the Pixel camera bar wave crashed and finally rolled back. Yes, the Pixel 9a comes with a flat design; does that mean the Pixel 11 will also lack a camera visor? Let's see!

The phone packs the same chipset under the hood – namely, the well-known Tensor G4 that breathes life into all the phones throughout the Pixel 9 line. But the sparkling-new Pixel 9a (it was unveiled on March 19) comes with several upgrades to make you smile:

• No price hike, it's still $499 (in today's world, where everything gets more expensive, an anchored price can be seen as a lower price, metaphorically speaking);
• A new main camera that shares traits with the one on the premium Pixel 9 Pro Fold (that's a $1,799 handset);
• It's got a surprisingly large 5,100 mAh capacity battery: this, paired with its relatively compact 6.3-inch screen, should mean you'll be able to get a whole day use easily;
• The brightest screen on any Pixel "a"-series phone (2,700 nits for peak brightness, Google claims);

And, most importantly: a new design. The camera bar is gone. Bye, bye, Pixel visor!

A step six years back in time

It's May 2019 and a new mid-ranger steps into the light: it's called Google Pixel 3a and it's sold for $399. It's not anything to write home about in terms of raw power or flashy hardware (and how could it be, at this price point?) but it handles everyday tasks like a breeze. I know mine did for many years, until its battery performance got bad.

The Pixel 3a was the beginning of Google's adventure in the mid-range department and, dare I say, many people were left satisfied with their "a"-series phones.

The reason I'm bringing the Pixel 3a up is because the Pixel 9a reminds me of it. On the outside, that is. OK, on the outside from the rear, to be precise.

The reason is, of course, that the camera bar on the Pixel 9a is non-existent: instead, we have a flat-back design. This is a radical departure from the Pixel 8a, Pixel 7a and Pixel 6a designs – all of these had a protruding camera visor. But how radical of a change can it be, if the Pixel 9a just goes back to its roots?!

There's nothing new under the sun and everything old is new again.


Yet, Google is not yet done with the camera bar. Some Pixel 10 renders that came from Rumorsville clearly show that the flagship Pixels for 2025 are about to retain the same trademark protruding camera islands from recent Pixels.


Ironically, this "trademark" feature is about to switch camps and go to Apple… kind of. Preliminary renders of some iPhone 17 models hint at some eerie Pixel-like camera bars.


To make you blow air out of your nose at even higher volumes, I cannot not mention how the Pixel 9 Pro is also oddly similar to the iPhone 16 Pro from a certain angle.

Eh, modernity.

It's not just about aesthetics

The fact that the camera is not housed in a protruding camera bar on the rear is important – this goes beyond the simple "Uh, uhm, well, I like it that way!" kind of argument.

The Pixel 9a's design is safer… as in, the phone could be more durable.



The Pixel visor has been – how do I put this mildly – detaching from the rear panel on some occasions:

• Pixel 9 Pro XL user is stunned when he sees what happened to his phone's camera bar
• Pixel 9 Pro owner mocked by Google after they complained of camera bar coming off

A Pixel 9 Pro XL owner was shocked to find one side of the rear camera bar detached after noticing fogged-up lenses. Upon removing the phone from its case, he was able to lift the loose section with minimal effort. He insists the device was neither dropped nor mishandled.

Other Pixel 9 Pro users have voiced worries about potential quality control issues because of the protruding camera island.

There aren't a ton of such examples, but there are definitely many posts over at Reddit on the topic, for example.

Aesthetics vs technological advancements

On the other hand, aesthetics are, of course, highly subjective, but I also happen to like it that way – without a protruding camera bar.

For a camera setup that's consisted of just two snappers (a main and an ultra-wide units), what's the point of housing them in a separate camera bar? Slap them in the phone body and let the chips fall where they may!

For larger sensors, telephoto cameras, quadruple setups, periscope lenses and whatnot – sure, a large camera bar that extends monstrously is justified: all this hardware has to go somewhere, right?

But it doesn't make me happy when I look at it.

I mean, I frown at it; especially when the protruding camera bar gets in my way. But I get real quiet when I look at the picture that my quadruple camera setup, twin-zoom, 1-inch-sensor device produces.

At the end of the day, camera capabilities are more important to me than the package they're coming in and I just have to suck it up.

What about the Pixel 11?

This brings me to the Pixel 11 future: this lineup is still more than a year away from release (if Google even releases it in 2026).

Will the Pixel 9a inspire the search engine giant to ditch one of its trademark design features? Now that Apple is somewhat steering in the Pixel direction, this could be a tempting thought: also, maybe the Pixel needs to look way more different than the iPhone?

It's unrealistic to think that the cheapest model in a device family might influence its flagship siblings – usually, it's the other way around. I think there's some logic that people would want a mid-ranger that looks sort of premium, instead of a mid-ranger that looks… cheap and plain.

I don't think the Pro models in the Pixel 11 family will come without a protruding camera bar, though: they pack lots of advanced camera and lens elements to ditch it just like that.

For the "vanilla" Pixel 11, however, I could envision a future where it comes with a flat back. After all, it too comes with a dual camera setup on its back: a main and an ultra-wide one. So don't be surprised if the camera bar on the Pixel 11 is gone.

"Remember, dear readers, you heard it here first", as Danny DeVito's character in L.A. Confidential said.