Pixel 9 vs Pixel 8a: The price gap widens

Now that the Pixel 9 is out and we have spent some proper time with it ourselves, we can finally compare it to the Pixel 8a, which proved to yet again be one of the best mid-range phones on the market, so what does the Pixel 9 bring to make buyers go for it instead?

Well, the differences between its regular flagship and more budget "a" series is similar to previous years. In other words, we are looking at a better camera system, a smoother and brighter display, more RAM, and more powerful and power efficient chip.

Of course, for all of the benefits that come with the flagship model you also need to pay a higher price, which is $799 for the Pixel 9. That's a whipping $300 more than the $499 starting price for the Pixel 8a. But let's see what the extra cost gives you exactly.

Google Pixel 9: Get at Amazon

Snatch the Pixel 9 with fancy new Gemini AI features at Amazon. The latest non-Pro model with a G4 chip is currently available at its standard price. This is the model in Obsidian.

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Get Pixel 9 Pro XL at Amazon

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is currently available at Amazon without any discounts. This is the 128GB version in Porcelain.

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Get the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at Amazon

Unleash your productivity with the splendid Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The high-end foldable is now available on Amazon without any discounts.

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You can very easily tell the Pixel 9 and Pixel 8a apart. That's because the 8a is still rocking the camera bar design that we've known since the Pixel 6 series, where the metal strip blends into the side frames. The Pixel 9, on the other hand, comes with a new design for the camera bar, which now appears like it's "floating," separated from the frame of the phone altogether (much like the Pixel Fold).

Besides the camera bar at the back, the Pixel 9 also has a different shape to it compared to the Pixel 8a. It has flat sides, losing the pebble-like shape of the last generation.

The Pixel 9 also has a more reflective glass back panel, which is very different from the matte plastic back of the Pixel 8a. And, speaking of glass, the mid-range Pixel comes with Gorilla Glass 3 protection for the display, while the Pixel 9 has the much more durable Gorilla Glass Victus 2.

There is also a difference in the dust/water resistance ratings, with the Pixel 9 having IPX68 vs IP67 on the 8A, although that is rather insignificant.



In terms of size, the Pixel "a" series has historically been similar to the base flagship Pixel models. This year it is generally the case, with the Pixel 8a' 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9 mm vs. the Pixel 9's 152.8 x 72.0 x 8.5 mm.

The Pixel 9 has a slightly larger 6.3" display compared to the Pixel 8a's 6.1" one. Both sport OLED screens with deep contrast and rich colors, but the Pixel 9 has a higher peak brightness of 2700 nits vs the Pixel 8a’s 2000 nits.

The other difference between the two is the display refresh rates. The Pixel 9 display is capable of a 1-120Hz refresh rate while the 8a is locked at 60Hz. In simpler terms, the Pixel 9's display is much smoother and more fluid, and capable of preserving power thanks to the variable refresh rate.

Apart from the display specs, the Pixel 9 also has much thinner bezels that are also uniform. In contrast, the Pixel 8a’s bezels are extremely thick with the lower one being more so than the others.

Display Measurements:

Obviously, the Pixel 8a cannot reach the same brightness levels of the Pixel 9, but in all other aspects our display tests tell us the two are generally matched. That includes color accuracy, contrast, and minimum brightness.

Even though the Pixel 9 rocks the new Tensor G4 chipset, it doesn't seem to be that much more powerful than the Tensor G3 powering the Pixel 8a. Google claims 20% faster web browsing and 17% faster app launching, which is not that impressive in the grand scheme of things.

While there aren’t any significant differences in raw power, the Pixel 9 has 12 GB of RAM compared to the 8 GB on the Pixel 8a. Google has carved out a chunk of those 12 GB and dedicated it for on-device AI features and functionality, which means the Pixel 9 can carry out AI tasks much quicker and does not have to rely on the cloud for them.

In terms of storage, though, both phones come in 128 GB and 256 GB options.

The new Tensor G4 also enables a feature similar to Apple's Emergency SOS that allows users to signal for help even when they don't have good service. This won’t be available to the Pixel 8a.

Software-wise, the Pixel 9 series comes with some AI improvements. One of them is called "Studio" and it helps you create custom stickers and emojis relying on your descriptions. Another feature, called "Add Me," helps users combine multiple group photos so that everyone can be included. Lastly, Gemini Nano on the Pixel 9 is much more capable, as it is now multimodal.

With multimodality, Gemini Nano helps your phone understand, not just text inputs, but also image, audio, and speech.

Gemini Nano probably won’t come to the 8a, but there’s a good chance that the Add Me and Studio features will.

As you can see from the benchmark results above, our performance tests showcased only slight improvements thanks to the Tensor G4 inside the Pixel 9. While it is a faster piece of silicon both in terms of CPU and GPU power, the difference is negligible.

The Pixel 9 and the Pixel 8a both have dual-camera systems embedded in their metal camera modules at the back. However, they don’t share the same camera specs, not at all, in fact.

While the Pixel 8a is rocking a 64MP wide (main) and a 13MP ultra-wide camera, the Pixel 9 has a 50MP main and a brand new 48MP ultrawide snapper, the same one that’s on this year's Pro models! The new ultra-wide camera gives the Pixel 9 110% improved light sensitivity compared to its predecessor.

The selfie cameras at the front are also different. The Pixel 9 comes with the same 10.5MP camera from last year's standard Pixel, while the Pixel 8a has a 13MP one. Google has upgraded the front camera on the Pixel 9 to have Autofocus, so it is more capable when it comes to keeping things in focus.

PhoneArena Camera Score:

It is interesting to see the much more affordable Pixel 8a perform very similarly, and even better in some cases when comparing its camera system to that on the Pixel 9. While the main (wide) camera did significantly better during our camera lab tests, the two were almost matched in the ultra-wide and zoom segments. What's even more interesting is that the Pixel 8a's selfie camera does better than that on the Pixel 9.

And the gap between the two camera systems tightens even more when we take a look at the video score, where the main cameras have less of a difference in image quality. We do, however, see a bigger difference when it comes to zoomed in video.

Main Camera

In this daylight photo with the main cameras, the only clearly visible difference is that the Pixel 8a produced warmer-looking colors compared to the Pixel 9. At closer inspection, one can also notice that the Pixel 9 captures more detail and sharper photos, but the difference is not staggering.

In areas with less light available, the main camera on the Pixel 9 shines more, as the difference in detail and sharpness becomes more apparent when compared to the Pixel 8a. That being said, the Pixel 8a made the scene a bit brighter and produced more true-to-life colors.

Zoom Quality

Neither phone has a dedicated telephoto camera, but using a 3x crop still provides usable zoomed-in photos. The Pixel 9 seems to do a better job at preserving sharpness and detail in the more dark areas of the image.



The difference in image quality is even more apparent when shooting at 5x zoom.

Ultra-wide camera

The ultra-wide camera on the Pixel 8a is pretty good, especially for the money. But the Pixel 9's ultra-wide camera preserves more detail in the shadows and has done better in terms of white balance here, whereas the 8a has shifted everything white to a more magenta hue.

Selfies

The photos with the front-facing camera of the Pixel 8a seem better to us. They have more natural colors and even look sharper in comparison to those of the Pixel 9, which has also made our two colleagues here look a bit orange.

This is a bit crazy to say, but speaking purely how well the subject is cut out from the background (which is what Portrait Mode is all about) we would say that the Pixel 8a has done better here. Not only are there less instances where edges are smudgy, but the blurred out part appears more natural, as it would from a real lens and camera.

The Pixel 9's saving grace here is that it lit the subject better, whereas the 8a has created a very dramatic, contrasty and oversharpened look.

All of the differences we say during the photo camera samples are also present while recording video. We were, however, surprised to see that the image stabilization and mic quality are very similar between the two phones. 

The Pixel 9 comes with a 4700 mAh battery capacity vs. the 4492 mAh on the Pixel 8a. This does not necessarily mean more battery life, but given the other hardware that helps with battery efficiency, we fully expect the Pixel 9 to fare better during our dedicated battery life tests.

Charging-wise, the Pixel 9 is much quicker with 27W of wired and 15 of wireless charging, compared to the Pixel 8a's 18W and 7.5W respectively. The flagship model also has reverse-wireless charging capabilities, which you can use to juice up an accessory or even another phone, and that feature is missing on the cheaper model.

PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:

For full transparency here, we place a 30/50/20 value when evaluating the overall estimated battery life that's a combination of our Browsing, Video and Gaming tests. Based on this method, we estimated about 1 hour and 40 minutes more battery life on the Pixel 9, with its main advantage coming from our Web Browsing battery life test, where it scored almost 3 hours and 30 minutes more.

The main apparent differences between the upcoming Pixel 9 and the mid-range Pixel 8a are the cameras and the chipsets. The Pixel 9 also has more RAM, as well as a larger battery and faster charging.

Feel free to check out our full Pixel 9 vs Pixel 8a specs comparison, or take a look at the overview below:

Comparing the Pixel 8a with the Pixel 9 shows much of what we are used to when pitting Google's budget phone series to its base flagship. In other words, you have slightly better performance from the chip and camera system, faster charging and longer battery life, and better durability.

Most importantly, though, it seems the camera system is the most significant differentiating factor this year. That said, we won't know for sure until we pace the Pixel 9's camera through our PhoneArena Camera Score and compare its results to the Pixel 8a.

For now, it seems that we are looking at mostly the same type of differences between the Pixel 8a and Pixel 9 that we saw from previous comparisons between Google's mid-range series and entry-level flagships. Although it is worth remembering that the Pixel 9 costs $100 more than its predecessor, which makes the price gap an even more decision-making factor.