Metatube
  • 2 days ago
Pixel 9A is a boring, no frills phone, but also... they did the thing.

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Transcript
00:00The leaks are true.
00:04I feel like I can start every Pixel video this way,
00:06because they're always true.
00:08But I just got some hands-on time
00:09with Google's new budget phone, the Pixel 9a.
00:12And right off the bat, there are a few things
00:13that I'm really happy about.
00:14First of all, and most importantly,
00:16the price stays the same at 499.
00:18So in a world where we have questions about inflation
00:21and tariffs and a whole bunch of other variables,
00:24this phone is the same price that the Pixel 8a was, nice.
00:28And then design-wise, okay, I have mixed thoughts
00:30about this.
00:31So on one hand, it's pretty boring,
00:33and I just really don't find any of it that great.
00:35Like, I feel like I just got done praising
00:37the Pixel series last year for stepping up
00:39their hardware game with really locking in their identity
00:42as the phone with the visor.
00:44Like, you look at a Pixel, it's recognizable.
00:47No other phone looks quite like it.
00:48And then this comes out.
00:49Like, where did the identity go?
00:51But on the other hand, you'll notice something.
00:53There is no camera bump on the back of this phone.
00:56Not just a little camera bump or a small set of rings.
00:59No, there's no camera bump, nothing.
01:01And how long have we been asking phone manufacturers
01:04to do this?
01:06Like, you've seen the YouTube comments.
01:07Hey, I don't care about a thin phone.
01:10Just go right ahead and make the phone thicker,
01:12get rid of the camera bump,
01:14and fill in that extra space with batteries.
01:16And that's literally exactly what they've done.
01:19It's an 8.9 millimeter thick phone.
01:21And we have now the largest battery
01:23that's ever been in a Pixel device,
01:265,100 milliamp hours.
01:27That's more than the 9 Pro XL just had.
01:30So they did the thing.
01:32Sick.
01:33So that by itself has essentially become
01:34the main value proposition to this new Pixel.
01:37It's the cheaper one with all the Pixely software goodness
01:40we already know about and the huge battery.
01:43Now, the new embargo that they're doing with this Pixel
01:47for some reason is kind of a massive red flag.
01:50They're not allowing us to show any software at all
01:54like I usually do.
01:55So that's why this whole video is just home screens.
01:57But I did get to spend some time with this phone
01:59and using it off camera.
02:00And I can tell you pretty much everything else about it
02:02is exactly as you'd expect.
02:04It is powered by the same Tensor G4 chip
02:07as the flagship Pixel 9s,
02:08with eight gigs of RAM and 128 gigs of starting storage.
02:11And it's also basically the same size as the Pixel 9.
02:14So that's a 6.3 inch display
02:16with the hole punch at the top
02:17and the fingerprint reader under the glass.
02:19And it honestly feels very close to a flagship
02:21in terms of build.
02:23It has flat aluminum rails.
02:26The back is plastic instead of glass.
02:27So you may notice that if you're the rare breed of person
02:29that doesn't have a case on their phone.
02:31But also people argue for that all the time
02:32in terms of shatter resistance.
02:33And this phone is also now fully IP68
02:36dust and water resistant now,
02:38unlike last year's 8a, which was IP67.
02:40So here's what's interesting.
02:42Last year, the Pixel 8a came out at the same price
02:45right around the time that the Pixel 8
02:47was all the way down to like 550 bucks in price.
02:52And it made too many sacrifices.
02:54It felt a bit off of a flagship phone.
02:56So it was kind of in this awkward place
02:57where it was not a very good deal.
02:59And the Pixel 8 right above it was a really good deal.
03:02This year though, I feel like there's been a massive push
03:04actually in both directions.
03:06So the 9a is much closer to a flagship.
03:09It makes less of those sacrifices and it's the same price.
03:11So it's a better deal.
03:13And the Pixel 9 is actually, it was more pricey.
03:16It was 799 at launch.
03:18And so now it's down to like 649 at best.
03:21So it's not as good of a deal.
03:23So there's enough separation now between the two
03:25where I'm not just telling you to go buy the flagship.
03:28The 9a actually represents a good bang for the buck.
03:31It seems to be almost the same display as a Pixel 9,
03:34same 120 Hertz max refresh rate,
03:37which yes, is still off by default at 60,
03:39but also same brightness, same resolution,
03:43just a slightly worse contrast ratio.
03:45And it's Gorilla Glass 3 instead of Victus 2.
03:48And it isn't missing any of the software features
03:50that make a Pixel a Pixel.
03:53So they might've gotten rid of some of the hardware stuff,
03:55but software wise, all that stuff is still there.
03:57Gemini is everywhere, magic eraser,
03:59photo unblur, call screening.
04:02Like the stuff that I really miss
04:03when I switched to another phone that's not a Pixel,
04:05it's all still in the A series.
04:08And then still seven years of software updates
04:09and the Pixel drops and all that stuff.
04:11It still has basic Qi wireless charging
04:13and it's gonna charge that big battery
04:15slower than the flagship, sure.
04:16But then also with these dual cameras on the back,
04:18it's a 48 megapixel main camera
04:20plus a 13 megapixel ultra wide,
04:23and it still has night sight.
04:24So if I just take the things that I think people
04:26who are buying these types of phones care the most about,
04:29you can think of the Pixel 9a
04:31basically as like a Pixel 9 minus some camera chops
04:36plus a way bigger battery.
04:38And that's a sacrifice I think a lot of people
04:40are totally cool with and it's way cheaper.
04:43So in general, like are people really gonna notice
04:45the plastic on the back versus glass?
04:47Or are they gonna notice a slightly slower charging
04:49when the battery's bigger?
04:51You have a case on your phone anyway,
04:52like I don't think that's gonna be a huge deal
04:53to a lot of people.
04:54So I think at this price,
04:56it's actually pretty perfect positioning.
04:58So there's four colors available again,
04:59black and white are still here.
05:01And there's also what they're calling peony,
05:03which is this pink one and iris,
05:05which is closer to like a purple or blue
05:07depending on how the light hits it.
05:08I think that's the one that looks best,
05:10but now I'll leave you with this.
05:11Okay, so good phone, good price, good value.
05:14I think they're in a good place with the Pixel 9a,
05:17but we are also a few months away
05:19from starting to see probably accurate leaks
05:22of the Pixel 10 series.
05:25And then the Pixel 10 is gonna come out
05:26and that obviously won't be as cheap as A series,
05:28but the Pixel 10 shaping up to be very interesting.
05:32And I don't wanna overhype it
05:34because I feel like we could easily be very disappointed,
05:37but the rumors about Pixel 10,
05:39some of them suggest a pretty big performance increase
05:43with Tensor G5 that could make it much more fluid,
05:47much more competitive with Snapdragon stuff.
05:49And that's really interesting.
05:50So if you're specifically a person like me,
05:52who's maybe trying to maximize performance per dollar
05:55and who really cares about that type of thing,
05:56it might be worth waiting for potentially awesome Pixel 10.
06:02But I feel like I already regret saying that in this video
06:04because the 9a is a perfectly good phone.
06:07You can definitely go get that phone and be happy.
06:09I just wanna be careful.
06:10I'm probably jinxing it.
06:11I should just say expectations are the thief of joy now
06:15just to get it out there.
06:17But I'll be watching Pixel 10 stuff.
06:18Either way, 9a drops into a world
06:21where the iPhone 16e was looking a little bit ridiculous.
06:24And now we can feel validated calling it ridiculous
06:26because we've got all these other pretty good looking
06:29budget phones coming out.
06:30So thanks Google.
06:31Also, this shirt is available for a limited time now
06:35while supplies last at shop.mkbhd.com.
06:39There's news on the horizon about this.
06:41So get it while you can.
06:44Thanks for watching.
06:45Catch you in the next one.
06:46Peace.