Google Pixel 9a camera score revealed: Punching way above its weight!
Big G perfected the recipe by releasing a very well-rounded phone with excellent specs and great value, which comes with the familiar and useful Pixel camera, which has become slightly better than its predecessor.
| Google Pixel 9a | Google Pixel 8a |
|---|---|
| Main camera 48MP F1.7 25mm Sensor: 1/2″ 0.8µm |
Main camera 64MP F1.9 26mm Sensor: 1/1.73″ 0.8µm |
| Ultrawide camera 13MP F2.2 Sensor: 1/3.1″ 1.12µm 120º FoV |
Ultrawide camera 13MP F2.2 Sensor: 1/3.1″ 1.12µm 120º FoV |
| Front-facing camera 13MP F2.2 20mm 1.12µm |
Front-facing camera 13MP F2.2 20mm 1.12µm |
As usual with Pixels, the brunt of improvements isn’t in the hardware, but in the software aspect of the camera, which can usually squeeze more out from the same hardware.
Is that the case with the Pixel 9a? Well, let’s see how it fared in our independent in-house camera test and then compare it against some rivals.
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Google Pixel 9a compared to its rivals
The affordable Pixel impresses in the still photo test, where it achieves 143 points versus 153 for the Pixel 9, 128 for the iPhone 16e, and 131 points for the Galaxy A56. The video result is also fairly good: 126 points are nothing to sneeze at, considering that the Pixel 9 has achieved 136 points, the iPhone 16e just 107 points, and the Galaxy A56 some 113 points.
Interestingly, the older Pixel 8a achieves a similar camera score in our tests, which speaks of a rare intergenerational synergy.
Overall, the camera is a pleasant surprise, hitting way above its pay grade.
Google Pixel 9a camera spider chart
Main camera
The main camera of the Pixel 9a delivers excellent images with superb dynamic range and colors that are vivid enough to be likeable. Details are pretty decent, but there are some oversharpening artifacts visible when you zoom in. The signature flatter Pixel looks here, as the algorithms are working overtime to bring down the highlights and boost the shadows so that everything is well-exposed.
Zoom Quality
The Pixel does a mighty fine job zooming in, despite the lack of a dedicated camera up for the task. Thank the large 48MP main sensor for that. Images are perfectly usable at up to 4X, though zooming in after that doesn’t necessarily deliver great results.
Ultrawide camera
The Pixel 9a boasts a very decent utlrawide camera, especially when you compare it against its rivals at this price point. We get excellent detail and macro capabilities here, but once again some oversharpening artifacts.
Selfies
Selfies aren’t okay, but the Pixel 9a traditionally applies some really heavy post-processing with the goal of exposing faces better, which doesn’t always look too great. The selfie camera isn’t particularly keen on shadows anywhere on the face of the subject, so it tries hard to overexpose those. Detail is sharp, though, but the colors are a personal preference.
Video
When it comes to videos, the Pixel 9a can take up to 4K@60fps videos, and those usually come pretty detailed and with an overall style that’s pretty much identical to what a regular Pixel 9 flagship would deliver.
The footage sometimes feels a bit flat and lacking some contrast, but you will only notice that if you compare the Pixel 9a with a Pixel 9 next to it. There’s some oversharpening visible here as well, but nothing too drastic, mind you.
Conclusion
Of course, there are some issues present, which can be easily linked to Google’s sometimes overbearing post-processing that can potentially ruin the realism in certain shots. The slight oversharpening is a common theme with most cameras and camera modes here.
But looking past that and considering the $499 starting price of this phone, it offers A LOT of camera.
