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pixel 9a

· 7 min read

why did I choose pixel 9a over poco f7?​

as a replacement for my temp vivo y28s and the poco f5 pro that died in the rain :(

the phones I owned

only those I remember, below are links to gsmarena articles

first of all​

  • it's pink, I like the color, I want to break the gender stereotypes, and escape the boring black and white mentality that npcs have
  • at first I liked the lighter pink on 9 and 9 pro more, but the more saturated 9a turned out to be fine, I'm not getting the flagships anyways
  • it's full of hardware compromises, but the authentic pixel feel beats it all, and having an overkill phone that I have no use for feels way worse than this
  • it's good to train your resistance of fomo
  • you just don't need the best processor for social media scrolling, that's it (not saying that phones don't need to improve)

software​

  • stock android, with good apps and no bloat, every other ui feels worse to use
  • android 15
  • 7 major upgrades
  • easy bootloader unlock (only needs to be done once though)
  • rich custom rom support

cpu​

  • tensor g4, is unique and feels cool
  • performance is sufficient, comparable to f5's 8 gen 1 (socpk.com)
  • efficiency is fine, at least better than 8 gen 1 (socpk.com)

camera​

  • official astrophotography mode, a must have tech
  • official gcam config
  • likely a better sensor, which seems quite important after using the f5, slight downgrade from pixel 9, but still more than enough
  • almost no camera bump, unbelievably nice

body​

  • smaller size and screen, nicer to hold, more compact
  • sleeker design, don't know where poco is going
  • high quality buttons, f5's buttons were shit, way too loose and thin, doubt they will change it
  • ip68 that actually feels trustworthy, best I've owned
  • plastic back! glass is pointless
  • supports esim, will come in handy overseas
  • google haptics, I realized how important good haptics is, especially after using the f5 of course
  • way better accessory choices, nice official case, proper screen protectors, I'd like to have a fabric case but it's impossible to find

display​

  • 1080x2424, lower resolution is great for saving performance
  • gorilla glass 3, cheap shit, but I'm gonna use a screen protector anyways
  • low pwm frequency, fine for me
  • I'd like to have some bezels for obvious reasons, durability, less ghost touches, and screen protector support

memory/storage​

  • 8GB, should be fine, android has zRAM whatsoever, what could I even do on my phone to fill it up?
  • 128GB, is small, but should also be fine if I regularly transfer shits to pc
  • ufs 3.1, isn't the random read/write that matters? doubt I will need 4.0 based on my usage

comms​

  • bluetooth 5.3, is fine, 6.0 doesn't seem to have anything worth having (wikipedia)
  • double band gps, I need it for cycling, they both have it
  • usb 3.2 is awesome!!! f7 still only got 2.0

battery​

  • 5100 mAh, sounds fine to me, it's gonna age, sooner or later
  • 23w wired, I don't use my phone much so not an issue, plus I'd like a lower charging temp than whatever 90w will give
  • 7.5w wireless, I will always wirelessly charge at my desk, lower temps are great, and f7 doesn't even have it

what about ai?​

  • shut up

first impression​

  • HOLY SHIT PEONY IS GORGEOUS, I'M IN LOVE WITH IT!!!
  • SOLID buttons and haptics as always
  • design is modern, beautiful, and minimalistic
  • tensor g4 performance is great
  • the plastic back feels premium, but it's not completely flush with the frame, and the center of it sounds a bit hollow, the 3a plastic back felt more solid
  • status bar is a bit thick due to the front camera being farther from the top, I can get used to it, but seriously though, how much did they cost down?
  • I like the bezels, ghost touches won't happen on this phone
  • coming from vivo, the native android ui feels too great
  • the optical fingerprint sensor is kinda slow
screen border folding traces

the top center of the display has noticible folding traces when viewed from an angle

similar to 8 pro's under display bump issues, potential wide-spread screen defect

well, google said it's fine as there is no functional impact to pixel 8's performance or durability

disabled features

google is quite protective of their built in features in their pixel distributions

things like network speed monitor (yes it's a native feature) that exist on other brands do not exist on pixels, they simply just don't enable it

display seconds isn't enabled

you can't change the battery charge percentage

you can't double press power button to turn on flashlight

there is no miracast, only google cast

and there isn't a separate quick settings option for turning wifi on and off

I'm not sure why it's like this, but seems like they've been like this since the first pixels

some non important ui bugs

these are probably caused by having animation off

  • quick settings in camera disappears after recording
  • toggling color correction makes part of the screen flash, and screen appears darker for a while
  • turning the screen off makes it flash

updates​

2025/11/23​

  • cycled to qingtiangang with my 9a mounted on the bike computer mount, screen on the lowest brightness for 6 hours, with gps tracking always on, used about 50% battery
  • upon further inspections, my 9a actually got 2 tiny dents on the bottom side of the frame, possibly came from bumping into the bike stem...
  • there it is, I've ordered the official case and 2 cheap gor screen protectors, gonna keep the phone in the bike bag before it arrives

2025/11/24​

  • the case arrived at senao within a day, silicone on the outside, pc on the inside, no solid plastic buttons, it pretty much looks like an iphone silicone case
  • it's a bit slippery
  • people say it's thinner than 3rd party cases, not sure about that
  • the build quality is great, but the silicone makes the phone too bulky, tasteless, and bland
  • doesn't matter too much honestly, since they don't make fabric cases anymore, I don't even have better choices, and I'll only put the case on when mounted on my bike

2025/11/25​

  • the gor screen protectors arrived, costing only $185 ntd for a set of 2
  • the quality feels awesome for this price, it fits the screen perfectly, and the smoothness is on par with the bare screen
  • the black border doesn't intersect with the display since 9a has some medium thick bezels, which honestly still looks very nice, and is also more practical

2025/11/26​

  • I've been loving it, the pure and clean pixel feel, the vibrant peony color, the components I need, the phone I actually like, I can embrace the pink without being afraid of the gay label (no, I'm not)
  • battery life and ram could be improved, but it is perfectly fluid enough for my light use, don't just compare the phones on paper, pick what you need, not what you don't need
  • none of the coolest cutting edge tech I'd have fear of missing out about not fully utilizing

pixel 9a