Earlier in August, some real-world photographs confirmed a purported Pixel 9a with a brand new digital camera housing. On the time, we had been skeptical of these photographs as a result of, though the flat sides seemed similar to the brand new Pixel 9 sequence design language, the rear digital camera was such a departure that it simply didn’t look all that believable.
Nicely, lo and behold, famend leaker OnLeaks has launched some renders that affirm this sudden new Pixel 9a design. In them, you see a Pixel 9a that appears, to me, like an inexpensive iPhone knock-off. I’m sorry, however the flat edges and symmetrical bezels, as trendy as they could appear, don’t deter away from the one characteristic that makes Pixels Pixels — the long-lasting digital camera bar. With out it, this new A sequence Pixel can (and can) simply and inevitably get misplaced in a sea of price range Android telephones. Google can be killing its most iconic Pixel design trait and in favor of what, precisely?
Do you want the brand new look of the Pixel 9a?
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The digital camera bar is greater than a design alternative; it’s a design identification
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Google debuted the digital camera bar with the large Pixel 6 design revamp in 2021 and has improved on it since then with the 6a, 7, 7a, 8, 8a, and Pixel 9 sequence. Whereas different Android telephones caught with a facet digital camera bump in a sq. or rectangular form, the Pixel digital camera bar stood out. It seemed like a visor on the again of the cellphone, it highlighted the digital camera element of the Pixel line-up, and it made Pixels distinctive.
The design is a dialog starter, too. I can’t let you know what number of instances folks have requested me, “Oh, what cellphone is that?” as a result of they’d by no means seen this distinctive digital camera configuration on different telephones. Even in a case, a Pixel appears like a Pixel and is well recognizable as a result of most instances let that digital camera bar shine by.
Pixels look distinctive as a result of, even in a case, that digital camera bar is so distinctive. Taking it away makes the Pixel 9a amorphous and unremarkable.
During the last three years and 4 generations of Pixels, the digital camera visor has develop into synonymous with the Pixel identification. I spot Pixels in folks’s palms in public due to that digital camera bar, identical to I spot iPhones due to the top-left sq. digital camera bump and Nothing Telephones due to their lights. Barring foldables, the a whole lot of different Android telephones and types simply mash in a single amorphous form for me. Once they’re in instances, which is how most individuals carry their telephones, all of them look the identical. A $1000 cellphone appears just about the identical as a $200 cellphone. Pixels stood out as a result of they didn’t combine in with the lots.
With that in thoughts, I have a look at this leaked Pixel 9a render and suppose: What on earth was Google pondering? This cellphone appears as amorphous, insipid, and boring as a mid-ranger from 2019. Sure, the flat edges and the symmetrical bezels are a pleasant departure from the Pixel 8a‘s very rounded corners and large chin, however most of that will probably be hidden in a case. And what stays will probably be a small, unremarkable, oval-shaped digital camera opening that appears like 1,000,000 different digital camera openings on different Android telephones.
This units a foul priority for the downgrade of the Pixel A sequence
Ever for the reason that introduction of the Pixel A sequence, Google has made some extent of designing these telephones very equally to their costly counterparts. The Pixel 3a seemed very very similar to a Pixel 3, the 4a like a 4, the 5a like a 5, the 6a like a 6, the 7a like a 7, and the 8a like an 8. You’ll be able to see all of them within the picture gallery above.
The Pixel 9a would be the first A sequence mannequin to eschew this. It gained’t appear to be a Pixel 9, save from the corners and edges, possibly. And I feel that units a priority for the whole Pixel line-up. As if Google was telling us there’s a transparent distinction now between its top-tier telephones and its budget-minded mannequin — one thing it appeared to have labored fairly onerous to unify for the reason that Pixel 3a — and that cheaper telephones don’t should look as distinctive because the dearer ones. This jogs my memory of Apple’s method with the iPhone 16 fashions: It, too, determined to “downgrade” them to a small digital camera bump, leaving the large sq. bump for the Professional line-up.
For the primary time, Google is setting a transparent line between its midrange and flagship telephones, and it could not simply be a design downgrade.
Probably, although, this isn’t only a sign of a design distinction however an omen of extra downgrades. Till now, the Pixel A sequence has been a superb instance of tips on how to drop the value and invoice of supplies with out taking away from the core expertise of a flagship cellphone. Bang to your buck, you had been at all times sure to get a really high-end Pixel expertise together with your A sequence — digital camera, efficiency, options — at a fraction of the associated fee. However now, the digital camera is flatter, making me marvel if the sensors have been demoted or not. And we all know the cellphone may have a downgraded Tensor G4 with final 12 months’s modem.
This makes me fear that the Pixel 9a won’t simply be misplaced in a sea of similar-looking Android telephones, however it’s going to additionally lose its core proposition of bringing one of the best of Google at a cheaper price.
