Earlier this year, the company issued an urgent firmware update for the long-discontinued Pixel 4A to address battery overheating concerns. (The 5,100mAh battery in the Pixel 9A is the largest of any Google phone to date.) Google has also had to extended warranty coverage for display defects on the Pixel 8.

Google has followed up an ocean's worth of leaks with the official announcement of its Pixel 9a smartphone, which will retail for $499. Possibly the biggest change to the new A-series model is in its appearance,

The Pixel 9a looks a little different from last year’s Pixel 8a. The corners aren’t as rounded and instead match that iPhone-like style the rest of the Pixel 9 family adopted. It’s boring until you consider the Pixel 9a shines in design in all the places Apple’s diehard fans wish the iPhone 16e did.