Is the Pixel 9a everything it could have been?
Now, I don’t know much about smartphone engineering, but something tells me Google could have further increased the battery size if the screen diagonal grew by 0.1 or 0.2 inches more or if the Pixel 9a‘s profile jumped over the 9mm mark.
Although I’m certainly not a big fan of chunky mobile devices with huge screens in tow, I don’t think I would have been disgusted by, say, a 9.2 or 9.3mm thick Pixel 9a with a 6.5-inch or so panel and a 5,500 or 5,700mAh battery, and I bet many of you would have liked those numbers too.
Did Google hold the Pixel 9a back so as not to make the Pixel 9 look too bad? That’s definitely a possibility. | Image Credit — Google
Maybe that was foolish or naive of me, and maybe the Pixel 9a will perform better and last longer in real-life use than currently advertised, but for the time being, I’m feeling… underwhelmed at best.
That delay is not looking good
While no one knows exactly what caused this unusual delay, announcing a new device that was thoroughly leaked months ago without a clear release timeline brings back painful memories of an era I thought was over for Google-made smartphones.
Unfortunately, no one knows when you’ll be able to actually hold the Pixel 9a in your hand. | Image Credit — Google
This is not a company known for fixing “component quality issues” very quickly and very comprehensively, mind you, so while I might be getting ahead of myself here, I fear the Pixel 9a launch could become a fiasco of historical proportions soon enough.
The mystery around the sub-par component affecting “a small number” of early 9a units is definitely not helping Google’s cause, and I almost feel like it would have been a better idea not to announce the phone yesterday if it’s not ready for primetime. After all, the Pixel 8a will only turn one in a couple of months, so I don’t really understand why Big G had to rush its sequel out and essentially remind us all why its global sales figures are still so far behind Apple and Samsung’s numbers.
