New report zeroes in on imminent Google Pixel 9a pre-order and release dates

Time to save these two dates!

Leaked in all its glory a few times in the past, the Pixel 9a finally has a release date attached to its name.

 

If Android Headlines is right and the Pixel 9a kicks off its pre-orders on March 19, I presume that’s also when Google plans to announce the phone ahead of its actual March 26 release. None of this is technically set in stone just yet, mind you, but a number of sources have alluded in the past to a mid-March launch, lending further weight and credibility to the latest and most precise availability report to date.

New design, new battery, same old price

Okay, perhaps calling the Pixel 9a design “new” is a bit of an exaggeration. After all, the phone doesn’t appear to look in any way different from its predecessor when viewed from the front, while the back panel features a much more discreet camera module.

The Pixel 8a’s distinctive camera bar is apparently gone baby gone. | Image Credit — PhoneArena

 

Still, that’s arguably enough to make the Pixel 9a feel like an entirely new breed (for better and for worse) of mobile device compared to the undeniably flashier 8a. Whether you love or hate that change, you’ll definitely be delighted to hear that the 9a is set to (somehow) squeeze a considerably bigger battery than the 8a into a not-very-chunky body. 

The screen real estate will apparently also be expanded… a little, while the move from a 64 to a 48MP primary rear-facing snapper sounds like a downgrade, but is actually likely to prove a serious upgrade in real-life photography performance. 

Keeping everything in mind, it’s certainly good news that Google reportedly plans to price the Pixel 9a at the same $499 level as the 8a in an entry-level configuration, but inexplicably, the 256GB storage variant is expected to be slightly costlier, jumping from $559 to $599. Oh, and there will also be a $50 Verizon surcharge for a mmWave-capable model because that’s how Verizon rolls.