While the Pixel 9a is a proper 5G phone, its support isn’t as complete as its siblings. The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro models can support mmWave for ultra-fast connections in certain regions, but the Pixel 9a is limited to 5G Sub-6. This can still be fast, and it reached over 200Mbps in my testing, but it’s just not as fast.

The Pixel 9a officially launched today, and it proves that Google makes the best cheap phone. I’ve been testing out the latest $499 A-series phone for more than a week now, getting a good feel for how it performs.

There will always be settings to tweak to make you feel at home with your Pixel 9a. If you're coming from an older Pixel and transferr