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Pixel 9a supports a wide range of AI features but it seems Google had to cut some corners to keep the price lower than the iPhone 16E in the market.
Pixel 9a does support AI features but Google has been forced to cut some corners.
The iPhone 16E rival has launched in the form of Pixel 9a from Google that now sits below in the price bracket. The Pixel 9a has more AI features than Apple’s premium devices but even then most people would have known that the affordable factor from Google was going to come with some caveats. As it turns out, the AI aspect of the Pixel 9a is said to be limited because of some hardware differences compared to the other Pixel 9 series models.
Pixel 9a Misses Out For The Price
Reports this week say Google is offering the Pixel 9a with 8GB RAM unlike the 12GB and 16GB RAM that you get on the Pixel 9 and the 9 Pro models, respectively.
Because of this change, the report says, Google had to use an extra small Gemini Nano AI model that is not capable of working on-device which is a handy privacy way to use AI on mobile devices. Ars Technica has also mentioned that because of the smaller Nano model, Google is not able to support AI features like Pixel Screenshots, Call Notes on the Pixel 9a version.
We can’t say these changes for certain but the credibility of the source in the report suggests we could be looking at a skimmed version of Pixel 9a for users that costs less than the iPhone 16E in the market.
Speaking of which, Google has been forced to delay the availability of Pixel 9a across markets.
Reports say Google has pushed the sale date of Pixel 9a because of some issues discovered in the units that were about to be shipped later this week. “We are currently investigating a component quality issue affecting a small number of Pixel 9a devices,” the company was quoted saying earlier this week. Google says Pixel 9a will be available some time in April but has not given a clear date for its availability.
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