It’s a new year, and you know what that means: new phones. New gadgets of all kinds are coming, but a new phone season is clearly upon us, and it doesn’t take much to work it out.
Samsung has an Unpacked on the way for its Galaxy S26 range, Apple has a rumoured new iPhone 17e on the way (as well as a bunch of other likely devices), and then there’s Mobile World Congress, because why not have some more phones.
A lot is definitely happening, and one of them launches this week.
Google already hinted at what was coming with a preview on its own store, but if you missed the news, here it is again: the more wallet friendly Pixel a-series is getting an update, as the 9a becomes the 10a. At least on paper.
A Pixel 10 in name mostly
The new model certainly looks familiar, and even though the colours have changed slightly, the all flat design hasn’t. Forget the camera bar from the 9a onwards, because this camera is completely flat, making for an easy carry.
In the latest model, the Pixel 10a, that continues, as does pretty much most of what made the Pixel 9a so intriguing last year.
Kicking it off is what sits at the heart, and here the Pixel 10a reads more like its predecessor in that the processor comes from the Pixel 9 range. Yes, in this series, the Pixel 10a uses the same Tensor G4 hardware as the rest of the Pixel 9 series, missing out on the G5 in the Pixel 10.
When asked why this was the case, Google didn’t really answer the question. Our guess is that it might be because Tensor processors can be a little like server processors, and therefore possibly more costly to produce in the era of AI.
Whatever the reason, the chip from the Pixel 9a makes an appearance in the 10a, as does t he memory and storage configurations, offering 8 GB RAM and either 128 GB or 256 GB storage.
It’s the same deal with the cameras, offering a 48 megapixel wide and 13 megapixel ultra-wide, plus a 13 megapixel selfie camera. All of this sounds quite the same.
Even the screen is another 6.3 inch 60 to 120 Hz OLED display, albeit one that differs with more brightness. Just a little bit more from the brightness, with roughly 11 percent more.
That one point of difference is one of a handful, joining the addition of a recycled aluminium frame, Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i on the front, and an IP68 water resistance rating.
It’ll see support for AI features, too, such as Camera Coach, Google Gemini, and Circle to Search — one of the features that launched AI on phones.
In fact, there are so many similarities between the Pixel 9a and the Pixel 10a that it feels like a Pixel 10 in name mostly. You may as well compare the performance between the Pixel 9a and Pixel 10, because that’s roughly what the different will be: the 10a will be like the 9a, rather than like the 10.
| Device | CPU Single Core | CPU Multicore | GPU |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Google Pixel 9a
Google Tensor G4
|
1720
|
4460
|
7759
|
|
Google Pixel 10
Google Tensor G5
|
2291
|
6193
|
3109
|
More of the same
The first major phone of 2026 does set a bit of a mood, though, and it seems to be this: the latest Pixel is very much more of the same.
Compare the Pixel 10a to the Pixel 9a last year, and you’ll have to really look to find any major differences: the screen is a little brighter, the phone is a touch more durable, there’s more recycled material, there’s a little more battery life on the extreme battery saver mode, and that is roughly it.
If you read this article and come away with the feeling that the Pixel 10a is basically the Pixel 9a in a new hat, you probably wouldn’t be too far off the mark. It is very similar.
While that’s clearly a mood, it’s also worth pointing out that more of the same isn’t always a bad thing. The Pixel 9a was one of last year’s best phones, and a recipient of Pickr’s 2025 Best Picks for phones.
The fact of the matter that even in 2026, the Pixel 9a is still one of the best mid-range phones you can find, so having a marginally improved Pixel 10a for the same price isn’t a bad thing.
It’s just not a spectacular change.
We’d had hoped for the same Tensor G5 processor from the Pixel 10 range, or even support for Google’s PixelSnap interpretation of Qi2 and MagSafe, with a magnetic ring. But there’s none of that. It’s just a marginally brighter and stronger Pixel 9a.
Pixel 10a pricing and availability
The price is probably one of the star reasons to consider the Pixel 10a for budget phones this year, with Google holding onto the $849 RRP in Australia.
That’s important because phones this year are expected to rise in price due to the growth of AI, and the explosion of data centres being built around the world. Memory and storage prices are already increasing, and that’ll lead to price hikes for phones, too.
And yet in this generation, Google has left things the same. If anything, it’s the 10a is a minor upgrade, though one that might benefit. If you were considering the 9a just recently, you’re about to get something that’s marginally better, with release from March 5.
