Google Launches Pixel 9a
With a new flat back design offering no camera bump, Google’s Pixel 9a launches into the mid-range space with a 9 price tag and an attractive offering in term of software and hardware protection:
“With over 30 hours of battery life and over 100 hours with Extreme Battery Saver, Pixel 9a has the best battery life of any Pixel available today. It also comes with seven years of OS updates, security updates and Pixel Drops, and its upgraded IP68 water and dust resistance means it can withstand spills, drops and dings. It’s our most durable A-series phone yet.”
(Google Keyword Blog).
Galaxy S26 Ultra Camera Upgrades
Artificial Intelligence, be it machine learning, generative AI, or other techniques—has been a key part of manufacturers’ messaging around smartphone photography during 2023 and 2024; it looks likely to remain a hot topic during 2025. But next year? Samsung may be looking to put the focus back on physical changes with the reintroduction of a variable aperture lens for the main camera:
“The Galaxy S26 Ultra would not have many competitors in this space. Variable aperture lenses can be found on some Huawei and Xiaomi smartphones, but Samsung could make far more marketing noise if the S26 Ultra were to carry this key feature.”
(Forbes).
Pixel 10 Tensor Chips Move To Taiwan
Google is expected to launch he new Pixel 10 family in the late summer. One of the most significant changes should not be visible to consumers. The Tensor Mobile G5 chipset will be the first of mobile chipsets to be manufactured by TSMC rather than Samsung:
“The Tensor G5 will be assembled not by Samsung Foundry (as all previous Tensor G chipsets have been) but by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. This will allow the chipset to move from a 4-nanometer process to a 3-nanometer. It also means that Google will be designing much further down the hardware stack, as it won’t be relying on the Exynos base used by Samsung Foundry.”
(Forbes).
Pixel 9 Pro And 9 Pro XL Sales
Less than a week before the Pixel 9a goes on sale, the Google Store offered significant discounts on the current Pixel 9 family. They’re expected to stay running until the middle of next week, rumored to be the launch date of the mid-range Pixel 9a:
“You’ll find that the sale, which runs until 11.59 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, March 29, 2025 is across all four colors of Pixel 9 Pro, that is, porcelain, rose quartz, hazel and obsidian. Choose the 128GB storage model for 9, 256GB for 9, 512GB for ,019 or 1TB for ,249.”
(Forbes).
Nothing Phone (3a) Pro Review
Nothing Tech’s mid-range smartphone, the Phone (3a) Pro was launched alongside the Phone (3a) last week. The reviews are coming in now and they address the key question of what makes the Pro and Pro? The answer is one key difference in the camera:
“The Nothing Phone (3a) Pro has a periscope-style 3x third camera on the back, while the vanilla Phone (3a) has to settle for a regular 2x zoom shooter. Of course, there are some design differences on the back side of both phones, but that’s about it. So, suppose you don’t particularly care about the telephoto camera. In that case, you can read the following pages and be sure that the observations also apply to the vanilla Nothing Phone (3a).”
(GSM Arena).
Snapdragon For Gaming Has An Issue
Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2. It focuses on lower specced gaming devices, primarily marketed as ‘Retro Consoles’. The launch handheld comes from a known retailer in the space. Retroid’s Pocket Classic echoes the styling of vertical handsets such as the Gameboy Color, but unlike the rest of the Retroid range, the Snapdragon chip comes with a disadvantage:
“However, there is one downside to the new chipset. Android Authority has confirmed with Qualcomm that the Snapdragon G1 Gen2 does not support video out, which explains one of the strangest omissions in the new device. This will be the first device Retroid has ever shipped without video out, and it may prove to be a major weakness of the new budget chipset.”
(Android Authority).
And Finally…
The Epic Games Store’s weekly free game has allowed countless desktop users to build up an impressive library of games (and enabled developers to bring new players into franchies such as Grand Theft Auto Online with the “free offer”). Now the weekly free game has been extended to mobile:
“Starting today, we’ll have awesome new free games on the Epic Games Store every week on mobile. We’re kicking this off with Super Meat Boy Forever and Eastern Exorcist*, both available free until March 27 on mobile.”
(Epic Games Blog).
