Google explains why the Pixel 9a lacks iconic camera bar

Google announced the Pixel 9a, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone. Its stylish design ditches the recognizable camera bar for cameras that are nearly flush with the phone’s back.

However, Google explained that ditching the camera bar wasn’t the goal; it was more of a happy accident based on other design considerations.

In a press briefing about the Pixel 9a, Google explained that it was trying to eliminate battery anxiety and improve the handset’s thermals. Google also tried to keep the device’s thinness similar to the Pixel 8a, the handset’s predecessor.

To eliminate battery anxiety, Google gave the handset a larger 5,100mAh power cell than the last phone’s battery. It also made the vapour chamber bigger to improve thermals.

A bigger battery and vapour chamber means a thicker device, so the company had to make other changes to keep the 9a the same size as the 8a. For one, Google used a thinner pOLED panel versus the screen on the Pixel 8a and the other Pixel 9 series smartphones on the market. Google also introduced a new, improved camera module.

With all those factors combined, Google was “pretty darn close,” so the mechanical and industrial design teams worked together to pull off the new, flat design.

“We didn’t set out to flatten the back, but because of the culmination of a bunch of different factors, we were within shooting distance,” said Soniya Jobanputra, Pixel product manager. “Once we were close, we were like, ‘Let’s do it, let’s make it happen, let’s give it its own personality yet still be part of that Pixel family.’”

According to previous leaks, this camera design likely won’t come to the Pixel 10 series. I’m a massive fan of this design change, but keeping the Pixel 10 designs similar among the different handsets makes sense. However, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold may have a different camera design from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, so hopefully, this flat design will make it to my most anticipated phone of 2025.