I ditched my iPhone 15 Pro Max for the Pixel 9a for a week — here’s what happened

With the release of the Google Pixel 10 series, I’ve been thinking a lot about Apple, mainly the fact that I’ve been an iPhone user for as long as I’ve had a smartphone. I've been using the iPhone 15 Pro Max for a while now, and it's slowly getting to the point where I need to consider my next move.

However, as I recently wrote, I'm not that invested in buying another iPhone or Samsung device due to a lack of any real changes between the generations. At the time, I wasn’t certain what brand I wanted to move to, but the recent Made By Google event has made a solid case.

Here’s the thing, Google phones have always been devices that I was aware of, but had no real interest in. However, that's been changing over the last few months, especially as Pixel phones usually manage to find a place in our lists for the best phones you can buy.

Luckily, I was able to grab the Google Pixel 9a for the week to get an idea of what using a Google Pixel phone. With that in mind, let's break down what it was like using the phone and what I thought its strengths and weaknesses were in comparison.

The Pixel design is a bit off-putting, but there are some benefits

Now, I want to first clear up that I will not be referring to the size difference between the two phones. There is no getting past the fact that the iPhone 15 Pro Max is bigger than the Pixel 9a. However, the points I am looking at aren't really focused on the size of the device. Plus, in my time using the phone, it wasn't the size of the display on the Pixel 9a that was the cause of my design issues.

For some reason, and it’s one that I really can’t comprehend, Google has decided to put the volume and sleep button on the same side of the phone. Meanwhile, on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the two sets of buttons are split. I ended up constantly turning off the display when I wanted to increase the volume or vice versa.

If I am honest, this isn’t an issue that would likely plague me for long; instead, I’d probably adjust over time. However, one aspect that continued to be an annoyance was the size of the bezels alongside the screen, and the size of the camera cutout. While I know the Pixel 9a is smaller, it still offers less screen space than it really should due to this.

It’s not all bad, though, as I really like the camera area on the Pixel 9a. The bar where the two cameras rest isn't too big, nor is it too pronounced. When I hold the phone, it feels much more comfortable than a similarly sized iPhone would.

Google makes up for some of Apple's software failings

One of the biggest complaints you tend to hear about Pixel phones is the relative lack of power, and it’s an understandable issue. The fact is that the Tensor series chips have never been all that stellar in raw output. However, in the interest of fairness, that’s because the Tensor series chips are designed to focus more on getting the most out of AI (an area Apple struggles with.)

When it comes to daily use, you’ll likely not notice that much of a difference between an iPhone and a Pixel. The only time that you’ll notice it is when it comes to performing more intensive tasks, like gaming or editing videos. I don’t really do much of the latter, so that’s not really an issue. Gaming is a bit more complicated to answer, but in truth, most games I play on phones are usually the simpler games you'd find on Apple Arcade, rather than something like the latest Gears of War.

One other main area that many people will be looking at is AI, and there’s no doubt that Pixel has the advantage here. Let’s be real, Apple has fumbled when it comes to Apple Intelligence, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be getting its act together any time soon. The Google Pixel series, meanwhile, has a host of features that are either here or on their way.

Speaking of AI, the one I most often use is my phone's Assistant, which on Apple is Siri. Now, Siri works fine for the most part, or at least it does as much as it can. However, it’s a bit limited and I don’t tend to use it beyond asking it to call people while I’m driving.

The Google Pixel 9a, on the other hand, makes use of Google Gemini as its AI assistant, and it’s clearly a hundred times better. The functionality and what it can do offer a vastly improved experience, one that I would happily recommend to my friends and family.

what about cameras?

I will be the first to admit that I really don't use the cameras on my phone all that much. For instance, I don't recall a time when I used the wide-angle camera on a phone beyond using it for work. Instead, I only ever really use the main camera and the selfie cameras in my day-to-day life. With that in mind, let's compare the two on both phones.

If we look at the above slide, you'll see a comparison between the 48MP main camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the 48MP main camera on the Pixel 9a. Overall, both images are solid enough that I wouldn't mind having either. However, I will say that the Google Pixel 9a has slightly more definition, at least to me.

I also wanted to see how the 12MP selfie camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max compared to the 13MP camera on the Pixel 9a. Again, not really any major difference at a glance (although I'm now worried about that statue getting closer.) Honestly, I'm surprised how similar the two are, especially considering the Pixel 9a only costed $499 at release compared to the $1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Was it a decent trade off?

Originally, I was concerned that comparing an, at the time, top-of-the-range iPhone to the affordable version of the Pixel would be an unfair comparison. Honestly, I've been surprised by the Pixel 9a, even though there are some issues. The biggest issues for me were the size of the bezels and the button placement, both of which I could probably learn to deal with.

With that said, I'm honestly excited for the Google Pixel 10 series, especially the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and this experience has only increased that. Not only does the phone have many of the advantages I've listed here, but Google is also introducing a host of new AI features that look to improve the experience even more.

If you want to know what to expect from Google's next phone, then you can check out our hands-on reviews for the Google Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and for the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

Alternatively, let me know if you're a Pixel convert and how you've found using the phone compared to whatever you had before.

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