Upgraded from Pixel 6a to Pixel 9a

I bought Google’s Pixel 9a and switched from my Pixel 6a [2022-07-30-1] . This is my third Android smartphone after the Pixel 3a XL [2020-07-14-1] . Before that, I had been using iPhones for a full 10 years.

The Japan release was announced on April 9 (Wed), and I pre-ordered from the Google Store the same day. It arrived on the release date of April 16 (Wed). Excellent.

There was nothing particularly wrong with my Pixel 6a other than slightly declining battery life, but after 3 years, I was curious to see how much things had improved, so I went for it.

• Google Pixel 6a Specs
• Google Pixel 9a Specs

Storage and Color Choice

I went with 128GB storage and the Iris (light blue) color.

Storage options were 128GB and 256GB. Since I had plenty of room with 128GB on my Pixel 6a, I chose 128GB again without hesitation.

The available colors were Iris (light blue), Peony (light pink), Porcelain (white), and Obsidian (black). Light pink wouldn’t exactly suit me, and I’d used white and black plenty during my iPhone days, so I went with Iris (light blue). My Pixel 6a was Sage (light green), and I think I made a similar decision back then.

Purchase Price

It was ¥79,900. Compared to iPhones, which now regularly exceed ¥100,000 and can even go above ¥200,000, that’s quite affordable. And the performance is solid.

On top of that, the trade-in value for my Pixel 6a was ¥25,100, bringing the effective price down to ¥54,800.

I also received ¥15,000 in Google Store credit, plus a 15% off coupon for things like the Pixel Watch 3, valid until May 31.

As for what to buy on the Google Store, I can’t help you there 😅

Migration Process

When I powered on the Pixel 9a, a migration wizard kicked in just like last time. Previously, I had to connect both phones with a USB cable, but this time it worked over Wi-Fi without one.

For the physical SIM card, I just had to swap it following the wizard’s instructions. The IIJmio “Access Point Name” configuration that was required last time wasn’t needed this time.

Once the wizard finished, apps from my Pixel 6a started downloading and installing one after another. I did wonder what determines which apps stay logged in and which don’t.

Some apps required manual migration:

• LINE
  • When I tried to log in on the Pixel 9a, the migration process started automatically, and LINE on the Pixel 6a was deactivated
  • Friends are carried over, but chat history needs to be migrated manually via Google Drive, so I’d recommend doing a manual backup beforehand if you’re worried
• Mobile Suica
  • Same as last time, I had to temporarily transfer the card to the server via the Osaifu-Keitai app on the Pixel 6a, then receive it on the Pixel 9a
• Google Maps
  • Starting around this time last year, Timeline storage moved from Google’s servers to users’ individual mobile devices, so I needed to carry over the data from my Pixel 6a
  • Tapping the ☁️ icon in the top right of Timeline showed my Pixel 6a backup, which I imported. Unfortunately, the location corrections I had been diligently making almost every day were not reflected…
  • On a separate note, finding the UI to enable Timeline was quite tricky
• My Number Portal (Myna Portal)
  • I activated the smartphone digital certificate on the Pixel 9a. The certificate on the Pixel 6a was deactivated

What Got Better

• Noticeable performance improvement
  • Thanks to the upgrade from Google Tensor to Google Tensor G4
• Fingerprint recognition accuracy improved
  • The phone unlocks just fine even with a glass screen protector
  • On the Pixel 6a, unlocking was difficult even with “Screen Protector Mode” enabled
• Face unlock is now available
  • Having both fingerprint and face unlock is surprisingly convenient
• Wireless charging is supported
  • I can now use the wireless charger from [2024-06-25-1] with my Pixel too, but it gets uncomfortably hot when slightly misaligned. I think it’s the charger’s fault, but still, it’s not even fast charging…
• Google VPN¹ is available
  • Being able to enable VPN on any Wi-Fi access point other than designated ones is really great. Now I can use public Wi-Fi without worry
  • This solves the issues I had with NordVPN, which I decided not to adopt in [2024-05-29-1] 👍

What Got Worse

It’s not terribly bad, but the phone feels bigger and heavier than the specs alone would suggest.

	Pixel 6a	Pixel 9a
Size	W:71.8mm x H:152.2mm x D:8.9mm	W:73.3mm x H:154.7mm x D:8.9mm
Weight	178g	185.9g
Screen size	6.1inch	6.3inch

Not Much Has Changed

Other than what I mentioned above, nothing has really changed, but maybe that’s a good thing in itself.

Whether it was worth paying ¥54,800 for, I’m not so sure 😅

Case and Screen Protector I Bought

I was satisfied with the “plain, nothing-special case” from [2023-12-10-1] , so I bought a similar one.

A glass screen protector was also included, so I put it on, but it felt unnecessary, so I ended up removing it. As I mentioned, fingerprint recognition works fine even with this glass protector on.

Conclusion

I wrote about buying the Pixel 9a, migrating from the Pixel 6a, and my overall impressions.

Nothing has dramatically improved, but I’m glad I got to experience a bunch of small improvements for ¥54,800.

With the ¥15,000 Google Store credit I earned, I also bought a Fitbit Sense 2. But that’s a story for the next article 🙃