The Google Pixel 9a made its debut on Wednesday, adding to the company’s lineup of budget-friendly “a” series smartphones. To offer a more accessible price point, this model forgoes certain features found in the flagship Pixel 9 devices. Despite these cuts, the Pixel 9a retains AI functionalities powered by Google’s large language model (LLM), although it is suggested that the phone’s reduced 8GB RAM necessitates a scaled-back version of the Gemini Nano compared to its premium counterparts.
Reduced Gemini Model in the Google Pixel 9a
The Pixel 9a is equipped with the same Tensor G4 system-on-chip (SoC) seen in the other Pixel 9 models, yet it is limited by its 8GB of RAM. To address this, Google has reportedly introduced a new LLM tailored for the device. According to a confirmation from the tech giant to ArsTechnica, the Pixel 9a operates on Gemini Nano 1.0 XXS (extra extra small) LLM to conserve resources and alleviate local AI processing challenges posed by the phone’s memory limitations.
Unlike its higher-end counterparts, the LLM on the Pixel 9a does not continuously run in the background; it activates only when needed. This implementation may lead to some features experiencing reduced responsiveness.
A significant limitation of the LLM is its lack of multimodality, confining it to processing only text-based input. This constraint raises questions about the availability of certain multimodal features, including the Pixel Screenshots app, which is reportedly not supported on the phone. This app, introduced with the Pixel 9 series, allows users to extract information from saved screenshots and receive related query responses. Concerns have been raised that it might be absent from Google’s latest budget device.
Another feature that appears to be missing is Call Notes, an AI-driven tool that uses Gemini Nano to automatically generate summaries of phone calls. Due to its requirement for audio processing, this functionality may not be present on the Pixel 9a. Nonetheless, the handset will include Recorder Summaries, a feature that transcribes audio recordings and provides corresponding summaries.
It should be noted that Google has not officially confirmed the absence of any features on the Pixel 9a.
