The Google Pixel 9A may have the same Tensor G4 chip as its more expensive counterparts, but it comes with a text-only version of Gemini AI. Google confirmed to Ars Technica that the Pixel 9A doesn’t have access to certain features, like the AI-powered Pixel Screenshots app, because of the phone’s lower 8GB of memory.
The Pixel 9A’s version of Gemini is missing a few features
The budget-friendly phone doesn’t support Pixel Screenshots or Call Notes.
Unlike the Gemini Nano XS model that comes with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Pixel 9A has an even smaller on-device AI model: Gemini Nano 1.0 XXS, according to Ars Technica. For comparison, the Pixel 9 comes with 12GB of RAM, while the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro Fold have 16GB. On the Pixel 9A, Gemini Nano XXS only runs when needed, and doesn’t operate in the background, Ars Technica says.
Along with Pixel Screenshots, which uses AI to make your screenshots searchable, Ars Technica also confirmed that the Pixel 9A doesn’t support Call Notes, a feature that generates AI summaries of phone calls. It can still provide summaries of audio from the Recorder app, however, since it relies on transcriptions.
Last year, Google only added Gemini AI to the Pixel 8 Pro – not the Pixel 8 – but later launched it on the midrange device following user complaints. The model used on the Pixel 8 is Gemini Nano XXS, Google tells Ars Technica.