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Pixel 9a buyers aren't getting any special AI perks from Google
Published onMarch 19, 2025
- Google is heavily promoting the Pixel 9a’s AI features, showcasing its Gemini-powered capabilities as a major selling point.
- The Pixel 9a only comes with a one-month free trial of Gemini Advanced, the same offer available to all new sign-ups.
- Without a paid $20/month subscription, users won’t have access to features like Gemini Live’s full capabilities.
AI is the big focus for Google and all other phone makers in 2025, and the Pixel 9a is no exception While Google’s promo material loves to showcase all the cool things AI can do on the Pixel 9a, not all of those features will be available to you unless you pay up.
Unlike the Pixel 9 Pro, which comes with a full year of Gemini Advanced (a $240 value), the Pixel 9a only includes a single free month. And that’s not even a Pixel 9a-specific perk — Google is giving the same one-month trial to everyone who signs up for Gemini Advanced.
To be fair, you can still get a lot of use from Gemini on the Pixel 9a. The free version of Gemini still works as your default assistant and includes Gemini Live, which lets you chat with it more naturally. However, the more powerful AI tools are locked behind the Gemini Advanced paywall.
That includes features like a more advanced language model with a much larger memory, AI-powered tools in Google Workspace (like Help Me Write in Gmail), and even the ability to analyze large files or execute Python code within chats.
While Gemini Live is now available to free-tier users, its latest trick, which is letting you share a video or screen recording and ask Gemini questions about it, is exclusive to paying subscribers. In other words, even if you see Google advertising these features on the Pixel 9a, you’ll need to cough up some cash to actually use them.
Prepare to pay for AI
It’s not surprising that Google is keeping these features behind a paywall. Even the standard Pixel 9 doesn’t include a free Gemini Advanced subscription, meaning Google is clearly reserving full AI access as a paid feature. We’ve seen this story play out many times. Companies introduce features for free, get users hooked, and eventually start charging for them (anyone who’s sat through an increasing number of YouTube ads can relate). AI seems to be heading in the same direction.
This trend isn’t unique to Google, either. Other manufacturers, including Samsung, have been aggressively promoting AI capabilities while hinting at future paywalls. Samsung’s Galaxy AI features, for example, are only guaranteed to remain free until the end of 2025.
For now, the Pixel 9a still offers good value for what it is — an affordable entry into the Pixel experience with some AI perks included. But the writing is on the wall: AI is becoming a subscription service, and sooner or later, we’ll all have to decide whether it’s worth paying for.