You Can Get the Pixel 9a for 30% Off Before Prime Day Ends Tonight

Amazon Big Deal Days ends tonight, October 8, and until then, Lifehacker is sharing the best sellers based on product reviews, comparisons, and price trackers before it ends.

As Dear as smartphones are these days, we’re pretty used to them. It’s a fact: the latest iPhone will cost more than $1,000, or a foldable smartphone could actually cost $2,000.

The fact is that you don’t actually need to spend a thousand dollars or two to get a good phone. There are options for mid-range and budget phones that balance features, performance, and price, to provide better overall value. You might not get the flashiest phone on the market, but you get one that does exactly what you need it to do, all without emptying your wallet in the process.

The Pixel 9a is a great example of this. Google’s “budget” Pixel is a fantastic smartphone in its own right: it comes with a 6.3-inch 1080p OLED display, with a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Google says the phone’s 5,100mAh battery is rated for 30 hours or more between charges, or up to 100 hours using “Extreme Battery Saver.” It packs Google’s Tensor G4 chip, the same chip found in the more expensive Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. It also comes with two rear cameras – a 48 MP main camera and a 13 MP ultra-wide camera – as well as a 13 MP selfie camera.

All of these features come in a phone that retails for $499. Not bad. But when you consider Amazon’s Prime Day deal, which slashes 30% off the MSRP, you can get a very capable smartphone for $349. Even better. However, if you can justify the extra expense, I’d consider upgrading to the 256GB model. This will double your internal storage, reducing the strain on your file management, and even though it costs $100 more, it’s still a 25% reduction from that model’s $599 MSRP.

Don’t think that just because the Pixel 10 is available now – and also on sale for Prime Day – you have to buy it over the Pixel 9a. Our editor-in-chief, Michelle Ehrhardt, still believes that the Pixel 9a is the better deal compared to Google’s latest and greatest smartphones. In fact, she calls it “the best Google phone for most people.”

Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy offer competitive Prime Day sales that are especially helpful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.