Summary
- The Pixel 9a looks to have a selfie camera issue.
- The issue causes flickering in dark areas of a preview, but does not show up in the final image.
- There is a temporary fix that involves uninstalling the latest camera app update.
The Pixel 9a is the only way to go if you want to get the Pixel experience on a budget. At $500, it’s really a no-brainer considering all that it offers. It really does deliver a lot of bang for your buck and could end up becoming one of the best mid-range phones of 2025. With that said, it’s not perfect, and there even appears to be an issue with the selfie camera.
The problem was spotted by a few folks across the internet, and we’re also seeing reports of the issue on Reddit (via Android Authority). Naturally, we have tested it on our Pixel 9a unit as well, and are also seeing the problem. As far as what seems to be happening, you can replicate the issue by taking a selfie and checking for any flickering in the image.
A small bump in the road
This behavior usually seems to occur when there is something dark in the scene, and this section will flicker in gray. Luckily, this issue only seems to happen in the preview, and doesn’t actually affect the image that’s taken. There also seems to be a temporary fix available for the time being, which is just simply uninstalling the latest update for the camera.
You can do this by heading into Settings menu, then navigating to your applications section, and finding the Camera app. From here, select the app, and you should see three dots in the upper right-hand corner. Tapping the dots should present the option to remove the updates. Once this is complete, it should fix the flickering issue.
Of course, in time, we expect Google to release a patch that will remedy this problem. But if you can’t wait, then the action above will be a good way to go if you’re looking for a temporary fix. Overall, I wouldn’t let this small issue deter your purchase, because, for the most part, it’s a really good phone.
And we’ve seen issue like these come up before in more expensive models, with some even having physical hardware issues as well right out of the box. So, this software issue isn’t such a big deal, especially when the final image doesn’t show the effect. And as stated before, you won’t find the Pixel experience for cheaper on a modern device.
Google Pixel 9a
Google’s Pixel 9a takes everything that was great about the Pixel 8a and looks to modernize it. With an all-new Pixel 9-inspired look and no camera bump, this might be the best $500 smartphone we’ve seen yet.
