Meager 8GB of RAM forces Pixel 9a to run “extra extra small” Gemini AI

To make Gemini Nano run well on a device with 8GB of RAM, Google had to make some sacrifices. On the more minor side, Gemini Nano 1.0 XXS doesn’t run continuously in the background, unlike the flagship Pixels. The Pixel 9a only loads Gemini XXS (and eats into your RAM) when the model is needed, which might make some features a bit less responsive. A more serious drawback is the lack of multimodality—Gemini Nano 1.0 XXS is text-only.

We have confirmed that the more limited Gemini Nano XXS means you won’t get Google’s Pixel Screenshots app on the Pixel 9a as it cannot process images. On the flagship Pixels, this app collects all your screenshots and runs them through Gemini Nano on-device. This creates a searchable database of the content in your screenshots—it’s definitely one of the most useful applications of generative AI on mobile, so it’s a bummer to lose that on the 9a.

Call Notes, a feature that uses local AI analysis to create summaries of a phone conversation, is also unavailable. This feature requires audio processing, which Gemini Nano XXS cannot do. We also suspect but cannot confirm that phone call scam detection, which was announced for Pixels this month, won’t be included in the 9a.

Pixel Screenshots is one of Google’s coolest AI features, but it’s not available on the 9a.

There are, however, some AI features that unexpectedly work just fine. Google says the Pixel 9a still supports Recorder summaries because the AI doesn’t work directly on the audio. The app creates transcriptions without relying on Gemini, and then the text-only Gemini Nano XXS creates summaries from the text.

These AI differences aren’t transparent in the slightest, and Google doesn’t call out missing features on the product page. There is no way to interact directly with Gemini Nano on the Pixel—it’s only there to power specific features as dictated by Google. So, the 9a’s AI limitations are still hazy. We have not yet been able to confirm with Google all the AI features that are missing on this phone, so it may take hands-on testing to get the full picture.