Which Pixel phones are worth buying in 2026? 4 good and one bad choice

If, like me, you’re a Pixel fan looking to buy a new phone in 2026, you might think you’re out of luck. This year will be really problematic for new phones. The Lack of RAM it starts to cause price increases as a whole and companies prefer to skip specific updates to reduce it. There is even a conversation potential technical regression for cheaper phones. The good news is that there are still plenty of interesting Pixel phones from last year or previous years that are worth investing in and won’t break the bank or suffer the consequences of this price hike.

Aside from saving some money on an old Pixel versus a new one, there are many reasons why older Pixel phones are still just as interesting and desirable as new ones.

For starters, the longevity of seven years of updates means that any two- or three-year-old Pixel still has a few good years left. Google is also one of the best companies to introduce new features to their old phones. You won’t get the latest and hottest feature as soon as you own a Pixel 10 Pro, but you’ll get it at or after the next Pixel Drop. For example, March Pixel Drop The magazine app just expanded notification summaries and fraud detection to Pixel 9 owners, in addition to bringing previously Pixel 10 exclusive AI offers and features. The The Pixel 9 also recently received AirDrop-Quick Share supportmaking it one of the few phones that can share directly with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. If you are an Android lover, you can too Android 17 beta test To see what Google has in store for the platform. It’s an advantage that few other brands allow.

Despite all the talk about longevity and hardware issues, I think Pixels are pretty solid today. My Pixel 2 XL still works, so does my Pixel 5. I switched my whole family to old Pixels — my mom got a Pixel 7a, my dad got a 7 Pro, and my aunt got a 6 Pro. I’m not saying you have to go that far back, but I put my money where my mouth is with this advice and I’ve done it for my own family, so you know it’s solid advice.

And finally, the Pixels are still doing the job several years later. They were never meant to be the fastest or most productive phones, but they have better-than-average cameras, no bloat, and smooth operation. Even after a year or two, they keep them. But my only concern when reviewing the older Pixel is the battery life. Try to get a new model rather than a refurbished one so you can get the full battery.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is the best phone to buy if you’re looking at an older Pixel phone. It packs almost all the features of the newer Pixel 10 Pro XL without the prohibitive price tag. Now, you can Get it on Amazon for $699 — essentially the price of the new regular Pixel 10.

Except of questionable long-term usefulness 100x Pro Res Zoom With 256GB of base storage and built-in Qi2 magnets, you won’t be missing out on much compared to the newer model. You still get a large and very bright 6.8-inch LTPO display, 16GB of RAM, 37W wired charging, a 5,060mAh battery, and the same camera setup with a great main lens, a great wide-angle lens, and a powerful 5x telephoto. The difference between the two phones Tensor G4 and G5 processors “The old phone is bad!” not so dramatic as to shout.

You can copy and paste everything I said about the Pixel 9 Pro above here. The screen is smaller and so is the battery. Charging is also a bit slow. But the rest of the specs are the same and the differences between the older Pixel 9 Pro and the newer Pixel 10 Pro are still the same.

What’s different is how good of a deal you can find the Pixel 9 Pro for. This is the best I can find right now $699 on Amazoni.e. the same price as the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL. That doesn’t seem like a fair price and I’m sure I can see it drop to $649 and $599 before. So if you really want the smaller version of the Pixel 9 Pro, I’d suggest waiting for another similar price drop. Otherwise, considering you’re getting a bigger screen, faster charging, and a bigger battery for the same $699, stepping up to the bigger XL would be a smarter choice.

If there’s one old Pixel phone that still doesn’t make sense to buy today compared to its successor, it’s the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google’s 2024 foldable looks, feels, and behaves almost identically to its 2025 foldable, to the point where it’s almost hard to tell the two apart just by looking at them. If you put the experience of owning and using a foldable device on a scale, both devices deliver equally. You’ll be testing a foldable with a large display, a decent camera, and all of Android’s new big-screen-friendly features. Plus, the foldable form factor is so much fun!

Today, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is down $1,199 at Amazonalthough the price has been seen dropped to $1,099. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold has never dropped below $1,399, even on discount, and is now a higher $1,499. Is there enough to justify paying another $300? Of course not. Don’t go for the newer model especially when there is such a significant price difference.

I say this as someone who used the Pixel 10 Pro Fold as a secondary device and appreciated its newer, smoother hinge, IP68 rating and built-in Qi2 magnets. But no amount of hinge smoothness is worth $300. Save your money, get an old Fold and upgrade to another model in a few years.

Another piece of evidence in the “skip the new, go with the old” argument is the Pixel 9a. though Pixel 10a There’s no reason not to pick up the 9a, which just launched at $499, and it’s a great phone at a discounted price. That’s because Google skipped many upgrades between the two phones this year. The 10a still has the same Tensor G4 processor as the 9a, plus the same camera setup and the same battery. It’s almost the same phone, except for the back. Look, if you want to fork over an extra $100 or more to avoid camera bump and keep your phone perfectly flat on the table, that’s your prerogative. But most people will want to save those dollars and buy the slightly beefier Pixel 9a instead.

Right now isn’t the perfect time to do that, as the Pixel 9a is just down $449 on Amazon. But when it drops to $399 or even $349 like we’ve seen in the past, it becomes an absolute steal of a deal. So yes, get the Pixel 9a, but expect it to be more affordable. Really, you won’t be missing anything from the Pixel 10a other than slightly faster charging and a slightly brighter display – which is to say, not much.

The older Pixel I don’t recommend buying today is the regular Pixel 9. It’s still a great phone, but I think the upgrade from a dual-lens system to a triple-lens telephoto setup on the Pixel 10 makes it a more interesting buy. Everyone wants a zoom camera; people don’t realize it until they get it. Even the Pixel 10’s 10.8MP 5x prime telephoto is a great help for capturing pets, children, portraits, sports, concerts, events, as well as landscape and street photos. If you’re absolutely sure you won’t be using the phone’s camera, you shouldn’t buy the Pixel 9.

This is especially true since there is a relatively small price difference between the two phones — $499 for the Pixel 9 against today $599 for the Pixel 10. $100 isn’t a big enough savings to justify losing the phone’s camera on top of everything else (built-in Qi2, brighter screen, bigger battery, newer Tensor G5 processor). If you already have your eyes on the Pixel 9, I’d recommend spending the extra hundred and getting the Pixel 10. You won’t regret it.

Unless you can find a great value on a brand new or lightly used phone, I don’t think it’s worth buying the Pixel 8 series or earlier in 2026. Google’s battery tricks it’s hard to deny, and while the affected phones are mostly in the A series, all Pixels now use Battery Health Optimization to reduce battery charging speed and capacity after a certain number of charging cycles, and you don’t want to be caught with a phone that goes through this process.

Additionally, these phones are starting to show their age with rounded corners, curved matte displays, slower charging and limited RAM. Plus, you’ll have to settle for a Tensor G3 (or earlier) processor.

That concludes our list of older Pixel phones still worth buying in 2026 — or not. If so, which one and why?