The Pixel 9a is missing this key safety feature from the Pixel 9 series

The Google Pixel 9a was finally announced this week, and it brings a lot of the Pixel 9’s features to a lower price point. For example, both phones have the same display, chipset, storage options, and software support. To achieve the Pixel 9a’s $499 price point, Google had to cut back in some areas, including what modem it’s using. The Pixel 9a uses a last generation modem, and as a result, it’s missing out on one of the Pixel 9’s key safety features: Satellite SOS.

Ahead of the phone’s launch, Google told Android Authority that the modem in the Pixel 9a is the Exynos Modem 5300, which is the same modem used in the Pixel 8 series. In contrast, the rest of the phones in the Google Pixel 9 series use the Exynos Modem 5400 from Samsung. Apart from having better efficiency, stability, and performance than its predecessor, the Exynos Modem 5400 also supports the 3GPP Release 17 standard. 3GPP Release 17 enables support for 5G non-terrestrial networking (NTN), allowing devices to connect to low-earth orbit satellites.