Google Pixel 8a vs Apple iPhone 13

66 out of 100
Google Pixel 8a
VS
65 out of 100
Apple iPhone 13

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Google Pixel 8a (with Google Tensor G3) that was released on May 7, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 13, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 2 years and 8 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Comes with 1265 mAh larger battery capacity: 4492 vs 3227 mAh
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Delivers 82% higher peak brightness (1506 against 828 nits)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • The phone is 2 years and 8 months newer
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+3)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13
  • Shows 19% longer battery life (23:23 vs 19:43 hours)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Thinner bezels – 5.8% more screen real estate
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • 50% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2241 and 1491 points

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 8a and Apple iPhone 13 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 15% Yes
No, we don't think this update is worth it.
Moving from Apple iPhone 13 to Google Pixel 8a will likely not feel like a meaningful upgrade.
Main improvements: display and connectivity.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in performance and gaming.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
vs

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 430 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1400 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 -
Screen-to-body ratio 81.3% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.1% 129%
PWM 120 Hz 609 Hz
Response time 2 ms 7.5 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 8a +82%
1506 nits
828 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.65 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 188 g (6.63 oz) 174 g (6.14 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP68
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Green White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Repairability Good (3.52/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
81.3%
iPhone 13 +7%
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 8a and Apple iPhone 13
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G3 Apple A15 Bionic
Max clock 3000 MHz 3230 MHz
CPU cores 9 (1 + 4 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Immortalis-G715s MC10 Apple GPU (4 cores)
GPU shading units 896 640
GPU clock 890 MHz 1338 MHz
FLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 8a and Apple iPhone 13
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1491
iPhone 13 +50%
2241
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
3584
iPhone 13 +48%
5317
Compute Score (GPU)
8490
iPhone 13 +117%
18447
Compute Score (GPU) 8490 18447
Single-core score 1491 2241
Multi-core score 3584 5317
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 8a +1%
1433693
1413275
CPU 546093 410975
GPU 391230 370837
Memory 195569 164151
UX 300801 467312
Total score 1433693 1413275
Samples [6 tests] [26 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 67% -
Graphics test 7 FPS -
Graphics score 990 -
3DMark Solar Bay
n/a
3225
Stability - 76%
Graphics test - 12 FPS
Section 1 - 16 FPS
Section 2 - 12 FPS
Section 3 - 9 FPS
Graphics score - 3225
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
n/a
2445
Stability - 74%
Graphics test - 14 FPS
Graphics score - 2445
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 8a
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-12-28 (adismsha)AnTuTu 111471866
📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseGeekbench 6 GPU8490
📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseGeekbench 6 CPU1491 / 3584
📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseAnTuTu 111397797
📘 2025-12-17 (jpara_dise)AnTuTu 111397797
Apple iPhone 13
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-19 (Vova)AnTuTu 111297615
📘 2026-09-18 (charlesddd)AnTuTu 111461749
📘 2026-09-08 (lUjekSh)Geekbench 6 GPU18864
📘 2026-09-08 (lUjekSh)Geekbench 6 CPU2327 / 5604
📘 2026-09-03 (Yulik🇺🇦)AnTuTu 111289105

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 18.4 GB 18 GB
OS updates 7 years -
Security updates 7 years -

Battery

Capacity 4492 mAh 3227 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (33% in 30 min) Yes (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:09 hr 1:46 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:15 hr 09:29 hr
Watching video 13:00 hr 13:58 hr
Gaming 04:54 hr 05:12 hr
Standby 86 hr 114 hr
General battery life
19:43 hr
iPhone 13 +19%
23:23 hr

Main camera

Matrix 64 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 9000 x 7000 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 64 MP
2) Ultrawide: 13 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 64 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.6
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX787 Sony IMX603
Sensor size 1/1.73" (≈ 0.58 inch) 1/1.9" (≈ 0.53 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.7 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 13 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.4
Focal length - 14 mm
Sensor Sony IMX712 Sony IMX372
Sensor size 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 8a +6%
141
133
Video quality
128
iPhone 13 +13%
144
Generic main camera score
Pixel 8a +9%
136
125
Bokeh 60 65
Preview 71 76
Zoom 126 65
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 13 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Aperture - f/2.2
Focal length - 23 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX514
Sensor size - 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Autofocus - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization - Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes
DxOMark front camera
Photo - 128
Video - 143

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C -
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 8a +7%
89.3 dB
83.2 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced May 2024 September 2021
Release date May 2024 September 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $499 $800
Successor - Google Pixel 10a - Apple iPhone 17
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 0.98 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 8a. But if the performance, gaming, software, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 13.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
159 (64.6%)
87 (35.4%)
Total votes: 246

User opinions

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