Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs Apple iPhone 12
77
out of 100
VS
60
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.8-inch Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on August 13, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 3 years and 11 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
- The rear camera has a 5x optical zoom
- Delivers 268% higher peak brightness (2364 against 643 nits)
- Has 4x more RAM: 16GB versus 4GB
- Comes with 2245 mAh larger battery capacity: 5060 vs 2815 mAh
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Fingerprint scanner
- 25% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1672K versus 1341K)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- The phone is 3 years and 11 months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- Weighs 57 grams less
- Better grip in hands – the body is 5.1 mm narrower
Review
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
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.8 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1344 x 2992 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 486 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 3000 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2000 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.5% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 226 Hz |
| Response time | 2 ms | 16 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Pixel 9 Pro XL
6.8″ (20:9 ratio) = 17.3 in2
iPhone 12
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~22% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 162.8 mm (6.41 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 76.6 mm (3.02 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 221 g (7.8 oz) | 164 g (5.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Pink | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | Good (3.34/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Google Tensor G4 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3100 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G715 MC7 | Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 940 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1684.4 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 9185 | 17099 |
| Single-core score | 2001 | 1997 |
| Multi-core score | 4932 | 4665 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 622527 | 402035 |
| GPU | 410009 | 336490 |
| Memory | 255927 | 153915 |
| UX | 384332 | 449135 |
| Total score | 1672795 | 1341575 |
| Samples | [6 tests] | [10 tests] |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 76% |
| Graphics test | - | 10 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 13 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 10 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2651 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 74% |
| Graphics test | - | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2155 |
Recent User Tests
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-27 (feraroof43) | AnTuTu 11 | 1626655 |
| 📘 2026-08-26 (Ark15) | Battery life | SOT 5:20 / 11:00 |
| 📘 2026-08-21 (Kazin) | AnTuTu 11 | 1723964 |
| 📘 2026-04-07 -> DeadlyKPSS | AnTuTu 11 | 1679233 |
| 📘 2026-03-29 (Actn) | AnTuTu 11 | 1585585 |
Apple iPhone 12
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-10-12 (Z0tacxyz) | AnTuTu 11 | 1294739 |
| 📘 2026-10-04 (Timur) | AnTuTu 11 | 1199214 |
| 📘 2026-06-26 (Hellomt) | AnTuTu 11 | 1334721 |
| 📘 2026-03-25 (🇷🇺010) | AnTuTu 11 | 1384982 |
| 📘 2026-03-23 (Roma) | AnTuTu 11 | 1326030 |
Memory
| RAM size | 16 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR4X |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| ROM | Stock Android | - |
| OS size | - | 7 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | - |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 5060 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 37 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (12 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (67% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:18 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 11:42 hr | 08:00 hr |
| Watching video | 10:46 hr | 12:09 hr |
| Gaming | 05:57 hr | 04:35 hr |
| Standby | 92 hr | 112 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6144 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 5x | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | 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 | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 48 MP 3) Ultrawide: 48 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung GN1 | Sony IMX372 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.2 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Laser autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.8 | - |
| Focal length | 113 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGM5 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 12 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGM5 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 75 | 55 |
| Preview | 86 | 74 |
| Zoom | 155 | 60 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 9 Pro XL from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 42 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3648 x 2736 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 17 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX858 | Sony IMX514 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.51" (≈ 0.4 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | - |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 127 |
| Video | - | 140 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | 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 | No |
| USB version | 3.2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| DisplayPort | Yes | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | August 2024 | October 2020 |
| Release date | August 2024 | October 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1099 | $800 |
| Successor | - Google Pixel 10 Pro XL | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | 0.99 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.4 W/kg | 0.99 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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 2