Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 9 vs iPhone 8 – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 9 vs Apple iPhone 8

73 out of 100
Google Pixel 9
VS
40 out of 100
Apple iPhone 8
Google Pixel 9
Apple iPhone 8

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.3-inch Google Pixel 9 (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on August 13, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 8, which is powered by Apple A11 Bionic and came out 7 years and 1 month 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
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9
  • Has 6x more RAM: 12GB versus 2GB
  • Comes with 2879 mAh larger battery capacity: 4700 vs 1821 mAh
  • Delivers 249% higher peak brightness (2220 against 636 nits)
  • 3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1561K versus 520K)
  • Thinner bezels – 21.8% more screen real estate
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Has a 1.6 inches larger screen size
  • Shows 38% longer battery life (22:26 vs 16:16 hours)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Tensor G4
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 8
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • Weighs 50 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 8 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 99% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone 8 to Google Pixel 9 is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: camera, display, and performance.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 9
vs
iPhone 8

Display

Type OLED IPS LCD
Size 6.3 inches 4.7 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2424 pixels 750 x 1334 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 16:9
PPI 422 ppi 326 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2700 nits 625 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1800 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ No
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 65.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 -
Display tests
RGB color space 99% 99.9%
PWM 120 Hz Not detected
Response time 1 ms 22 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1373:1
Screen space comparison
Pixel 9
6.3″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.9 in2
iPhone 8
4.7″ (16:9 ratio) = 9.4 in2
~57% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 9 +249%
2220 nits
iPhone 8
636 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 152.8 mm (6.02 inches) 138.4 mm (5.45 inches)
Width 72 mm (2.83 inches) 67.3 mm (2.65 inches)
Thickness 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) 7.3 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 198 g (6.98 oz) 148 g (5.22 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Green, Pink Silver, Gold, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-button
Repairability Good (3.5/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 9 +33%
87.1%
iPhone 8
65.3%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 8
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Apple A11 Bionic
Max clock 3100 MHz 2100 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 1.42 GHz: Mistral
- 2 cores at 2.39 GHz: Monsoon
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 10 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Mali-G715 MC7 Apple GPU
GPU shading units 896 192
GPU clock 940 MHz 1066 MHz
FLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS ~409.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 8
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 9 +56%
1707
iPhone 8
1093
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 9 +142%
4431
iPhone 8
1828
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 9 +34%
7536
iPhone 8
5630
Compute Score (GPU) 7536 5630
Single-core score 1707 1093
Multi-core score 4431 1828
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 9 +200%
1561427
iPhone 8
520567
CPU 576617 249127
GPU 410060 -
Memory 210177 102335
UX 364573 169105
Total score 1561427 520567
Samples [4 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 9
1047
iPhone 8
n/a
Stability 74% -
Graphics test 8 FPS -
Graphics score 1047 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 9
12789
iPhone 8
n/a
Web score 10043 -
Video editing 7463 -
Photo editing 21077 -
Data manipulation 13349 -
Writing score 15810 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 9
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-18 -> Oleg 16 cmAnTuTu 111423579
📘 2026-06-13 (Plotwa)CPU Throttle82%
📘 2026-04-14 (LymXT)AnTuTu 111577137
📘 2025-12-09 (enigma)AnTuTu 111519937
📘 2025-11-28 (W1TRAY)AnTuTu 111561427
Add View all (8)
Apple iPhone 8
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-05-13 (TestGame)Geekbench 6 GPU5630
📘 2026-05-13 (TestGame)Geekbench 6 CPU1093 / 1828
Add View all (2)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 2 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4
Memory clock 4200 MHz -
Channels 4 2
Storage
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 11 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.5)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 19 GB 6 GB
OS updates 7 years -
Security updates 7 years -

Battery

Capacity 4700 mAh 1821 mAh
Max charge power 27 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (12 W) Yes, Qi (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:25 hr 1:15 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:01 hr 06:14 hr
Watching video 13:38 hr 09:59 hr
Gaming 05:41 hr 03:40 hr
Standby 98 hr 81 hr
General battery life
Pixel 9 +38%
22:26 hr
iPhone 8
16:16 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6144 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED Quad 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 123° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 48 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 28 mm
Sensor Samsung GNK Apple iSight Camera
Sensor size 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) 1/3" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.2 micron 1.22 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP -
Aperture f/1.7 -
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) -
Stabilization Digital -

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 9 +73%
161
iPhone 8
93
Video quality
Pixel 9 +67%
150
iPhone 8
90
Generic main camera score
Pixel 9 +67%
154
iPhone 8
92
Bokeh 75 -
Preview 83 -
Zoom 132 -
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 9 from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 8 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10.5 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 3088 x 2320
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 20 mm 32 mm
Sensor CMOS BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) -
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support* Yes No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 16
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 9 +9%
87.7 dB
iPhone 8
80.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced August 2024 September 2017
Release date August 2024 September 2017
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $699
Successor - Google Pixel 10 -
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 1.35 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.4 W/kg 1.36 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
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 is definitely a better buy.

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