Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 9 vs Pixel 7a – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 9 vs Pixel 7a

73 out of 100
Google Pixel 9
VS
62 out of 100
Google Pixel 7a
Google Pixel 9
Google Pixel 7a

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.3-inch Google Pixel 9 (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on August 13, 2024, against the Google Pixel 7a, which is powered by Google Tensor G2 and came out 1 year and 4 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
8 / 128 GB
  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
  • Delivers 109% higher peak brightness (2220 against 1062 nits)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Shows 16% longer battery life (22:26 vs 19:16 hours)
  • 39% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1561K versus 1126K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Thinner bezels – 6% more screen real estate
  • The phone is 1 year and 4 months newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 7a
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 7a 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)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
12 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
136.1
(Excellent)
Value Index
108.0
(Excellent)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 9
vs
Pixel 7a

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.3 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2424 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 422 ppi 429 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2700 nits 700 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1800 nits 1300 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 81.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99% 98.4%
PWM 120 Hz 218 Hz
Response time 1 ms 2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 9 +109%
2220 nits
Pixel 7a
1062 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 152.8 mm (6.02 inches) 152 mm (5.98 inches)
Width 72 mm (2.83 inches) 72.9 mm (2.87 inches)
Thickness 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) 9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 198 g (6.98 oz) 193.5 g (6.83 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Green, Pink White, Gray, Blue, Orange
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.5/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 9 +7%
87.1%
Pixel 7a
81.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 9 and Google Pixel 7a
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Google Tensor G2
Max clock 3100 MHz 2850 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 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: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.35 GHz: Cortex-A78
- 2 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-X1
L3 cache - 4 MB
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Next-gen Tensor Processing Unit
GPU
Graphics Mali-G715 MC7 Mali-G710 MP7
GPU shading units 896 448
GPU clock 940 MHz 848 MHz
FLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS ~759.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 9 and Google Pixel 7a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 9 +19%
1707
Pixel 7a
1438
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 9 +20%
4431
Pixel 7a
3681
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 9 +60%
7536
Pixel 7a
4715
Compute Score (GPU) 7536 4715
Single-core score 1707 1438
Multi-core score 4431 3681
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 9 +39%
1561427
Pixel 7a
1126520
CPU 576617 366416
GPU 410060 272602
Memory 210177 188205
UX 364573 299297
Total score 1561427 1126520
Samples [4 tests] [13 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 9 +49%
1047
Pixel 7a
702
Stability 74% 78%
Graphics test 8 FPS 5 FPS
Graphics score 1047 702
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Pixel 9
n/a
Pixel 7a
1787
Stability - 70%
Graphics test - 10 FPS
Graphics score - 1787
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 9 +20%
12789
Pixel 7a
10615
Web score 10043 7510
Video editing 7463 5847
Photo editing 21077 19105
Data manipulation 13349 10565
Writing score 15810 15064
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)
Google Pixel 7a
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-02 -> nanamondAnTuTu 111196742
📘 2026-08-06 -> shu-AnTuTu 111126520
📘 2026-08-05 (shu-)AnTuTu 111126520
📘 2026-07-21 (XHV150)AnTuTu 111271269
📘 2026-07-12 (klaut)AnTuTu 111004338
Add View all (25)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory clock 4200 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 19 GB -
OS updates 7 years 5 years
Security updates 7 years 5 years

Battery

Capacity 4700 mAh 4385 mAh
Max charge power 27 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (12 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (20% in 36 min)
Full charging time 1:25 hr 1:57 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:01 hr 08:24 hr
Watching video 13:38 hr 13:40 hr
Gaming 05:41 hr 05:06 hr
Standby 98 hr 76 hr
General battery life
Pixel 9 +16%
22:26 hr
Pixel 7a
19:16 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 64 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6144 9000 x 7000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash 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 123° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 48 MP
1) Standard: 64 MP
2) Ultrawide: 13 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 64 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.9
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung GNK Sony IMX787
Sensor size 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) 1/1.73" (≈ 0.58 inch)
Pixel size 1.2 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP 13 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/2.2
Sensor - Sony IMX712
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 9 +17%
161
Pixel 7a
138
Video quality
Pixel 9 +13%
150
Pixel 7a
133
Generic main camera score
Pixel 9 +16%
154
Pixel 7a
133
Bokeh 75 70
Preview 83 69
Zoom 132 105
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 9 from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 7a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10.5 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 -
Focal length 20 mm -
Sensor CMOS -
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) -
Pixel size 1.22 micron -
Autofocus Phase autofocus -
Stabilization Digital -
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Pixel 9
n/a
Pixel 7a
140
Photo - 136
Video - 146

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6E (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 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
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
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 9
87.7 dB
Pixel 7a +3%
90.4 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced August 2024 May 2023
Release date August 2024 May 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $499
Successor - Google Pixel 10 - Google Pixel 10a
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.4 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 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.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
24 (60%)
16 (40%)
Total votes: 40

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