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Google Pixel 9 vs Pixel 8a

73 out of 100
Google Pixel 9
VS
66 out of 100
Google Pixel 8a
Google Pixel 9
Google Pixel 8a

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 8a, which is powered by Google Tensor G3 and came out 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
  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
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Delivers 47% higher peak brightness (2220 against 1506 nits)
  • Shows 14% longer battery life (22:26 vs 19:43 hours)
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Thinner bezels – 5.8% more screen real estate
  • Reverse charging feature
  • 14% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1707 and 1491 points
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+1)

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 8a 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
πŸ“± 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
66.7
(Good)

Tests and specifications

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

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 430 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 2700 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1800 nits 1400 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 81.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99% 99.1%
PWM 120 Hz 120 Hz
Response time 1 ms 2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 9 +47%
2220 nits
Pixel 8a
1506 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 152.8 mm (6.02 inches) 152.1 mm (5.99 inches)
Width 72 mm (2.83 inches) 72.7 mm (2.86 inches)
Thickness 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 198 g (6.98 oz) 188 g (6.63 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Green, Pink White, Black, Blue, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.5/5) Good (3.52/5)
Drop resistance Excellent (A) Β· 270 drops Excellent (A) Β· 270 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 9 +7%
87.1%
Pixel 8a
81.3%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 9 and Google Pixel 8a
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Google Tensor G3
Max clock 3100 MHz 3000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 9 (1 + 4 + 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 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Yes
GPU
Graphics Mali-G715 MC7 Immortalis-G715s MC10
GPU shading units 896 896
GPU clock 940 MHz 890 MHz
FLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 9 and Google Pixel 8a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 9 +14%
1707
Pixel 8a
1491
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 9 +24%
4431
Pixel 8a
3584
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 9
7536
Pixel 8a +13%
8490
Compute Score (GPU) 7536 8490
Single-core score 1707 1491
Multi-core score 4431 3584
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 9 +9%
1561427
Pixel 8a
1433693
CPU 576617 546093
GPU 410060 391230
Memory 210177 195569
UX 364573 300801
Total score 1561427 1433693
Samples [4 tests] [6 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 9 +6%
1047
Pixel 8a
990
Stability 74% 67%
Graphics test 8 FPS 7 FPS
Graphics score 1047 990
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 9
12789
Pixel 8a
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
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-18 -> Oleg 16 cmAnTuTu 111423579
πŸ“˜ 2026-06-13 (Plotwa)CPU Throttle82%
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-14 (LymXT)AnTuTu 111577137
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-09 (enigma)AnTuTu 111519937
πŸ“˜ 2025-11-28 (W1TRAY)AnTuTu 111561427
Add View all (8)
Google Pixel 8a
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-28 (adismsha)AnTuTu 111471866
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseGeekbench 6 GPU8490
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseGeekbench 6 CPU1491 / 3584
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseAnTuTu 111397797
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-17 (jpara_dise)AnTuTu 111397797
Add View all (9)

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 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 19 GB 18.4 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4700 mAh 4492 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 (33% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:25 hr 2:09 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:01 hr 08:15 hr
Watching video 13:38 hr 13:00 hr
Gaming 05:41 hr 04:54 hr
Standby 98 hr 86 hr
General battery life
Pixel 9 +14%
22:26 hr
Pixel 8a
19:43 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 123Β° 120Β°
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" (β‰ˆ 0.76 inch) 1/1.73" (β‰ˆ 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" (β‰ˆ 0.39 inch) 1/3.06" (β‰ˆ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 9 +14%
161
Pixel 8a
141
Video quality
Pixel 9 +17%
150
Pixel 8a
128
Generic main camera score
Pixel 9 +13%
154
Pixel 8a
136
Bokeh 75 60
Preview 83 71
Zoom 132 126
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 9 from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a 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" (β‰ˆ 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

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 Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, 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
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 9
87.7 dB
Pixel 8a +2%
89.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced August 2024 May 2024
Release date August 2024 May 2024
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?
27 (35.1%)
50 (64.9%)
Total votes: 77

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