Google Pixel 9a vs Apple iPhone 16
67
out of 100
VS
80
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.3-inch Google Pixel 9a (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on March 19, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 16, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 7 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 9a
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1539 mAh larger battery capacity: 5100 vs 3561 mAh
- Fingerprint scanner
- Delivers 14% higher peak brightness (1927 against 1692 nits)
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- The phone is 7 months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16
- Shows 47% longer battery life (29:45 vs 20:15 hours)
- 50% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1985K versus 1321K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- Reverse charging feature
- 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3431 and 1677 points
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
- Weighs 16 grams less
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 | POLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.3 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2424 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 422 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 2700 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1800 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.5% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.2% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 154.7 mm (6.09 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 73.3 mm (2.89 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 186 g (6.56 oz) | 170 g (6 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Red, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | Good (3.53/5) | Average (2.8/5) |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Google Tensor G4 | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 3100 MHz | 4040 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 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G715 MP7 | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 940 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1684.4 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 7784 | 28010 |
| Single-core score | 1677 | 3431 |
| Multi-core score | 4067 | 8638 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 445318 | 621688 |
| GPU | 410687 | 592569 |
| Memory | 175537 | 184239 |
| UX | 289527 | 587104 |
| Total score | 1321069 | 1985600 |
| Samples | [7 tests] | [16 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 81% | 75% |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1060 | 1579 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 31 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 6781 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 10570 | - |
| Video editing | 7547 | - |
| Photo editing | 21264 | - |
| Data manipulation | 12988 | - |
| Writing score | 16308 | - |
Recent User Tests
Google Pixel 9a
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-08-21 (Leif) | AnTuTu 11 | 1590049 |
| 📘 2026-05-13 (kiriguap) | AnTuTu 11 | 1182042 |
| 📘 2026-03-09 (d1ldo) | AnTuTu 11 | 943849 |
| 📘 2026-01-03 (Joy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1487240 |
| 📘 2025-11-11 (VLAD) | AnTuTu 11 | 1507185 |
Apple iPhone 16
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-30 (Dddd) | AnTuTu 11 | 1905485 |
| 📘 2026-07-15 (vovachips) | AnTuTu 11 | 1842572 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3531 / 9122 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | AnTuTu 11 | 2045650 |
| 📘 2026-06-04 (Sepehr Naraghipour) | AnTuTu 11 | 2018367 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 4200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) |
| ROM | Stock Android | - |
| OS size | 14 GB | 16 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5100 mAh | 3561 mAh |
| Max charge power | 23 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (47% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:41 hr | 1:42 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 08:20 hr | 13:44 hr |
| Watching video | 12:40 hr | 18:09 hr |
| Gaming | 06:06 hr | 05:56 hr |
| Standby | 91 hr | 130 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#52nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 8064 x 6048 |
| 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: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung GN8 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX712 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 145 | 80 |
| Preview | - | 84 |
| Zoom | 99 | 116 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 13 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 20 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| 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 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 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 | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2025 | September 2024 |
| Release date | April 2025 | September 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | $799 |
| Successor | - Google Pixel 10a | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | 0.99 W/kg | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.39 W/kg | 1.41 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16:
- The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.
*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 Apple iPhone 16 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 25