Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 9a vs Pixel 6a – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 9a vs Pixel 6a

67 out of 100
Google Pixel 9a
VS
56 out of 100
Google Pixel 6a
Google Pixel 9a
Google Pixel 6a

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.3-inch Google Pixel 9a (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on March 19, 2025, against the Google Pixel 6a, which is powered by Google Tensor and came out 2 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
Memory
6 / 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 9a
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 120% higher peak brightness (1927 against 875 nits)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1321K versus 1015K)
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • The phone is 2 years and 11 months newer
  • 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1677 and 1487 points
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 9a and Pixel 6a 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 53% Yes
Maybe, but mainly if you specifically want better display.
This is a situational upgrade. It makes the most sense if better display matters to you.
Main improvements: display, gaming, and performance.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 9a
vs
Pixel 6a

Display

Type POLED 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 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2700 nits 500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1800 nits 1100 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5% 82.2%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.2% 96.9%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 1 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 9a +120%
1927 nits
Pixel 6a
875 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 154.7 mm (6.09 inches) 152.2 mm (5.99 inches)
Width 73.3 mm (2.89 inches) 71.8 mm (2.83 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 186 g (6.56 oz) 178 g (6.28 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Red, Purple White, Black, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.53/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 9a +3%
84.5%
Pixel 6a
82.2%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 9a and Google Pixel 6a
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Google Tensor
Max clock 3100 MHz 2800 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 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1
L3 cache - 4 MB
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Tensor Processing Unit
GPU
Graphics Mali-G715 MP7 Mali-G78 MP20
GPU shading units 896 640
GPU clock 940 MHz 850 MHz
FLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS ~1085.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 9a and Google Pixel 6a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 9a +13%
1677
Pixel 6a
1487
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 9a +11%
4067
Pixel 6a
3664
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 9a
7784
Pixel 6a +23%
9543
Compute Score (GPU) 7784 9543
Single-core score 1677 1487
Multi-core score 4067 3664
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 9a +30%
1321069
Pixel 6a
1015493
CPU 445318 425227
GPU 410687 126878
Memory 175537 171601
UX 289527 291787
Total score 1321069 1015493
Samples [7 tests] [20 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 9a
1060
Pixel 6a
n/a
Stability 81% -
Graphics test 8 FPS -
Graphics score 1060 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Pixel 9a
n/a
Pixel 6a
1854
Stability - 57%
Graphics test - 11 FPS
Graphics score - 1854
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 9a +23%
12890
Pixel 6a
10455
Web score 10570 7105
Video editing 7547 5884
Photo editing 21264 19072
Data manipulation 12988 10310
Writing score 16308 15550
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 9a
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-21 (Leif)AnTuTu 111590049
📘 2026-05-13 (kiriguap)AnTuTu 111182042
📘 2026-03-09 (d1ldo)AnTuTu 11943849
📘 2026-01-03 (Joy)AnTuTu 111487240
📘 2025-11-11 (VLAD)AnTuTu 111507185
Add View all (7)
Google Pixel 6a
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-26 -> Islom_1180AnTuTu 121235821
📘 2026-08-19 (duwi)AnTuTu 11774697
📘 2026-07-29 (Mimo)AnTuTu 111117985
📘 2026-07-28 (Hypermini)AnTuTu 111015541
📘 2026-07-27 (Ash)AnTuTu 11978066
Add View all (45)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 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 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 14 GB 14.3 GB
OS updates 7 years 5 years
Security updates 7 years 5 years

Battery

Capacity 5100 mAh 4410 mAh
Max charge power 23 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) No
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (47% in 30 min) Yes (42% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:41 hr 1:51 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:20 hr 08:25 hr
Watching video 12:40 hr 14:20 hr
Gaming 06:06 hr 05:34 hr
Standby 91 hr 89 hr
General battery life
Pixel 9a
20:15 hr
Pixel 6a +2%
20:44 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 48 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 4032 x 3024
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° 114°
Lenses 1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 13 MP
1) Standard: 12.2 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 48 MP 12.2 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.7
Focal length 25 mm 27 mm
Sensor Samsung GN8 Sony IMX363
Sensor size 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 13 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 16 mm 17 mm
Sensor Sony IMX712 Sony IMX386
Sensor size 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 9a +8%
144
Pixel 6a
133
Video quality
Pixel 9a
100
Pixel 6a +26%
126
Generic main camera score
Pixel 9a +5%
128
Pixel 6a
122
Bokeh 145 65
Preview - 67
Zoom 99 74
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 6a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 13 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 3840 x 2160
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 20 mm 24 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX355
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) 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 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
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 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 9a +1%
88.1 dB
Pixel 6a
87.4 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March 2025 May 2022
Release date April 2025 June 2022
Launch price (MSRP) $499 $449
Successor - Google Pixel 10a - Google Pixel 10a
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.39 W/kg 1.31 W/kg
Sensors - 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 9a is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
25 (50%)
25 (50%)
Total votes: 50

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