Home > Smartphone comparison > Nord CE5 vs Pixel 9a – which one to choose?

OnePlus Nord CE5 vs Google Pixel 9a

65 out of 100
OnePlus Nord CE5
VS
67 out of 100
Google Pixel 9a
OnePlus Nord CE5
Google Pixel 9a

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.77-inch OnePlus Nord CE5 (with MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex) that was released on July 8, 2025, against the Google Pixel 9a, which is powered by Google Tensor G4 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 OnePlus Nord CE5
  • Comes with 2000 mAh larger battery capacity: 7100 vs 5100 mAh
  • Shows 18% longer battery life (23:59 vs 20:15 hours)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (80W versus 23W)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.4)
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Has a 0.47 inch larger screen size
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • 28% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1696K versus 1321K)
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9a
  • Delivers 57% higher peak brightness (1927 against 1228 nits)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 15
  • Stereo speakers
  • 20% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1677 and 1394 points
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of OnePlus Nord CE5 and Google Pixel 9a 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
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
8 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
66.4
(Good)
Value Index
62.3
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Nord CE5
vs
Pixel 9a

Display

Type AMOLED POLED
Size 6.77 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2392 pixels 1080 x 2424 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.9:9 20:9
PPI 387 ppi 422 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 800 nits 2700 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1430 nits 1800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 300 Hz -
Screen protection Tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 89.3% 84.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space - 98.2%
PWM - 240 Hz
Response time - 1 ms
Contrast - ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Nord CE5
6.77″ (19.9:9 ratio) = 17.2 in2
Pixel 9a
6.3″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.9 in2
~15% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Nord CE5
1228 nits
Pixel 9a +57%
1927 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 163.58 mm (6.44 inches) 154.7 mm (6.09 inches)
Width 76.02 mm (2.99 inches) 73.3 mm (2.89 inches)
Thickness 8.17 mm (0.32 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 199 g (7.02 oz) 186 g (6.56 oz)
Waterproof IP65 IP68
Advanced cooling - Vapor chamber
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue White, Black, Red, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.6/5) Good (3.53/5)
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 300 drops Excellent (A) · 270 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
Nord CE5 +6%
89.3%
Pixel 9a
84.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of OnePlus Nord CE5 and Google Pixel 9a
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex Google Tensor G4
Max clock 3350 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.35 GHz: Cortex-A715		 - 4 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4
L3 cache 4 MB -
Manufacturing TSMC Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) MediaTek APU 780 Yes
GPU
Graphics Mali-G615 MP6 Mali-G715 MP7
GPU shading units 768 896
GPU clock 1400 MHz 940 MHz
FLOPS ~2150.4 GFLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of OnePlus Nord CE5 and Google Pixel 9a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Nord CE5
1394
Pixel 9a +20%
1677
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Nord CE5 +8%
4404
Pixel 9a
4067
Compute Score (GPU)
Nord CE5 +17%
9142
Pixel 9a
7784
Compute Score (GPU) 9142 7784
Single-core score 1394 1677
Multi-core score 4404 4067
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Nord CE5 +28%
1696968
Pixel 9a
1321069
CPU 500120 445318
GPU 505807 410687
Memory 258244 175537
UX 432797 289527
Total score 1696968 1321069
Samples [24 tests] [7 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Nord CE5 +17%
1245
Pixel 9a
1060
Stability 48% 81%
Graphics test 9 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 1245 1060
3DMark Solar Bay
Nord CE5
4937
Pixel 9a
n/a
Graphics test 19 FPS -
Section 1 20 FPS -
Section 2 19 FPS -
Section 3 17 FPS -
Graphics score 4937 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Nord CE5
n/a
Pixel 9a
12890
Web score - 10570
Video editing - 7547
Photo editing - 21264
Data manipulation - 12988
Writing score - 16308
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
OnePlus Nord CE5
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-06 (Rh adnan)AnTuTu 121682268
📘 2026-09-12 (Pranav)AnTuTu 121714372
📘 2026-09-09 (Md. Ratul Islam)AnTuTu 121620744
📘 2026-08-22 (Hardik)AnTuTu 111633542
📘 2026-08-20 (Olly)Geekbench 6 GPU8496
Add View all (33)
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)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock - 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card MicroSD No
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 15 Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM OxygenOS 15 Stock Android
OS size - 14 GB
OS updates 4 years 7 years
Security updates 6 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 7100 mAh 5100 mAh
Max charge power 80 W 23 W
Battery type Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (62% in 30 min) Yes (47% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:55 hr 1:41 hr
Battery cycles 1200 cycles 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:47 hr 08:20 hr
Watching video 16:06 hr 12:40 hr
Gaming 07:14 hr 06:06 hr
Standby 103 hr 91 hr
General battery life
Nord CE5 +18%
23:59 hr
Pixel 9a
20:15 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 8000 x 6000
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 960 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 112° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 13 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.7
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Sensor Sony LYT-600 Samsung GN8
Sensor size 1/1.95" (≈ 0.51 inch) 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP 13 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 16 mm 16 mm
Sensor Omnivision OV08D10 Sony IMX712
Sensor size 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Nord CE5
n/a
Pixel 9a
144
Video quality
Nord CE5
n/a
Pixel 9a
100
Generic main camera score
Nord CE5
n/a
Pixel 9a
128
Bokeh - 145
Zoom - 99
Samples - Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 16 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 4608 x 3456 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length 23 mm 20 mm
Sensor Sony IMX480 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (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 5.4 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort No Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
NFC* No Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot No No
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Mono Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Nord CE5
n/a
Pixel 9a
88.1 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced July 2025 March 2025
Release date July 2025 April 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $299 $499
Successor - - Google Pixel 10a
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.39 W/kg
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on Nord CE5:
    - The Indian model features a larger 7100 mAh battery (5200 mAh in the global version).
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the camera, connectivity, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 9a. But if the gaming and battery life are more of a priority – go for the OnePlus Nord CE5.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
5 (62.5%)
3 (37.5%)
Total votes: 8

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