Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G vs Google Pixel 9a

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G) that was released on August 17, 2021, against the Google Pixel 9a, which is powered by Google Tensor G4 and came out 3 years and 8 months after. 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

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
  • Shows 7% longer battery life (21:34 vs 20:15 hours)
  • Expandable storage via MicroSD card up to 1024GB
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9a
  • Delivers 141% higher peak brightness (1927 against 799 nits)
  • 74% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1321K versus 758K)
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 14
  • The phone is 3 years and 8 months newer
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G 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
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 83% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G to Google Pixel 9a is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: camera, gaming, and performance.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Super AMOLED POLED
Size 6.5 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2424 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 405 ppi 422 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 400 nits 2700 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 800 nits 1800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 85% 84.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 138.1% 98.2%
PWM 231 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 9 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
799 nits
Pixel 9a +141%
1927 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.9 mm (6.3 inches) 154.7 mm (6.09 inches)
Width 75.1 mm (2.96 inches) 73.3 mm (2.89 inches)
Thickness 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 189 g (6.67 oz) 186 g (6.56 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP68
Advanced cooling - Vapor chamber
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors White, Black, Green, Purple White, Black, Red, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability - Good (3.53/5)
Drop resistance - Excellent (A) · 270 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
85%
84.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G and Google Pixel 9a
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Google Tensor G4
Max clock 2400 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 670 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 3 cores at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 670 Gold (Cortex-A78)
- 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 670 Prime (Cortex-A78)
- 4 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4
Manufacturing TSMC Samsung
Lithography process 6 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 770 Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 642L Mali-G715 MP7
GPU shading units 512 896
GPU clock 550 MHz 940 MHz
FLOPS ~563.2 GFLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G and Google Pixel 9a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 9a +64%
1677
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 9a +37%
4067
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 9a +213%
7784
Compute Score (GPU) 2487 7784
Single-core score 1021 1677
Multi-core score 2969 4067
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 9a +74%
1321069
CPU 313434 445318
GPU 100484 410687
Memory 135397 175537
UX 209450 289527
Total score 758767 1321069
Samples [17 tests] [7 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 9a +371%
1060
Stability 98% 81%
Graphics test 2 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 225 1060
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 99% -
Graphics test 4 FPS -
Graphics score 685 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 9a +3%
12890
Web score 11369 10570
Video editing 7181 7547
Photo editing 25824 21264
Data manipulation 9429 12988
Writing score 13416 16308

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-11 (RM_Phil)Geekbench 7 CPU808 / 3022
📘 2026-10-11 (RM_Phil)AnTuTu 12769103
📘 2026-09-27 (Andy Swas)AnTuTu 11725254
📘 2026-09-22 (bebequinhamota)AnTuTu 12805881
📘 2026-09-03 (Jaegerr)AnTuTu 11791396
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

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 4200 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card MicroSD No
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB -

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM One UI 6.0 Stock Android
OS size 26 GB 14 GB
OS updates 2 years 7 years
Security updates 4 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 5100 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 23 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (53% in 30 min) Yes (47% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:28 hr 1:41 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:27 hr 08:20 hr
Watching video 12:42 hr 12:40 hr
Gaming 04:56 hr 06:06 hr
Standby 116 hr 91 hr
General battery life
21:34 hr
20:15 hr

Main camera

Matrix 64 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 9000 x 7000 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 123° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 64 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
3) Macro: 5 MP
4) Depth: 5 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 64 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.7
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Sensor Sony IMX682 Samsung GN8
Sensor size 1/1.7" (≈ 0.59 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 12 MP 13 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 13 mm 16 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX712
Sensor size - 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 5 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Stabilization Digital -

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh - 145
Zoom - 99
Samples - Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 20 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.8" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 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 5.3
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP 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 - Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
NFC* Depends on the region Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No Yes
Hybrid slot Yes No
LTE Cat* 18 -
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness
83.6 dB
Pixel 9a +5%
88.1 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced August 2021 March 2025
Release date September 2021 April 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $495 $499
Successor - - Google Pixel 10a
SAR (head) 0.88 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.84 W/kg 1.39 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - 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?
0 (0%)
3 (100%)
Total votes: 3

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of DeviceFacts community!