Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus vs Google Pixel 9a

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.6-inch Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus (with Exynos 2200) that was released on February 9, 2022, against the Google Pixel 9a, which is powered by Google Tensor G4 and came out 3 years and 2 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 S22 Plus
  • The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 23W)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • 10% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1456K versus 1321K)
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Thinner bezels – 5.2% more screen real estate
  • Reverse charging feature
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9a
  • Delivers 76% higher peak brightness (1927 against 1092 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • The phone is 3 years and 2 months newer
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus 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 21% Yes
No, we don't think this update is worth it.
Moving from Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus to Google Pixel 9a will likely not feel like a meaningful upgrade.
Main improvements: display and gaming.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in connectivity.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED POLED
Size 6.6 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2424 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20:9
PPI 393 ppi 422 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (10-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 780 nits 2700 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1750 nits 1800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz -
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Plus Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 89.7% 84.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.2% 98.2%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 5 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S22 Plus
6.6″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 16.6 in2
Pixel 9a
6.3″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.9 in2
~11% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
1092 nits
Pixel 9a +76%
1927 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 157.4 mm (6.2 inches) 154.7 mm (6.09 inches)
Width 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) 73.3 mm (2.89 inches)
Thickness 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 195 g (6.88 oz) 186 g (6.56 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple, Yellow 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
89.7%
84.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Google Pixel 9a
SoC
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2200 Google Tensor G4
Max clock 2800 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.82 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.52 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X2
- 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 Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Yes
GPU
Graphics Xclipse 920 Mali-G715 MP7
GPU shading units 384 896
GPU clock 1306 MHz 940 MHz
FLOPS ~1003 GFLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Google Pixel 9a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 9a +5%
1677
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 9a +6%
4067
Compute Score (GPU)
10293
7784
Compute Score (GPU) 10293 7784
Single-core score 1592 1677
Multi-core score 3845 4067
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1456410
1321069
CPU 514609 445318
GPU 391890 410687
Memory 210533 175537
UX 339378 289527
Total score 1456410 1321069
Samples [3 tests] [7 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 9a +22%
1060
Stability 73% 81%
Graphics test 6 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 866 1060
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability 66% -
Graphics test 15 FPS -
Section 1 18 FPS -
Section 2 15 FPS -
Section 3 12 FPS -
Graphics score 3972 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 64% -
Graphics test 11 FPS -
Graphics score 1918 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 9a +4%
12890
Web score 10564 10570
Video editing 7378 7547
Photo editing 19931 21264
Data manipulation 12336 12988
Writing score 15666 16308

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-08 (Nyamka)AnTuTu 111496095
📘 2026-05-06 (Максим)AnTuTu 111422388
📘 2026-03-01 (Unknown)AnTuTu 111456410
📘 2026-01-18 -> Gind1kAnTuTu 111549060
📘 2025-08-27 -> reiGeekbench 6 GPU9335
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 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 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 No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM One UI 8.0 Stock Android
OS size 28.6 GB 14 GB
OS updates 4 years 7 years
Security updates 5 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4500 mAh 5100 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 23 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (64% in 30 min) Yes (47% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:01 hr 1:41 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 06:28 hr 08:20 hr
Watching video 11:26 hr 12:40 hr
Gaming 04:41 hr 06:06 hr
Standby 106 hr 91 hr
General battery life
19:24 hr
Pixel 9a +4%
20:15 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6120 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 3x Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 24FPS 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 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 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 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.7
Focal length 24 mm 25 mm
Sensor Samsung GN5 Samsung GN8
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Focal length 70 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5K3K1 -
Sensor size 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization 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 IMX713 Sony IMX712
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 9a +18%
144
Video quality
124
100
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 75 145
Preview 66 -
Zoom 121 99
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 3872 x 2592 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 20 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital 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 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 5.2 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, DP 1.2 Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby 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 Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness
91.3 dB
88.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced February 2022 March 2025
Release date March 2022 April 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $999 $499
Successor - - Google Pixel 10a
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.39 W/kg
Sensors - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- 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

If the display and gaming are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 9a. But if the software, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus.

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