Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) vs Google Pixel 9a
65
out of 100
VS
67
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) that was released on October 4, 2023, against the Google Pixel 9a, which is powered by Google Tensor G4 and came out 1 year and 6 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Reverse charging feature
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9a
- Delivers 97% higher peak brightness (1927 against 977 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
- The phone is 1 year and 6 months newer
- Weighs 23 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 | Dynamic AMOLED | POLED |
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.3 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2424 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 403 ppi | 422 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes (60-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 1450 nits | 2700 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1800 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 83.2% | 84.5% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 98.2% |
| PWM | - | 240 Hz |
| Response time | - | 1 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 158 mm (6.22 inches) | 154.7 mm (6.09 inches) |
| Width | 76.5 mm (3.01 inches) | 73.3 mm (2.89 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 209 g (7.37 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, 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
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Google Tensor G4 |
| Max clock | 3000 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3 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 | 6 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Yes |
| Graphics | Adreno 730 | Mali-G715 MP7 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 896 |
| GPU clock | 818 MHz | 940 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1675.3 GFLOPS | ~1684.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 7784 |
| Single-core score | 1720 | 1677 |
| Multi-core score | 4204 | 4067 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 516037 | 445318 |
| GPU | 391403 | 410687 |
| Memory | 186259 | 175537 |
| UX | 343264 | 289527 |
| Total score | 1436963 | 1321069 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [7 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 68% | 81% |
| Graphics test | 6 FPS | 8 FPS |
| Graphics score | 793 | 1060 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11636 | 10570 |
| Video editing | 7420 | 7547 |
| Photo editing | 30352 | 21264 |
| Data manipulation | 12061 | 12988 |
| Writing score | 16397 | 16308 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2024-09-14 (Luis Maldonado) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1720 / 4204 |
| 📘 2024-09-07 (Eduardo) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1652 / 4021 |
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 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 4200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) | Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) |
| ROM | One UI 8.0 | Stock Android |
| OS size | - | 14 GB |
| OS updates | 4 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 5 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 | Yes | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (58% in 30 min) | Yes (47% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:10 hr | 1:41 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 07:09 hr | 08:20 hr |
| Watching video | 10:02 hr | 12:40 hr |
| Gaming | 04:27 hr | 06:06 hr |
| Standby | 118 hr | 91 hr |
General battery life
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 | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 8 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 25 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5KGN3 | Samsung GN8 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.57" (≈ 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 |
| Image resolution | 8 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 76 mm | - |
| Sensor | Hynix Hi847 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/4.4" (≈ 0.23 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 13 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 16 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3L6 | Sony IMX712 |
| Sensor size | 1/3" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 50 | 145 |
| Preview | 67 | - |
| Zoom | 123 | 99 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon) from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3648 x 2736 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 20 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3J1 | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | 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 | 5.3 | 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 | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| 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
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | October 2023 | March 2025 |
| Release date | October 2023 | April 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $499 |
| Successor | - | - Google Pixel 10a |
| SAR (head) | 0.76 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.04 W/kg | 1.39 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - 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 Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon):
- The Galaxy S23 FE is available in the USA with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, whereas other countries receive a version with the Exynos 2200.
- The base (128 GB) storage utilizes a UFS 3.1 memory type, whereas the higher-tier 256 GB variant is equipped with UFS 4.0.
- Models are available with a single SIM card, dual SIMs, or dual SIMs plus eSIM (depending on the market).
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, gaming, and battery life are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 9a. But if the connectivity, software, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE (Snapdragon).
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1