Home > Smartphone comparison > Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Pixel 9a – which one to choose?

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Google Pixel 9a

74 out of 100
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
VS
67 out of 100
Google Pixel 9a
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Google Pixel 9a

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Google Pixel 9a, which is powered by Google Tensor G4 and came out 2 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
  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 Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
  • Shows 28% longer battery life (26:01 vs 20:15 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
  • Supports higher wattage charging (45W versus 23W)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • 33% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1762K versus 1321K)
  • 18% higher pixel density (500 vs 422 PPI)
  • Thinner bezels – 5% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9a
  • Delivers 52% higher peak brightness (1927 against 1266 nits)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
  • The phone is 2 years and 2 months newer
  • Weighs 47 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 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
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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 / 256 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
49.0
(Average)
Value Index
62.3
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Galaxy S23 Ultra
vs
Pixel 9a

Display

Type Dynamic AMOLED POLED
Size 6.8 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3088 pixels 1080 x 2424 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.3:9 20:9
PPI 500 ppi 422 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (24-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1200 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 2 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 89.5% 84.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 96.9% 98.2%
PWM 240 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 2 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Galaxy S23 Ultra
6.8″ (19.3:9 ratio) = 17.7 in2
Pixel 9a
6.3″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.9 in2
~19% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Galaxy S23 Ultra
1266 nits
Pixel 9a +52%
1927 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) 154.7 mm (6.09 inches)
Width 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) 73.3 mm (2.89 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 233 g (8.22 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, Red, 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
Galaxy S23 Ultra +6%
89.5%
Pixel 9a
84.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 9a
SoC
Chipset Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy Google Tensor G4
Max clock 3360 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3		 - 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 8 MB -
Manufacturing TSMC Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 740 Mali-G715 MP7
GPU shading units 1536 896
GPU clock 680 MHz 940 MHz
FLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 9a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Galaxy S23 Ultra +20%
2010
Pixel 9a
1677
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Galaxy S23 Ultra +29%
5245
Pixel 9a
4067
Compute Score (GPU)
Galaxy S23 Ultra +19%
9254
Pixel 9a
7784
Compute Score (GPU) 9254 7784
Single-core score 2010 1677
Multi-core score 5245 4067
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Galaxy S23 Ultra +33%
1762339
Pixel 9a
1321069
CPU 556398 445318
GPU 445907 410687
Memory 285085 175537
UX 474949 289527
Total score 1762339 1321069
Samples [31 tests] [7 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Galaxy S23 Ultra +4%
1098
Pixel 9a
1060
Stability 81% 81%
Graphics test 8 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 1098 1060
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability 77% -
Graphics test 20 FPS -
Section 1 23 FPS -
Section 2 20 FPS -
Section 3 18 FPS -
Graphics score 5383 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 69% -
Graphics test 22 FPS -
Graphics score 3723 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Galaxy S23 Ultra +27%
16385
Pixel 9a
12890
Web score 17072 10570
Video editing 7852 7547
Photo editing 33655 21264
Data manipulation 13329 12988
Writing score 19857 16308
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-03 -> ThekinggoatAnTuTu 121914947
📘 2026-10-03 (Thekinggoat)Geekbench 7 CPU1471 / 4766
📘 2026-10-03 (Thekinggoat)AnTuTu 121914947
📘 2026-09-28 -> Saad_irqAnTuTu 121959121
📘 2026-09-23 (Horizon377)AnTuTu 121894819
Add View all (56)
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 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 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 39.9 GB 14 GB
OS updates 4 years 7 years
Security updates 5 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5100 mAh
Max charge power 45 W 23 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (15 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (68% in 30 min) Yes (47% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:59 hr 1:41 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:57 hr 08:20 hr
Watching video 15:38 hr 12:40 hr
Gaming 06:22 hr 06:06 hr
Standby 130 hr 91 hr
General battery life
Galaxy S23 Ultra +28%
26:01 hr
Pixel 9a
20:15 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 200 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 16320 x 12240 8000 x 6000
Zoom Optical, 10x Digital
Flash LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 960 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 200 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Telephoto: 10 MP
4) 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 200 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.7
Focal length 23 mm 25 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL HP2 Samsung GN8
Sensor size 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch) 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 10 MP -
Aperture f/4.9 -
Focal length 230 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX754 -
Sensor size 1/3.52" (≈ 0.28 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 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 IMX564 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
Video quality
Galaxy S23 Ultra +37%
137
Pixel 9a
100
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 145
Preview 73 -
Zoom 141 99
Samples Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 9a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 12 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 26 mm 20 mm
Sensor Samsung S5K3LU CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Photo 139 -
Video 145 -

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, DP 1.2 Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 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
Galaxy S23 Ultra +4%
91.8 dB
Pixel 9a
88.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced February 2023 March 2025
Release date February 2023 April 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $1199 $499
Successor - Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra - Google Pixel 10a
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.4 W/kg 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

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
4 (100%)
0 (0%)
Total votes: 4

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