Weight: 188g
Dimensions: 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm
Display measurement: 6.1-inch
Decision: 1080 x 2400
Chipset: Google Tensor G3
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128GB/256GB
Battery: 4,492mAh
Rear digital camera: 64MP+13MP
Entrance digital camera: 13MP
Nearly all the things concerning the Pixel 8a, barring its battery life and cameras, feels near-flagship high quality. It has a broadly comparable design to the Pixel 7a, however the newer cellphone will get a a lot better software program help dedication.
For
- Future-facing AI instruments
- Nice design and coloration choices
- Seven years of Android updates
In opposition to
- Cameras are good, not nice
- Battery life may very well be higher
- Not as low-cost because it may very well be
Weight: 171g
Dimensions: 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8mm
Display measurement: 6.1-inch
Decision: 1179 x 2556
Chipset: A16 Bionic
RAM: 6GB
Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB
Battery: 3,349mAh
Rear digital camera: 48MP+12MP
Entrance digital camera: 12MP
The iPhone 15 comes near matching the iPhone 15 Professional in lots of methods, together with its Dynamic Island and display screen measurement, nevertheless it lacks the AI smarts and eager worth of the Pixel 8a.
For
- Dynamic Island
- 48MP major digital camera
- A16 Bionic chipset
In opposition to
- No zoom lens
- 60Hz refresh price
- Can run a little bit scorching
For many individuals, getting a brand new smartphone merely means getting the most recent iPhone. Which, proper now, greater than probably means the iPhone 15. With a compact but elegant design, clear software program, intensive help, zippy efficiency and an incredible digital camera, it’s all of the cellphone you actually need.
The Google Pixel 8a may need simply sophisticated issues for Apple. It ticks off all of those self same containers, however at a considerably cheaper price than the iPhone 15 retails for.
So how precisely do these two telephones evaluate? Has Google actually managed to undercut Apple with its newest mid-range effort?
We’ve now spent a good period of time with each telephones, and have put each via their paces; see our iPhone 15 evaluation and Google Pixel 8a evaluation. Let’s dive into the similarities and variations, and attempt to come to some type of conclusion over which is the higher purchase.
We’ll begin, as all the time, with a fast run down of the important thing specs.
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: specs comparability
Let’s take have a look at how these two telephones stack as much as each other on a pure spec-by-spec foundation.
| Google Pixel 8a | iPhone 15 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions: | 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm | 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.80mm |
| Weight: | 188g | 171g |
| Show: | 6.1-inch OLED | 6.1-inch Tremendous XDR OLED |
| Decision: | 1080 x 2400 | 1179 x 2556 |
| Refresh price: | 120Hz | 60Hz |
| Chipset: | Google Tensor G3 | A16 Bionic |
| Rear cameras: | 64MP (huge), 13MP (ultra-wide) | 48MP (huge), 12MP (ultra-wide) |
| Entrance digital camera: | 13MP | 12MP |
| RAM: | 8GB | 6GB |
| Storage: | 128GB, 256GB | 128GB |
| Battery: | 4,492mAh | 4,385mAh |
| Charging: | 18W wired, 7.5W wi-fi | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: worth and availability
The Pixel 8a landed in outlets on Could 14, 2024. That makes it fairly a bit brisker than the iPhone 15, which arrived eight months earlier on September 12, 2023.
Pricing for the Pixel 8a begins from $499 / £499 / AU$849 for the 128GB mannequin. Alternatively, you possibly can double your storage to 256GB for $559 / £559 / AU$949.
As we talked about within the intro, this makes it considerably cheaper than the iPhone 15. Apple’s cellphone begins from $799 / £799 / AU$1,499 for 128GB of storage, whereas the 256GB prices $899 / £899 / AU$1,699.
We’re speaking a couple of $300 / £300 / AU$650 saving right here within the Google cellphone’s favour. Apple’s cellphone goes to need to boss issues from right here on in if it’s to justify such a premium.
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: design and show
Maintain these two telephones in your hand, and there’s no doubting which is the costlier. Apple’s iPhone 15 has a flat steel body and a cool glass again, whereas the Pixel 8a goes with a rounded steel body and a plastic again.
The latter is nice to carry, because of a textured matte end, however there’s no denying it appears to be like and feels much less premium than the iPhone 15 with its color-infused again glass.
Visually, the iPhone 15 proclaims its flagship credentials with uniform display screen bezels. The Pixel 8a’s look chunkier by comparability, and the chin is very pronounced. Apple’s cellphone has a superior IP68 ranking too, which suggests it’s extra water-proof than the IP67-rated Pixel 8a.
The iPhone 15 additionally packs a novel Dynamic Island cutout. It’s far more distinguished than the Pixel 8a’s hole-punch notch, nevertheless it’s additionally far more useful. Not solely does it home a safe Face ID authentication system, nevertheless it additionally surfaces widget-like heads-up notifications.
There’s no denying that the iPhone 15 has the higher design of those two telephones, however issues aren’t such plain crusing once you come to contemplate the shows.
Each telephones have color-accurate 6.1-inch OLED panels that may hit a peak brightness of two,000 nits, however from there issues get fascinating. The iPhone 15 display screen is barely sharper, exceeding the Pixel 8a’s commonplace FHD+ output with a 1179 x 2556 decision.
Nonetheless, the Pixel 8a good points its personal extra appreciable benefit with a way more fluid 120Hz refresh price. Fairly how Apple can proceed to justify the iPhone 15’s 60Hz output is past us.
You additionally don’t get At all times On show help on the iPhone 15, in contrast to the Pixel 8a.
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: cameras
Google’s Pixel telephones are well-known for punching above their weight within the digital camera division, and the Pixel 8a isn’t any completely different. For the worth, it takes nice footage.
Nonetheless, the iPhone 15 additionally takes higher pictures than most different telephones inside its worth vary. It’s a flat-out higher digital camera system than its cheaper rival.
The Pixel 8a has far more restricted {hardware}, with a humble (and comparatively small) 64MP 1/1.73“ major sensor with an f/1.89 aperture. The iPhone 15’s major digital camera has a 48MP 1/1.56” sensor with an f/1.6 aperture.
Put merely, the iPhone can pull in far more mild than the Pixel. It additionally has a way more superior sensor-shift OIS system, in comparison with the Pixel 8a’s straight up OIS. This implies it could regular its pictures far more effecitvely, opening the best way to longer publicity instances and much more mild seize.
There’s much less of a transparent distinction between the 12MP ultra-wide of the iPhone 15 and the 13MP ultra-wide of the Pixel 8a, each of which function a hard and fast focus.
Google Pixel 8a digital camera samples
Picture 1 of 24
iPhone 15 digital camera samples
Each digital camera methods are backed by sturdy customized processors – the A16 Bionic for the iPhone and the Tensor G3 for the Pixel 8a.
We’re impressed by the pictures that the Pixel 8a can take, however let’s not child ourselves – the iPhone 15 is working on a special stage, capturing far more element and nuance. It takes the win in relation to night time time pictures too, because of that light-scooping potential.
In relation to their picture processing, Apple’s images look extra pure, whereas Google’s have a strikingly contrasty model.
The place the Pixel 8a strikes out by itself is with its AI-based auto-editing options. Finest Take enables you to make it so that everybody in a gaggle shot is smiling, whereas Audio Magic Eraser removes undesirable background noise out of your movies.
Apple, for its half, has enhanced the precise high quality of its telephones’ pictures by stepping as much as 24MP photographs, in addition to introducing three elementary focal lengths with no discernible lack of element. Each make very intelligent makes use of of picture processing strategies, however they’re utilized in very other ways.
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: efficiency and software program
As we’ve simply talked about, each of those telephones run on customized in-house chips. Each the iPhone 15’s A16 Bionic and the Pixel 8a’s Tensor G3 are extremely succesful 4-nanometer chips.
Google’s Tensor G3 is its newest chip, and is technically a 12 months brisker than Apple’s A16 Bionic, which debuted greater than a 12 months beforehand within the iPhone 14 Professional.
Any suggestion of a bonus for the Pixel can be huge of the mark, although. In benchmark assessments, the iPhone 15 fairly handily beats its extra inexpensive rival.
Not that this implies a lot right here in the actual world. Each telephones really feel extraordinarily quick and fluid, and might play the most recent and biggest video games on excessive graphics settings. In sure methods, the Pixel 8a really feels sooner, because of that 120Hz show.
It’s a undeniable fact that the iPhone 15 has much less RAM than the Pixel 8a – 6GB vs 8GB – however the variations between iOS and Android render such variations meaningless. Storage capacities are similar, in the meantime, with each telephones providing 128GB and 256GB choices.
Each of those telephones function gloriously clear and crisp software program, with minimal bloatware. That’s what comes when the {hardware} maker additionally makes the working system.
We wouldn’t prefer to name a winner right here. It actually comes down to private desire, in addition to which software program ecosystem you’re extra wedded to.
Nonetheless, we might say that Android 14 on the Pixel 8a is doing extra fascinating issues at this explicit second in time. Google is additional together with its AI initiative than Apple, and the Pixel 8a can do fascinating issues like real-time in-call transcriptions, instantaneous voice typing, and a bevy of digital camera methods that we’ve already talked about.
Google can be providing a seven 12 months software program replace promise, whereas Apple tends to help its telephones for about 5 years. Each are nice, however Google’s is best – if it follows via on its promise, that’s. Solely Apple has a observe report with such issues, whereas Google has a observe report of ditching its {hardware} and software program initiatives.
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: battery
Neither of those telephones are what you’d name stamina champs. We guess that is what comes with being a strong cellphone in a comparatively compact type issue.
The Pixel 8a’s 4,492mAh battery is way bigger than the iPhone 15’s 3349mAh cell, however we wouldn’t place any significance in that. As we’ve already hinted at, iOS works in a way more energy-efficient method than Android.
In purely anecdotal phrases, we discovered that the iPhone 15 might nearly get via a full day of pretty intensive utilization, whereas the Pixel 8a fell a little bit quick. Such issues can fluctuate wildly based mostly on the consumer and the community setting, after all, however we’d cautiously give the iPhone the marginally benefit right here.
In our Future Lab testing, which concerned consistently looking the online on 5G earlier than the battery runs out, the Pixel 8a lasted 11 hours and 21 minutes (in its default 60Hz show setting), whereas the iPhone 15 managed 11 hours and 5 minutes. This makes the Pixel 8a the winner in pure testing however not by a lot, which means the iPhone 15 continues to be a contender.
Apple’s cellphone additionally help barely sooner 20W wired charging in comparison with the Pixel 8a’s 18W, which is an even bigger benefit once you think about that smaller capability. Each telephones help 7.5W wi-fi charging, although the iPhone 15 additionally has entry to 15W MagSafe/Qi2 requirements.
Google Pixel 8a vs iPhone 15: verdict
There’s little doubt about it, the iPhone 15 is a greater cellphone than the Pixel 8a. It’s obtained a extra premium construct, a superior digital camera set-up, and sooner efficiency.
Nonetheless, there’s the not insignificant matter of worth. You’ll be able to’t escape the truth that $300 / £300 / AU$650 is a big premium. Is the iPhone 15 actually that a lot better?
For lots of people, it undoubtedly will likely be, particularly in the event that they’re already closely invested within the Apple ecosystem, or in the event that they merely desire iOS. The iPhone 15 is the very best present entry level into that world.
In the event you don’t have a canine on this combat, nonetheless, the Pixel 8a does an excellent job at providing broad strokes parity with its pricier rival. It will get a lot of the method there in all of the ways in which rely, and even packs in a extra fluid show and an extended help path.
All of which ought to present a tempting various for individuals who simply need a succesful compact smartphone with out having to pay via the nostril.
