Apple lately made its grand (re)entrance to the mid-range smartphone market with the iPhone 16e, changing the older iPhone SE variant. In fact, now the one factor to do is see the way it compares to top-of-the-line mid-range smartphones round, the newly launched Google Pixel 9a.
Each telephones present a variety of worth for these searching for a flagship-like expertise for a a lot cheaper price, however there are advantages and downsides to every. Let’s get into it.
Google Pixel 9a vs. iPhone 16e
Two telephones enter, however just one can slot in your pocket. Which can it’s?
Value and specs
The Pixel 9a is a superb worth.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
In the case of value, there’s a clearly superior choice right here. The Pixel 9a begins at $499, whereas the iPhone 16e begins at $599. Whereas $100 is not the largest distinction on the planet of flagships, it is a big quantity for anybody available in the market for a price range cellphone.
Here is what you get within the Pixel 9a for that value:
And for $100 extra, that is what the iPhone 16e will get you:
We’ll get into show and efficiency evaluation later, however Google is well profitable the worth recreation thus far. You get an even bigger and (in some methods) higher show and an even bigger battery for much less cash. Apple, to its credit score, affords extra storage choices, however these will solely make the cellphone much more costly; the 512GB iPhone 16e is $899, which makes it not even actually a price range cellphone anymore.
Design
Apple stored it easy.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Neither of those telephones are on the reducing fringe of smartphone design, however that is not essentially a nasty factor.
The iPhone 16e, for its half, appears to be like like a barely older iPhone mannequin. It would not have the standalone Dynamic Island cutout on the prime of the show such as you’d see in a current flagship iPhone, as a substitute going for the traditional notch look. There is no residence button, which differentiates it from the outdated iPhone SE fashions, however there is not one on the Pixel 9a, both. Sadly, it solely is available in two very boring colours: black and white.
Google’s mid-range cellphone is barely bolder in its design. Specifically, Google went and eliminated the horizontal rear digital camera bar that had turn out to be such an iconic a part of the Google Pixel look over the previous few years. Now, the rear digital camera is barely noticeable, missing even a bump to make it stand out. That is fairly good if you happen to like your cellphone to lie utterly flat on a desk, nevertheless it does make the Pixel 9a appear like a generic cellphone prop in a TV present.
Mashable Mild Velocity
That stated, the Pixel 9a affords 4 colours, twice as many because the iPhone 16e. There are black and white choices, in addition to one known as “Iris” and a beautiful pink colorway that must be the one one anybody buys, in my humble opinion.
Show
Google’s show is superior.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
In my eyes, there is a fairly definitive winner within the show class.
Pixel 9a’s show is just not solely barely larger (although that may truly be problematic for people with smaller fingers), however its refresh price is twice as excessive. Not everybody values this as a lot as I do, however clean scrolling is very good to have on a smartphone, and it is a little bit wild that Apple remains to be so behind the instances on this challenge in all the things aside from iPhone Professional fashions. You additionally rise up to 2,700 nits of peak brightness, which makes it nice for outside use.
Apple’s panel is not dangerous, by any means. Its 2532×1170 decision is barely larger than what Pixel 9a affords (2424×1080), and it’s an OLED display with HDR help. Nevertheless, with simply 1,200 nits of peak brightness, it probably will not look pretty much as good beneath daylight because the Pixel 9a.
Efficiency
Apple went with USB-C for this one, which is sweet.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
In the case of efficiency, there actually is not a shedding selection right here.
Each telephones are glorious when it comes to day-to-day use. Apps load rapidly and neither cellphone slows down an excessive amount of when there are too many open. I did discover the Pixel 9a getting a little bit heat to the contact after extended use, however a case might simply alleviate that.
If you wish to put it in numbers and technically select a winner, it might be Apple. The iPhone 16e’s Geekbench benchmarking metrics are higher than Pixel 9a’s, with Apple netting a 7,423 multi-core rating and Google coming in at simply 4,358. Nevertheless, on a sensible stage, both cellphone will do exactly high quality for you.
Battery life
Each telephones have good battery life.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Battery life is one other space the place you’ll be able to solely win.
In my testing, the Pixel 9a was roughly a 24-hour gadget between expenses, and will in all probability last more if you happen to turned the refresh price right down to 60Hz or took different power-saving measures. I by no means straight examined the iPhone 16e myself, however our reviewer Stan Schroeder famous that he was capable of go about two days between expenses on what he described as “heavy use.”
It is doable, then, that the additional money you pay for the iPhone 16e is getting you a greater battery than what is accessible on Pixel 9a. Nevertheless, I would not describe the Pixel 9a’s battery as “dangerous” by any means. It is simply much less good.
Digital camera
The iPhone 16e takes good nighttime pictures.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Each the iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a have similar (when it comes to megapixels) 48MP major shooters on the rear aspect. Nevertheless, Apple solely included the one digital camera lens on the cellphone’s bottom, whereas the Pixel 9a additionally has an extra 13MP ultra-wide lens.
Since these are each price range telephones, cameras are the place the largest compromises are to be anticipated. That stated, you’ll be able to undoubtedly get nice-looking pictures on both the Pixel 9a or iPhone 16e. One good bonus that the Pixel 9a has over the Pixel 8a is the addition of Macro Focus, which helps you to rise up actual near tiny objects and seize them in nice element. Sadly, the iPhone 16e would not have this characteristic in any respect, because of the lack of an ultra-wide lens.
Provided that Google’s cellphone has that additional lens and not less than one characteristic the iPhone 16e cannot declare, I am inclined to suppose the Pixel 9a has a greater digital camera system.
