Google Pixel 10a vs Apple iPhone 16
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.3-inch Google Pixel 10a (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on February 18, 2026, against the Apple iPhone 16, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 1 year and 5 months before. 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 Google Pixel 10a
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1539 mAh larger battery capacity: 5100 vs 3561 mAh
- Delivers 71% higher peak brightness (2893 against 1692 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Fingerprint scanner
- The phone is 1 year and 5 months newer
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16
- 40% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1985K versus 1422K)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 10% longer battery life (29:45 vs 26:59 hours)
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- 2x faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3431 and 1674 points
- Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
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
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | POLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.3 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2424 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 422 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 3000 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 2000 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 7i | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 85.3% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 98.4% | 99.7% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 3 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 153.9 mm (6.06 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 73 mm (2.87 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 183 g (6.46 oz) | 170 g (6 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Red, Purple | White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
| Repairability | Good (3.84/5) | Average (2.8/5) |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Google Tensor G4 | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 3100 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4 |
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Mali-G715 MP7 | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 940 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1684.4 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 10140 | 28010 |
| Single-core score | 1674 | 3431 |
| Multi-core score | 4114 | 8638 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 463927 | 621688 |
| GPU | 407873 | 592569 |
| Memory | 214572 | 184239 |
| UX | 336105 | 587104 |
| Total score | 1422477 | 1985600 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [16 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 75% |
| Graphics test | - | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1579 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 31 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 20 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 6781 |
Recent User Tests
Google Pixel 10a
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-14 (123) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 8744 |
| 📘 2026-07-14 (123) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1674 / 4114 |
| 📘 2026-07-11 (123) | AnTuTu 11 | 1422477 |
Apple iPhone 16
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-30 (Dddd) | AnTuTu 11 | 1905485 |
| 📘 2026-07-15 (vovachips) | AnTuTu 11 | 1842572 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3531 / 9122 |
| 📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh) | AnTuTu 11 | 2045650 |
| 📘 2026-06-04 (Sepehr Naraghipour) | AnTuTu 11 | 2018367 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 4200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 16 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) | iOS 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| ROM | Stock Android | - |
| OS size | 15 GB | 16 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 5100 mAh | 3561 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (52% in 30 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:29 hr | 1:42 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 10:33 hr | 13:44 hr |
| Watching video | 23:15 hr | 18:09 hr |
| Gaming | 06:06 hr | 05:56 hr |
| Standby | 98 hr | 130 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (105th and 52nd place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8000 x 6000 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 25 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung GN8 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch) | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 16 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX712 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 150 | 80 |
| Preview | - | 84 |
| Zoom | 99 | 116 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 10a from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 13 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 20 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| 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 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2026 | September 2024 |
| Release date | March 2026 | September 2024 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | $799 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | 0.99 W/kg | 1.24 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.39 W/kg | 1.41 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16:
- The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.
*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 Apple iPhone 16 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 11