Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 3 vs iPhone XS โ€“ which one to choose?

Google Pixel 3 vs Apple iPhone XS

42 out of 100
Google Pixel 3
VS
49 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS
Google Pixel 3
Apple iPhone XS

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.5-inch Google Pixel 3 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845) that was released on October 1, 2018, against the Apple iPhone XS, which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 1 month before. 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 Google Pixel 3
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Weighs 29 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Delivers 61% higher peak brightness (634 against 395 nits)
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • 34% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (756K versus 564K)
  • More energy-efficient CPU โ€“ Apple A12 Bionic
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • 78% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1306 and 734 points

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 3 and Apple iPhone XS 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
๐Ÿ“ฑ Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your countryโ€™s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
4 / 64 GB
VS
4 / 64 GB
180.9
(Excellent)
Value Index
99.9
(Very good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 3
vs
iPhone XS

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 5.5 inches 5.8 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2160 pixels 1125 x 2436 pixels
Aspect ratio 18:9 19.5:9
PPI 439 ppi 458 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 420 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate - 120 Hz
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 78.7% 81.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.6% 98.8%
PWM 245 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 4.4 ms 4.4 ms
Contrast โˆž Infinity โˆž Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 3
395 nits
iPhone XS +61%
634 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 145.6 mm (5.73 inches) 143.6 mm (5.65 inches)
Width 68.2 mm (2.69 inches) 70.9 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 7.7 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 148 g (5.22 oz) 177 g (6.24 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Pink Silver, Gold, Gray
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear No
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 3
78.7%
iPhone XS +3%
81.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 3 and Apple iPhone XS
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Apple A12 Bionic
Max clock 2500 MHz 2490 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Gold (Cortex-A75)		 - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
L3 cache 2 MB -
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 10 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 685 Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Adreno 630 Apple A12 Bionic GPU
GPU shading units 512 256
GPU clock 710 MHz 1125 MHz
FLOPS ~727 GFLOPS ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 3 and Apple iPhone XS
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 3
734
iPhone XS +78%
1306
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 3
1882
iPhone XS +47%
2770
Single-core score 734 1306
Multi-core score 1882 2770
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 3
564887
iPhone XS +34%
756483
CPU 230869 229658
GPU 64444 -
Memory 118989 141831
UX 150585 384994
Total score 564887 756483
Samples [2 tests] [5 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Pixel 3
445
iPhone XS +225%
1446
Stability 88% 61%
Graphics test 2 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 445 1446
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 3
8977
iPhone XS
n/a
Web score 7215 -
Video editing 6392 -
Photo editing 18641 -
Data manipulation 6714 -
Writing score 9480 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 3
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-03-01 (Ivan)AnTuTu 11564887
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-01-31 -> GamingLuAnTuTu 11540317
Add View all (2)
Apple iPhone XS
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-07-31 (ะ”ะธะผะฐ)AnTuTu 11644981
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-06-27 -> USAball386Geekbench 6 GPU7868
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-06-27 -> USAball386Geekbench 6 CPU1306 / 2770
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-05-12 -> GiahuyAnTuTu 11756483
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-02-05 (tomoclaude)AnTuTu 11655571
Add View all (7)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 1866 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 64 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 12 GB 11.8 GB

Battery

Capacity 2915 mAh 2658 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 40 min) Yes (50% in 60 min)
Full charging time 2:00 hr 2:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 05:20 hr 05:44 hr
Watching video 09:37 hr 09:44 hr
Gaming 03:31 hr 03:54 hr
Standby 78 hr 84 hr
General battery life
Pixel 3
15:14 hr
iPhone XS +6%
16:06 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12.2 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED Quad LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (720p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Lenses 1) Standard: 12.2 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 12.2 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 28 mm 26 mm
Sensor Sony IMX363 Apple iSight X
Sensor size 1/2.55" (โ‰ˆ 0.39 inch) 1/2.55" (โ‰ˆ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution - 12 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Focal length - 52 mm
Sensor size - 1/3.4" (โ‰ˆ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size - 1 micron
Stabilization - Optical

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 3
103
iPhone XS
n/a
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Pixel 3
101
iPhone XS
n/a
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 3 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 8 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 3088 x 2316
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.2
Focal length 28 mm 32 mm
Sensor Sony IMX355 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2" (โ‰ˆ 0.31 inch) -
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS
Additional lens 8 MP, f/19 -
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Pixel 3
123
iPhone XS
n/a
Photo 124 -
Video 121 -

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.1 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 16 16
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 3
84.9 dB
iPhone XS +3%
87.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced October 2018 September 2018
Release date November 2018 September 2018
Launch price (MSRP) $800 $1000
Successor - Google Pixel 10a - Apple iPhone 17 Pro
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 0.99 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
*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 XS is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
34 (70.8%)
14 (29.2%)
Total votes: 48

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