Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 3 vs Pixel 10a – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 3 vs Pixel 10a

42 out of 100
Google Pixel 3
VS
72 out of 100
Google Pixel 10a
Google Pixel 3
Google Pixel 10a

Here we compared two smartphones: the 5.5-inch Google Pixel 3 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845) that was released on October 1, 2018, against the Google Pixel 10a, which is powered by Google Tensor G4 and came out 7 years and 6 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 Google Pixel 3
  • Weighs 35 grams less
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 10a
  • Delivers 631% higher peak brightness (2917 against 399 nits)
  • 2.5x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1422K versus 564K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Comes with 2185 mAh larger battery capacity: 5100 vs 2915 mAh
  • Shows 77% longer battery life (26:59 vs 15:14 hours)
  • Has a 0.8 inch larger screen size
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 12
  • The phone is 7 years and 6 months newer
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Tensor G4
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 10a 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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 99% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Google Pixel 3 to Google Pixel 10a is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: battery life, display, and performance.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 3
vs
Pixel 10a

Display

Type OLED POLED
Size 5.5 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2160 pixels 1080 x 2424 pixels
Aspect ratio 18:9 20:9
PPI 439 ppi 422 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 420 nits 3000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 2000 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Corning Gorilla Glass 7i
Screen-to-body ratio 78.7% 85.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.6% 98.4%
PWM 245 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 4.4 ms 1 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Pixel 10a
6.3″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.9 in2
Pixel 3
5.5″ (18:9 ratio) = 12.1 in2
~22% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 3
399 nits
Pixel 10a +631%
2917 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 145.6 mm (5.73 inches) 153.9 mm (6.06 inches)
Width 68.2 mm (2.69 inches) 73 mm (2.87 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 148 g (5.22 oz) 183 g (6.46 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling - Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Pink White, Black, Red, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear Yes, in-display
Repairability - Good (3.84/5)
Drop resistance - Excellent (A) · 270 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 3
78.7%
Pixel 10a +8%
85.3%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 10a
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Google Tensor G4
Max clock 2500 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (1 + 3 + 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 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4
L3 cache 2 MB -
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 10 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 685 Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 630 Mali-G715 MP7
GPU shading units 512 896
GPU clock 710 MHz 940 MHz
FLOPS ~727 GFLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 10a
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 3
734
Pixel 10a +128%
1674
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 3
1882
Pixel 10a +119%
4114
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 3
n/a
Pixel 10a
10140
Compute Score (GPU) - 10140
Single-core score 734 1674
Multi-core score 1882 4114
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 3
564887
Pixel 10a +152%
1422477
CPU 230869 463927
GPU 64444 407873
Memory 118989 214572
UX 150585 336105
Total score 564887 1422477
Samples [2 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Pixel 3
445
Pixel 10a
n/a
Stability 88% -
Graphics test 2 FPS -
Graphics score 445 -
Sources: 3DMark [5]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 3
8977
Pixel 10a
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
📘 2026-03-01 (Ivan)AnTuTu 11564887
📘 2026-01-31 -> GamingLuAnTuTu 11540317
Add View all (2)
Google Pixel 10a
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-07 -> zevaldGeekbench 7 GPU7853
📘 2026-10-07 -> zevaldGeekbench 7 CPU1497 / 4221
📘 2026-07-14 (123)Geekbench 6 GPU8744
📘 2026-07-14 (123)Geekbench 6 CPU1674 / 4114
📘 2026-07-11 (123)AnTuTu 111422477
Add View all (5)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 1866 MHz 4200 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) Android 16 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 12 GB 15 GB
OS updates - 7 years
Security updates - 7 years

Battery

Capacity 2915 mAh 5100 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (10 W)
Reverse charging No Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 40 min) Yes (52% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:00 hr 1:29 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 05:20 hr 10:33 hr
Watching video 09:37 hr 23:15 hr
Gaming 03:31 hr 06:06 hr
Standby 78 hr 98 hr
General battery life
Pixel 3
15:14 hr
Pixel 10a +77%
26:59 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12.2 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual 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)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12.2 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 12.2 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.7
Focal length 28 mm 25 mm
Sensor Sony IMX363 Samsung GN8
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/2" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution - 13 MP
Aperture - f/2.2
Focal length - 16 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX712
Sensor size - 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch)
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 3
103
Pixel 10a +45%
149
Video quality
Pixel 3
98
Pixel 10a +11%
109
Generic main camera score
Pixel 3
101
Pixel 10a +33%
134
Bokeh - 150
Zoom - 99
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 3 from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 10a from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 8 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.2
Focal length 28 mm 20 mm
Sensor Sony IMX355 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS
Additional lens 8 MP, f/19 -
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Pixel 3
123
Pixel 10a
n/a
Photo 124 -
Video 121 -

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
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 6.0
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.1 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort - Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo 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* 16 -
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 3
84.9 dB
Pixel 10a
84.9 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced October 2018 February 2026
Release date November 2018 March 2026
Launch price (MSRP) $800 $499
Successor - Google Pixel 10a -
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.39 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - 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 Google Pixel 10a is definitely a better buy.

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