Google Pixel 4a 5G vs Pixel 4 XL

57 out of 100
Google Pixel 4a 5G
VS
59 out of 100
Google Pixel 4 XL

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.2-inch Google Pixel 4a 5G (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G) that was released on September 30, 2020, against the Google Pixel 4 XL, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and came out 12 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 4a 5G
  • Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (698 against 556 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • The phone is 1-year newer
  • Weighs 25 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 4 XL
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • 58% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (639K versus 405K)
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • 30% higher pixel density (537 vs 413 PPI)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 11W
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • Faster storage type - UFS 3.0 versus UFS 2.1
  • 18% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 877 and 745 points

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 4 XL 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
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
VS
Promotion

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED POLED
Size 6.2 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1440 x 3040 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19:9
PPI 413 ppi 537 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 700 nits 450 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 84.1% 81.3%
Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 96.9% 99.9%
PWM 250 Hz 367 Hz
Response time 6.4 ms 3.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
698 nits
556 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 153.9 mm (6.06 inches) 160.4 mm (6.31 inches)
Width 74 mm (2.91 inches) 75.1 mm (2.96 inches)
Thickness 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) 8.2 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 168 g (5.93 oz) 193 g (6.81 oz)
Waterproof No IP68
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors Black White, Black, Orange
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear No
Screen-to-body ratio
84.1%
81.3%

Performance

Tests of Google Pixel 4a 5G and Google Pixel 4 XL in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Max clock 2400 MHz 2840 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 1 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 475 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 1 core at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 475 Gold (Cortex-A76)
- 1 core at 2.4 GHz: Kryo 475 Prime (Cortex-A76)
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 (Kryo 485 Silver)
- 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold)
- 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold)
L3 cache - 2 MB
Lithography process 7 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 620 Adreno 640
GPU shading units 384 768
GPU clock 750 MHz 585 MHz
FLOPS ~576 GFLOPS ~898.5 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 4 XL +18%
877
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 4 XL +31%
2513
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
405169
Pixel 4 XL +58%
639536
CPU 129687 195667
GPU 84517 207064
Memory 87187 99287
UX 103268 135004
Total score 405169 639536
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Pixel 4 XL +173%
3012
Max surface temperature - 39.5 °C
Stability 89% 82%
Graphics test 6 FPS 18 FPS
Graphics score 1104 3012
PCMark 3.0
Web score - 7313
Video editing - 7074
Photo editing - 23664
Data manipulation - 9107
Writing score - 12829
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64, 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 3.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 14.8 GB 13 GB

Battery

Capacity 3885 mAh 3700 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (11 W)
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (45% in 30 min) Yes (45% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:40 hr 1:20 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing - 07:40 hr
Watching video - 09:03 hr
Gaming - 03:46 hr
Standby - 81 hr
General battery life
22:35 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12.2 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4000 x 3000
Zoom Digital Optical, 2x
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 107° 119°
Lenses 2 (12.2 MP + 16 MP) 2 (12.2 MP + 16 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - - 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 45 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.09", Sony IMX481 (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1 micron
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Selfie camera
Megapixels 8 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.0
Focal length 24 mm 22 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns 1.22 microns
Sensor type CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/4" 1/3.09"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.1 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.1 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 18
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
90.5 dB
84.3 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced September 2020 October 2019
Release date November 2020 November 2019
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger - Yes, 18 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, performance, gaming, connectivity, and design are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 4 XL. But if the camera, battery life, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Google Pixel 4a 5G.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
44 (37.9%)
72 (62.1%)
Total votes: 116

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
Promotion