Google Pixel 4a vs Apple iPhone 13 mini

Here we compared two smartphones: the 5.81-inch Google Pixel 4a (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G) that was released on August 3, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 13 mini, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 13 months after. 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
  • Comes with 734 mAh larger battery capacity: 3140 vs 2406 mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • Has a 0.41 inch larger screen size
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13 mini
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • 2.4x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (782K versus 320K)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Shows 20% longer battery life (32:15 vs 26:51 hours)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Supports wireless charging up to 7.5W
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Google
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
  • The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
We may receive a commission from Amazon for purchases made using the links below, but this has no bearing on our assessment methodology.

Review

Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

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

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 5.81 inches 5.4 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 443 ppi 476 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 700 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 83.3% 85.1%
Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 95.3% 99.7%
PWM 255 Hz 510 Hz
Response time 6.2 ms 4.8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
804 nits
852 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 144 mm (5.67 inches) 131.5 mm (5.18 inches)
Width 69.4 mm (2.73 inches) 64.2 mm (2.53 inches)
Thickness 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) 7.65 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 143 g (5.04 oz) 141 g (4.97 oz)
Waterproof No IP68
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors Black White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear No
Screen-to-body ratio
83.3%
85.1%

Performance

Tests of Google Pixel 4a and Apple iPhone 13 mini in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Apple A15 Bionic
Max clock 2200 MHz 3200 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 470 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 470 Gold (Cortex-A76)
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.24 GHz: Avalanche
Lithography process 8 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 618 Apple GPU
GPU clock 825 MHz 1200 MHz
FLOPS ~422 GFLOPS -

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
559
1743
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
1659
4705
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
320798
782206
CPU 101186 193760
GPU 79209 347737
Memory 59587 108337
UX 78244 131541
Total score 320798 782206
3DMark Wild Life Performance
1003
8914
Max surface temperature 41.4 °C 38.8 °C
Stability 99% 77%
Graphics test 6 FPS 53 FPS
Graphics score 1003 8914
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 15 GB 12 GB

Battery

Specifications
Capacity 3140 mAh 2406 mAh
Charge power 18 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 25 min) Yes (61% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:27 hr 1:24 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:45 hr 10:48 hr
Watching video 11:16 hr 11:55 hr
Gaming 04:05 hr 05:14 hr
Standby 99 hr 124 hr
General battery life
26:51 hr
32:15 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12.2 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
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 120 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1 (12.2 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 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 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.7 micron
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 4a from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 mini from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 8 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 24 mm 23 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns -
Sensor type CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.8" 1/3.6"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
122
138
Video quality
117
Generic camera score
111
130

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- 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 5.1 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C -
USB version 3.1 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 15 18
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
86 dB
87.7 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced August 2020 September 2021
Release date October 2020 September 2021
SAR (head) 1.37 W/kg 0.97 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.39 W/kg 0.98 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 13 mini is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
6 (42.9%)
8 (57.1%)
Total votes: 14

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