Google Pixel 5 vs Pixel 3

60 out of 100
Google Pixel 5
VS
50 out of 100
Google Pixel 3

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6-inch Google Pixel 5 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G) that was released on September 30, 2020, against the Google Pixel 3, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and came out 24 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 5
  • Shows 54% longer battery life (31:36 vs 20:31 hours)
  • Comes with 1165 mAh larger battery capacity: 4080 vs 2915 mAh
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Delivers 76% higher peak brightness (702 against 399 nits)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Has a 0.5 inch larger screen size
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
  • Thinner bezels – 7.03% more screen real estate
  • The phone is 2-years newer

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 3 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
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.
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Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
vs

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6 inches 5.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1080 x 2160 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 18:9
PPI 432 ppi 439 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 700 nits 420 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 6 Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 85.9% 78.87%
Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 97.4% 99.6%
PWM 367 Hz 245 Hz
Response time 5 ms 4.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 5 +76%
702 nits
399 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 144.7 mm (5.7 inches) 145.6 mm (5.73 inches)
Width 70.4 mm (2.77 inches) 68.2 mm (2.69 inches)
Thickness 8 mm (0.31 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 151 g (5.33 oz) 148 g (5.22 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Metal Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Green White, Black, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 5 +9%
85.9%
78.87%

Performance

Tests of Google Pixel 5 and Google Pixel 3 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Max clock 2400 MHz 2500 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 1 + 6) 8 (4 + 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: Kryo 385 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Gold (Cortex-A75)
L3 cache - 2 MB
Lithography process 7 nanometers 10 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 620 Adreno 630
GPU shading units 384 512
GPU clock 750 MHz 710 MHz
FLOPS ~576 GFLOPS ~727 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 5 +4%
766
740
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 5 +4%
1962
1887
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
421980
Pixel 3 +2%
432028
CPU 132677 124365
GPU 89779 129769
Memory 90554 75447
UX 106168 98872
Total score 421980 432028
3DMark Wild Life Performance
1084
Pixel 3 +52%
1647
Max surface temperature 38.6 °C 39.8 °C
Stability 89% 93%
Graphics test 6 FPS 9 FPS
Graphics score 1084 1647
PCMark 3.0
n/a
8885
Web score - 6935
Video editing - 6412
Photo editing - 18134
Data manipulation - 6772
Writing score - 9617
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64, 128 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 16.6 GB 12 GB

Battery

Capacity 4080 mAh 2915 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (12 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (30% in 30 min) Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 40 min)
Full charging time 1:45 hr 2:00 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:13 hr 06:22 hr
Watching video 15:02 hr 09:07 hr
Gaming 05:39 hr 03:04 hr
Standby 104 hr 76 hr
General battery life
Pixel 5 +54%
31:36 hr
20:31 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12.2 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 4290 x 2800 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED Dual 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° -
Lenses 2 (12.2 MP + 16 MP) 1 (12.2 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - 16 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Focal length: 24 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 5 from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 3 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 8 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.0 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 28 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns 1.4 microns
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/4.0" 1/3.2"
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 5 +25%
129
103
Video quality
Pixel 5 +9%
107
98
Generic camera score
Pixel 5 +19%
120
101

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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5 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
- 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 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 15 16
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 5 +8%
91.9 dB
84.9 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2020 October 2018
Release date October 2020 November 2018
SAR (head) 0.96 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.39 W/kg -
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
*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 5 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
49 (47.6%)
54 (52.4%)
Total votes: 103

User opinions

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