Google Pixel 6 Pro vs 5a 5G

74 out of 100
Google Pixel 6 Pro
VS
59 out of 100
Google Pixel 5a 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.7-inch Google Pixel 6 Pro (with Google Tensor) that was released on October 19, 2021, against the Google Pixel 5a 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and came out 2 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 6 Pro
  • The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • 2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (770K versus 384K)
  • Has 2x more RAM: 12GB versus 6GB
  • Handles wireless charging up to 23W
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Has a 0.36 inch larger screen size
  • Comes with 323 mAh larger battery capacity: 5003 vs 4680 mAh
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • 24% higher pixel density (512 vs 413 PPI)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 18W)
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 5a 5G
  • Shows 36% longer battery life (36:56 vs 27:15 hours)
  • Weighs 27 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 6 Pro and 5a 5G 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:
Connectivity:
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

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.7 inches 6.34 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3120 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 512 ppi 413 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 500 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 800 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 88.8% 85%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.5% -
PWM 360 Hz -
Response time 1 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
853 nits
854 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 163.9 mm (6.45 inches) 156.2 mm (6.15 inches)
Width 75.9 mm (2.99 inches) 73.2 mm (2.88 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.8 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 210 g (7.41 oz) 183 g (6.46 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Yellow Black
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
88.8%

Performance

Tests of Google Pixel 6 Pro and Google Pixel 5a 5G in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
Max clock 2800 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 2 + 4) 8 (1 + 1 + 6)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex A55
- 2 cores at 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1
- 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)
L3 cache 4 MB -
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G78 MP20 Adreno 620
GPU clock 848 MHz 750 MHz
FLOPS - ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
1040
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
2806
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
Pixel 6 Pro +100%
770913
384604
CPU 199110 110920
GPU 299002 105925
Memory 119211 69517
UX 161867 101463
Total score 770913 384604
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Pixel 6 Pro +273%
6213
Max surface temperature 40.4 °C -
Stability 56% 99%
Graphics test 37 FPS 9 FPS
Graphics score 6213 1666
Web score 8586 6228
Video editing 6872 5773
Photo editing 17891 19363
Data manipulation 11140 7207
Writing score 16308 11652
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 14 GB -

Battery

Capacity 5003 mAh 4680 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (23 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (42% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:59 hr 1:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:47 hr 13:09 hr
Watching video 12:29 hr 17:31 hr
Gaming 04:43 hr 05:46 hr
Standby 93 hr 112 hr
General battery life
27:15 hr
36:56 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4290 x 2800
Zoom Optical, 4x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 114° 119°
Lenses 3 (50 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP) 2 (12.2 MP + 16 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.2 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.31", Samsung GN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Sensor: 1/2.55" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 48 MP
- Aperture: f/3.5
- Focal length: 104 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
-
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1.25 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.9", Sony IMX386 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- 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 6 Pro from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 11.1 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3840 x 2880 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.0
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 1.12 microns
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size - 1/4.0"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) 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 MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.2 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, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 15
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

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

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced October 2021 August 2021
Release date October 2021 October 2021
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included Yes, 18 W
*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 6 Pro is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
6 (46.2%)
7 (53.8%)
Total votes: 13

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