Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 6 vs iPhone XR – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 6 vs Apple iPhone XR

60 out of 100
Google Pixel 6
VS
48 out of 100
Apple iPhone XR
Google Pixel 6
Apple iPhone XR

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.4-inch Google Pixel 6 (with Google Tensor) that was released on October 19, 2021, against the Apple iPhone XR, which is powered by Apple A12 Bionic and came out 3 years and 2 months before. 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 6
  • Has 2.7x more RAM: 8GB versus 3GB
  • Comes with 1672 mAh larger battery capacity: 4614 vs 2942 mAh
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Delivers 32% higher peak brightness (842 against 640 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (990K versus 762K)
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XR
  • Shows 10% longer battery life (20:45 vs 18:55 hours)
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 6 and Apple iPhone XR 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 68% Yes
Yes, we think most users will notice the upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone XR to Google Pixel 6 makes sense and should feel noticeably better in daily use.
Main improvements: camera, connectivity, and display.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in gaming.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 6
vs
iPhone XR

Display

Type OLED IPS LCD
Size 6.4 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 828 x 1792 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 411 ppi 326 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 625 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 800 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 83.3% 79.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 -
Display tests
RGB color space 99.8% 100%
PWM 397 Hz Not detected
Response time 5 ms 32.8 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 1920:1
Screen space comparison
Pixel 6
6.4″ (20:9 ratio) = 15.3 in2
iPhone XR
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 6 +32%
842 nits
iPhone XR
640 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 158.6 mm (6.24 inches) 150.9 mm (5.94 inches)
Width 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) 75.7 mm (2.98 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.3 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 207 g (7.3 oz) 194 g (6.84 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Blue, Yellow White, Black, Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 6 +4%
83.3%
iPhone XR
79.9%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 6 and Apple iPhone XR
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor Apple A12 Bionic
Max clock 2800 MHz 2490 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
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		 - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
L3 cache 4 MB -
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Tensor Processing Unit Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Mali-G78 MP20 Apple A12 Bionic GPU
GPU shading units 640 256
GPU clock 850 MHz 1125 MHz
FLOPS ~1085.4 GFLOPS ~576 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 6 and Apple iPhone XR
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 6 +23%
1438
iPhone XR
1167
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 6 +12%
3372
iPhone XR
3020
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 6
7318
iPhone XR
n/a
Compute Score (GPU) 7318 -
Single-core score 1438 1167
Multi-core score 3372 3020
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 6 +30%
990213
iPhone XR
762903
CPU 381525 274052
GPU 162416 -
Memory 178605 119287
UX 267677 369464
Total score 990213 762903
Samples [11 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 6
704
iPhone XR
n/a
Stability 63% -
Graphics test 5 FPS -
Graphics score 704 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Pixel 6 +47%
1907
iPhone XR
1294
Stability 60% 68%
Graphics test 11 FPS 7 FPS
Graphics score 1907 1294
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 6
10273
iPhone XR
n/a
Web score 7877 -
Video editing 6652 -
Photo editing 18508 -
Data manipulation 10427 -
Writing score 13858 -
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 6
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-13 (Vladi♂️Slave♂️)AnTuTu 121281085
📘 2026-08-17 -> Paranoid _AntostAnTuTu 11930801
📘 2026-04-05 (Ethan Winters)AnTuTu 11927237
📘 2026-02-25 (Adora)AnTuTu 11933576
📘 2026-01-29 (Stormchasing)AnTuTu 11990213
Add View all (18)
Apple iPhone XR
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-05-02 (sp_ayz1)AnTuTu 11762903
Add View all (1)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 3 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 17.6 GB 11.1 GB

Battery

Capacity 4614 mAh 2942 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 15 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (21 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (41% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:53 hr 1:43 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:07 hr 08:01 hr
Watching video 13:13 hr 11:59 hr
Gaming 05:02 hr 04:34 hr
Standby 85 hr 106 hr
General battery life
Pixel 6
18:55 hr
iPhone XR +10%
20:45 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Quad 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° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.8
Focal length 25 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung GN1 Apple iSight X
Sensor size 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.2 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP -
Aperture f/2.2 -
Focal length 17 mm -
Sensor Sony IMX386 Exmor RS -
Sensor size 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization Digital -

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 6 +32%
136
iPhone XR
103
Video quality
Pixel 6 +39%
133
iPhone XR
96
Generic main camera score
Pixel 6 +25%
126
iPhone XR
101
Bokeh 65 -
Preview 65 -
Zoom 79 -
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 6 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 8 megapixels 7 megapixels
Image resolution 3840 x 2160 3088 x 2316
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 24 mm 32 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Pixel 6
129
iPhone XR
n/a
Photo 130 -
Video 127 -

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 Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.2 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.1 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- 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
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 12
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 6
86.3 dB
iPhone XR +1%
87.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced October 2021 September 2018
Release date October 2021 October 2018
Launch price (MSRP) $600 $750
Successor - Google Pixel 10 - Apple iPhone 11
SAR (head) - 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) - 0.99 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
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 6 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
47 (82.5%)
10 (17.5%)
Total votes: 57

Related comparisons

1. Apple iPhone XR vs Apple iPhone 11 (3)
2. Apple iPhone XR vs Apple iPhone 13
3. Apple iPhone XR vs Apple iPhone 12
4. Apple iPhone XR vs Apple iPhone 16
5. Apple iPhone XR vs Apple iPhone 16e (1)
6. Apple iPhone XR vs Apple iPhone XS
7. Google Pixel 6 vs Google Pixel 6a (2)
8. Google Pixel 6 vs Google Pixel 6 Pro (1)
9. Google Pixel 6 vs Google Pixel 7
10. Google Pixel 6 vs Apple iPhone 11 (2)
Compare other phones (860+)

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
EnglishРусский