Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5a 5G – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 6 vs 5a 5G

60 out of 100
Google Pixel 6
VS
49 out of 100
Google Pixel 5a 5G
Google Pixel 6
Google Pixel 5a 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.4-inch Google Pixel 6 (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.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
6 / 128 GB
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments (2)

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6
  • 66% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (990K versus 597K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Handles wireless charging up to 21W
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 14
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 18W)
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 5a 5G
  • Shows 24% longer battery life (23:33 vs 18:55 hours)
  • Weighs 24 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 6 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
160.3
(Excellent)
Value Index
82.3
(Good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 6
vs
Pixel 5a 5G

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.4 inches 6.34 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 411 ppi 415 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No 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 83.3% 86.3%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.8% -
PWM 397 Hz -
Response time 5 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 6
840 nits
Pixel 5a 5G +2%
858 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 158.6 mm (6.24 inches) 156.2 mm (6.15 inches)
Width 74.8 mm (2.94 inches) 73.2 mm (2.88 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.8 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 207 g (7.3 oz) 183 g (6.46 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP67
Rear material Glass Metal
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Blue, Yellow Black
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 6
83.3%
Pixel 5a 5G +4%
86.3%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 5a 5G
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 -
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 5 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Tensor Processing Unit Hexagon 696
GPU
Graphics Mali-G78 MP20 Adreno 620
GPU shading units 640 384
GPU clock 850 MHz 750 MHz
FLOPS ~1085.4 GFLOPS ~480 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 5a 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 6 +69%
1438
Pixel 5a 5G
851
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 6 +62%
3372
Pixel 5a 5G
2078
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 6
7318
Pixel 5a 5G
n/a
Compute Score (GPU) 7318 -
Single-core score 1438 851
Multi-core score 3372 2078
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 6 +66%
990213
Pixel 5a 5G
597153
CPU 381525 235764
GPU 162416 68267
Memory 178605 122137
UX 267677 170985
Total score 990213 597153
Samples [11 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 63% -
Graphics test 5 FPS -
Graphics score 704 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Pixel 6 +328%
1907
Pixel 5a 5G
446
Stability 60% 99%
Graphics test 11 FPS 2 FPS
Graphics score 1907 446
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 6 +11%
10273
Pixel 5a 5G
9215
Web score 7877 6739
Video editing 6652 5699
Photo editing 18508 19870
Data manipulation 10427 7976
Writing score 13858 11348
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)
Google Pixel 5a 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-11-15 (Артём)AnTuTu 11597153
Add View all (1)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 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 17) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 17.6 GB -

Battery

Capacity 4614 mAh 4680 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (21 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (41% in 30 min) Yes (42% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:53 hr 1:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:07 hr 09:17 hr
Watching video 13:13 hr 14:15 hr
Gaming 05:02 hr 05:59 hr
Standby 85 hr 114 hr
General battery life
Pixel 6
18:55 hr
Pixel 5a 5G +24%
23:33 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4290 x 2800
Zoom Digital 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 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12.2 MP
2) Ultrawide: 16 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12.2 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.7
Focal length 25 mm 27 mm
Sensor Samsung GN1 Sony IMX363 Exmor RS
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 (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP 16 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 17 mm 24 mm
Sensor Sony IMX386 Exmor RS Sony IMX481
Sensor size 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) 1/3.09" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 1.25 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 65 -
Preview 65 -
Zoom 79 -
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 6 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 8 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3840 x 2160 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.0
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size - 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 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
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 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 No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 6
86.3 dB
Pixel 5a 5G
n/a

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced October 2021 August 2021
Release date October 2021 October 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $600 $449
Successor - Google Pixel 10 - Google Pixel 10a
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 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
63 (39.1%)
98 (60.9%)
Total votes: 161

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User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
Kevin November 19, 2021 at 03:00 AM
The brightness for the 5a is wrong, it's like 450 nits.
0 Reply
Avatar
Sergey November 19, 2021 at 09:15 AM
Tests says that display has brightness 500 nits.
+2 Reply
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