Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone 12 mini
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Google Pixel 6a (with Google Tensor) that was released on May 11, 2022, against the Apple iPhone 12 mini, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 19 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6a
- Comes with 2183 mAh larger battery capacity: 4410 vs 2227 mAh
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Shows 31% longer battery life (32:23 vs 24:46 hours)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Delivers 39% higher peak brightness (879 against 632 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- 13% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (769K versus 682K)
- Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
- The phone is 1-year and 7-months newer
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 mini
- Supports wireless charging up to 7.5W
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Google
- 11% higher pixel density (476 vs 429 PPI)
- Better grip in hands – the body is 7.6 mm narrower
- Weighs 43 grams less
- 17% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1600 and 1363 points
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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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.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 5.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 429 ppi | 476 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1100 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 83% | 85.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 96.9% | - |
| PWM | 240 Hz | - |
| Response time | 3 ms | - |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 152.2 mm (5.99 inches) | 131.5 mm (5.18 inches) |
| Width | 71.8 mm (2.83 inches) | 64.2 mm (2.53 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 178 g (6.28 oz) | 135 g (4.76 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Green | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Google Tensor | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2800 MHz | 3100 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 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 4 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Mali-G78 MP20 | Apple GPU |
| GPU clock | 848 MHz | - |
| FLOPS | ~2171 GFLOPS | - |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 208269 | 188306 |
| GPU | 305908 | 290180 |
| Memory | 110039 | 73618 |
| UX | 144068 | 126263 |
| Total score | 769156 | 682618 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 41.4 °C | - |
| Stability | 55% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 37 FPS | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | 6275 | 7670 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 6092 | - |
| Video editing | 5676 | - |
| Photo editing | 17494 | - |
| Data manipulation | 9105 | - |
| Writing score | 15469 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.4) |
| ROM | Stock Android | - |
| OS size | 14.3 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4410 mAh | 2227 mAh |
| Charge power | 18 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (42% in 30 min) | Yes (60% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:51 hr | 1:29 hr |
| Web browsing | 11:03 hr | 09:23 hr |
| Watching video | 16:44 hr | 09:46 hr |
| Gaming | 06:15 hr | 04:56 hr |
| Standby | 91 hr | 78 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12.2 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 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° | 120° |
| Lenses | 2 (12.2 MP + 12 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: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 17 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/2.9", Sony IMX386 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX503 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 6a from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 mini from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3840 x 2160 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 24 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | - |
| Sensor type | Exmor-RS CMOS | 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
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| 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 | No |
| USB version | 3.1 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | May 2022 | October 2020 |
| Release date | June 2022 | November 2020 |
| 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 |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, battery life, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Google Pixel 6a. But if the software, camera, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 12 mini.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 131