Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 8 vs Pixel 4a 5G – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 8 vs 4a 5G

69 out of 100
Google Pixel 8
VS
48 out of 100
Google Pixel 4a 5G
Google Pixel 8
Google Pixel 4a 5G

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.2-inch Google Pixel 8 (with Google Tensor G3) that was released on October 4, 2023, against the Google Pixel 4a 5G, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and came out 3 years 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

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • 2.2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1443K versus 641K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 109% higher peak brightness (1458 against 697 nits)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 18W
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 14
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
  • The phone is 3 years newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 4a 5G
  • Shows 9% longer battery life (21:22 vs 19:39 hours)
  • Weighs 19 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 8 and 4a 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
πŸ“± Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 87% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Google Pixel 4a 5G to Google Pixel 8 is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: performance, display, and gaming.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 8
vs
Pixel 4a 5G

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.2 inches 6.2 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 428 ppi 413 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 700 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1400 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 82.9%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.2% 96.9%
PWM 170 Hz 250 Hz
Response time 3 ms 6.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 8 +109%
1458 nits
Pixel 4a 5G
697 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 150.5 mm (5.93 inches) 153.9 mm (6.06 inches)
Width 70.8 mm (2.79 inches) 74 mm (2.91 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.2 mm (0.32 inches)
Weight 187 g (6.6 oz) 168 g (5.93 oz)
Waterproof IP68 No
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors Black, Gray, Rose gold Black
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 8 +5%
87.1%
Pixel 4a 5G
82.9%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 4a 5G
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
Max clock 3000 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 9 (1 + 4 + 4) 8 (1 + 1 + 6)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3		 - 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)
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Hexagon 696
GPU
Graphics Immortalis-G715s MC10 Adreno 620
GPU shading units 896 384
GPU clock 890 MHz 750 MHz
FLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS ~480 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 4a 5G
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 8 +120%
1722
Pixel 4a 5G
781
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 8 +139%
4458
Pixel 4a 5G
1867
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 8
n/a
Pixel 4a 5G
1127
Compute Score (GPU) - 1127
Single-core score 1722 781
Multi-core score 4458 1867
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 8 +125%
1443431
Pixel 4a 5G
641913
CPU 535125 250203
GPU 387735 68395
Memory 186665 131854
UX 333906 191461
Total score 1443431 641913
Samples [10 tests] [2 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 73% -
Graphics test 7 FPS -
Graphics score 971 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 8
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-28 (asfiii-malik)AnTuTu 111515235
πŸ“˜ 2026-08-28 (asfiii-baloch)AnTuTu 111515235
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-04 (reazz)AnTuTu 111356451
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-29 -> tonymennyAnTuTu 111446448
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-16 (Quan)AnTuTu 111479583
Add View all (14)
Google Pixel 4a 5G
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-07 (Gruk)AnTuTu 11641913
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-06 (Gruk)AnTuTu 11641913
πŸ“˜ 2025-02-28 (ArfGox)Geekbench 6 GPU1127
πŸ“˜ 2025-02-28 (ArfGox)Geekbench 6 CPU781 / 1867
Add View all (4)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 4200 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 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 14)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 14 GB 14.8 GB
OS updates 7 years -
Security updates 7 years -

Battery

Capacity 4575 mAh 3885 mAh
Max charge power 27 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (18 W) No
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (56% in 30 min) Yes (45% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 1:40 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:08 hr 08:15 hr
Watching video 14:06 hr 14:05 hr
Gaming 04:49 hr 05:16 hr
Standby 81 hr 100 hr
General battery life
Pixel 8
19:39 hr
Pixel 4a 5G +9%
21:22 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4000 x 3000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual 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 126Β° 107Β°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12.2 MP
2) Ultrawide: 16 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12.2 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.7
Focal length 25 mm 27 mm
Sensor Samsung GNV Sony IMX363
Sensor size 1/1.31" (β‰ˆ 0.76 inch) 1/2.55" (β‰ˆ 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
Sensor Sony IMX386 Exmor RS -
Sensor size 1/2.9" (β‰ˆ 0.34 inch) -
Pixel size 1.25 micron 1 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 -
Preview 64 -
Zoom 129 -
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 8 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10.5 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 21 mm 24 mm
Sensor - CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1" (β‰ˆ 0.32 inch) 1/4" (β‰ˆ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) 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
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.1
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, 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
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 20
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 8
89 dB
Pixel 4a 5G +2%
90.5 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced October 2023 September 2020
Release date October 2023 November 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $699 $460
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 -
*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 8 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
7 (77.8%)
2 (22.2%)
Total votes: 9

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