Google Pixel 8a vs Pixel 5
66
out of 100
VS
50
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Google Pixel 8a (with Google Tensor G3) that was released on May 7, 2024, against the Google Pixel 5, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and came out 3 years and 8 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8a
- 2.3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1433K versus 622K)
- Delivers 116% higher peak brightness (1513 against 702 nits)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 14
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- The phone is 3 years and 8 months newer
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 5
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Thinner bezels – 5.5% more screen real estate
- Reverse charging feature
- Weighs 37 grams less
Review
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
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 430 ppi | 432 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 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 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 81.3% | 86.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.1% | 97.4% |
| PWM | 120 Hz | 367 Hz |
| Response time | 2 ms | 5 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) | 144.7 mm (5.7 inches) |
| Width | 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) | 70.4 mm (2.77 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) | 8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 188 g (6.63 oz) | 151 g (5.33 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Plastic | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Green | Black, Green |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, rear |
| Repairability | Good (3.52/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Excellent (A) · 270 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| 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 |
| Graphics | Immortalis-G715s MC10 | Adreno 620 |
| GPU shading units | 896 | 384 |
| GPU clock | 890 MHz | 750 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1594.8 GFLOPS | ~480 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 8490 | - |
| Single-core score | 1491 | 765 |
| Multi-core score | 3584 | 1944 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 546093 | 247674 |
| GPU | 391230 | 68842 |
| Memory | 195569 | 129273 |
| UX | 300801 | 176731 |
| Total score | 1433693 | 622520 |
| Samples | [6 tests] | [2 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 67% | - |
| Graphics test | 7 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 990 | - |
Recent User Tests
Google Pixel 8a
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2025-12-28 (adismsha) | AnTuTu 11 | 1471866 |
| 📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_dise | Geekbench 6 GPU | 8490 |
| 📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_dise | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1491 / 3584 |
| 📘 2025-12-22 -> jpara_dise | AnTuTu 11 | 1397797 |
| 📘 2025-12-17 (jpara_dise) | AnTuTu 11 | 1397797 |
Google Pixel 5
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-04-23 (Guitar91) | AnTuTu 11 | 622520 |
| 📘 2025-11-22 (Artreg) | AnTuTu 11 | 566323 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| 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 | 18.4 GB | 16.6 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | - |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4492 mAh | 4080 mAh |
| Max charge power | 18 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (12 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (33% in 30 min) | Yes (30% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:09 hr | 1:45 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | 08:15 hr | 07:33 hr |
| Watching video | 13:00 hr | 13:33 hr |
| Gaming | 04:54 hr | 04:59 hr |
| Standby | 86 hr | 98 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 64 megapixels | 12.2 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 9000 x 7000 | 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 | 120° | 107° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 64 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP |
1) Standard: 12.2 MP 2) Ultrawide: 16 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 64 MP | 12.2 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 27 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX787 | Sony IMX363 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.73" (≈ 0.58 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 16 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | - | 24 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX712 | Sony IMX481 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/3.09" (≈ 0.32 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 60 | 60 |
| Preview | 71 | 58 |
| Zoom | 126 | 71 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 5 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 13 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | - | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 24 mm |
| Sensor | - | CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | - | No |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | - | 117 |
| Video | - | 142 |
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 | 5.3 | 5 |
| 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 |
| DisplayPort | Yes | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| 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 | 15 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | May 2024 | September 2020 |
| Release date | May 2024 | October 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $499 | $700 |
| Successor | - Google Pixel 10a | - Google Pixel 10 Pro |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.96 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.39 W/kg |
| 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 8a is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 42