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

Google Pixel 8a vs Pixel 8

66 out of 100
Google Pixel 8a
VS
69 out of 100
Google Pixel 8
Google Pixel 8a
Google Pixel 8

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 8, which is powered by the same chip and came out 7 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 8a
  • The phone is 7 months newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Thinner bezels – 5.8% more screen real estate
  • Reverse charging feature
  • 15% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1722 and 1491 points

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 8a and Pixel 8 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
πŸ“± 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
8 / 128 GB
66.7
(Good)
Value Index
41.8
(Average)

Tests and specifications

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

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.2 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 430 ppi 428 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1400 nits 1400 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, HDR10+
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 81.3% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.1% 99.2%
PWM 120 Hz 170 Hz
Response time 2 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 8a +5%
1513 nits
Pixel 8
1447 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 152.1 mm (5.99 inches) 150.5 mm (5.93 inches)
Width 72.7 mm (2.86 inches) 70.8 mm (2.79 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 188 g (6.63 oz) 187 g (6.6 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP68
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Green Black, Gray, Rose gold
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Good (3.52/5) -
Drop resistance Excellent (A) Β· 270 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 8a
81.3%
Pixel 8 +7%
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 8a and Google Pixel 8
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G3 Google Tensor G3
Max clock 3000 MHz 3000 MHz
CPU cores 9 (1 + 4 + 4) 9 (1 + 4 + 4)
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		 - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Yes
GPU
Graphics Immortalis-G715s MC10 Immortalis-G715s MC10
GPU shading units 896 896
GPU clock 890 MHz 890 MHz
FLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 8a and Google Pixel 8
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 8a
1491
Pixel 8 +15%
1722
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 8a
3584
Pixel 8 +24%
4458
Compute Score (GPU)
Pixel 8a
8490
Pixel 8
n/a
Compute Score (GPU) 8490 -
Single-core score 1491 1722
Multi-core score 3584 4458
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 8a
1433693
Pixel 8 +1%
1443431
CPU 546093 535125
GPU 391230 387735
Memory 195569 186665
UX 300801 333906
Total score 1433693 1443431
Samples [6 tests] [10 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Pixel 8a +2%
990
Pixel 8
971
Stability 67% 73%
Graphics test 7 FPS 7 FPS
Graphics score 990 971
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 8a
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-28 (adismsha)AnTuTu 111471866
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseGeekbench 6 GPU8490
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseGeekbench 6 CPU1491 / 3584
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-22 -> jpara_diseAnTuTu 111397797
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-17 (jpara_dise)AnTuTu 111397797
Add View all (9)
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)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR5X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 18.4 GB 14 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4492 mAh 4575 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 27 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (18 W)
Reverse charging No Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (33% in 30 min) Yes (56% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:09 hr 1:16 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:15 hr 08:08 hr
Watching video 13:00 hr 14:06 hr
Gaming 04:54 hr 04:49 hr
Standby 86 hr 81 hr
General battery life
Pixel 8a
19:43 hr
Pixel 8
19:39 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 64 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 9000 x 7000 8192 x 6144
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 120Β° 126Β°
Lenses 1) Standard: 64 MP
2) Ultrawide: 13 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 64 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.7
Focal length 26 mm 25 mm
Sensor Sony IMX787 Samsung GNV
Sensor size 1/1.73" (β‰ˆ 0.58 inch) 1/1.31" (β‰ˆ 0.76 inch)
Pixel size 0.8 micron 1.2 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Laser autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 13 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Sensor Sony IMX712 Sony IMX386 Exmor RS
Sensor size 1/3.06" (β‰ˆ 0.33 inch) 1/2.9" (β‰ˆ 0.34 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.25 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Pixel 8a
141
Pixel 8 +8%
152
Video quality
Pixel 8a
128
Pixel 8 +16%
148
Generic main camera score
Pixel 8a
136
Pixel 8 +9%
148
Bokeh 60 70
Preview 71 64
Zoom 126 129
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 8a from DxOMark Photo samples of Google Pixel 8 from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 13 megapixels 10.5 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 3648 x 2736
Aperture - f/2.2
Focal length - 21 mm
Sensor size - 1/3.1" (β‰ˆ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size - 1.22 micron
Autofocus - No
Stabilization - Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
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 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, 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 20
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
Pixel 8a
89.3 dB
Pixel 8
89 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced May 2024 October 2023
Release date May 2024 October 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $499 $699
Successor - Google Pixel 10a - Google Pixel 10
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 Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Google Pixel 8. It has a better camera, performance, and design.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
218 (27.6%)
571 (72.4%)
Total votes: 789

Related comparisons

1. Google Pixel 8a vs Google Pixel 9a
2. Google Pixel 8a vs Google Pixel 7
3. Google Pixel 8a vs Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
4. Google Pixel 8a vs Google Pixel 7 Pro
5. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 9a (5)
6. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 8 Pro (1)
7. Google Pixel 8 vs Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
8. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 7 Pro (3)
9. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 9
10. Google Pixel 8 vs Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
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