Google Pixel 9 vs Apple iPhone 16e

73 out of 100
Google Pixel 9
VS
74 out of 100
Apple iPhone 16e

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.3-inch Google Pixel 9 (with Google Tensor G4) that was released on August 13, 2024, against the Apple iPhone 16e, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 6 months after. 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

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 9
  • Delivers 168% higher peak brightness (2244 against 838 nits)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Reverse charging feature
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
  • Shows 19% longer battery life (26:44 vs 22:26 hours)
  • 92% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3281 and 1707 points
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • Weighs 31 grams less
  • The phone is 6 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 16e 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
12 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
136.1
(Excellent)
Value Index
46.4
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
vs

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.3 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2424 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 422 ppi 457 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2700 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1800 nits 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99% 99.9%
PWM 120 Hz 60 Hz
Response time 1 ms 10 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 9 +168%
2244 nits
838 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 152.8 mm (6.02 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 72 mm (2.83 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 8.5 mm (0.33 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 198 g (6.98 oz) 167 g (5.89 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Green, Pink White, Black
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Repairability Good (3.5/5) Average (2.79/5)
Drop resistance Excellent (A) · 270 drops Good (C) · 90 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
87.1%
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 16e
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Apple A18
Max clock 3100 MHz 4040 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.92 GHz: Cortex-A520
- 3 cores at 2.6 GHz: Cortex-A720
- 1 core at 3.1 GHz: Cortex-X4
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
Manufacturing Samsung TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Mali-G715 MC7 4 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 896 640
GPU clock 940 MHz 1490 MHz
FLOPS ~1684.4 GFLOPS ~1907 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 16e
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1707
iPhone 16e +92%
3281
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
4431
iPhone 16e +81%
8035
Compute Score (GPU)
7536
iPhone 16e +219%
24041
Compute Score (GPU) 7536 24041
Single-core score 1707 3281
Multi-core score 4431 8035
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1561427
1612788
CPU 576617 485100
GPU 410060 445832
Memory 210177 185536
UX 364573 496320
Total score 1561427 1612788
Samples [4 tests] [5 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
1047
iPhone 16e +17%
1226
Stability 74% 82%
Graphics test 8 FPS 9 FPS
Graphics score 1047 1226
3DMark Solar Bay
n/a
5507
Graphics test - 21 FPS
Section 1 - 26 FPS
Section 2 - 21 FPS
Section 3 - 15 FPS
Graphics score - 5507
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
12789
Web score 10043 -
Video editing 7463 -
Photo editing 21077 -
Data manipulation 13349 -
Writing score 15810 -

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 9
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-18 -> Oleg 16 cmAnTuTu 111423579
📘 2026-06-13 (Plotwa)CPU Throttle82%
📘 2026-04-14 (LymXT)AnTuTu 111577137
📘 2025-12-09 (enigma)AnTuTu 111519937
📘 2025-11-28 (W1TRAY)AnTuTu 111561427
Apple iPhone 16e
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy)AnTuTu 111600106
📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user)AnTuTu 111591246
📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose)AnTuTu 111721718
📘 2026-01-14 (Glib)AnTuTu 111656396
📘 2026-01-13 (киря)AnTuTu 111612788

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 4200 MHz -
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 19 GB 24 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4700 mAh 4005 mAh
Max charge power 27 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (12 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (57% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:25 hr 1:50 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 10:01 hr 11:59 hr
Watching video 13:38 hr 15:01 hr
Gaming 05:41 hr 05:04 hr
Standby 98 hr 127 hr
General battery life
22:26 hr
iPhone 16e +19%
26:44 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8160 x 6144 8064 x 6048
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash 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 123° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 48 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.6
Focal length 24 mm 26 mm
Sensor Samsung GNK Sony IMX972
Sensor size 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.2 micron 0.7 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 48 MP -
Aperture f/1.7 -
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) -
Stabilization Digital -

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 75 -
Preview 83 -
Zoom 132 -
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 9 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10.5 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 20 mm 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX714
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) 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 5.3 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
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
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
87.7 dB
88.4 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced August 2024 February 2025
Release date August 2024 February 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $799 $599
Successor - Google Pixel 10 -
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.4 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
Bundled charger Not included Not included
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16e:
    - The smartphone doesn’t have a cinematic mode like the higher-end models in the series.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the performance, gaming, battery life, software, design, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 16e. But if the display, camera, and connectivity are more of a priority – go for the Google Pixel 9.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
67 (50%)
67 (50%)
Total votes: 134

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!