Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Google Pixel 7a
85
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 (with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy) that was released on February 1, 2023, against the Google Pixel 7a, which is powered by Google Tensor G2 and came out 3 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- 82% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1364K versus 748K)
- Shows 17% longer battery life (34:29 vs 29:33 hours)
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Delivers 12% higher peak brightness (1207 against 1080 nits)
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Thinner bezels – 6.3% more screen real estate
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 7a
- Comes with 485 mAh larger battery capacity: 4385 vs 3900 mAh
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
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Value for money
You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Promotion
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 425 ppi | 429 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 90 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 700 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1750 nits | 1300 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.1% | 81.8% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 98.9% | 98.4% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 218 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) | 152 mm (5.98 inches) |
| Width | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) | 72.9 mm (2.87 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) | 9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 168 g (5.93 oz) | 193.5 g (6.83 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP67 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | - |
| Rear material | Glass | Plastic |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow | White, Gray, Blue, Orange |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy | Google Tensor G2 |
| Max clock | 3360 MHz | 2850 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.35 GHz: Cortex-A78 - 2 cores at 2.85 GHz: Cortex-X1 |
| L3 cache | 8 MB | 4 MB |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 740 | Mali-G710 MP7 |
| GPU shading units | 2560 | 672 |
| GPU clock | 719 MHz | 850 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3481.6 GFLOPS | ~1142.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 366724 | 232766 |
| GPU | 551228 | 187707 |
| Memory | 192220 | 160960 |
| UX | 247673 | 162802 |
| Total score | 1364479 | 748569 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 34.3 °C | 50.8 °C |
| Stability | 60% | 65% |
| Graphics test | 72 FPS | 37 FPS |
| Graphics score | 12033 | 6343 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 13647 | 7662 |
| Video editing | 7797 | 6390 |
| Photo editing | 34238 | 19572 |
| Data manipulation | 12529 | 10210 |
| Writing score | 19579 | 15268 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128, 256, 512 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | UFS 3.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 13 | Android 13 |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | Stock Android |
| OS size | 29.7 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 3900 mAh | 4385 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (10 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (20% in 36 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:16 hr | 1:57 hr |
| Web browsing | 12:15 hr | 11:05 hr |
| Watching video | 15:00 hr | 15:28 hr |
| Gaming | 05:56 hr | 05:16 hr |
| Standby | 111 hr | 73 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 64 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8160 x 6120 | 9000 x 7000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) | 2 (64 MP + 13 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/1.57", Samsung S5KGN3 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 64 MP - Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 0.8 micron - Sensor: 1/1.73", Sony IMX787 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 10 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 70 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.94", Samsung S5K3K1 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
- 13 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.06", Sony IMX712 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Google Pixel 7a from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 13 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 26 mm | - |
| Pixel size | 1.12 microns | - |
| Sensor type | ISOCELL CMOS | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.24" | - |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 30 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 6E (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 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 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 | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | February 2023 | May 2023 |
| Release date | February 2023 | May 2023 |
| SAR (head) | 0.96 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 1.3 W/kg | - |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - 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 |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*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 Samsung Galaxy S23 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 45