Apple just lately made its grand (re)entrance to the mid-range smartphone market with the iPhone 16e, changing the older iPhone SE variant. In fact, now the one factor to do is see the way it compares to probably the greatest mid-range smartphones round, the newly launched Google Pixel 9a.
Each telephones present loads of worth for these searching for a flagship-like expertise for a a lot cheaper price, however there are advantages and disadvantages to every. Let’s get into it.
Google Pixel 9a vs. iPhone 16e
Two telephones enter, however just one can slot in your pocket. Which is able to it’s?
Worth and specs
The Pixel 9a is a superb worth.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
In terms of value, there’s a clearly superior choice right here. The Pixel 9a begins at $499, whereas the iPhone 16e begins at $599. Whereas $100 is not the most important distinction on the earth of flagships, it is a big quantity for anybody out there for a price range telephone.
This is what you get within the Pixel 9a for that value:
And for $100 extra, that is what the iPhone 16e will get you:
We’ll get into show and efficiency evaluation later, however Google is definitely successful the worth recreation up to now. You get a much bigger and (in some methods) higher show and a much bigger battery for much less cash. Apple, to its credit score, affords extra storage choices, however these will solely make the telephone much more costly; the 512GB iPhone 16e is $899, which makes it not even actually a price range telephone anymore.
Design
Apple saved it easy.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Neither of those telephones are on the reducing fringe of smartphone design, however that is not essentially a nasty factor.
The iPhone 16e, for its half, appears like a barely older iPhone mannequin. It would not have the standalone Dynamic Island cutout on the prime of the show such as you’d see in a latest flagship iPhone, as a substitute going for the traditional notch look. There is not any residence button, which differentiates it from the previous iPhone SE fashions, however there is not one on the Pixel 9a, both. Sadly, it solely is available in two very boring colours: black and white.
Google’s mid-range telephone is barely bolder in its design. Specifically, Google went and eliminated the horizontal rear digital camera bar that had change into such an iconic a part of the Google Pixel look over the previous few years. Now, the rear digital camera is barely noticeable, missing even a bump to make it stand out. That is fairly good for those who like your telephone to lie fully flat on a desk, however it does make the Pixel 9a seem like a generic telephone prop in a TV present.
Mashable Mild Pace
That mentioned, the Pixel 9a affords 4 colours, twice as many because the iPhone 16e. There are black and white choices, in addition to one known as “Iris” and a beautiful pink colorway that must be the one one anybody buys, in my humble opinion.
Show
Google’s show is superior.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
In my eyes, there is a fairly definitive winner within the show class.
Pixel 9a’s show just isn’t solely barely greater (although that may really be problematic for people with smaller fingers), however its refresh price is twice as excessive. Not everybody values this as a lot as I do, however easy scrolling is very good to have on a smartphone, and it is slightly wild that Apple continues to be so behind the instances on this challenge in every thing aside from iPhone Professional fashions. You additionally stand up to 2,700 nits of peak brightness, which makes it nice for out of doors use.
Apple’s panel is not dangerous, by any means. Its 2532×1170 decision is barely larger than what Pixel 9a affords (2424×1080), and it’s an OLED display with HDR assist. Nevertheless, with simply 1,200 nits of peak brightness, it possible will not look pretty much as good beneath daylight because the Pixel 9a.
Efficiency
Apple went with USB-C for this one, which is sweet.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
In terms of efficiency, there actually is not a shedding selection right here.
Each telephones are wonderful when it comes to day-to-day use. Apps load shortly and neither telephone slows down an excessive amount of when there are too many open. I did discover the Pixel 9a getting slightly heat to the contact after extended use, however a case might simply alleviate that.
If you wish to put it in numbers and technically select a winner, it could be Apple. The iPhone 16e’s Geekbench benchmarking metrics are higher than Pixel 9a’s, with Apple netting a 7,423 multi-core rating and Google coming in at simply 4,358. Nevertheless, on a sensible degree, both telephone will do exactly fantastic for you.
Battery life
Each telephones have good battery life.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Battery life is one other space the place you possibly can solely win.
In my testing, the Pixel 9a was kind of a 24-hour gadget between fees, and will most likely last more for those who turned the refresh price all the way down to 60Hz or took different power-saving measures. I by no means immediately examined the iPhone 16e myself, however our reviewer Stan Schroeder famous that he was in a position to go about two days between fees on what he described as “heavy use.”
It is doable, then, that the additional money you pay for the iPhone 16e is getting you a greater battery than what is on the market on Pixel 9a. Nevertheless, I would not describe the Pixel 9a’s battery as “dangerous” by any means. It is simply much less good.
Digicam
The iPhone 16e takes good nighttime photographs.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Each the iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a have an identical (when it comes to megapixels) 48MP major shooters on the rear facet. Nevertheless, Apple solely included the one digital camera lens on the telephone’s bottom, whereas the Pixel 9a additionally has an extra 13MP ultra-wide lens.
Since these are each price range telephones, cameras are the place the most important compromises are to be anticipated. That mentioned, you possibly can positively get nice-looking photographs on both the Pixel 9a or iPhone 16e. One good bonus that the Pixel 9a has over the Pixel 8a is the addition of Macro Focus, which helps you to stand up actual near tiny objects and seize them in nice element. Sadly, the iPhone 16e would not have this function in any respect, because of the lack of an ultra-wide lens.
On condition that Google’s telephone has that further lens and at the very least one function the iPhone 16e cannot declare, I am inclined to assume the Pixel 9a has a greater digital camera system.
