Apple not too long ago made its grand (re)entrance to the mid-range smartphone market with the iPhone 16e, changing the older iPhone SE variant. After all, now the one factor to do is see the way it compares to the most effective mid-range smartphones round, the newly launched Google Pixel 9a.
Each telephones present lots of worth for these searching for a flagship-like expertise for a a lot lower cost, however there are advantages and downsides 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 can it’s?
Worth and specs
The Pixel 9a is a good worth.
Credit score: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
In the case of worth, there’s a clearly superior possibility right here. The Pixel 9a begins at $499, whereas the iPhone 16e begins at $599. Whereas $100 is not the largest distinction on the planet of flagships, it is a big quantity for anybody out there for a funds telephone.
Here is what you get within the Pixel 9a for that worth:
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 well profitable the worth sport thus far. 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, gives 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 funds 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 foul factor.
The iPhone 16e, for its half, seems to be like a barely older iPhone mannequin. It does 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 house 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 develop 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 when you like your telephone to lie utterly flat on a desk, however it does make the Pixel 9a appear like a generic telephone prop in a TV present.
Mashable Mild Velocity
That stated, the Pixel 9a gives 4 colours, twice as many because the iPhone 16e. There are black and white choices, in addition to one referred to as “Iris” and a beautiful pink colorway that needs to 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 will not be solely barely greater (although that may truly be problematic for folk with smaller fingers), however its refresh charge 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 remains to be so behind the occasions on this difficulty in every thing apart from iPhone Professional fashions. You additionally stand up to 2,700 nits of peak brightness, which makes it nice for outside use.
Apple’s panel is not unhealthy, by any means. Its 2532×1170 decision is barely greater than what Pixel 9a gives (2424×1080), and it’s an OLED display with HDR assist. Nonetheless, with simply 1,200 nits of peak brightness, it probably will not look nearly as good below daylight because the Pixel 9a.
Efficiency
Apple went with USB-C for this one, which is good.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
In the case of efficiency, there actually is not a shedding alternative 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 might 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. Nonetheless, on a sensible stage, both telephone will do exactly advantageous 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 in all probability last more when you turned the refresh charge right down to 60Hz or took different power-saving measures. I by no means instantly examined the iPhone 16e myself, however our reviewer Stan Schroeder famous that he was capable of 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 offered on Pixel 9a. Nonetheless, I would not describe the Pixel 9a’s battery as “unhealthy” by any means. It is simply much less good.
Digital camera
The iPhone 16e takes good nighttime pictures.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable
Each the iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a have equivalent (when it comes to megapixels) 48MP primary shooters on the rear facet. Nonetheless, 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 funds telephones, cameras are the place the largest compromises are to be anticipated. That stated, you possibly can positively get nice-looking pictures 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 does not have this function in any respect, because of the lack of an ultra-wide lens.
On condition that Google’s telephone has that additional lens and no less than one function the iPhone 16e cannot declare, I am inclined to assume the Pixel 9a has a greater digital camera system.
