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Google Pixel 4a vs Apple iPhone 12

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Google Pixel 4a vs Apple iPhone 12

54 out of 100
Google Pixel 4a
VS
71 out of 100
Apple iPhone 12
Google Pixel 4a
Apple iPhone 12

Here we compared two smartphones: the 5.81-inch Google Pixel 4a (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G) that was released on August 3, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

  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 4a
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Comes with 325 mAh larger battery capacity: 3140 vs 2815 mAh
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
  • Delivers 25% higher peak brightness (805 against 646 nits)
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Weighs 21 grams less
  • Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • 3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1061K versus 359K)
  • Shows 21% longer battery life (32:27 vs 26:51 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Handles wireless charging up to 7.5W
  • Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Google
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • Slow-motion recording at 240FPS
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 4a and Apple iPhone 12 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

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 4a
vs
iPhone 12

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 5.81 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 443 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 700 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10 Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 83.3% 86%
Display features - Always-On Display - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 95.3% 99.4%
PWM 255 Hz 226 Hz
Response time 6.2 ms 16 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 4a +25%
805 nits
iPhone 12
646 nits

Design and build

Height 144 mm (5.67 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 69.4 mm (2.73 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 143 g (5.04 oz) 164 g (5.78 oz)
Waterproof No IP68
Rear material Plastic Glass
Frame material Plastic Metal
Colors Black White, Black, Blue, Green, Red
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Tests of Google Pixel 4a and Apple iPhone 12 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 2200 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 470 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Kryo 470 Gold (Cortex-A76) 		- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm
Lithography process 8 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Adreno 618 Apple A14 GPU
GPU shading units 256 256
GPU clock 825 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~422.4 GFLOPS ~654.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 4a
685
iPhone 12 +185%
1953
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 4a
1834
iPhone 12 +175%
5038
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
Pixel 4a
359268
iPhone 12 +196%
1061696
CPU 115287 221376
GPU 70626 336882
Memory 78602 136582
UX 92505 363783
Total score 359268 1061696
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Pixel 4a
1003
iPhone 12 +658%
7603
Max surface temperature 41.4 °C 41.2 °C
Stability 99% 77%
Graphics test 6 FPS 45 FPS
Graphics score 1003 7603

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64, 128, 256 GB
Storage type UFS 2.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17)
ROM Stock Android -
OS size 15 GB 7 GB

Battery

Capacity 3140 mAh 2815 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 25 min) Yes (58% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:27 hr 1:30 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:45 hr 11:23 hr
Watching video 11:16 hr 12:11 hr
Gaming 04:05 hr 05:05 hr
Standby 99 hr 119 hr
General battery life
Pixel 4a
26:51 hr
iPhone 12 +21%
32:27 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12.2 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4000 x 3000 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Quad LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 120 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1 (12.2 MP) 2 (12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7
- Focal length: 27 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS)
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support 		- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 4a from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 8 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3264 x 2448 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 24 mm 23 mm
Pixel size 1.12 microns -
Sensor type CMOS BSI CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.8" -
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- 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 5.1 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C No
USB version 3.1 -
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG 		- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC * Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
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 * 15 18
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack Yes No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 4a +6%
86 dB
iPhone 12
81.1 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced August 2020 October 2020
Release date October 2020 October 2020
SAR (head) 1.37 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 1.39 W/kg 0.99 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
* 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 Apple iPhone 12 is definitely a better buy.

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