Google Pixel 3 vs Apple iPhone 12
49
out of 100
VS
71
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.5-inch Google Pixel 3 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845) that was released on October 1, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 25 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 Google Pixel 3
- Modern USB Type-C port
- Fingerprint scanner
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
- Weighs 16 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
- 3.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1061K versus 338K)
- Shows 58% longer battery life (32:27 vs 20:31 hours)
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 62% higher peak brightness (646 against 399 nits)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Google
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A14 Bionic
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
- Thinner bezels – 7.13% more screen real estate
- The phone is 2-years and 1-month newer
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.5 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2160 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 18:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 439 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 420 nits | 625 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 78.87% | 86% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.6% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 245 Hz | 226 Hz |
| Response time | 4.4 ms | 16 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 145.6 mm (5.73 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 68.2 mm (2.69 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 148 g (5.22 oz) | 164 g (5.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Pink | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, rear | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2500 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (4 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Gold (Cortex-A75) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 630 | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 512 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 710 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~727 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 106221 | 221376 |
| GPU | 68184 | 336882 |
| Memory | 74197 | 136582 |
| UX | 86932 | 363783 |
| Total score | 338061 | 1061696 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39.8 °C | 41.2 °C |
| Stability | 93% | 77% |
| Graphics test | 9 FPS | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | 1647 | 7603 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 6935 | - |
| Video editing | 6412 | - |
| Photo editing | 18134 | - |
| Data manipulation | 6772 | - |
| Writing score | 9617 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 1866 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64, 128 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 2.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| ROM | Stock Android | - |
| OS size | 12 GB | 7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 2915 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 18 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi (10 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 40 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:00 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 06:22 hr | 11:23 hr |
| Watching video | 09:07 hr | 12:11 hr |
| Gaming | 03:04 hr | 05:05 hr |
| Standby | 76 hr | 119 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12.2 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 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 | 240 FPS (720p) | 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/1.8 - Focal length: 28 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 3 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 28 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.4 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | BSI CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" | - |
| 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 |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 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 | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 16 | 18 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | October 2018 | October 2020 |
| Release date | November 2018 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 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.
