Home Phone comparison Google Pixel 9a and Google Pixel 6 - Which is better?

Google Pixel 9a vs Google Pixel 6

76 out 100
Google Pixel 9a
VS
65 out 100
Google Pixel 6
Google Pixel 9a
Google Pixel 6

Compared 2 smartphones : Google Pixel 9a Manufactured in April, 2025, with display 6.3 with chipsetGoogle Tensor G4, vs Google Pixel 6, Manufactured in October, 2021 with chipsetGoogle Tensor. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery Life
  6. Cameras
  7. Comments (0)

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Google Pixel 9a
  • Higher pixel density: 422ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 186g vs 207g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5100mAh vs 4614mAh
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.3 vs 5.2
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 3.1
  • Supports DisplayPort
Reasons to choose Google Pixel 6
  • Larger display: 6.4in

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB

Review

Key Specs Google Pixel 9a and Google Pixel 6
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison
Smartphones:
Google Pixel 9a
vs
Google Pixel 6

Display

Display quality comparison
Type POLED OLED
Size 6.3 in 6.4 in
Resolution 1080x2424 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
Pixel density 422 ppi 411 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 2700 nits 500 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10+
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5 % 83.3 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
843 nits
sRGB gamutn/a99.8 %
PWM (Flicker)n/a397 Hz
Response timen/a5 ms
Contrastn/a∞ Infinite
Sources: NotebookCheck [Google Pixel 6]

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 154.7 mm (6.09 in) 158.6 mm (6.24 in)
Width 73.3 mm (2.89 in) 74.8 mm (2.94 in)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 in) 8.9 mm (0.35 in)
Weight 186 g (6.56 oz) 207 g (7.3 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Red
- Purple		 - Black
- Blue
- Yellow
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Google Pixel 9a
84.5 %
Google Pixel 6
83.3 %

Performance

Testing Google Pixel 9a and Google Pixel 6 In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Google Tensor
Max Frequency 3100 MHz 2800 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 2 + 4)
Architecture - 4/1.92 (Cortex-A520)
- 3/2.6 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.1 (Cortex-X4)		 - 4/1.8 (Cortex A55)
- 2/2.25 (Cortex A76)
- 2/2.8 (Cortex-X1)
Process Samsung Samsung
Transistor Size 4 nm 5 nm
Neural Processor Yes Tensor Processing Unit
Graphics Mali-G715 MP7 Mali-G78 MP20
GPU Cores 896 1280
GPU Frequency 940 MHz 848 MHz
FLOPS 1792 GFLOPS 2170.9 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Google Pixel 9a
1677
Google Pixel 6
1363
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Google Pixel 9a
4067
Google Pixel 6
3100
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)16771363
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)40673100
Geekbench Compute (GPU)7784n/a
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Google Pixel 9a], [Google Pixel 6]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Google Pixel 9a
991079
Google Pixel 6
895119
CPU161737243524
GPU464865308790
Memory191750139643
UX172727203162
NanoReview Score991079895119
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
6379
Max Surface Temp.n/a42.1 °C
Stabilityn/a56 %
Graphics Testn/a38 fps
Graphics Scoren/a6379
Sources: 3DMark [Google Pixel 6]
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
10663
Writing scoren/a14383
Web scoren/a7690
Video editingn/a6612
Data manipulationn/a10293
NanoReview Scoren/a10663

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory Frequency 4200 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		- 128 GB
- 256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 3.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 12 (Upgradeable to Android 15)
OS Size n/a 17.6 GB
UI Skin Stock Android Stock Android

Battery

Volume 5100 mAh 4614 mAh
Max Charging Power 23 W 30 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (21 W)
Reverse Charging n/a Yes (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (41% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time n/a 1:53 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
18:55
Web Browsingn/a07:07 h
Video Playbackn/a13:13 h
Gamesn/a05:02 h
Standby Moden/a85 h

Main camera

Matrix 48 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 8000x6000 pixels 8192x6144 pixels
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 114 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 13 MP		 Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.7f/1.9
Focal length25 mm25 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung GN1
Sensor size1/1.21/1.31
Pixel size0.8 μm1.2 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Laser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix13 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a17 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX386 Exmor RS
Sensor size1/3.11/2.9
Pixel sizen/a1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
136
Video quality
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
133
Overall camera score
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
126
Bokehn/a65
Previewn/a65
Zoomn/a79
Sources: DxOMark [Google Pixel 6]

Front camera

Matrix 13 MP 8 MP
Photo resolution 4032x3024 pixels 3840x2160 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Focal length 20 mm 24 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1 n/a
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus n/a No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No
Selfie camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
130
Video quality
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
127

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version 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 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes n/a
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*11
SIM TypeNanoNano
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM/EDGE: Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)GSM Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
3G BandsUMTS/HSPA+/HSDPA 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19UMTS/HSPA+ 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B38/B41/B48/B66/B71)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B14/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42/B46/B48/B66/B71)
LTE categoryn/a20
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Google Pixel 6
86.3 dB

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr October, 2021 yr
Release Date April, 2025 yr October, 2021 yr
Launch Price ($) 499 600
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included No No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Google Pixel 9a the clear winner in this comparison.

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