Home Phone comparison Google Pixel 9a and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra - Which is better?

Google Pixel 9a vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

76 out 100
Google Pixel 9a
VS
95 out 100
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Google Pixel 9a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Compared 2 smartphones : Google Pixel 9a Manufactured in April, 2025, with display 6.3 with chipsetGoogle Tensor G4, vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Manufactured in March, 2026with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. 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
  • Lighter design: 186g vs 214g
  • Higher battery capacity: 5100mAh vs 5000mAh
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
  • Larger display: 6.9in
  • Higher pixel density: 500ppi
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 6.0 vs 5.3
  • Supports Dolby Atmos

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB		 - 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB
- 16/1024 GB

Review

Key Specs Google Pixel 9a and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
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
Galaxy S26 Ultra

Display

Display quality comparison
Type POLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.3 in 6.9 in
Resolution 1080x2424 pixels 1440x3120 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 422 ppi 500 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 2700 nits 1500 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes, HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate n/a 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5 % 91.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC dimming
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
2811 nits

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 154.7 mm (6.09 in) 163.6 mm (6.44 in)
Width 73.3 mm (2.89 in) 78.1 mm (3.07 in)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 in) 7.9 mm (0.31 in)
Weight 186 g (6.56 oz) 214 g (7.55 oz)
Water resistance IP68 IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Metal Metal
Colors - White
- Black
- Red
- Purple		 - White
- Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Google Pixel 9a
84.5 %
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
91.4 %

Performance

Testing Google Pixel 9a and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Google Tensor G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Max Frequency 3100 MHz 4740 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/1.92 (Cortex-A520)
- 3/2.6 (Cortex-A720)
- 1/3.1 (Cortex-X4)		 - 6/3.63 (Oryon Gen 3 Performance)
- 2/4.61 (Oryon Gen 3 Prime)
Process Samsung TSMC
Transistor Size 4 nm 3 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon
Graphics Mali-G715 MP7 Adreno 840
GPU Cores 896 1536
GPU Frequency 940 MHz 1200 MHz
FLOPS 1792 GFLOPS 3686.4 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Google Pixel 9a
1677
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Google Pixel 9a
4067
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
11259
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)16773753
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)406711259
Geekbench Compute (GPU)778428787
Sources: Geekbench v6 [Google Pixel 9a], [Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra]
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Google Pixel 9a
991079
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
3720219
CPU1617371094797
GPU4648651447696
Memory191750425113
UX172727752613
NanoReview Score9910793720219

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB 12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 4200 MHz n/a
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB		256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 4.1
Memory CardNoNo

Software

OS Android 15 Android 16
UI Skin Stock Android One UI 8.5

Battery

Volume 5100 mAh 5000 mAh
Max Charging Power 23 W 60 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse Charging n/a Yes, (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (84% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time n/a 0:43 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
28:50
Web Browsingn/a10:12 h
Video Playbackn/a21:39 h
Gamesn/a06:42 h
Standby Moden/a130 h

Main camera

Matrix 48 MP 200 MP
Photo resolution 8000x6000 pixels 16320x12240 pixels
Zoom Digital 141
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 120 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 240 fps)
Slow Motion 240 fps (1080p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 50 MP
Ultra-wide: 13 MP		 Standard: 200 MP
Telephoto: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 50 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix50 MP200 MP
Aperturef/1.7f/1.4
Focal length25 mm23 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5KHP2
Sensor size1/1.21/1.3 (0.77)
Pixel size0.8 μm0.6 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Laser autofocus
StabilizationOpticalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a50 MP
Aperturen/af/2.9
Focal lengthn/a111 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX854
Sensor sizen/a1/2.52 (0.4)
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix13 MP50 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/1.9
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5KJN3
Sensor size1/3.11/2.5 (0.4)
Pixel sizen/a0.7 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
160
Video quality
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
153
Overall camera score
Google Pixel 9a
n/a
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
157
Bokehn/a165
Sources: DxOMark [Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra]

Front camera

Matrix 13 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 4032x3024 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 20 mm 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung ISOCELL S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.1 1/3.2 (0.31)
Pixel size 1.12 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus n/a Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
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 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo		 - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No No
Connectivity
SIM Count*11
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM Moden/aDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM/EDGE: Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsUMTS/HSPA+/HSDPA 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)
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/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B29/B30/B38/B39/B40/B41/B48/B66/B71)
5G SupportYesYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack No No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2025 yr February, 2026 yr
Release Date April, 2025 yr March, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 499 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 1299
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor		 - Hall 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 Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra the clear winner in this comparison.

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