With all of the talk about tariffs driving up prices, the phrase “cheaper” ought to carry consolation to only about anybody. That’s why I’m delighted to share that the cheaper smartphone from Google has arrived, a number of months after Apple launched a considerably cheaper entry-level iPhone — and that each merchandise are superb.
Google this week launched the Pixel 9a, the $500 sibling of its $800 flagship smartphone, the Pixel 9. It competes immediately with the $600 iPhone 16e launched in February, the cheaper model of Apple’s $800 iPhone 16.
Each of the brand new telephones have the staples that folks care most about — nice cameras, good screens, zippy speeds, fashionable software program and lengthy battery life. To chop prices, they omit some fancier extras, like superior digicam options.
Is it a clever thought to avoid wasting bucks, or higher to spend extra on the fancier telephones? To search out out, I strapped on a fanny pack and carried all 4 telephones with me for the final week to run checks.
The upshot: As is commonly the case, you get what you pay for. The $800 telephones are barely higher when it comes to options and efficiency than the cheaper variations, and the $600 iPhone is quicker and has a greater digicam than the $500 Pixel.
However extra essential, the cheaper Pixel and iPhone had been almost indistinguishable from their $800 counterparts in a number of of my checks. In some instances, like battery life, the cheaper telephones had been even higher.
The way forward for telephone costs stays unsure, however prices will in all probability go up. On Wednesday, when President Trump introduced a pause on most “reciprocal” tariffs, he raised tariffs on China, the place many telephones are manufactured. So loads of us might quickly be motivated to compromise and think about cheaper options.
Apple declined to touch upon whether or not it could enhance costs of its iPhones, however analysts estimate that tariffs may drive up the price of some iPhone 16 Professional fashions to anyplace from $1,300 to $2,300. Google stated there have been no deliberate modifications to the $500 worth for the Pixel 9a, however it declined to touch upon whether or not it could amend the worth of its $800 Pixel 9.
The cheaper iPhone and Pixel look almost equivalent to their costlier siblings. Right here’s a rundown of how they evaluate:
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The screens on the telephones are the identical measurement. (The iPhones measure 6.1 diagonal inches, and the Pixels measure 6.3 diagonal inches). The iPhone 16e’s display screen is barely dimmer than the iPhone 16’s, however the distinction is hardly noticeable.
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Each cheaper telephones lack some digicam options discovered on the costlier variations. The Pixel 9a’s digicam sensor is smaller than the Pixel 9’s, that means it would seize much less element and light-weight. The iPhone 16e’s digicam has one digicam lens as an alternative of two, so it could possibly’t create sure forms of particular results, equivalent to “ultrawide” images with a broader discipline of view for scenic photographs of the Grand Canyon.
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Each cheaper telephones are barely much less highly effective than their nicer counterparts. All 4 telephones embrace the identical laptop processors. However the Pixel 9a has much less reminiscence for operating a number of apps on the identical time, and the iPhone 16e has a barely weaker graphics processing unit for operating video games with heavy animation.
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The iPhone 16e lacks the iPhone 16’s MagSafe characteristic, which makes use of a magnet to connect equipment equivalent to energy chargers and wallets to the again of the telephone. The telephone can nonetheless be charged wirelessly, nevertheless, utilizing a slower charging customary referred to as Qi.
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Each telephones can reap the benefits of synthetic intelligence. The iPhone 16e can use Apple Intelligence to summarize textual content, generate photos and take away picture bombers from photos. And the Pixel 9a can run Google’s A.I., together with the Gemini chatbot and comparable picture enhancing instruments. However each corporations are nonetheless creating their A.I. software program, which stays largely unfinished, so this characteristic will not be that essential to most telephone customers.
Battery
Lengthy battery life is excessive on the precedence record for folks shopping for a brand new telephone, and the cheaper Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e are the clear winners right here. They’ve bigger batteries partly as a result of they’ve extra space for them, because the telephones lack some options discovered of their more-expensive counterparts.
The iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a lasted a couple of day and a half with common use, together with net searching, picture capturing and video enjoying, earlier than their batteries had been depleted. The iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 each lasted a couple of day.
Digital camera Checks
The downsides of shopping for cheaper telephones had been most pronounced of their cameras.
I took my corgi, Max, to a park to take images of him in varied lighting situations, together with vibrant daylight, within the shade and in partly shaded areas. On the whole, images taken with each the Pixel 9a and Pixel 9 appeared constantly clear, with correct colours.
However the Pixel 9a’s weaknesses had been seen in tougher lighting situations, equivalent to when Max sat on a shaded path with daylight filtering by means of the bushes. The Pixel 9a struggled to differentiate the sunshine from the shade, and Max appeared blown out by the solar. (The Pixel 9 did high quality on this state of affairs.)
Once I examined the iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 cameras, they excelled in all these checks, and the outcomes had been almost indistinguishable.
Each iPhones outperformed the Pixel telephones in capturing movies. Movies recorded of Max strolling by means of the park had been clearer and smoother on the iPhones; the Pixel telephone’s movies appeared choppier.
So the principle draw back of the cheaper iPhone digicam is just what it could possibly’t do. As a result of the iPhone 16e lacks a second lens, I wasn’t in a position to take an ultrawide shot of Max operating in a discipline of grass.
Velocity
The costlier telephones barely outperformed the cheaper telephones when it comes to velocity.
In accordance with the speed-testing app Geekbench, the Pixel 9a is about 4 % slower than the Pixel 9, and the iPhone 16e is 3 % slower than the iPhone 16.
In real-world use of the telephones, most individuals in all probability gained’t discover a distinction. Once I put the telephones facet by facet and launched completely different apps and video games, their efficiency felt about the identical to me.
What This Means for You
When you care principally about having a smartphone with lengthy battery life and a very good digicam, you’d be pleased with both the iPhone 16e or Pixel 9a. However should you care lots about any of the premium options lacking from the cheaper telephones, equivalent to taking extra detailed, better-looking images or utilizing Apple’s MagSafe to cost your iPhone, then spending extra continues to be a high quality thought.
Simply prepare to think about a smartphone as a longer-term funding, similar to a car, since costs are more likely to go up quickly.
