Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Which Android phone wins?
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Which Android phone wins?
Google'south affordable Pixel 5a is here, just you might be left wondering how it compares to the Samsung Galaxy S21. We've got you covered in this Pixel 5a vs. Milky way S21 face up-off.
It might seem a bit silly to compare these 2 phones given the gap in price. But thanks to Google'due south photography prowess, the Pixel 5a punches well above its weight. When you use both phones side-past-side, Google's phone feels very similar to Samsung'south device in several areas.
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The winner in some of the following categories might be obvious — the Galaxy S21 has a much better processor, for case — but we wanted to give the Pixel 5a a off-white shot. You might really be surprised at how well Google's phone holds up, fifty-fifty if you've already guessed the end result.
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Milky way S21: Specs
| Pixel 5a | Milky way S21 | |
| Starting price | $449 | $799 |
| Screen size | 6.43-inch OLED (2400 x 1080) | 6.ii-inch Super AMOLED (2400 x 1080) |
| Refresh rate | 60Hz | 48-120Hz |
| CPU | Snapdragon 765G | Snapdragon 888 |
| RAM | 6GB | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB | 128GB, 256GB |
| Rear cameras | 12.2MP (f/ane.seven), 16MP (f/2.ii) ultrawide | 12MP (f/one.eight) wide; 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide; 64MP (f/2.0) telephoto 3x optical |
| Front photographic camera | 8MP (f/2.0) | 10MP (f/ii.2) |
| Battery size | 4,680mAh | iv,000 mAh |
| Battery life (Hrs:Mins) | 9:45 | 09:53 (60Hz) / 06:31 (adaptive) |
| Size | 6.ane x ii.9 x 0.3 inches | 5.97 ten 2.8 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | half-dozen.5 ounces | 5.96 ounces |
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Price and availability
The Pixel 5a costs almost half of what Samsung charges for the Galaxy S21. Google set the price at $449 ($100 more than than the Pixel 4a) for a phone with a 6.43-inch OLED brandish, 128GB of storage, 6GB of RAM, and two cameras.
The Milky way S21 starts at $799, which nets you a six.2-inch Super AMOLED display (with a 120Hz refresh rate), 128GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, and 3 cameras (including a telephoto). You also go a much better Snapdragon 888 processor.
The S21 has the added benefit of being available well-nigh anywhere. Practically every carrier has i for sale, plus the major retailers and Samsung itself. The Pixel 5a is limited to the Google Store and the Google Fi wireless service.
On the ane manus, the Pixel 5a is a meliorate deal, just it's more difficult to get one (particularly on a payment programme through your preferred carrier). On the other, the Galaxy S21 is several hundred dollars more, but you can oft find trade-in deals and other discounts. Information technology's hard to phone call a winner in this section because both phones are meant for carve up markets, but the Pixel 5a's incredibly attractive price point earns information technology the victory here.
Winner: Pixel 5a
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Blueprint
The Google Pixel 5a and Samsung Galaxy S21 couldn't look more dissimilar. The 5a offers a minimalistic, very prophylactic design. It doesn't stand out, brand any statements, or draw attention to itself. Information technology'southward just there to be a telephone with its polycarbonate trunk and big brandish. Google has kept its design language very low-key for years now, and the Pixel 5a is no unlike.
The Galaxy S21, meanwhile, is a very pretty phone, especially the lavender colorway I've been using. The golden frame shines brilliantly, as long as information technology's not covered in fingerprints. The camera hump, a notoriously ugly thing on well-nigh phones, blends seamlessly with the frame on the S21. The polycarbonate back is shine to the touch, made with a special textile that helps it stand out from the very plastic-y feel of the Pixel 5a.
Both phones characteristic an IP water resistance rating — a beginning for the Pixel A-series — just the Galaxy S21 has a slightly stronger designation with IP68. The 5a has IP67, so information technology'll still survive a dunk in the water.
Considering the $350 price difference betwixt the two, I expected the Galaxy S21 to feel more premium in comparison to the Pixel 5a. They're not on the same level, but information technology'due south interesting how close the 5a comes to challenging Samsung's phone. Even so, the Milky way S21 wins for its better h2o resistance rating, prettier pattern, and nicer construction. Information technology also has better color options compared to the 5a's unmarried not-quite-black colorway.
Winner: Galaxy S21
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Display
The Pixel 5a has the largest display since Google started releasing all-screen phones with the Pixel 4a. At 6.43 inches, the 1080p OLED screen is pretty expert, offer nice colors, true blacks, and improved viewing angles over its predecessor.
But the Galaxy S21's screen is just better. It'due south a smaller 6.2-inch Super AMOLED, also at 1080p, with a 120Hz refresh rate — the Pixel 5a is stuck at 60Hz, unfortunately. Colors are more than vibrant on the S21 panel, and the screen gets brighter.
Videos and games look improve on the Galaxy S21, but this should surprise no ane. Whether it'south the saturated, anime-esque vibe of Genshin Impact or the gritty visuals of Phone call of Duty: Mobile, the S21 is the more pleasant viewing feel. That'southward not to say that the Pixel 5a is bad, but I never expected a $449 phone to match the best display tech from Samsung.
In our testing, the Pixel 5a managed 119.iii% of the sRGB spectrum with a Delta-Eastward colour accurateness score of 0.32 (where 0 is best). In the Galaxy S21's Natural mode, it produced 109.ii% of the sRGB color gamut with a better Delta-E of 0.29. While Google'southward telephone has slightly more saturation, the S21 had improve color accurateness. The Galaxy S21 also gets bright at 703 nits, versus the Pixel 5a's 501-nit max.
Winner: Milky way S21
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Cameras
Though our Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21 face up-off hasn't looked as well good for the Pixel 5a thus far, photography is where Google's phone can make its stand. Google has worked difficult to make the Pixel phones into the best camera phones, and it delivers each year. Even the $349 Pixel 4a last year landed in our elevation picks for photographic camera phones.
This twelvemonth, Google added a second camera to the Pixel 5a: a 16MP sensor behind an ultrawide lens joins the same 12.2MP principal shooter we had last year. With the Galaxy S21, Samsung packed in three cameras: a 12MP principal, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.
In this photo of flowers on a tree, y'all can immediately encounter two very unlike approaches to the final product. The Pixel 5a kept a natural tone, still showing off how vibrant the flowers and greenery are while keeping the photo more realistic. The Galaxy S21 went the reverse fashion by cranking upwardly the saturation to the indicate where the picture doesn't resemble the real-life scene much at all. I strongly prefer the Pixel's image.
Within, things are a bit more equal, though not by much. The Pixel 5a's shot is a naturally absurd tone that still captures all of the colors in the scene. Information technology's a fairly calm paradigm. The Galaxy S21's shot is significantly warmer, every bit if the telephone was over-compensating for the xanthous candle on the right. Once again, I adopt the Pixel'south photo.
Both phones once again differ in portrait mode. The Pixel 5a zoomed out a scrap more than, just kept a really strong blur radius around my likeness. The Galaxy S21 zoomed in, but I think the bokeh effect is softer. I really don't accept a preference on this comparison, so I'll telephone call it a draw.
Next upwardly is a dark shot, with both phones performing very well. The smoker is quite clear in either image, though the Pixel 5a's moving picture is libation in contrast to the Galaxy S21's warmer one. It's difficult to call a clear winner hither, but to run across a phone that costs nearly half what the S21 does put out a night manner epitome this good is impressive. Then once again, Google's Night Sight is itself quite adept. That makes this 1 a depict.
I was surprised by how both phones handled selfies. Normally, I don't like Samsung's selfies and prefer Google'south, but in all of the shots I took, the Galaxy S21 came out on top. That telephone's epitome is only brighter with better colors — the Pixel 5a is dimmer. I will say that the Galaxy S21 applied too much face smoothing, just it's all around a better selfie. The S21 wins this one.
The Pixel had better photos altogether, but the Galaxy S21 has that extra telephoto lens that gives information technology a leg upwards over the Pixel 5a. Considering the Pixel 5a's camera prowess, it ultimately wins in this department. It'southward downright incredible that a phone of this price can match or fifty-fifty trounce the $799 Galaxy S21 (and the $999 Galaxy S21 Plus) in some photography situations.
Winner: Pixel 5a
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Performance
In terms of raw performance, the Pixel 5a and Galaxy S21 are radically unlike. The Pixel 5a uses the older Snapdragon 765G, the aforementioned one we saw in the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 concluding yr. The S21, meanwhile, uses the Snapdragon 888, which is the best yous can arrive an Android phone.
The proof is in the pudding, with the Galaxy S21 knocking the Pixel 5a for a loop in our benchmark tests. In day-to-day use, all the same, both phones feel pretty like. Simple things like spider web browsing, messaging, and scrolling through social media don't stress either phone.
But gaming is where the Galaxy S21 surges ahead. Not but does it play intensive titles like Genshin Touch, Asphalt 9, and Telephone call of Duty: Mobile with better graphics at college frame rates, simply information technology also performs well in constructed graphics benchmarks. In 3DMark's Wild Life Unlimited, for case, the S21 averaged 34.eight frames per second. The Pixel 5a barely managed ten fps.
In Geekbench v, which measures the CPU'due south performance, the Pixel 5a received a multicore boilerplate of 1,345. Compare that to the Galaxy S21'southward 3,302. That's a huge difference, even if nosotros initially institute the Pixel 5a's score to be low for a Snapdragon 765G device.
As far as 5G goes, both the Pixel 5a and Galaxy S21 support mmWave and sub-6Ghz networks. That means you lot tin have either telephone to whatsoever US carrier and it'll work. That'south to be expected for a flagship similar the Galaxy S21, but it's more impressive to see the Pixel 5a support mmWave (which is ordinarily a premium thing) at its $449 cost betoken.
Winner: Galaxy S21
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Milky way S21: Battery life and charging
Google equipped the Pixel 5a with the biggest battery we've ever seen in a Pixel device at 4,680 mAh. The Galaxy S21, being a smaller phone, uses a 4,000 mAh power pack. Y'all'd expect the 5a to have stronger battery life, so, but that's actually the case.
In the Tom's Guide battery life examination, phones are tasked with incessantly reloading spider web pages on a cellular connection at 150 nits of effulgence. Pixels take historically struggled with battery life and the Pixel 5a is a step in the right direction. With a time of 9 hours and 45 minutes in our test, the new affordable Google phone gets through the day just fine.
But the Milky way S21 is one very small stride ahead at 9 hours and 53 minutes with its brandish locked to 60Hz. In its adaptive mode, the phone falls far to 6 hours and 31 minutes.
As for charging, the Pixel 5a tops out at 18W, while the Galaxy S21 goes upward to 25W. This leads to faster charging times with the Samsung phone, with it going from empty to 55% in 30 minutes. The Pixel 5a got to 43% in the same amount of time. The S21 as well has wireless charging; the Pixel 5a does not.
The Pixel 5a is an improvement over terminal year'southward Pixels for bombardment life, but the Galaxy S21 can match it, given you lock the display to 60Hz. It likewise can charge faster and wirelessly.
Winner: Milky way S21
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Software and special features
Both the Pixel 5a and Galaxy S21 transport with Android xi out of the box, but they each have separate approaches to the look and feel of the software. In Google's instance, Android xi is a spartan affair with few customizations. It'southward the stock Android vibe, where the OS stays out of the mode and focuses on doing things well. Information technology works, most of the time.
With the Galaxy S21, you go One UI 3.1, Samsung's ain take on what Android should look like. Basically everything is different, even in the notification shade and Settings menu. One UI is not to everyone'due south liking, simply it is certainly leagues improve than Samsung software of the past. Once you get used to it and dig in, you'll find at that place's a lot to discover.
Of course, with a Google phone, you get admission to updates and new versions of Android on day one. So when Android 12 launches with its huge swath of changes (notably to visual customization), the Pixel 5a volition exist first in the line to go it. The Galaxy S21 can't say that, and information technology will take a few months before that phone gets Android 12.
Both phones are set to receive three years of platform updates, with the Galaxy S21 also getting a guaranteed iv years of security patches. The Pixel 5a has a minimum of three years of patches, with Google often going longer.
Samsung has a lot going on in One UI, with the Edge panel, a dedicated game launcher, a one-handed mode, and a lot more. While the Pixel 5a will get some of these once Android 12 lands, information technology doesn't accept them right at present at fourth dimension of writing.
Winner: Galaxy S21
Google Pixel 5a vs. Samsung Galaxy S21: Overall winner
| Pixel 5a | Galaxy S21 | |
| Toll (10 points) | 9 | 7 |
| Blueprint (ten points) | 8 | 7 |
| Display (15 points) | 12 | 14 |
| Cameras (20 points) | xviii | 16 |
| Performance (20 points) | 14 | 18 |
| Bombardment and charging (15 points) | 12 | 13 |
| Software (10 points) | 9 | 10 |
| Overall (100 points) | 82 | 85 |
Information technology should come equally no surprise that the Galaxy S21 won practically across the lath in this face-off. The Pixel 5a put upwards a slap-up fight, but the extra hardware chops worked in the S21's favor. The Pixel 5a exceeded the S21'south photographic camera, but that'due south about it.
Still, a $449 phone going against a $799 one as well it did is impressive. Both phones are really good, only the Galaxy S21 has the added benefit of packing in more powerful specs. Samsung also did a better chore with battery life (if merely slightly) and the S21's display is better. And the Pixel 5a simply offers less raw functioning.
Even though the Galaxy S21 came out on top in this face-off, the Pixel 5a is still a wonderful telephone and an fantabulous value. At $449, you're getting very capable cameras and a phone that does most tasks very well. Y'all'll even accept that'll get most people through a twenty-four hours of utilise.
Which phone you cull will depend entirely on your upkeep. The best blindside for cadet is the Pixel 5a, simply the Milky way S21 has added features to keep in listen. $350 makes a huge difference in this case.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/face-off/google-pixel-5a-vs-samsung-galaxy-s21
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