- Google’s Pixel 4a and Apple’s iPhone SE are less expensive alternatives to each company’s respective flagships.
- Google’s Pixel 4a clearly focuses on camera quality, while Apple’s iPhone SE clearly focuses on performance.
- At the end of the day, the iPhone SE is the more “premium” of the two midrange phones due to its performance and features. It’s an obvious choice for Apple fans who don’t want to spend more than $500.
- The Pixel 4a might not offer quite the performance as the iPhone SE, but it’s no slouch, either. It’s a no-brainer for Android fans looking to spend under $500.
- You can read our iPhone SE review here and our Pixel 4a review here.
Google’s Pixel 4a and Apple’s iPhone SE are less expensive options compared to each company’s premium flagship phones that cost almost $1,000 or more.
Being less expensive, both phones couldn’t get all the specs, features, and design perks as the flagships, so each company had to pick certain features to focus on while compromising on others. For the iPhone SE, Apple clearly decided to focus on raw performance. For the Pixel 4a, the focus is on its flagship-level camera.
Google Pixel 4a vs. Apple iPhone SE: Which is better?
At the end of the day, the iPhone SE is objectively more “premium” and feature-rich — it has flagship performance, as well as water resistance and wireless charging, which are typically premium features. With that said, the Pixel 4a isn’t a slouch by any means, and it has a flagship camera. Plus, it looks sleeker and more modern compared to the iPhone SE’s design, which is basically the same as 2014’s iPhone 6.
Check out the major differences between the Google Pixel 4a and the Apple iPhone SE:
Design, size, and weight
The iPhone SE’s design is classic, even if it’s the iPhone 6 design from 2014, and it’s made of metal and glass compared to the Pixel 4a’s polycarbonate plastic, which technically means it’s a more premium phone.
But I have to give the design award to Google’s Pixel 4a here, largely because of the sleek and modern screen with narrow bezels. Indeed, the top and bottom bezels on the iPhone SE just look plain old and stale at this point, even if you’re paying “as low as” $400 for a new iPhone.
The Pixel 4a’s polycarbonate plastic doesn’t bring down its overall look and feel, either. It’s solid, and the frosted matte texture gives a back metallic look. The matte coating on the Pixel 4a’s back does scuff fairly easily, however, but that shouldn’t be much of an issue if you use a case.
Otherwise, both phones have pretty similar sizes, with the Pixel 4a coming in slightly wider, taller, and thicker. The Pixel 4a is slightly lighter at 143g versus the iPhone SE’s 148g.
Screen
Despite their similar sizes and weights, the Pixel 4a has a dramatically larger 5.8-inch screen compared to the 4.7-inch screen on the iPhone SE. A screen that’s over an inch bigger while maintaining a similar size and weight as the iPhone SE is a huge advantage to the Pixel 4a.
The Pixel 4a has an OLED screen, which is superior to the iPhone SE’s LCD screen for displaying colors and contrast. On top of that, the Pixel 4a’s screen is technically sharper than the iPhone SE. To be fair, however, you can barely tell the difference in sharpness.
The iPhone’s screen isn’t a disappointment by any means, but the Pixel 4a does win this one.
Performance
Here’s where the iPhone SE decidedly wins the round, and it’s a major reason why it’s a better phone overall than the Pixel 4a — the iPhone SE runs on the same A13 chip that powers the iPhone 11 series. That’s to say the iPhone SE has serious, serious performance. Technically, Apple’s A13 chip even beats the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, the top chip in premium Android phones, like the $1,000 Galaxy S20 and $900 OnePlus 8 Pro.
The fast midrange Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G in the Pixel 4a still holds its own, and Android apps run perfectly smooth. It’s hard to tell how long the Pixel 4a’s chip can last before it starts to slow down and make owners think about upgrading. My money would bet on Apple’s A13 in the iPhone SE to last longer, though.
For the spec hounds, the Pixel 4a comes with 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone SE is said to have 3GB, according to GSM Arena. I should note that comparing RAM between iPhones and Android phones isn’t a good indicator of performance, as both ecosystems manage RAM differently.
Battery life and charging
Google’s midranger has a larger 3,140mAh battery while the iPhone SE supposedly has a smaller 1,821mAh battery, according to GSM Arena.
One of the main complaints about the iPhone SE is its unimpressive battery life. Meanwhile, the Pixel 4a has pretty good battery life. It doesn’t especially wow, as it comfortably lasts a full day before needing a charge like most other phones, but it does impress more than the iPhone SE.
Cameras — a photo taken with the Pixel 4a
Both the Pixel 4a and iPhone SE have the same number of cameras — one on the back, and one at the front.
Both phones have rear cameras with 12 megapixels. The iPhone SE has a 7-megapixel selfie camera, and the Pixel 4a has an 8-megapixel selfie camera.
Both phones take excellent photos, but they’re slightly different and may appeal to different preferences. The Pixel 4a’s photo above is natural and conservative.
Cameras — a photo taken with the iPhone SE
The iPhone SE’s photo has boosted contrast and colors, making for a photo that looks more striking. It may bother some (like myself) knowing that the iPhone SE boosts your photos a little bit to make them look better rather than keeping them natural.
Storage
There’s only one model of the Pixel 4a, and it comes with 128GB of storage. Unfortunately, it’s not expandable with a microSD card, but 128GB is a good amount in 2020.
The iPhone SE’s $400 base model comes with 64GB of storage, which can make things a little tight, especially with photos and videos over time.
Either way, Google Photos cloud storage can take care of photos and videos with unlimited storage on both smartphones, so space may not be too much of an issue on the iPhone SE.
With that said, if you did want more storage on the iPhone SE, the next model up comes with 128GB and costs $449 — $100 more than the Pixel 4a.
Other features
- The iPhone SE has two major advantages over the Pixel 4a, including an IP67 water resistance rating, as well as wireless charging support. These are meaningful features to a lot of people, and can easily justify the iPhone SE’s higher price.
- The iPhone SE comes with Apple’s ancient and slow 5W charging brick, whereas the Pixel 4a comes with a faster 18W charger in the box. The iPhone SE supports up to 18W charging, too, but the Apple 18W charging brick is a $29 optional extra.
- The iPhone SE doesn’t have a headphone jack, whereas the Pixel 4a does. It’s not an absolute necessity these days, but some argue that it’s convenient to have. I still have a pair of wired headphones that I like to use, and it’s nice to use them without relying on a dongle.
So, which one should you buy?
Neither phone should make one ecosystem’s user move over from the other. It’s just not like that. iPhone users who want a cheaper iPhone are going to get the iPhone SE, and Android users who want a cheaper Android phone should get the Pixel 4a.
But if you’re a midrange smartphone buyer and you’re interested in checking out “the other ecosystem,” these two phones are ideal starting points.
And as for premium phone users on either ecosystem looking to step down their spending on phones, the iPhone SE and Pixel 4a are the best phones for that, too. Indeed, both are so good that you really have to question whether the premium flagships are hundreds and hundreds of dollars better.
Apple’s iPhone SE is an appealing option — at $400, you get access to iOS, a great camera, the same powerful chip from the iPhone 11 series, and the Apple ecosystem, and it’s a phenomenal deal as a result.
Google’s Pixel 4a costs $350, which is less of a head-turner in the Android world seeing as inexpensive Android phones are fairly common. Still, Google’s midranger offers virtually the same camera and photo quality as the $800 Pixel 4 flagship, a sleek design with narrow bezels, good performance, and good battery life.
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Product Name: Apple iPhone SE (2020)
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Product Name: Google Pixel 4a
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source https://www.businessinsider.com/google-pixel-4a-vs-apple-iphone-se-2020
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