Let the battle of the high-end cheap smartphones begin: Google Pixel 6a vs. Apple iPhone SE (2022). Which one is right for you?
Which almost reasonably priced advanced smartphone will best suit your needs for years to come — the Google Pixel 6a, just announced which it announced at its Google I/O 2022 event and available in July, or Apple’s brand new iPhone SE, the third incarnation of the compact budget handset, released in March? It’s a squeaker. Based on our hands-on experience with the iPhone — which our review labeled “the best budget phone you can buy” — and the raw specs just announced for the Pixel 6a, we compare key categories to determine a preliminary winning phone. Our judgment does not take into account an inherent preference for iOS or Android, or even a preference for a smaller phone, both of which will heavily influence buyers. The newest iPhone SE looks the same as the one before it and the one before that — actually, the same as the 2017 iPhone 8. With its relatively thick screen bezels and TouchID home button, it’s got that oldie but goodie look. Its small 4.7-inch LCD panel lacks the inky black contrast and brilliant hues delivered by newer OLED screens. The 60Hz refresh rate is standard on the iPhone 13 Pro flagship. Google’s brand new phone is about on par with Apple for this spec. In other ways, though, the Google Pixel 6a shrieks modern phone, like its flagship sibling, the Pixel 6. With smooth updated two-toned lines and a camera bar that spans the rear panel of its durable metal frame, it’s got a neat streamlined look. The screen, which is 6.1-inches, is distinctly larger than the iPhone SE. Winner: Google Pixel 6a
With an A15 Bionic chip, the iPhone SE leaves a heap of Android phones in the dust. The A15 Bionic CPU (with a six-core CPU and a four-core GPU) is comparable to the flagship iPhone 13, in other words, a benchmark trouncing beast running Apple’s latest iOS. It plays demanding games smoothly and touts impressive longevity and Apple’s long-term software support. The Pixel 6a chipset is the Google Tensor, the same as the Pixel 6 Pro flagship (with an 8-core chip and a 20-core GPU) — so these two phones are bound to slug it out. The iPhone SE 2022 gets nearly a full day of use before its battery conks out.
