Samsung Galaxy A54 vs Google Pixel 6a

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One of the bloodiest wars in the smartphone industry is expected to continue when the Samsung Galaxy A54 and Google Pixel 6a square off to determine who will be crowned the greatest budget phone.

Google currently has the throne to lose. The intermediate Pixel 6a shares the same Tensor chipset as the Pixel 6, and it even resembles Google’s top handsets in terms of appearance and feel. The Pixel 6a is a difficult device to top when you consider that it has the greatest cameras we’ve seen on a phone that costs less than $500.

The Pixel 6a is expected to face stiff competition from Samsung’s newest midrange phone, the Galaxy A54, based on our initial impressions of it. The Galaxy A54 has a lot of appealing features, including a 120Hz display, competent cameras, and enhanced performance over its forerunner. Nevertheless, Samsung maintained its pricing such that, at least in the United States, the Galaxy A54 and Pixel 6a are comparable in price.

Considering purchasing a cheap phone now that the Galaxy A54 will soon be available in stores? Our comparison of the Samsung Galaxy A54 vs Google Pixel 6a examines each device’s advantages and disadvantages.

Specs:

Price and Availability:

Preorders for the Galaxy A54 begin in the US on March 30. The device will ship on April 6. The phone costs $449 in the US and comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage out of the box. If you need extra storage space, a microSD card allows you to add up to 1TB of space. Users in the UK will spend £449, which is £50 more than the Galaxy A53’s launch price from a year ago, although the A54’s Memory is 8GB in the country.

When the Pixel 6a first went on sale in July of last year, it had a $449/£399 starting price. These days, you can get Google’s phone at a significant discount thanks to Pixel 6a promotions. But, this is probably because Google wants to get rid of its remaining stock before the Pixel 7a, its upcoming midrange phone, launches in a few months.

Design:

The Galaxy A54 and Pixel 6a both borrow design elements from the flagship models of their respective phone manufacturers, with the A54 doing so much more so than before.

Samsung changed the appearance of the regular phone and the Galaxy S23 Plus to seem more like the Galaxy S23 Ultra when it unveiled the Galaxy S23 series earlier this year. It refers to the rear camera lenses descending vertically rather than being arranged in an array that protrudes from the back of the phone.

That style has also been adopted by the Galaxy A54, making it difficult to tell this midrange model from its more costly flagship siblings, at least at first glance. The Samsung A54’s bigger bezels give it away. Moreover, the Galaxy A54 employs the more durable Gorilla Glass 5 rather than the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 featured in the S23 range.

The Pixel 6a has many similarities with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7, with the exception of the latter’s more gleaming camera bar. The two back cameras of the Pixel 6a are positioned horizontally in a bar that runs the length of the device.

Color:

Chalk, Charcoal, and Sage are the three colors available for the Pixel 6a. Lime and Violet join Graphite and White as the more vibrant color options for the Galaxy A54.

Display:

The Galaxy A54’s bigger 6.4-inch screen compares favorably to the Pixel 6a’s 6.1-inch display as the first notable distinction between these two phones’ screens. Moreover, the refresh rate varies.

The Galaxy A54, like the Galaxy A53 before it, can raise the refresh rate of its display to 120Hz to improve scrolling and enhance visuals. It is true that you must manually alter the refresh rate rather than having the phone do so, as is the case with more costly devices. Yet, a phone in this price bracket is not typically seen with any form of 120Hz display.

It is demonstrated by the Pixel 6a, whose refresh rate is fixed at a more traditional 60Hz. Google’s entry-level phones’ refresh rates may have to wait until the Pixel 7a, which is anticipated to sport a 90Hz refresh rate.

The Pixel 6a’s screen, at least, is rather bright, measuring 778 nits on our light meter test. Although we haven’t had an opportunity to test the Galaxy A54 yet, we enjoyed the responsiveness of the display and how it made colors shine when viewing movies during our hands-on time with the phone. It has a 1,000 nit rating.

Cameras:

Using the same 50MP primary lens as the Galaxy S23, Samsung is pulling out all the stops with the Galaxy A54’s camera system. While the Galaxy A54’s main camera has a lower resolution than the 64MP Galaxy A53’s, it has a larger sensor and a wider aperture, which should result in better photographs by gathering more light. The A54’s rear camera system is completed with a 5MP macro sensor and a 12MP ultrawide lens.

In order to compete with the Pixel 6a, the Galaxy A54 will require all the hardware support it can get. Although the Google phone has a 12.2MP primary camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera, the optics aren’t especially stunning. Instead, the Pixel 6a produces clear, vibrant photographs because of Google’s expertise in computational photography and post-processing.

The Pixel 6a lacks a telephoto lens, but AI-powered features like SuperResZoom fill in the details when you digitally zoom in, reducing noise and fuzziness in the final image.

The Galaxy A54’s 32MP selfie camera competes with the Pixel 6a’s 8MP front camera. The Galaxy A54 vs. Pixel 6a camera comparison is likely to be extremely interesting, and we can’t wait to get our hands on Samsung’s new phone to see how its pictures compare to the best-in-class output of the Pixel 6a.

Performance:

The Tensor processors from Google aren’t exactly renowned for their performance. Nevertheless, the Exynos 1280-powered Galaxy A53 was surpassed by the Tensor G1 hardware in the Pixel 6a, scoring lower on the Geekbench 5 test for overall performance and the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited graphics test. The Pixel 6a completed the process of transcoding a film in Adobe Premiere Rush 1 minute, and 9 seconds faster than the Galaxy A53 did in our practical test.

Samsung has responded by including a Tensor 1380 microprocessor in the Galaxy A54. It might be sufficient to close the performance gap with the Pixel 6a because it is expected to provide a 20% CPU jump and a 26% GPU gain over the Exynos 1280.

But, the Tensor G1 is impressive for reasons other than its functionality. Google places a strong emphasis on machine learning for their chip, which enables a variety of distinctive features that primarily utilize artificial intelligence. For instance, Google’s Magic Eraser app, which enables one-tap photo editing to eliminate undesired persons and objects from pictures, is supported by the Pixel 6a. The Galaxy A54 may not provide anything to match that, in our opinion.

Battery Life and Charging:

The Pixel 6a’s battery life is our one criticism about the device. The Pixel 6a only lasted 6 hours and 29 minutes on our battery test, which involves having phones continually browse the internet over cellular data until they run out of energy. This is around 3.5 hours less time than the typical phone.

This provides the Galaxy A54 a genuine opportunity to distinguish itself from the Pixel 6A. Last year, the Galaxy A53 ran with its 120Hz refresh rate on for 9 hours, and 49 minutes on its 5,000 mAh battery. We’re curious to see if the Galaxy A54, which has a 5,000 mAh battery as well, can extend that duration.

The Galaxy A54 should charge faster than the Pixel 6a, which can only handle 18W cable charging, even with mediocre 25W charging. Both phones lack wireless charging capabilities, which is a common trade-off for a device that costs less than $500.

Software and Special Features :

Android 13 is available on the Pixel 6a and Galaxy A54. Despite the fact that Google is in charge of the mobile operating system, the Galaxy A54 is expected to remain up to date with Android for a longer period of time.

Simply put, Samsung’s software update policy is more forgiving than Google’s. Owners of the Galaxy A54 may anticipate four years of software upgrades and an additional year of security support. Just three years of software upgrades are available for the Pixel 6a, and it has already used one of them to upgrade from Android 12. Google’s phone won’t be updated again until Android 15 the following year.

Outlook:

In a way, the budget war that will take place later this year when the Pixel 7a is released is really the warm-up act for the main event between the Samsung Galaxy A54 and Google Pixel 6a. If you’re looking for a sub-$500 phone and have the patience to wait, it could be worth it to see what Google’s next model has to offer. That phone is anticipated to include a newer Tensor G2 processor among other advancements.

The Galaxy A54 and the Pixel 6a are the phones to take into consideration if you’re in the market for a cheap phone right now, though. Samsung’s phone is an intriguing option, even if we can’t declare a victor until we’ve finished our Galaxy A54 testing due to the fast-refreshing display, enhanced cameras, and extensive software support. We’ll soon find out if it’s sufficient to defeat the Pixel 6a’s excellent camera output and Tensor-powered intelligence.

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