Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: A Base Mannequin Brawl

It’s face-off time, and you recognize what which means. Two smartphones go in, and one comes out the victor with loads of bragging rights. This time round, we’re taking a look at a pair of entry-level smartphones: the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9. The gateway to their respective premium flagship brethren, these units may be misplaced within the chase for snazzy new options. That might be a mistake, nonetheless, as each telephones are nice in their very own proper. However just one may be the perfect.

So, let’s meet our fighters. In a single nook, you have got the iPhone 16. As a substitute of rocking final yr’s processor just like the iPhone 15, Apple outfitted the iPhone 16 with its new A18 Bionic chip, which, based on Apple, is noticeably extra highly effective than its predecessor. The telephone additionally will get two new buttons which have confirmed to be fairly helpful. Plus, with the rollout of iOS 18, we’re getting our first style of Apple Intelligence, which can absolutely be a sport changer for Apple followers.

Within the reverse nook is the Pixel 9. With a stunning design that mimics the iPhone, the Pixel 9 is reasonably priced and has an extended battery life. Utilizing the identical Tensor G4 chip as its dearer siblings, the Pixel 9 isn’t an outright powerhouse however will get the job completed. The twin rear cameras have gotten a noticeable improve, permitting the smartphone to seize beautiful photographs and video. And as we proceed to discover AI’s prospects, Google is on the forefront with the feature-rich Google Gemini.

So, in a battle of ordinary smartphones, will it’s the Pixel 9 or the iPhone 16? Let’s discover out.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Worth

A wealth of alternative

Each the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 begin at $799 sans trade-ins. That’s downright reasonably priced in comparison with their extra premium brethren with their fancy foldable hinges and high-powered cameras. However let’s see what $800 buys you today. For the iPhone 16, you get a smartphone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. Doubling the storage will value you $899, whereas the 512GB model tops at $1,099.

There are solely two variations of the Pixel 9 obtainable. The $799 base mannequin has a whopping 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, whereas the 256GB mannequin raises the value to $899. Usually, this spherical would have gone to the Pixel merely due to the RAM. Nonetheless, Apple takes this spherical because the iPhone 16 has three completely different fashions on faucet.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Design

A telephone of a unique coloration

Let’s get one factor straight: each the Pixel 9 and the iPhone 16 are lovely telephones. The Pixel 9 sports activities an aluminum body with a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 rear panel and show. The smartphone is available in 4 colours: Peony, Wintergreen, Porcelain, and Obsidian. Like its bigger siblings, the Pixel 9 has frosted strips alongside the edges. It appears eerily acquainted to an iPhone.

Nonetheless, the edges are one of many greatest variations between the 2 telephones. The Pixel 9 has the ability button and quantity rocker on the fitting facet with a slot that appears like a microSD slot however is annoyingly solely a speaker. There’s additionally a USB-C port and a nano-SIM slot. In the meantime, the iPhone 16 has the ability and digicam buttons on the fitting, the configurable Motion button, and quantity management on the left. A pair of audio system on the telephone’s backside sandwich the USB-C charging port.

For as soon as, the iPhone is the extra colourful possibility, providing 5 colours (Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, Black, and White. Just like the Pixel, the iPhone 16 has an aluminum body and siding with a glass rear panel. As a substitute of Gorilla Glass, Apple makes use of the newest model of Ceramic Defend, which the corporate says is 4 instances stronger than glass in earlier generations of iPhones.

Whereas the iPhone 16 (6 ounces, 5.8 x 2.8 x 0.31 inches) isn’t as small because the final iPhone SE (5.1 ounces, 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.29 inches), it’s not that far off. That can make people with smaller fingers or identical to a smaller telephone completely happy. However as a lover of massive telephones, I’m firmly within the Pixel 9 camp. At 7 ounces, it’s not a lot heavier than the iPhone 16. Nonetheless, with its 6 x 2.8 x 0.3-inch dimensions, the Pixel 9 is taller and has extra show actual property than its Apple competitor.
As a lot as I really like an enormous smartphone, I’m giving this spherical to the iPhone 16 because it gives extra coloration selections.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Efficiency

There’s no contest

These days, the one factor that may beat an iPhone is one other iPhone. With the brand new A18 Bionic chip, Apple says the iPhone 16 is 30% quicker than its predecessor. Contemplating that the iPhone 15 runs on the A16 Bionic chipset, which is 2 years previous at this level, it’s a straightforward dunk. Though the bottom mannequin of the A18 isn’t as highly effective because the A18 Professional chip within the iPhone 16 Professional and Professional Max, it nonetheless ranks as one of many strongest cell CPUs obtainable.

That said, I had a tough time taxing the iPhone 16. Even after launching plenty of apps, together with Adobe Photoshop Categorical, Fb, Instagram, and Spotify, together with 30 Safari tabs, I didn’t see any slowdown. I acquired a little bit of a stutter once I performed Resident Evil 4 Remake, however it was simply that – a stutter. Apart from the preliminary launch, the sport ran easily. Did it have a console or PC-level graphics? No, however the truth that the sport runs in any respect remains to be a contemporary miracle in my e book.

Apple is just not the one firm that may make its personal silicon, as Google has been making its Tensor processors for some time now. The Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 processor had no issues with my multitasking, permitting me to run the identical apps I used on the iPhone plus 30 open Google Chrome tabs. As a substitute of Resident Evil 4 Remake, I used Alien: Isolation and acquired clean gameplay. Once more, the gameplay wasn’t as fairly because the PC or console variations, however it’s a testomony to how far we’ve are available in cell expertise.

I ran a number of rounds of Geekbench 6 on each telephones to get concrete efficiency numbers, and it was no contest. The iPhone 16 left the Pixel 9 within the mud on each the one and multi-thread checks, scoring 3,412 and eight,416 in comparison with 1,699 and 4,241. With out query, this spherical goes to the iPhone 16. However I’m curious how the winner would fare in opposition to the Galaxy S24, OnePlus 12, and extra premium telephones.

Apple iPhone 16 vs  Google Pixel 9: AI

The battle really begins

Lastly, iOS 18 is right here, so I can get slightly style of what Apple Intelligence gives. At the moment obtainable as a public beta, you may take a few of Apple Intelligence’s extra intriguing options for a take a look at drive, with the remainder debuting later this yr. Like most AI software program, there’s an enormous give attention to creating summaries and streamlining a few of your extra tedious duties, resembling capturing off a response to an e-mail in an extended multiperson string. A giant Summarize button in my Mail app shortly decreased a 20-entry thread to 3 scannable paragraphs in lower than 4 seconds.

The generative AI additionally got here in helpful when taking notes, offering choices to proofread my textual content. Apple Intelligence may rewrite, summarize, or break your notes down into key factors or create a listing. It will probably even write for tone, together with skilled, concise, or pleasant. However the options don’t simply reside in e-mail or note-taking apps. Notifications can now be summarized into simply scannable bites. And like Gemini, Apple Intelligence can document calls, create transcripts, and summarize the whole lot.

I jumped into the Images app to take a number of the AI options for a spin. The Pure Language Search labored like a attraction, shortly pulling collectively pics of my puppies once I requested for “canines enjoying.” I did slightly on-the-fly picture enhancing with the Clear Up function, highlighting a slightly massive digicam from a shot of my boyfriend. Not solely did the offending tech disappear, however Clear Up additionally did an amazing job filling within the grain of the wooden within the newly empty house.

I chatted with Siri whereas it appeared up fancy spots for my birthday dinner. Regardless of fumbling my phrases, the digital assistant managed to tug up a listing of French eating places in a 20-mile radius. It’s a cool function for these of us whose mouths typically transfer quicker than our brains. And whereas Siri isn’t new, it’s nonetheless coming with new tips, resembling letting you proceed to scroll or navigate across the telephone whereas utilizing Siri. Should you don’t like speaking to Siri, you may kind your request utilizing the brand new Siri keyboard. You understand, for the inquiries that require a little bit of discretion.

Nonetheless, because it’s nonetheless in beta, not each Apple AI function is at the moment obtainable, so we’re nonetheless ready to create AI-generated photographs by way of Picture Playground and Genmojis, Apple’s cutesy name-generative AI emojis.

Google’s Gemini AI is among the main AI platforms to this point and has a bunch of options that vary from useful to enjoyable. And whereas Gemini can do a myriad of issues, I believe it shines the brightest on the subject of images. The redesigned Magic Editor is an absolute pressure because it has options like Reimagine that allows you to modify photos by merely typing a phrase. Or you may increase your group photographs with Add Me to make sure everyone seems to be within the image. In the meantime, you have got Zoom Improve, which makes use of generative AI to fill within the gaps while you zoom in on photos, so that you at all times have crisp element. Google additionally has some AI sauce for video, bringing the power to upscale to 8K and decreasing or enhancing audio as you see match.

Should you’re not a shutterbug, I can introduce you to Gemini Superior. Right here, you have got AI abstract instruments and a conversational digital assistant that may set up and summarize your screenshots with Pixel Screenshots. Google Hold may create lists. And if you could document and transcribe a name, Gemini and Apple Intelligence can get the job completed.

Proper now, each AI options are free. However that received’t final for lengthy, at the very least not with Google. The corporate desires customers to pay $20/month to entry a few of Gemini’s deeper function units. No phrase but on whether or not Apple plans to observe go well with with a paid subscription mannequin.

For now, I’m going to provide this spherical to Google because it has a fuller function set to discover. Nonetheless, Apple Intelligence appears like it is going to give Google and Microsoft a run for his or her cash on the AI entrance.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Digital camera

A detailed battle

Neither the Pixel 9 nor the iPhone 16 have the flamboyant cameras of their extra premium brethren. Nonetheless, each smartphones can snap a fairly image. Traditionally, iPhones have delivered beautiful stills and video, and the iPhone 16 isn’t any completely different. Identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 16 has a twin digicam setup. The principle digicam is a 48 megapixel with a ƒ/1.6 aperture and a 12 MP ultrawide ƒ/2.2 sensor. The telephone additionally retained last-gen’s 10x zoom. Flip the telephone over to its entrance digicam, and you’ve got a 12 MP ƒ/1.9 aperture.

Now, onto the Pixel 9, which additionally has twin rear cameras. Final gen’s 50 MP large ƒ/1.68 sensor returns, however the ultrawide digicam has gotten an enormous enhance, leaping from 12 MP to 48 MP. When you could seize a long-distance shot, there’s Tremendous Res Zoom that extends to 8x. The entrance sensor has 10.5 MP with a ƒ/2.2.

One factor I observed throughout the shootout is coloration. Though the stills on each cameras look nice, most of the time, the iPhone had extra vivid colours whereas the Pixel delivered extra pure hues.

A fast observe. The primary photos in every sliders are photographs shot with the Pixel 9 whereas the second come from the iPhone 16. 

Broad

I took each telephones for a stroll round my neighborhood, snapping photographs. Considered one of my favorites is an image of a child blue Lincoln Capri. For as soon as, the Pixel 9 result’s extra oversaturated, displaying a deeper blue than the precise coloration. So far as element is anxious, the iPhone was the winner with cleaner components. Zoom in on the white wall tires, and you can also make out the finer etching on the hubcaps in addition to the cracks within the sidewalk.

It was harder to select a winner on the subsequent shot – a colourful poster of a person with a fascinating gaze. I spent about 20 minutes looking for fault with both digicam; I even had my boyfriend, an expert photographer, look. And outdoors of tiny variations resembling high quality creases within the poster, as displayed by the Pixel 9, this was a digital useless warmth.

As anticipated, the Pixel had barely deeper colours in a shot of a charcuterie board. Nonetheless, from the random sample on the tabletop to the seeds within the sliced tomatoes, I used to be shocked to see that the iPhone additionally displayed sharper particulars.

Ultrawide

Whereas some individuals choose extra pure colours, I don’t significantly thoughts slightly oversaturation, particularly on this shot of pattern doughnuts on faucet at a neighborhood store. Whereas each photographs look completely delectable, the brighter sheen on the chocolate-dipped pastry from the iPhone was extra interesting than the Pixel. Zooming in on each photographs, the telephones had been virtually even detail-wise. Nonetheless, the Pixel’s outcomes had been barely crisper than these of its competitor.

It was the identical story in an image of a shelf of flowers exterior the native grocery retailer. As soon as once more, the iPhone had the extra vibrant hues, with the Pixel 9 delivering higher element. A fast zoom-in on the grate on the backside of the shot permits you to see a clearer view of the design. In the meantime, the marigold petals had been fuzzier on the iPhone 16.

A shot of a brownstone produced a useless warmth by way of coloration and particulars. I pored over each photographs facet by facet, and out of doors of extraordinarily minor particulars, the extent of sharpness was almost equal.

Low mild

For this take a look at, I took two photographs with every telephone, one with the lights dimmed so far as my dimmer change may go and the opposite with the lights turned out. The Pixel produced a extra correct coloration within the low-light shot, as my Hulk and Sully collectible figurines appeared darker on the iPhone. Trying on the lettering on the Yamaha soundbar and the previous digicam, the Pixel’s shot has cleaner outcomes.

Within the no-light photographs, the iPhone had richer coloration, significantly on the golden dragon statue, the pink tin, and the Hulk. Whilst you can’t make out any of the lettering on the soundbar, the Pixel gave higher particulars on the digicam lettering.

Selfie

This isn’t a contest. The Pixel did a significantly better job capturing my pores and skin tone, make-up, and hair coloration than the iPhone. If not for the way nicely it captured how badly my eyebrows want threading and the smaller pores on my face, I’d have thought I by chance enabled a magnificence filter.

Digital Zoom

Google has completed an amazing job on zoom, however Apple’s not too far behind. I took a shot of a memorial plaque. The cameras are evenly matched by way of coloration, and when you can completely learn the names in each photographs.

Nonetheless, the Pixel was extra legible and had cleaner traces in an evening shot of New York Metropolis site visitors from a rooftop. The Pixel excelled with clearer photographs of the taillights and surprisingly higher coloration.

I captured some NYC fauna munching on an errant rooster bone. You may see particular person rat hairs within the Pixel shot, whereas the critter appeared so much blurrier on the iPhone. Nonetheless, you may see the critter’s little toes higher on the iPhone.

Neither of my night time photographs of the Chrysler constructing got here out the perfect. The Pixel’s model had plenty of visible noise, whereas the iPhone’s was blurry.

Panorama

In the case of taking panos, I choose the Pixel because it has extra correct tips to supply a extra even seize. On the iPhone, it’s extra of a freestyle deal. My hand dropped slightly, and the iPhone threw up a immediate so I may course-correct it, however the harm was already completed. When it comes to coloration and element, the telephones produced almost an identical outcomes.

This spherical was powerful, with each telephones notching wins in particular classes. However the spherical goes to the Pixel for its constant coloration accuracy and crisp element.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Battery

A marathon run

They’ll hold going and going and going. I ran the Gizmodo battery take a look at on each telephones side-by-side, with the brightness set to 200 nits and streaming a 24-hour YouTube video. The Pixel 9’s 4,575 mAh battery lasted 22 hours and 32 minutes, which isn’t too shabby. The iPhone’s 3,561 mAh battery tapped out at 23:29.

I don’t know the way Apple does it with all that efficiency, however it continues to come out with highly effective merchandise with out sacrificing longevity.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Verdict

When a brand new smartphone line comes out, it’s simple to get caught up within the hype of the dearer variations. However spare a look on the entry-level units that supply an reasonably priced possibility, which could trump all the flamboyant bells and whistles of the extra premium variations these days.

The iPhone finally wins this face-off in a hard-fought battle between the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9. Not solely does Apple provide extra configurations and colours of the iPhone 16, however it’s additionally extra highly effective and lasts longer on a cost. However earlier than you write the Pixel 9 off, bear in mind it has some severe images chops. And relying on how the total model of Apple Intelligence performs out, it might need the perfect smartphone AI. Plus, it didn’t do too badly on the battery take a look at, and it’s a fairly telephone in its personal proper, because it’s doing its greatest iPhone impersonation.

However if you would like the perfect entry-level smartphone, the iPhone 16 is it.