Google Pixel 7a vs iPhone 14: Apple or Google?

Google has finally officially announced the Google Pixel 7a, but how does it compare to the king of phones, the iPhone 14?

We’ve all been waiting on tenterhooks for the announcement of the Pixel 7a, which finally happened at the Google I/O event. The handset looks very impressive on paper, featuring a dual camera system and boasting the Google Tensor G2 chipset. 

But with the release of a new handset, we wanted to see how the Pixel 7a could stack up against the other phones on the market. We’re going to be running through all the critical differences between the Pixel 7a and the iPhone 14, so you can decide if you prefer Apple or Google. 

Pixel 7a is more affordable

The Google Pixel 7a is the most affordable phone within the Pixel 7 series, so it makes sense that it’s a lot cheaper than the iPhone 14. The Pixel 7a has a starting price of £449/$499/€509, making it a great contender for our best mid-range phone roundup. 

The iPhone 14 boasts the typical Apple pricing you would expect. The base iPhone 14 model costs £849/$799/€999, making it the least accessible in terms of affordability out of the two. 

Google Tensor G2 vs Apple Silicon A15

The Pixel 7a comes with the Google Tensor G2 chip, which was custom-built for the Pixel series and also features in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. The company claims that it provides improved AI for audio on phone calls as well as advanced machine learning and speech recognition. 

The iPhone 14 comes with the A15 Bionic chip, which debuted with the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. It comes with a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU, with our review noting that it was never slow or laggy and could handle almost everything we threw at it, including games from the Apple Arcade. 

64MP main camera on the Pixel 7a

The Pixel 7a comes with a dual-camera set-up, including a main 64-megapixel camera and an ultra-wide 13MP sensor. Google claims that the Pixel 7a’s camera system has been completely upgraded, with a 72% larger sensor than the Pixel 6a. The ultra-wide 13-megapixel sensor is brand new, allowing users to capture even more in their shots, with the Night Sight being twice as fast as the Pixel 6a. 

The iPhone 14 also comes with a dual-camera system, which includes a 12MP main camera and 12MP ultra-wide sensor. The main sensor is larger and faster than the iPhone 13 and we felt like it had a lot of detail, especially in low light when Night Mode didn’t immediately kick in. While we did feel that the iPhone 14 Pro offered up a more premium camera experience, the iPhone 14 packs a well-balanced and vibrant performance. 

Pixel 7a has an adaptive battery

Google claims that the Pixel 7a comes with the Pixel Adaptive Battery, which can last over 24 hours. It can learn which apps you use the most, allowing it to limit the power usage on apps that you rarely open. Turning on Extreme Battery Saver can result in the battery lasting up to 72 hours, with the added benefit of wireless charging via a Pixel Stand or any Qi-certified device. 

The iPhone series is not known for having the most expansive battery life. We were generally able to get through a full, busy day with 20-30% battery life remaining by bedtime, with 35-40% left over on quieter days. The iPhone 14 does not come with any extreme battery-saving measures, but turning on Low Power Mode will give you a couple of extra hours during the day.