Google / Pocket-lint
Google Pixel 7a
Choose for the camera
The Pixel 7a packs flagship power into a compact body with that legendary Pixel camera. It offers excellent performance in this price range, but the screen could be brighter.
![galaxya54square2]()
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Samsung Galaxy A54 5G
Choose for display
$375 $450 Save $75
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G offers an excellent display with 120Hz and plenty of brightness. There’s decent performance and a reasonable camera too, but it’s the display that really shines.
Over the years, midrange phones have gone from just above entry-level to just below flagship. A few compromises here and there bring the price down, resulting in a mid-tier of affordable devices that have a lot to offer.
The Pixel A models have all offered great performance for the price, while Samsung’s A-series is also among the company’s best-selling devices. So how do the latest releases from the two brands compare?
The Pixel 7a is Google’s latest, announced in May 2023, while the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G was announced in March 2023.
Pricing, Availability, Specifications
The Google Pixel 7a is available for $499 / £449 / €509 and was announced on May 10 at Google I/O. It comes in four colors, with coral being exclusive to the Google Store.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G was announced on March 31, 2023 in Europe and is available for $449 in the US from Samsung.com or £499 in the UK from Samsung.com.
Now tracks the specs of the respective phones, so you can see how they compare.
Google Pixel 7a Samsung Galaxy A54 5G SoCs G2 tensor Exynos 1380 Display 6.1-inch OLED, Full HD+, 90Hz 6.4 inch, Super AMOLED, Full HD+, 120Hz Battery 4385 mAh, 18W fast charge, 7.5W wireless charge 5000mAh Front camera 13MP, f/2.2 13MP, f/2.2 Rear cameras 64MP f/1.89 main, 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide 50MP main f/1.9 OIS, 12MP ultrawide f/2.2, 5MP macro f/2.4 Dimensions 152.4 x 72.9 x 9mm, 193g 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2mm, 202g loading 7.5W wireless charging 25W wired IP Rating IP67 IP67
Design and build
The Google Pixel 7a follows the family design with a flattened back split by the camera bar running across the top. It basically looks like a smaller version of the Pixel 7, and not too different from the Pixel 6a. The noticeable difference from the Pixel 7 is the slightly wider bezels around the screen. It measures 72.9 x 152.4 x 9.0mm and weighs 193g.
The Pixel 7a is available in Charcoal, Snow, Sea and Coral colors and there is an IP67 rating on the phone.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G has a design change from the 2022 A53 and now resembles the Galaxy S models, with the camera lenses placed individually on the back of the phone. It’s finished in plastic, but it’s still a quality feel. It also has an IP67 rating. It measures 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2mm and weighs 202g, so it’s a bigger phone overall.
The Galaxy A54 5G is available in Awesome Lime, Awesome Black, Awesome Violet, and Awesome White colors.
Display
There’s a 6.1-inch OLED display on the Pixel 7a with a 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. There’s a punch-hole top and camera center for the selfie camera.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G has a larger 6.4-inch screen. It’s an AMOLED panel as you’d expect from Samsung with a punchy 1000 nits. Compared to the Pixel 7a, Samsung’s screen is better, especially in terms of brightness. It has a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, so the Pixel 7a technically has a higher pixel density, but we’d say the Samsung display is even more appealing.
The Galaxy A54 also has a 120Hz refresh rate, so you get a bigger screen that’s technically more capable from Samsung.
Material
The Google Pixel 7a runs on Google Tensor 2 hardware, the same as the Pixel 7 Pro. That means it’s flagship-grade power, only with 8GB of RAM. This gives fast performance, perhaps warming up a bit under load like the Tensor chips seem to do, but otherwise you’re getting top-tier hardware at mid-range prices. There is 128 GB of storage.
There’s a 4385mAh battery, with 18W wired charging and 7.5W wireless charging. Neither are particularly fast in modern terms and that’s not a huge battery for this size device.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is again powered by the Exynos 1380 with 8GB of RAM. Both are 5nm hardware, but you can expect the Tensor G2 to be the more powerful and offer a faster experience. Samsung, however, offers 128 and 256 GB storage options, along with microSD support up to 1 TB.
Samsung also has a larger 5,000mAh battery with support for 25W wired charging, again offering the best endurance of the two phones.
Camera
Google’s camera history is dominated by its computational photography, with clever features to make the camera work in just about any condition, no matter what. There’s a dual-camera setup with a 64-megapixel main and a 13-megapixel ultrawide. On the front there is a 13 megapixel camera.
However, it’s the smarts that draw us in – a solid night mode, excellent portrait performance from all cameras, Super Res zoom to give you decent digital zoom, plus good editing features like blur photo.
Samsung offers a triple camera with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 5-megapixel macro, joined by a 32-megapixel front camera. Again, there are plenty of features, but quite a different look to the images, with Google tending to be more realistic and Samsung more saturated. The Pixel camera is very popular though, so we think most will prefer the performance of the Pixel 7a.
conclusion
The Google Pixel 7a is a bit newer than the Samsung phone and has the advantage of being ahead of the pack when it comes to updates – as well as being free of the duplications introduced by Samsung. Along with the cleaner software experience, it offers a stellar camera and flagship-grade power.
Google / Pocket-lint
Google Pixel 7a
Choose for the camera
The Pixel 7a is Google’s latest mid-range phone. It succeeds the Pixel 6a and sits alongside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, offering a number of exciting specs and features and further bridging the gap between the flagship and the mid-range.
The Samsung Galaxy A54 5G is a bit cheaper and has a better screen, offering more space and better quality and brightness, which makes it more pleasant to use every day. The power isn’t far off, and the battery will likely beat most Pixel 7a users. So there are pros and cons on both sides of this argument.
Samsung Galaxy A54 5G
Choose for display
$375 $450 Save $75
The screen really is the thing Samsung has stacked in its favor – along with a range of interesting software tweaks if you’re a fan of Samsung’s version on Android. Otherwise, it’s the camera that will draw people to the Pixel 7a, especially at this price.
