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

It’s face-off time, and you know what that means. Two smartphones go in, and one comes out the victor with plenty of bragging rights. This time around, we’re looking at a pair of entry-level smartphones: the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9. The gateway to their respective premium flagship brethren, these devices can be lost in the chase for snazzy new features. That would be a mistake, however, as both phones are great in their own right. But only one can be the best.

So, let’s meet our fighters. In one corner, you have the iPhone 16. Instead of rocking last year’s processor like the iPhone 15, Apple outfitted the iPhone 16 with its new A18 Bionic chip, which, according to Apple, is noticeably more powerful than its predecessor. The phone also gets two new buttons that have proven to be pretty useful. Plus, with the rollout of iOS 18, we’re getting our first taste of Apple Intelligence, which will surely be a game changer for Apple fans.

In the opposite corner is the Pixel 9. With a gorgeous design that mimics the iPhone, the Pixel 9 is affordable and has a long battery life. Using the same Tensor G4 chip as its more expensive siblings, the Pixel 9 isn’t an outright powerhouse but gets the job done. The dual rear cameras have gotten a noticeable upgrade, allowing the smartphone to capture stunning images and video. And as we continue to explore AI’s possibilities, Google is at the forefront with the feature-rich Google Gemini.

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

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Price

A wealth of choice

Both the iPhone 16 and Pixel 9 start at $799 sans trade-ins. That’s downright affordable compared to their more premium brethren with their fancy foldable hinges and high-powered cameras. But let’s see what $800 buys you these days. For the iPhone 16, you get a smartphone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. Doubling the storage will cost you $899, while the 512GB version tops at $1,099.

There are only two versions of the Pixel 9 available. The $799 base model has a whopping 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the 256GB model raises the price to $899. Normally, this round would have gone to the Pixel simply because of the RAM. However, Apple takes this round since the iPhone 16 has three different models on tap.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Design

A phone of a different color

Let’s get one thing straight: both the Pixel 9 and the iPhone 16 are beautiful phones. The Pixel 9 sports an aluminum frame with a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 rear panel and display. The smartphone comes in four colors: Peony, Wintergreen, Porcelain, and Obsidian. Like its larger siblings, the Pixel 9 has frosted strips along the sides. It looks eerily familiar to an iPhone.

However, the sides are one of the biggest differences between the two phones. The Pixel 9 has the power button and volume rocker on the right side with a slot that looks like a microSD slot but is annoyingly only a speaker. There’s also a USB-C port and a nano-SIM slot. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 has the power and camera buttons on the right, the configurable Action button, and volume control on the left. A pair of speakers on the phone’s bottom sandwich the USB-C charging port.

For once, the iPhone is the more colorful option, offering five colors (Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, Black, and White. Like the Pixel, the iPhone 16 has an aluminum frame and siding with a glass rear panel. Instead of Gorilla Glass, Apple uses the latest version of Ceramic Shield, which the company says is four times stronger than glass in previous generations of iPhones.

While the iPhone 16 (6 ounces, 5.8 x 2.8 x 0.31 inches) isn’t as small as the last iPhone SE (5.1 ounces, 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.29 inches), it’s not that far off. That will make folks with smaller hands or just like a smaller phone happy. But as a lover of big phones, I’m firmly in the Pixel 9 camp. At 7 ounces, it’s not much heavier than the iPhone 16. However, with its 6 x 2.8 x 0.3-inch dimensions, the Pixel 9 is taller and has more display real estate than its Apple competitor.
As much as I love a big smartphone, I’m giving this round to the iPhone 16 as it offers more color choices.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Performance

There’s no contest

Nowadays, the only thing that can beat an iPhone is another iPhone. With the new A18 Bionic chip, Apple says the iPhone 16 is 30% faster than its predecessor. Considering that the iPhone 15 runs on the A16 Bionic chipset, which is two years old at this point, it’s an easy dunk. Although the base model of the A18 isn’t as powerful as the A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, it still ranks as one of the strongest mobile CPUs available.

That stated, I had a hard time taxing the iPhone 16. Even after launching a number of apps, including Adobe Photoshop Express, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify, along with 30 Safari tabs, I didn’t see any slowdown. I got a bit of a stutter when I played Resident Evil 4 Remake, but it was just that – a stutter. Other than the initial launch, the game ran smoothly. Did it have a console or PC-level graphics? No, but the fact that the game runs at all is still a modern miracle in my book.

Apple is not the only company that can make its own silicon, as Google has been making its Tensor processors for a while now. The Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 processor had no problems with my multitasking, allowing me to run the same apps I used on the iPhone plus 30 open Google Chrome tabs. Instead of Resident Evil 4 Remake, I used Alien: Isolation and got smooth gameplay. Again, the gameplay wasn’t as pretty as the PC or console versions, but it’s a testament to how far we’ve come in mobile technology.

I ran several rounds of Geekbench 6 on both phones to get concrete performance numbers, and it was no contest. The iPhone 16 left the Pixel 9 in the dust on both the single and multi-thread tests, scoring 3,412 and 8,416 compared to 1,699 and 4,241. Without question, this round goes to the iPhone 16. But I’m curious how the winner would fare against the Galaxy S24, OnePlus 12, and more premium phones.

Apple iPhone 16 vs  Google Pixel 9: AI

The battle truly begins

Finally, iOS 18 is here, so I can get a little taste of what Apple Intelligence offers. Currently available as a public beta, you can take some of Apple Intelligence’s more intriguing features for a test drive, with the rest debuting later this year. Like most AI software, there’s a big focus on creating summaries and streamlining some of your more tedious tasks, such as shooting off a response to an email in a long multiperson string. A big Summarize button in my Mail app quickly reduced a 20-entry thread to three scannable paragraphs in less than four seconds.

The generative AI also came in handy when taking notes, providing options to proofread my text. Apple Intelligence can also rewrite, summarize, or break your notes down into key points or create a list. It can even write for tone, including professional, concise, or friendly. But the features don’t just reside in email or note-taking apps. Notifications can now be summarized into easily scannable bites. And like Gemini, Apple Intelligence can record calls, create transcripts, and summarize everything.

I jumped into the Photos app to take some of the AI features for a spin. The Natural Language Search worked like a charm, quickly pulling together pics of my puppies when I asked for “dogs playing.” I did a little on-the-fly photo editing with the Clean Up feature, highlighting a rather large camera from a shot of my boyfriend. Not only did the offending tech disappear, but Clean Up also did a great job filling in the grain of the wood in the newly empty space.

I chatted with Siri while it looked up fancy spots for my birthday dinner. Despite fumbling my words, the digital assistant managed to pull up a list of French restaurants in a 20-mile radius. It’s a cool feature for those of us whose mouths sometimes move faster than our brains. And while Siri isn’t new, it’s still coming with new tricks, such as letting you continue to scroll or navigate around the phone while using Siri. If you don’t like talking to Siri, you can type your request using the new Siri keyboard. You know, for the inquiries that require a bit of discretion.

However, since it’s still in beta, not every Apple AI feature is currently available, so we’re still waiting to create AI-generated images via Image Playground and Genmojis, Apple’s cutesy name-generative AI emojis.

Google’s Gemini AI is one of the leading AI platforms to date and has a host of features that range from helpful to fun. And while Gemini can do a myriad of things, I think it shines the brightest when it comes to photography. The redesigned Magic Editor is an absolute force as it has features like Reimagine that lets you modify pictures by simply typing a phrase. Or you can augment your group shots with Add Me to ensure everyone is in the picture. Meanwhile, you have Zoom Enhance, which uses generative AI to fill in the gaps when you zoom in on pictures, so you always have crisp detail. Google also has some AI sauce for video, bringing the ability to upscale to 8K and reducing or enhancing audio as you see fit.

If you’re not a shutterbug, I can introduce you to Gemini Advanced. Here, you have AI summary tools and a conversational digital assistant that can organize and summarize your screenshots with Pixel Screenshots. Google Keep can also create lists. And if you need to record and transcribe a call, Gemini and Apple Intelligence can get the job done.

Right now, both AI solutions are free. But that won’t last for long, at least not with Google. The company wants consumers to pay $20/month to access some of Gemini’s deeper feature sets. No word yet on whether Apple plans to follow suit with a paid subscription model.

For now, I’m going to give this round to Google as it has a fuller feature set to explore. However, Apple Intelligence looks like it will give Google and Microsoft a run for their money on the AI front.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Camera

A close battle

Neither the Pixel 9 nor the iPhone 16 have the fancy cameras of their more premium brethren. However, both smartphones can snap a pretty picture. Historically, iPhones have delivered stunning stills and video, and the iPhone 16 is no different. Just like its predecessor, the iPhone 16 has a dual camera setup. The main camera is a 48 megapixel with a ƒ/1.6 aperture and a 12 MP ultrawide ƒ/2.2 sensor. The phone also retained last-gen’s 10x zoom. Flip the phone over to its front camera, and you have a 12 MP ƒ/1.9 aperture.

Now, onto the Pixel 9, which also has dual rear cameras. Last gen’s 50 MP wide ƒ/1.68 sensor returns, but the ultrawide camera has gotten a big boost, jumping from 12 MP to 48 MP. When you need to capture a long-distance shot, there’s Super Res Zoom that extends to 8x. The front sensor has 10.5 MP with a ƒ/2.2.

One thing I noticed during the shootout is color. Although the stills on both cameras look great, more often than not, the iPhone had more vivid colors while the Pixel delivered more natural hues.

A quick note. The first pictures in each sliders are images shot with the Pixel 9 while the second come from the iPhone 16. 

Wide

I took both phones for a walk around my neighborhood, snapping shots. One of my favorites is a picture of a baby blue Lincoln Capri. For once, the Pixel 9 result is more oversaturated, displaying a deeper blue than the actual color. As far as detail is concerned, the iPhone was the winner with cleaner elements. Zoom in on the white wall tires, and you can make out the finer etching on the hubcaps as well as the cracks in the sidewalk.

It was more difficult to pick a winner on the next shot – a colorful poster of a man with a captivating gaze. I spent about 20 minutes trying to find fault with either camera; I even had my boyfriend, a professional photographer, look. And outside of tiny differences such as fine creases in the poster, as displayed by the Pixel 9, this was a virtual dead heat.

As expected, the Pixel had slightly deeper colors in a shot of a charcuterie board. However, from the random pattern on the tabletop to the seeds in the sliced tomatoes, I was surprised to see that the iPhone also displayed sharper details.

Ultrawide

While some people prefer more natural colors, I don’t particularly mind a little oversaturation, especially in this shot of sample doughnuts on tap at a local shop. While both images look absolutely delectable, the brighter sheen on the chocolate-dipped pastry from the iPhone was more appealing than the Pixel. Zooming in on both shots, the phones were almost even detail-wise. However, the Pixel’s results were slightly crisper than those of its competitor.

It was the same story in a picture of a shelf of flowers outside the local grocery store. Once again, the iPhone had the more vibrant hues, with the Pixel 9 delivering better detail. A quick zoom-in on the grate at the bottom of the shot lets you see a clearer view of the design. Meanwhile, the marigold petals were fuzzier on the iPhone 16.

A shot of a brownstone produced a dead heat in terms of color and details. I pored over both images side by side, and outside of extremely minor details, the level of sharpness was nearly equal.

Low light

For this test, I took two shots with each phone, one with the lights dimmed as far as my dimmer switch could go and the other with the lights turned out. The Pixel produced a more accurate color in the low-light shot, as my Hulk and Sully figurines looked darker on the iPhone. Looking at the lettering on the Yamaha soundbar and the old camera, the Pixel’s shot has cleaner results.

In the no-light images, the iPhone had richer color, particularly on the golden dragon statue, the pink tin, and the Hulk. While you can’t make out any of the lettering on the soundbar, the Pixel gave better details on the camera lettering.

Selfie

This isn’t a contest. The Pixel did a much better job capturing my skin tone, makeup, and hair color than the iPhone. If not for how well it captured how badly my eyebrows need threading and the smaller pores on my face, I would have thought I accidentally enabled a beauty filter.

Digital Zoom

Google has done a great job on zoom, but Apple’s not too far behind. I took a shot of a memorial plaque. The cameras are evenly matched in terms of color, and while you can totally read the names in both shots.

However, the Pixel was more legible and had cleaner lines in a night shot of New York City traffic from a rooftop. The Pixel excelled with clearer shots of the taillights and surprisingly better color.

I captured some NYC fauna munching on an errant chicken bone. You can see individual rat hairs in the Pixel shot, while the critter looked a lot blurrier on the iPhone. However, you could see the critter’s little feet better on the iPhone.

Neither of my night shots of the Chrysler building came out the best. The Pixel’s version had lots of visual noise, while the iPhone’s was blurry.

Panorama

When it comes to taking panos, I prefer the Pixel as it has more accurate guidelines to produce a more even capture. On the iPhone, it’s more of a freestyle deal. My hand dropped a little, and the iPhone threw up a prompt so I could course-correct it, but the damage was already done. In terms of color and detail, the phones produced nearly identical results.

This round was tough, with both phones notching wins in specific categories. But the round goes to the Pixel for its consistent color accuracy and crisp detail.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Battery

A marathon run

They’ll keep going and going and going. I ran the Gizmodo battery test on both phones 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 is not too shabby. The iPhone’s 3,561 mAh battery tapped out at 23:29.

I don’t know how Apple does it with all that performance, but it continues to pop out with powerful products without sacrificing longevity.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Google Pixel 9: Verdict

When a new smartphone line comes out, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of the more expensive versions. But spare a glance at the entry-level devices that offer an affordable option, which might trump all the fancy bells and whistles of the more premium versions in this day and age.

The iPhone ultimately wins this face-off in a hard-fought battle between the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9. Not only does Apple offer more configurations and colors of the iPhone 16, but it’s also more powerful and lasts longer on a charge. But before you write the Pixel 9 off, remember it has some serious photography chops. And depending on how the full version of Apple Intelligence plays out, it might have the best smartphone AI. Plus, it didn’t do too badly on the battery test, and it’s a pretty phone in its own right, as it’s doing its best iPhone impersonation.

But if you want the best entry-level smartphone, the iPhone 16 is it.