Google Pixel 7a Vs Samsung Galaxy A54: Which Budget Android To Choose?
Is the new Google Pixel 7a better than Samsung’s offering at the same price point, Samsung Galaxy A54? Let’s compare them both and find out!
Table of Contents
Pixel 7a
Pixel 7a brings the good stuff from the company’s flagship Pixel 7 at a more accessible price. It has a great set of cameras, performs well, has a good display, and offers a clutterless software experience.
Pros
- Great set of cameras
- Good display
- IP67 rating
- Wireless charging support
Cons
- The battery could be a bit bigger
- Slow charging speeds
Galaxy A54
Samsung Galaxy A54 borrows the design of the Samsung Galaxy S23 flagship and tries to offer a similar flagship experience at a more affordable price. It has a great display, decent cameras, and offers good battery life.
Pros
- Great display
- IP67 rating
- Decent cameras
Cons
- Not as powerful as its competitors
Google Pixel 7a Vs Samsung Galaxy A54: KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Google Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54 come with a contemporary design that takes inspiration from the flagships of the respective brands.
- Both phones are IP67 rated, which is an excellent addition to phones at this price point.
- Google Pixel 7a has a more compact 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of Full HD+ and a refresh rate of 90Hz. Samsung Galaxy A54’s display is slightly larger at 6.4 inches; it is an AMOLED panel with a resolution of Full HD+ and a refresh rate of 120Hz.
- Pixel 7a is more powerful with its Google Tensor G2 SoC. While not as powerful as Pixel 7a, Galaxy A54 has a decently performing Exynos 1380 SoC.
- Galaxy A54 has better battery life with its 5,000mAh battery, while Pixel 7a only has a 4300mAh battery. Galaxy A54 also charges faster with support for 25W fast charging. But Pixel 7a supports wireless charging.
- Pixel 7a has a dual camera setup of 50 MP + 12 MP ultra-wide + 5 MP macro. While Pixel 7a has a 64 MP + 13 MP ultra-wide camera setup. Pixel 7a has an edge over Galaxy A54 with its superior image processing.
Overall, Pixel 7a is a better buy as it has a better processor, better cameras, and all the AI features Google has built-in.
Design
Both phones follow the distinctive design language of the respective brands. Google Pixel 7a follows the design language of current and previous generation phones from Pixel with its unmistakable camera design on the back.
Similarly, Samsung Galaxy A54 has the same family design as Samsung we saw in the Galaxy S23 series of phones.
Display
Google Pixel 7a has a 6.1-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a resolution of Full HD+. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
Samsung Galaxy A54 has a bigger 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution. It has a newer Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
Performance
Pixel 7a is powered by Google Tensor G2 SoC, the same chipset as Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. While this chipset is used in Google’s pricier flagships, it isn’t on the same performance level as the latest Snapdragon flagship chipset. But for the price Pixel 7a is offered, the chipset is excellent.
Samsung Galaxy A54 is powered by Samsung Exynos 1380 chipset. It is a decent chipset for the price and offers decent performance. But it trails behind Pixel 7a by a massive margin in terms of performance.
Also Read: Pixel 7a vs Pixel 7 – So What’s Different?
Camera
Pixel 7a features a dual camera setup with a 64MP primary camera with an aperture of f/1.9 and support for OIS. The 13MP ultrawide camera complements it with a field of view of 120°. The phone uses a 13MP selfie camera on the front.
Samsung Galaxy A54 has a set of triple cameras, a 50MP primary camera with an aperture of f/1.8, and support for OIS. It is supported by 12MP ultrawide and 5MP macro secondary cameras. On the front, the phone has a 32MP selfie shooter.
Take a look at these official camera samples of Pixel 7a:
Take a look at the official camera samples of Galaxy A54:
Battery
Pixel 7a is backed up by a 4385 mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Galaxy A54 has a larger 5000 mAh battery with slightly faster 25W fast charging. Pixel 7a has support for 7.5W wireless charging, while Galaxy A54 doesn’t support wireless charging.
Software
Pixel 7a has a close-to-stock Android skin, unofficially called Pixel UI. It brings all the goodness of stock Android with Pixel-specific AI features such as the magic eraser, photo unblur, call screening, and more. It comes with Android 13 out of the box and will be among the first phones to receive the Android 14 update when it launches.
Galaxy A54 has OneUI, Samsung’s custom skin. It comes with OneUI 5.1 based on Android 13 out of the box and is one of Android’s most customizable custom skins. It also has almost all the features you want from an Android skin.
Both these skins are at different ends of the spectrum. Galaxy A54 offers the most extensive list of features but also comes with lots of bloatware, and the OneUI skin is heavy as a result of that compared to Pixel UI. Pixel 7a has minimal bloat but has meaningful features and is light skin because of that.
Specs Comparison Table
| Specification | Google Pixel 7a | Samsung Galaxy A54 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 152 x 72.9 x 9 mm | 158.2 x 76.7 x 8.2 mm |
| Weight | 192.7g | 202g |
| Build | Glass front, Plastic back & Aluminium frame | Glass front, Glass back & Plastic frame |
| SIM | Nano-SIM, eSIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM, eSIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| IP rating | IP67 | IP67 |
| Display size | 6.1 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Display type | OLED | AMOLED |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Refresh rate | 90Hz | 120Hz |
| Display Certifications | – | HDR10+ |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | Google Tensor G2 | Samsung Exynos 1380 |
| CPU | Octa-core (2×2.85 GHz Cortex-X1 & 2×2.35 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A55) | Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| GPU | Mali-G710 MP7 | Mali-G68 MP5 |
| RAM | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB | 128 GB / 256 GB |
| Main camera | 64 MP, ƒ/1.89, 1/1.73″ | 50 MP, f/1.8, 1/1.56″ |
| Ultra-wide camera | 13 MP, f/2.2, 120° | 12 MP, f/2.2, 123° |
| Macro camera | – | 5MP, f/2.4 |
| Selfie camera | 13 MP, ƒ/2.2 | 32 MP, f/2.2 |
| Battery capacity | 4300 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Charging speed | 18 W | 25 W |
| Wireless charging | 7.5W Qi wireless charging | – |
| Operating system | Android 13 | OneUI 5.1 based on Android 13 |
| Price | $499 / £449 / €509 | Starts from $449 / £449 / €499 |
Price And Value For Money
Here’s the pricing of Pixel 7a:
Galaxy A54 will set you back by:
The pricing of Galaxy A54 and Pixel 7a is interesting. Galaxy A54 costs more than Pixel 7a in UK and Europe, but it’s the opposite in the US. Both phones offer great value for the money you’re paying.
Conclusion
Choosing the better phone out of the two is a confusing task. Both smartphones try to bring the goodness of their respective flagships from the brand. Pixel 7a has many features from the Pixel 7 flagship; it is even powered by the same Google Tensor G2 SoC. It also has all the AI features of Pixel 7. Samsung Galaxy A54 also tries to do the same, it has a similar design to that of Galaxy S23, but it has an inferior camera to Pixel 7a and isn’t as powerful.
Google Pixel 7a is the phone to go for at around $500/€500, considering it has a better processor than Galaxy A54 and has every feature the former has and also has wireless charging support. In the US, Pixel 7a costs more than Galaxy A54, and it’s the opposite in UK and Europe. But whatever the price, Pixel 7a would be the better choice!
