The iPhone 16e was just released in March, but this was apparently enough for Apple to become the world’s top smartphone vendor in the first quarter. The iPhone 16e is credited with the win for Apple, which means the affordable new iPhone 16 version is quite popular with buyers.
I saw this coming a mile away. I told you how awesome the iPhone 16e would be all the way back when it was just a rumored device we all referred to as the iPhone SE 4. Sure, it’s more expensive than we thought, starting at $599, but it’s still a great deal. You get cutting-edge specs, tremendous battery life, an all-screen design, and Apple Intelligence.
But you don’t have to listen to me or the quarterly smartphone sales comparisons. Google just told us how amazing the iPhone 16e is by doing something I didn’t see coming. Google posted a “Pixel 9a vs. iPhone 16e” comparison page on its website where it sells Pixel phones.
Google is afraid. Very afraid.
If you’ve been following the iPhone and the Pixel for as long as I have, you know that Google has criticized Apple’s handsets plenty of times, only to then copy Apple’s lead. It happens over and over, and Pixel phones have gotten better and better as a result.
The Pixel 9a is no different. It’s a tremendous mid-range phone, and it’s cheaper than the iPhone 16e, starting at $499 for 128GB of storage. You get Pixel 9 specs, a good camera experience, great battery life, and lots of AI thanks to Google Gemini, which is miles ahead of Apple Intelligence.
The last thing Google should do is draw attention to the iPhone 16e by publishing a Pixel 9a comparison on its site. If you’ve got the customer here, and they’re almost ready to buy new hardware, don’t show them the competition. What if they change their mind and go for the iPhone 16e instead?
Google’s comparison page wants to answer the question: Is the Pixel 9a “the best budget phone out there?”
The answer Google is going for is “yes, the Pixel 9a is the best budget phone,” though Google isn’t exactly impartial:
Obviously, we’re big Pixel fans. So let’s step away from the subjective stuff – like how the Pixel 9a color choices are way more fun and the design is cooler – and look at the facts.
Obviously, Google then puts up a specs comparison that will mostly benefit the Android phone. That’s how these specs comparisons have gone for years. Android vendors usually win them because they’ve been beefing up the specs at a much faster pace than Apple.
Obviously, the specs detail that matters the most, the chips that power the two phones, is absent. The iPhone 16e’s A18 chip will wipe the floor with Google’s Tensor G4.
Obviously, Google also uses the “7 years of security and OS updates with Pixel Drops” category to tell you the Pixel 9a is better. First of all, iPhones don’t get Pixel Drops. Second, that G4 chip will probably have a much tougher time dealing with those Android updates the further we go. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone 16e should have no problem running several iOS iterations.
Obviously, Apple’s AI sucks. There’s no question about it. This is Google’s main advantage, and something the comparison is correct to point out. Gemini is simply superior to Apple Intelligence, and I say that as a longtime iPhone owner disappointed in how Apple handled its first year of AI.
Obviously, as a longtime iPhone user, I’d recommend the iPhone 16e over the Pixel 9a time and again to anyone who isn’t loyal to a smartphone brand or mobile operating system. That’s not to say the Pixel 9a is a bad phone. I’d recommend it over other mid-range phones to Android users.
What I’m getting at is that this comparison page should not exist on Google’s page. Not unless Google puts up similar comparisons with other mid-range Android phones that compete against the Pixel 9a. Samsung has a few of those, as does Nothing and virtually every Android vendor under the sun. Otherwise, it just goes to show how afraid Google is of Apple when it shouldn’t be.
Pixel phones are good, mature devices. Google can sell them without comparing them to iPhones. Obviously.
