Choosing a smartphone that could cater to all your needs proves to be a daunting task, especially when you are eyeing an affordable yet budget-conscious phone. Meanwhile, Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S23 FE significantly puts up a budget battle with the newest Google Pixel 8a, as both phones certainly occupy the mid-range category while also offering a perfect balance among their pricing and performance. So lets talk about Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Vs Google Pixel 8a.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE vs Google Pixel 8a
However, to put it another way, the requirements could be slightly different for both phones depending on what customers are looking for. Samsung Galaxy S23 FE offers an advanced yet feature-loaded UI that is highly customizable for a better, smoother, and top-class experience, along with a stunning display, while Google’s Pixel 8a simply focuses on providing a clean, refreshed, and stock Android experience without compromising on camera quality.
No doubt, both the Galaxy S23 FE and the Pixel 8a are packed with several impressive features, and it could be difficult to choose which will be the best option for purchase. This Samsung Galaxy S23 FE and Google Pixel 8a showdown will significantly drive you through the entire comparison of their key specifications that could tailor to your needs and experience.
The design:
With respect to the design, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE significantly leads, as it features a premium glass back panel that houses an aluminum frame all around. While the phone has taken its iconic design from last year’s S23 series, The back panel has a triple camera setup, with the camera sensors arranged in vertical symmetry. This overall design gives the S23 FE a more premium look and feels great in hand.
The Pixel 8a, on the other hand, comes with a similar traditional design, housing the horizontal dual camera setup in a metal rectangular strip. The back panel is made of plastic, while the frame is made of aluminum for durability. The phone is extremely comfortable in the hands due to its smooth, curvy edges. The most impressive aspect of its design is the plastic back panel, which is hard to attract any finger imprints or other smudges, but it’s slippery as well due to its shiny back. The matte finish at the back feels incredible while holding hands.
Display:
The Galaxy S23 FE significantly leads when it comes to display. Samsung never disappoints, as it covers its Galaxy models with an AMOLED display screen that usually offers an immersive viewing experience. Here as well, you get a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate for more crisp visuals. Meanwhile, the PIxel 8a features a slightly smaller 6.1-inch Actua display (OLED) panel with full HD+ resolution and a similar 120Hz refresh rate as well. However, the Pixel 8a’s display shines bright and produces more crisp and vibrant colors outdoors, as it backs up with 2,000 nits of peak brightness, which significantly surpasses the 1,450 nits of peak brightness of the Galaxy S23 FE’s display.
Another impressive aspect of the display of the S23 FE is its bezels. The bezels are really slimmer as compared to the Pixel 8a. Also, adding an additional layer of protection, Samsung has packed the display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, while the Pixel 8a comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. This certainly means that the Galaxy S23 FE significantly takes the lead in terms of display durability, as the display is much more durable and is extremely resistant to scratches and other accidental drops.
Performance:
Coming to the performance aspect, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, which is highly known for handling the most demanding loads, such as gaming and extended workflows, for hours. On the flip side, the Pixel 8a is equipped with a Google Tensor G3 chip, which is built on a 4nm-based process and performs exceptionally well due to its AI capabilities and commendable functionalities; however, this chip is adversely affected by heavy workloads and expanded gaming sessions, causing overheating. Overall, the thermal conductivity of the Galaxy S23 FE is great, as it can allow you to have heavy multitasking along with extended gaming sessions.
Software:
Both the Pixel 8a and S23 FE offer a smooth yet advanced software experience. Google offers 7 generations of software updates and 7 years of security updates to the Pixel 8a, which significantly runs on Android 14 under the hood, allowing you to keep your device updated for as long as possible as it will receive monthly feature drops on one hand, while the major OS updates as well. On the flip side, the Galaxy S23 FE runs on Android 13-based One UI 5.1, which can be upgraded to the latest Android 14-based One UI 6.1. Clearly, the Google Pixel 8a surpasses the Galaxy S23 FE in terms of software updates, ensuring customers can keep their phone as long as possible.
Battery and charging speed:
The Galaxy S23 FE and the Pixel 8a are both equipped with almost similar battery capacities. The Pixel 8a packs a 4492 mAh battery, while the Galaxy S23 FE features a 4,500 mAh battery. For normal usage, both phones can get you about 7-8 hours covered, which means that both phones have batteries that can go for longer runs. Speaking of their charging speeds, the Galaxy S23 FE has much better 25W wired and 15W wireless charging support that can easily survive for longer runs, while the Pixel 8a comes with 18W wired and 7.5W wireless charging support.
The camera system:
Here comes the most prominent aspect: the camera system. The Pixel 8a houses its traditional camera design with a dual camera setup on a rectangular metal band. The dual camera consists of a 64 MP main camera as well as a 13 MP ultrawide. On the flip side, the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE comes with its iconic triple rear camera setup, with the camera lenses arranged in a vertical symmetry. The camera hardware has a 50MP main camera, an 8MP telephoto camera, and a 12MP ultrawide camera. Meanwhile, coming to the front section, the Pixel 8a comes with a 13MP front sensor for self-portraits, while the Galaxy S23 FE is equipped with a 10MP selfie snapper.
Should you consider buying the Galaxy S23 FE or the Pixel 8a?
This Samsung Galaxy S23 FE and the Pixel 8a showdown significantly indicates that customers should prefer buying the Galaxy S23 FE over the Pixel 8a, as Samsung has covered every important aspect, including its bigger yet immersive display, powerful and energy-efficient chipset, proficient camera system, long-running battery life, and also occupies the affordable mid-range category.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE vs Google Pixel 8A: Datasheet
| Samsung Galaxy S23 FE | Google Pixel 8a | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Luanch | |||
| Release Date | 2023, October 04 | 2024, May 07 | |
| First Sale Date | 2023, October 5 | 2024, May 14 | |
| Design | |||
| Dimensions | 158 x 76.5 x 8.2 mm | 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9 mm | |
| Fornt build | Glass front | Glass front | |
| Back Build | Glass | Plastic | |
| Frame Build | Aluminum | Aluminum | |
| Weight | 209 g | 188 g | |
| Thickness | 8.2 mm | 8.9 mm | |
| Dula SIM | Yes | Yes | |
| SIM Type | 2 Nano-SIMs or SIM & eSIM | Nano-SIM and eSIM | |
| IP Rating | IP68 | IP67 | |
| IR Blaster | No | No | |
| Dual Mic | Yes | Yes | |
| Colour | Mint, Cream, Graphite, Purple, Indigo, Tangerine | Obsidian (black), Aloe (green), Porcelain (white), Bay (blue) | |
| Punch Hole | Yes | Yes | |
| Display | |||
| Size | 6.4 inches | 6.1 inches | |
| Screen to body Ratio | 83.20% | 81.60% | |
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED 2X | OLED | |
| Curved or Flat | Curved | Flat | |
| Refresh Rate | 120Hz | 120Hz | |
| 4K video on YouTube | Yes | Yes | |
| HDR on YouTube | Yes | Yes | |
| HRD on Netflix | Yes | Yes | |
| HDR10 | Yes | Yes | |
| Peak Brightness | 1450 nits | 2000 nits | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1080 x 2400 pixels | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | |
| AOD | Yes | Yes | |
| ppi density | 403 ppi | 430 ppi | |
| Performance | |||
| Chipset | International: Exynos 2200 (4 nm) USA: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) | Google Tensor G3 | |
| Chipset launch Date | November 17, 2023 | October 4, 2023 | |
| Platform | 4NM | 4NM | |
| Performance | 2.8 GHz, Octa Core Processor 3.0 GHz, Octa Core Processor | 2.63 GHz, Nona-core Processor | |
| CPU | Octa-core | Nona-core | |
| GPU | International: Xclipse 920 USA: Adreno 730 | Immortalis-G715s MC10 | |
| Antutu Score | 1,073,002 | 876.512 (v10) | |
| CPU Throttle Test | 66% | 60% | |
| GeekBench | Single-core: 1,573 Multi-core: 3,873 | Single-core: 1,218 Multi-core: 3,175 | |
| BGMI Setting | HDR | – | |
| COD Setting | – | – | |
| Genshin Impact | – | – | |
| 4K video Editing | Yes | Yes | |
| Storage | |||
| Storage Type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 | |
| RAM Type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5x | |
| Card slot | No | Up to 1TB Micro SD | |
| Storage Variant | 8GB + 128GB 8GB + 256GB | 8GB + 128GB 8GB + 256GB | |
| Software | |||
| Software | One UI 5.1 | – | |
| Android Verison | Android 13 | Android 14 | |
| Latest Security Patch Update | – | ||
| Major Software Updaate Support | 4 Year | 7 Year | |
| Securiy update support | 5 Year | 7 Year | |
| Bloatware and Ads | Yes | No | |
| Main Camera | |||
| Camera Type | Triple | Dual | |
| Primary Camra | 50MP | 64MP (wide) | |
| Ultra Wide Camera | 12MP | 13MP | |
| Telephoto Lens | 8MP | No | |
| Macro Camera | No | No | |
| Other Camera | No | No | |
| Optical Zoom | 3x optical zoom | No | |
| Digital Zoom | 30x | 8x | |
| LED Flash | Yes | Yes | |
| VIdeo Max Setting | 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 720p@960fps | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps | |
| OIS | Yes | Yes | |
| EIS | Yes | No | |
| Rear autofocus | Yes | Yes | |
| Slow Monotion | Yes | Yes | |
| Paronoma | Yes | Yes | |
| Selfie Camera | |||
| Camera Type | Single | Single | |
| Selfie Camera | 10MP | 13MP | |
| Ultra Wide | No | No | |
| Videography | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps | 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps | |
| Sound | |||
| Loud Speaker | Yes | Yes | |
| stereo speakers | Yes | Yes | |
| 3.5 Headphone jack | No | No | |
| Sound Quality | – | – | |
| Battery | |||
| Battery Type | Li-Ion, non-removable | non-removable | |
| Capecity | 4500 mAh | 4492 mAh | |
| Fast Charging | 25W | – | |
| Charging Time | 50% in 30 min | 1-100% in 29 min | |
| Wireless Charging | 15W | Yes | |
| Reverse Charging | Yes | No | |
| Contectivity | |||
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual/tri-band | |
| Bluetooth | Version 5.4, A2DP, LE | 5.3, A2DP, LE | |
| Positioning | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS, NavIC | |
| Infrared port | No | No | |
| Radio | No | No | |
| USB | Type-C 3.1 | Type-C 2.0 | |
| NFC | Yes | Yes | |
| Sensors | |||
| Fingerprint sensor | Optical | Optical | |
| In-Display Fingerprint Sensor | Yes | Yes | |
| accelerometer | Yes | Yes | |
| gyro | Yes | Yes | |
| proximity | Yes | Yes | |
| compass | Yes | Yes | |
| barometer | Yes | Yes | |
| GPS | Yes | Yes | |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes | |
| Netowrk | |||
| GSM | Yes | Yes | |
| HSPA | Yes | Yes | |
| 4G/LTE | Yes | Yes | |
| 5G | Yes | Yes | |
| Active 4G on both SIM cards | Yes | Yes | |
| 5G No. of Band | International: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78 SA/NSA/Sub6 | (International): 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 26, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 75, 76, 77, 78 SA/NSA/Sub6 – G6GPR (NA): 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 41, 48, 66, 70, 71, 77, 78 SA/NSA/Sub6 – GKV4X (USA): 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 48, 66, 71, 77, 78, 260, 261 SA/NSA/Sub6/mmWave – G8HHN | |
| Box Content | |||
| Charger | Yes | Yes | |
| Cable | Yes | Type-C Cable (supports USB 2.0) | |
| Phone | Yes | Yes | |
| Earphone | No | No | |
| Pre Applied Screen Guard | – | – | |
| User Manual | Yes | Yes | |
| Price | |||
| 8/128 | $629.99 | $499 | |
| 8/256 | $689.99 | $559 |
