Galaxy S24 vs Pixel 8: which is the best small format smartphone?

With the new Galaxy S24, Samsung improved its formula by working on autonomy, screen, software tracking and artificial intelligence features. It competes with the Pixel 8, which is a nice evolution of what Google has offered so far. So which is better between these two small format smartphones? We compare them according to the main criteria so that you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Technical pages

Design: Galaxy S24 is lighter, thinner and more compact

The Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8, along with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, are among the rare high-end smartphones that still embrace the compact format. If Samsung and Google devices both have a 6.2-inch screen with the same diagonal, the Pixel 8 has larger dimensions than its counterpart: 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9 compared to 147 x 70.6 x 7.6 mm for the Galaxy S24 mm. This is mainly due to the presence of thicker bezels around the Pixel 8 panel. The Galaxy S24 has a screen-to-body ratio of over 90%, while the Pixel 8 manages around 85%. THE Pixel 8 is also 20 grams heavier than your rival. It measures 187g on the scale, while the Galaxy S24 weighs just 167g. The size of the battery plays an important role at this point, we will return to this issue later.

Another difference between the two terminals is the screen format. With the Pixel 8’s 20:9 aspect ratio, Google opts for a taller design. Samsung chose the 19.5:9 ratio for the Galaxy S24, which provides more room in width. Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 also go in different directions in terms of general design lines. The first focuses on straighter edges and more slightly rounded corners. Pixel 8 prefers roundness on the edges and corners.

Both devices place the front camera in a hole in the middle of the screen. But on the back end, the philosophy is just the opposite. The Galaxy S24’s photo sensors are naturally integrated into the case. Aesthetically successful. And this choice makes it possible to avoid increasing the thickness of the terminal too much. Pixel 8 has an impressive photo block in the form of a horizontal bar. The visual effect is successful, but this design increases the thickness of the mobile phone and creates a certain instability in grip.

The coatings are of good quality on both sides, but Samsung still has a slight advantage. The screen and back panel are protected by glass Gorilla Glass Victus 2 It’s from Corning, where Google retains the first generation Gorilla Glass Victus. Both frames are made of aluminum, which has a very pleasant visual and tactile effect. Both of our models have a fingerprint reader under the screen, as well as IP68 certification for water and dust resistance (ultrasonic for Galaxy S24, optical for Pixel 8).

Color selection on Samsung includes black, silver, cream and indigo. Google offers black, green and pink for the mobile phone. The repairability index was set at 8.5/10 for the Galaxy S24 and 8.2/10 for the Pixel 8.

Our choice in terms of design is Galaxy S24.

Screen: two premium screens

Galaxy S24 is equipped with a stunning Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display. It has the advantage of offering Variable refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz. The Pixel 8’s OLED panel also goes up to 120 Hz, but the refresh rate doesn’t drop below 60 Hz when the content being displayed requires fewer frames per second.

The definition is almost the same: 1080 x 2340 pixels for the Galaxy S24 and 1080 x 2400 pixels for the Pixel 8. Considering that the screen size is almost similar, Google’s handset has a slightly higher pixel density, but not enough to see the image. difference with the naked eye. Both devices support HDR10+ format. The Galaxy S24 benefits from a brighter display with up to 2,600 nits compared to the Pixel 8’s maximum of 2,000 nits.

Both screen experiences are excellent, but the Galaxy S24’s screen stands out with a difference.

Performance: Life without Snapdragon

The majority of high-end Android smartphones are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC; Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 are exceptions to this rule. Samsung ships its S24 with in-house chip in Europe Exynos 2400Etched at 4 nm. Google trusts it Tensor G3, also at 4nm. Based on Samsung architecture, Tensor G3 was specifically customized by Google to increase AI computing capabilities.

In terms of raw power, both smartphones are below any well-optimized Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 handset. However, Samsung gained some advantage over Qualcomm with the Exynos 2400. Its CPU consists of 10 cores, including Cortex-X4 with a clock speed of 3.2 GHz. The Pixel 8 processor is based on a non-core architecture, and the highest-performance core, Cortex-X3, reaches 3.0 GHz. In the CPU department, Samsung outperforms Google.

The GPU branch is entrusted to the Immortalis-G715s MC10 on the Pixel 8, and the Xclipse 940 powered by AMD’s RDNA 3 on the Galaxy S24. Samsung’s smartphone is also ahead in terms of graphics rendering and ray tracing management.

Memory configurations are the same with 8 GB RAM and 128 or 256 GB storage. Pixel 8 and Galaxy S24 128 GB use the UFS 3.1 storage standard. Galaxy S24 256 GB benefits from the following benefits: UFS 4.0 standardmore reliable, faster and energy efficient.

The Galaxy S24 offers better performance than the Pixel 8, but keep in mind that Google may rely on unparalleled software expertise and artificial intelligence to make up for this. All in all, both devices are extremely smooth and can run any mobile game, which is what we want from them.

Autonomy and recharging: two average students

This is the problem with compact smartphones; the manufacturer cannot integrate a large battery to provide outstanding autonomy. With a capacity of 4,000 and 4,575 mAh respectively, the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 8 still manage to house a more generous battery than previous models. Thanks to larger batteries and better energy efficiency, both devices have improved in terms of autonomy, but have not become the benchmark of the genre.

Charging power is not their advantage either, Chinese manufacturers are much more advanced in this regard. The Galaxy S24 goes up to 25W wired and 15W induction. The Pixel 8 performs slightly better with 27W wired and 18W wireless, but it also relies more on dedicated chargers to reach those speeds. Both handsets offer reverse wireless charging.

At this point, we place the Pixel 8 slightly ahead of the Galaxy S24.

Camera: a duel between hardware and software

If we are faced with two excellent smartphones in photography, they achieve this in very different ways. Galaxy S24 features a 50 MP wide-angle main sensor, f/1.8 aperture and 23 mm focal length, 12 MP ultra-wide-angle module, f/2.2 aperture and 13 mm focal length, and Telephoto lens with up to 3x optical zoom 10 MP, f/2.4 aperture and 69 mm focal length. The Pixel 8 only has two cameras; 50 MP wide-angle main sensor, f/1.7 aperture and 25 mm focal length, and 12 MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, f/2.2 aperture and 14 mm focal length equivalent. No photos on hardware, Galaxy S24 is ahead.

However, Pixel 8 reveals many surprises. Thanks to fine-tuned software processing and AI-based features, the smartphone captures quality, bright photos with balanced contrast and excellent sharpness. Google’s smartphone manages to produce successful photos even in complex conditions, corrects user capture errors and adapts to the environment.

On the selfie camera, Google came up with the idea of ​​using a 10.5MP sensor and f/2.2 aperture with 20mm equivalent focal length; so you will be able to shoot distance and distance. facilitate group self-portraits. At Samsung, we stay classic with a 12 MP sensor, f/2.2 aperture and 25 mm equivalent focal length. On the video side, both smartphones let you shoot up to 60fps in 4K, but only the Galaxy S24 offers 8K (up to 30fps).

Here are the two best compact camera phones under Android that we have a hard time deciding between.

Software: Samsung competes with Google

Google is no longer the sole champion of software tracking. Samsung has improved itself by offering sequential 7 year update features and security patches. Both devices are delivered under Android 14 (with One UI 6.1 interface for Samsung).

If the Pixel 8 stands out from the competition thanks to its artificial intelligence functions, it is now competing with the Galaxy S24. Samsung collaborated with Google to develop Galaxy AI, which offers convenient everyday options: translating or summarizing an article, transcribing meetings, zooming around an item on the screen to launch a Google Lens search… Pixel 8 includes photo editing, including It remains a reference for: A tool to remove unwanted items.

Samsung and Google offer arguably the best Android experiences on the market; The choice between One UI and Pixel is first and foremost a matter of taste.

Price: Pixel 8 is more affordable

Despite the price drop compared to the Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S24 remains an expensive smartphone. Count 899 euros for the 128 GB version and 969 euros for 256 GB of storage. Pixel 8 is not cheap either, but its prices are more reasonable. You have to pay 799 euros for 128 GB internal memory, and 859 euros to double this capacity.

Solution

Both smartphones are excellent and very close to each other, but the Galaxy S24 convinces us a little more with its design, display and performance. On the other hand, the Pixel 8’s price-performance ratio is perhaps more interesting, especially if your No. 1 criterion is photography.