Deals: deals pit the Google Pixel 9 series against the Samsung Galaxy S24 series

2024-11-17

Whether on purpose or by accident, Amazon Canada has pitted Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones against each other with discounts ranging from $200 to $300.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 is more compact than the Google Pixel 9 (6.2” vs. 6.3” displays, 70.6mm vs. 72mm wide) and is lighter too (167g vs. 198g). It does have a smaller battery, though (4,000mAh vs. 4,700mAh). The Galaxy also has an LTPO display. Note that both the Pixels and the Galaxys will receive software updates for 7 years since launch.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Samsung easily beats the Tensor G4 of the Pixel, but Samsung has been stingy with the RAM (the S24 has only 8GB, compared to 12GB on the Pixel). Google put a large sensor in the main camera (1/1.31” vs. 1/1.56”) and a high resolution ultra wide (48MP vs. 12MP), but there’s no dedicated telephoto lens on the vanilla model. The S24 packs a 10MP 67mm tele camera.

You can also compare the Pixel 9 against the S24 FE. The Pixel 9 is more compact than the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE (6.3” vs. 6.7” displays, 72mm vs 77.3mm wide), but it actually has the same 4,700mAh battery capacity. Charging is about equal too. Samsung wins the performance race with its Exynos 2400e pulling ahead of the Tensor G4, but the Pixel has more RAM (12GB vs. 8GB).

The Galaxy has a dedicated 8mm 75mm tele lens, while the Pixel has to rely on the 50MP main camera for zooming in. But the Pixel has a larger sensor in the main camera (1/1.31” vs. 1/1.57”) and a better ultra wide (48MP vs. 12MP).

The Google Pixel 9 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24+ are priced close together. The Galaxy is once again the larger phone (6.7” display, 75.9mm wide vs. 6.3”, 72mm wide, both displays are LTPO panels) and this one has a slightly larger battery (4,900mAh vs. 4,700mAh). The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 leaves no doubt that it is faster than the Pixel’s Tensor G4, even if it has less RAM to work with (12GB vs. 16GB).

The Pixel 9 Pro has a 48MP 113mm periscope, while the Galaxy only has a 10MP 67mm tele lens. Both phones have 50MP main cameras, but Google picked a larger sensor (1/1.31” vs. 1/1.56”), plus better ultra wide (48MP vs. 12MP) and selfie cameras (42MP 17mm vs. 12MP 26mm).

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Both are large devices (6.8” LTPO displays), but the Galaxy has stylus support. The batteries are about the same (5,060mAh vs. 5,000mAh).

The cameras are more evenly matched with Pixel’s 50MP 1/1.31” main going up against Galaxy’s 200MP 1/1.3” main. The periscopes are 48MP 113mm and 50MP 111mm, but the Samsung also has a 10MP 67mm mid-range zoom camera. The ultra wide and selfie cameras on the Pixel have higher resolution. For an in-depth comparison, check out our Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Galaxy S24 Ultra article.

Finally, the horizontal foldables from each brand. Both are $300 off right now, but that’s not enough to get them under $2,000. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a larger 8” inner display compared to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6’s 7.6” panel (the Pixel display is around 12% larger in terms of surface area). The cover displays are comparable – both 6.3”, with a 20:9 aspect ratio for the Pixel and 21:9 for the Galaxy.

The Google phone is thinner (10.5mm vs. 12.1mm when folded) but heavier (257g vs. 239g). It does have a bigger battery (4,650mAh vs. 4,400mAh) to make up for the weight difference. And while it isn’t built in like on the S24 Ultra, the Z Fold6 supports an S Pen. The Exynos 8 Gen 3 is no doubt faster than the Tensor G4, but the Pixel has more RAM (16GB vs. 12GB).

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