What budget phone is the fastest?

If you want flagship features without the price tag, there is a good selection of options on the market right now. Google’s new Pixel 9a joins in such as Samsung Galaxy S24 Fe and Apple iPhone 16e As a large mid-of-the-market elections for budget conscious. In fact, 9A is the cheapest of the three to only $ 499 instead of $ 659 and $ 599 Tensor g4 processor. Could it really be so good of an appointment?

If you have been wondering which of these three phones nails the basics of the smartphone, then you have come to the right place. I have driven each through the benchmarking suite to see which ones will best handle daily workloads, heavier use cases and intensive gaming sessions. Check out the table before for a quick overview of how these phones stack up when it comes to treatment components.

Pixel 9a vs Galaxy S24 Fe vs iPhone 16e benchmarks

Let’s dive right in to see how Apple’s A18, Google’s Tensor G4 and Samsung’s Exynos 2400e all developed internally in the industry’s most popular scale. We start our tests with a race of Geekbench 6, and give us a look at how the phone’s processors handle one-core tasks, such as starting an app or website for the first time, and more typical multi-core situations like flicking through your social apps or your photo gallery.

Apple’s custom CPU cores had a significant advantage over their Android rivals for Qualcomms Oryon CPU core. However, neither Pixel 9A nor Galaxy S24 Fe have them, so we are back to see a significant lead for Apple over Arm Cortex cores in both single and multi-core scenarios. Apple’s victory with one-core is particularly large, doubling practically the performance of Pixel 9a. Fortunately, the galaxy S24 Fe closes the gap in multi -core situations, which is far more common today.

Of course, more performance is better, but there is a little grip on what you need for your daily tasks. Surfing the network and sets out for social races perfectly on Pixel 9a. Instead, you really need CPU-intensive tasks (like video editing) to feel the difference in real apps. Still, the iPhone 16E is definitely the most future -proof, but I’m a little concerned about how good Pixel 9a will handle the apps we all run on our phones five or six years down the line.

When it comes to graphics, all these three phones have some compromises compared to the fastest in the business. The iPhone 16es A18 chip has only four GPU kernels, down from five in the regular iPhone 16 and six in the Pro models. Similarly Galaxy S24 Fes Last Gen Exynos 2400e Chip has a slightly older GPU design, and Google’s use of a MID-Tier Arm Mali setup has never been benchmark summit. Still, this gives a pretty interesting comparison.

Only last year, Samsung Galaxy S24 Fe’s Xclipse 940 Graphics tag was a top-tier flagship GPU. There are clearly leaps and borders ahead of competition in both rapid outbreaks and long -term gaming sessions. The murder to 71.9% of the best result in 3Dmark’s wild life extreme stress test is not very good, but the big lead over the competition means it never really comes close to closing the gap.

Pixel 9a lands at the bottom of the mound on a quick test, but the phone stays better under moderate stress compared to the iPhone 16e. Apple’s budget model gives up most of the performance, and falls to only 70.4% of the top, without much temperature build -up, and falls below the budget girl under moderate load. Towards the end of our 20-minute stress test, the three were back in the start order, although the performance gap had narrowed somewhat, due to Pixel 9as quite decent 79.1% stability points and temperature.

At first glance, Apple may come out on top when it comes to packing a high -performing piece in a reasonably smartphone. However, it is unlikely that the iPhone 16’s undeniable CPU benefits will make much of a meaningful difference for your daily experience. Especially since the phone has poorer battery life compared to the Galaxy S24 Fe and ranks even further behind the incredibly frugal Google Pixel 9a. Furthermore, the phone does not have a completely graphic grin of Apple’s more expensive flagship and can get hot enough to throat hard for longer sessions. The iPhone 16e is a reasonable effort from Apple, but does not necessarily achieve the ideal balance.

In addition to heavy emulation, advanced mobile games do not push as hard as our stress test, which means that all three of these phones will handle even some of the market’s most intensive mobile games without too much problem. You may need to turn some settings down to hit 60 FPS on supported titles. But if you want to do a lot of games on a budget or plan to continue playing for a long time, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Fe occurs the best balance in the daily performance with more powerful gaming features. That being said, it is the most expensive of the three phones, so be prepared to pay for the extra frames.

It leaves Google Pixel 9a last, but by no means the least. Admittedly, it does not win any of our goals, and I am a little concerned about exactly how well the phone will hold up at the end of its seven years of software support compared to the other two, who will see the same life. However, Tensor G4 inside the Pixel 9A performs practically identical to it in Pixel 9, and that the phone is no slouch. Given that it is a lot cheaper than the iPhone 16e and Galaxy S24 Fe, it is still really in the mix and will take you through a busy work day and more without dropping the ball.

It may be a cop-out, but it’s not really a bad choice between these three; It all depends on your budget. Of course, much more is creating a great phone too, including camera, battery life and software features that are likely to tilt the scales in one way or the other. Speaking of battery life, I want to take a closer look at how these three middle -class models are stacked against each other there in another article as well.