I Wish the iPhone 16e Had These Pixel 9a Features

Google’s Pixel 9a is an excellent mid-range Android handset, packed with more features than you’d expect given the price tag. It’s so tempting that it could even sway would-be iPhone 16e buyers who are happy to jump from Apple to Google’s ecosystem.

As an iPhone owner deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem, that’s not really an option for me right now. Instead I’m stuck wishing that the iPhone 16 had the following features.

1

More Affordable Pricing

Like many others, I expected the iPhone 16e to retain the same price as the discontinued third-generation iPhone SE. However, the iPhone 16e ended up costing $170 more, starting at $600 for the base model with 128 GB of storage. The price tag is an unexpected surprise considering the three iPhone SE models that Apple made sold below $500.

As a result, Apple no longer offers a sub-$500 smartphone. Seizing an opportunity, Google has priced the Pixel 9a at $500, undercutting Apple by $100. The price difference may discourage some iPhone SE owners looking to upgrade.

Others will compare the iPhone 16e’s and Pixel 9a’s technical specifications only to realize that Google’s phone offers better value for money. There are would-be iPhone 16e buyers out there who can actually imagine using Android; those folks are going to consider opting for the new Pixel instead of the iPhone 16e.

Now, Apple justifies the iPhone 16e price with hardware improvements such as a bigger 6.1-inch display with OLED technology, fullscreen design with Face ID instead of Touch ID and a Home button, USB-C instead of Lightning, and other perks. But because of its higher-than-expected price, the iPhone 16e can only be deemed a spiritual successor to the iPhone SE.

The first iPhone SE, released in 2016, offered iPhone 6s specs in an iPhone 5s size (featuring a four-inch display) in exchange for $400 for the base 16GB model.

The second-generation iPhone SE arrived in 2020 with such perks as a larger 4.7-inch screen, an iPhone 8-like form factor, the iPhone 11’s A13 Bionic chip, and a single-lens 12-megapixel camera with Portrait Mode support. Despite the improvements, Apple didn’t raise the price; the iPhone SE 2 started at the same $400 for the base 64GB model as the first model.

The third-generation iPhone SE dropped in 2022 with the same dimensions and design as the iPhone SE 2. It featured 5G connectivity, Apple’s A15 Bionic chip from the iPhone 13 series, and a starting price of $429, a $30 increase over its predecessor.

The iPhone 16e has really dropped the ball this time around for anyone looking for a truly budget Apple-branded smartphone.

2

A Bigger OLED Panel

Google has equipped the Pixel 9a with a more expansive 6.3-inch OLED panel compared to the 6.1-inch OLED panel found on the iPhone 16e. You could say that the 0.2-inch difference (about 0.5 cm) doesn’t sound a lot, but keep in mind that screen size is measured diagonally.

I can tell you for sure that most people are actually able to see and feel the difference between 6.1-inch and 6.3-inch displays with their naked eyes.

Having owned 6.1-inch iPhones before, I loved the balance between pocketability and practicality. But every standard 6.1-inch iPhone left me wanting a bigger canvas. Eventually, I relented and jumped on the 6.7-inch iPhone bandwagon.

As you can imagine, I use my iPhone a lot on any given day. As someone who suffers from astigmatism but has to write a lot for a living, I set larger font sizes than the default via Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Larger Text, so I don’t have to squint (you can do this on a per-app basis, too).

However, I could never force myself to use large fonts on a 6.1-inch iPhone; the text just looks comically large for a screen of that size.

3

A 120 Hz Screen Refresh for Smooth Motion

Google taught Apple an important lesson: In the Android world, 120 Hz screens are a commodity, not a feature reserved for flagship phones. The company has equipped the Pixel 9a with its adaptive display technology, dubbed Smooth Display, which can cycle between 60 Hz and 120 Hz for a more pleasing visual experience and smoother scrolling and animations.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 16e’s display uses a fixed refresh rate of 60 Hz. Only Pro model iPhones have ProMotion, which is Apple’s proprietary display technology designed to dynamically change the refresh rate based on content displayed on the screen.

The fact that the iPhone 16e is stuck with a 60Hz screen isn’t such a biggie unless your eyesight is no longer as it used to be, and you had a chance to experience the joy of ultra-smooth scrolling on a 120 Hz phone.

ProMotion is more flexible than Smooth Display. It employs Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide (LPTO) display technology to bring the refresh rate down to as low as 1Hz for static content and the Always-On Display feature. For fast-moving content such as games and rapid scrolling, ProMotion can ramp up the refresh rate all the way up to 120 Hz.

4

An Ultra-Wide Camera for Macro Photography

The iPhone 16e is equipped with a single 48MP shooter out the back with no dedicated ultra-wide camera. Now, that’s a particularly odd omission because all iPhones from the iPhone 11 onward, including the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup, rock an ultra-wide camera.

By contrast, the Pixel 9a features a 48MP main sensor and a 13MP ultra-wide sensor on the rear. Its dual-camera system enables macro photography and macro videos.

As someone who likes snapping extreme closeups of insects, flowers, tiny objects, and the like, the iPhone 16e’s inability to support macro photography is driving me nuts! It’s not just about snapping macros—a 0.5x lens can fit much more content into the frame, which makes a big difference when photographing cityscapes, nature, and similar wide-angle scenes.

5

All the Small Things

These aren’t the only differences making the Pixel 9a a better buy than the iPhone 16e. Google’s phone utilizes an under-display fingerprint reader, a technology that has been rumored to come to the iPhone for years but has yet to materialize. More importantly, Google’s phone features a much brighter display that does up to 2,700 nits of peak brightness compared with the 1,200 nits of peak brightness that the iPhone 16e is capable of.

I also think that Google’s built-in Gemini AI works much better than the mess that is Apple Intelligence. And with 7 years of software support, the Pixel 9a is definitely a sound investment. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a bit until we get our hands on one because Google has yet to start taking pre-orders for the Pixel 9a and share a precise release date.

As we’ve already highlighted, the iPhone 16e has a lot of missing features. With room to beat it on both price and features, it’s little wonder that the iPhone 16e inspired a new wave of great mid-range Android phones. For instance, there are at least five decent Android handsets you can get today instead of an iPhone 16e.

In many other areas, the Pixel 9a provides better value for money than the iPhone 16e, at least in terms of hardware specifications. The Apple smartphone owes much of its draw to tight integration between the hardware, software, and services. But every cent counts, especially in this economy, and there’s no denying that the Pixel 9a beats the iPhone 16e in some important areas—while undercutting the iPhone 16e by a hundred bucks.