Samsung Galaxy S25 vs. Google Pixel 9

We are experiencing a renaissance of compact flagships of sorts lately, so if you are in the market for a small premium smartphone, you are in luck. In markets such as the US, however, the selection of small flagships isn’t big, but two smartphones consistently pop up – the Samsung Galaxy S25 and the Google Pixel 9. The two cost about the same in the US, while in Europe, the Galaxy S25 is a bit more expensive.

So, it’s only natural to wonder which one is the better deal. On paper, both are top-tier devices from their respective OEMs, both are similar in size, and both promise long software support. So, let’s dive deeper to see what’s beyond the specs sheet.

Table of Contents:

For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the following text.

Size comparison

Even though both devices are classified as compact flagships, the Galaxy S25 should be your pick if size and weight are of utmost importance to you. Samsung’s offering is shorter, slightly narrower, considerably thinner and lighter. Notably, the Pixel 9 has a 0.1-inch larger screen, but since the S25 has thinner bezels, it has a more favorable screen-to-body ratio.

Interestingly enough, the two handsets share roughly the same design and materials. Aside from the camera lens design on the back, the two share the same flat design on their fronts, sides and backs. Both come with equally premium materials all-around – aluminum side frames, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 sheets on both sides. Even the ingress protection rating is IP68 in both cases.

Display comparison

Putting the rather negligible size difference aside, the two offer somewhat similar displays. They both run at 120Hz, offer HDR10+ certification and feature the same 1080p+ resolution.

However, the Galaxy S25 has a more energy-efficient LTPO OLED panel, while the Pixel 9’s gets considerably brighter. In fact, this is one of the brightest displays we’ve seen in the office. We measured more than 2,200 nits on the Pixel 9, while the Galaxy reached about 1,400 nits.

Battery life

Despite the different display technologies, chipsets and battery capacities, the two devices offer similar battery life. The Active Use Scores are almost identical, even. However, there’s a nuance to it. For instance, the Pixel 9 offers slightly better web browsing runtimes, while the S25 edges out the Pixel in the video playback and gaming tests. Still, the differences are rather negligible, so it won’t matter much which one you get as far as battery life is concerned.

Charging speed

For the most part, the Pixel 9 and the Galaxy S25 charge equally fast. Or should we say slow? The two devices are neck and neck in the first 15 to 30 minutes of the charging cycle, but the Galaxy S25 beats the Pixel to the finish line with 8 minutes to spare. To be honest, that’s a negligible difference.

Speaker test

In the speaker test, the two devices trade blows. While the Pixel 9 is slightly louder, the Galaxy S25’s speakers are far superior quality-wise. The Pixel 9’s speakers sound tinny and flat, while the Galaxy S25 brings out considerably more bass and makes the soundtracks fuller and warmer.

Performance

The two devices run on entirely different chipsets. The Galaxy S25 has the latest and greatest from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, while the Pixel 9 relies on the Tensor G3 SoC. Historically, Tensors have consistently failed to impress when it comes to raw performance, and this case is no different.

The base configuration of both devices is the same – 12GB/128GB, but the S25 offers up to 512GB internal storage, the Pixel 9 only goes as high as 256GB.

Also, the S25 has faster UFS 4.0 storage (only if you get the 256 or 512GB variants, though) compared to the UFS 3.1 on the Pixel 9.

Benchmark performance

As we hinted earlier, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is far more powerful than the Tensor G3 SoC inside the Pixel 9. The results from all three popular benchmark tests show that the Galaxy S25 is about two times as powerful as the Pixel 9.

Camera comparison

At first glance, the Galaxy S25 has the more potent camera hardware, mostly because of the dedicated 3x optical zoom shooter, even though it has a tiny 10MP sensor. Conversely, the Pixel 9 offers a bigger 50MP main sensor and an ultrawide cam with a 48MP pixel-binned sensor, as opposed to the 12MP snapper on the S25. Additionally, the ultrawide on the Pixel has autofocus.

The selfie hardware in both cases is solid – 12MP with AF for the Samsung and 10.5MP with AF for the Pixel 9.

Image quality

For the most part, we liked Pixel 9’s photos better – they are cleaner and less sharpened, all the while the level of details is similar. The Pixel’s main camera also produces stills with a wider dynamic range (notice the shadows). The same goes for the ultrawide camera, but the difference in sharpness and detail is much more noticeable at night.

Main camera: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

Main camera: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

Much of the same observations apply to the ultrawide cameras as well, but the Pixel 9’s ultrawide resolves more detail, too. You should also know that we used the Galaxy S25+ for the ultrawide camera comparison, as our S25 has an optical defect on its UW cam, and we wanted a fair comparison.

Ultrawide camera: Galaxy S25+ • Pixel 9

Ultrawide camera: Galaxy S25+ • Pixel 9

As far as zoom photos go, the Galaxy S25 takes the lead during the day. The 2x crop zoom photos taken with the S25 are a tad sharper and maybe even offer more detail.

And to no one’s surprise, the 3x zoom pictures out of the S25 are better too due to the dedicated optical zoom camera, which the Pixel 9 lacks.

2x zoom: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

3x zoom: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

However, what we didn’t expect is that the Pixel 9’s 3x crop zoom photos will take the lead after dark. Perhaps the bigger main sensor on the Pixel 9 beats the tiny telephoto snapper on the S25, even without an optical lens.

But even at 2x, the Pixel’s photos are again cleaner and sharper at night.

2x zoom: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

3x zoom: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

And as for the selfies, it’s the Galaxy S25’s turn to take the lead. It has a tad sharper and more detailed photos, even though the Pixel 9 selfies are livelier with punchy colors.

Selfies: Galaxy S25 • Pixel 9

Video quality

Below we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it’s easier to compare to one another.

The videos out of the Pixel 9’s main camera are clearly superior than the S25’s. Pixel videos offer better exposure, dynamic range, sharpness, color reproduction, etc.

However, at all other focal lengths – 0.6, 2x, and 3x, it’s the Galaxy S25 that takes the lead as it resolves more fine detail, while the footage looks less processed and more natural.

4K video screengrabs: Galaxy S25+ 0.6x • Pixel 9 0.6x • Galaxy S25 1x • Pixel 9 1x

4K video screengrabs: Galaxy S25 2x • Pixel 9 2x • Galaxy S25 3x • Pixel 9 3x

Verdict

The verdict here will be tricky. While the two phones are sold at around the same price in the US, the Galaxy S25 is slightly more expensive than the Pixel 9 in Europe.

Samsung’s phone will give you considerably better performance, better sounding speakers, and it’s slightly more compact too. It also records better video quality in almost all cases.

Despite missing a telephoto unit, the Pixel 9 seems to be the better choice for photography and challenges the S25’s 3x zoom camera in low-light scenarios. The Pixel also has a brighter display and is cheaper in Europe.

On average, we’d say that the two phones will give you roughly the same level of user experience and their hardware features are equally well implemented so the choice between the two will mostly come down to brand or software preference.