Phone comparison · UK prices · October 2026
Galaxy A17 or Pixel 10a: which should you buy?
The short answer
The Galaxy A17 is thinner and has the bigger screen. The Pixel 10a leads on battery life, the screen, speed, toughness and software updates, and is smaller. The Pixel 10a costs £263 more than the Samsung.
Comparing 2 phones
Galaxy A17Overall score 61/100
Pixel 10aOverall score 78/100
What the extra money buys
The Pixel 10a costs £263 more than the Samsung.
You get: wireless charging, a brighter screen, a smoother screen and a faster chip.
You give up: a bigger screen and a thinner body.
Worth it if you want wireless charging and a brighter screen. Keep the money if a bigger screen matters more to you.
Differences in daily life
Battery and charging
Best: Pixel 10aThe Pixel 10a is the only one that charges without a cable (10 W), so it can top up on a wireless pad.
Screen
Best: Pixel 10aThe Pixel 10a has the brighter screen (3,000 nits vs 800 nits on the Samsung), so it is easier to read in strong sunlight.
It also has the smoother screen (120 Hz vs 90 Hz on the Samsung), so scrolling and animations look more fluid.
Camera
EvenBoth have similar main-camera resolution (50 MP and 48 MP), close enough not to matter much day to day.
Speed
Best: Pixel 10aThe Pixel 10a's chip (Google Tensor G4) scores higher in benchmark tests than the one in the Samsung (Samsung Exynos 1330), so it should feel quicker in demanding apps and games.
It also has more memory (8GB vs 4GB on the Samsung), which helps it keep more apps open at once.
Toughness
Best: Pixel 10aThe Pixel 10a has the better water and dust rating (IP68 vs IP54 on the Samsung), so it is rated to survive being dropped in water, not just splashes.
Size and weight
Depends on youThe Pixel 10a is smaller overall (153.9 × 73 mm vs 164.4 × 77.9 mm on the Samsung), so it is easier to reach across with one hand.
The Galaxy A17 has the bigger screen (6.7 inches vs 6.3 inches on the Pixel), which gives more room for videos, maps and reading.
Software updates
Best: Pixel 10aThe Pixel 10a promises more major Android upgrades (7 vs 6 on the Samsung), so it should get new Android versions for longer.
Still can't decide?
Up to 2 quick questions, one tap each.
Scores
| Score | Galaxy A17 | Pixel 10a |
|---|---|---|
| Battery | 54 | 65 |
| Screen | 65 | 84 |
| Camera | 58 | 73 |
| Speed | 52 | 72 |
| Toughness | 65 | 85 |
| Connections and extras | 69 | 91 |
| Overall | 61 | 78 |
How these scores are made: Each score is calculated from the maker's published specs and benchmark results, using one fixed formula for every phone. We have not tested these phones in the hand. How we score phones
Specs side by side
Display
- Type
- Super AMOLEDP-OLED
- Size
- 6.7 inches6.3 inches
- Resolution
- 1080×2340 pixels1080 × 2424 pixels
- Refresh rate
- 90 Hz120 Hz
- PPI
- 385422
- Aspect ratio
- 19.5:920:9
- Screen-to-body ratio
- 86 %84.3 %
- Display features
- Capacitive Touchscreen Multi-touch displayCapacitive Touchscreen, HDR, Multi-touch display
- Max rated brightness
- 800 nits3000 nits
- Screen protection
- Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, Mohs level 5Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, Mohs level 4
Core Specifications
- Chipset
- Samsung Exynos 1330Google Tensor G4
- Fabrication Technology
- 5 nm4 nm
- CPU max frequency
- 2.4 GHz3.1 GHz
- Microarchitecture
- 2x 2.4 GHz – Cortex-A78 6x 2 GHz – Cortex-A551x 3.1 GHz – Cortex-X4 3x 2.6 GHz – Cortex-A720 4x 1.92 GHz – Cortex-A520
- Memory type
- LPDDR5LPDDR5X
- GPU
- ARM Mali-G68 MP2ARM Mali-G715 MC7 @940 MHz
- RAM
- 4GB, 6GB, 8GB8GB
- Storage Type
- N/AUFS 3.1
- Expandable Storage
- microSDXCNo
Software
- Operating System
- Android 15 (Vanilla Ice Cream) , with up to 6 major Android upgradesAndroid 16 (Baklava), with up to 7 major Android upgrades
Main Camera
- Matrix
- 50 MP48 MP
- Video Resolution
- 1080p @ 30 fps2160p @ 30/60 fps, 1080p @ 30/60/120/240 fps
- Video Features
- Gyro-EISGyro-EIS, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
- Features
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) PanoramaBest Take, Panorama, Pixel Shift, Ultra-HDR
- Lenses
- 50 MP , ƒ /1.8 ( Wide-angle ), 0.64 μm , 1/2.76" Sensor size Autofocus (AF) - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) 5 MP , ƒ /2.2 ( Ultra-Wide angle ), 1.12 μm , 1/5.0" Sensor size 2 MP , ƒ /2.4 ( Macro )48 MP, ƒ/1.7, 25 mm ( Wide angle ), 0.8 μm, 1/2.0" Sensor size - Dual-Pixel PDAF - Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) 13 MP, ƒ/2.2, 120° ( Ultra-wide angle ), 1.12 μm, 1/3.1" Sensor size
- Flash
- LED FlashDual LED flash
Selfie camera
- Lenses
- 13 MP , ƒ /2.0 ( Wide-angle ), 1.12 μm , 1/3.1" Sensor size13 MP, ƒ/2.2, 20 mm ( Ultra-wide angle ), 1.12 μm, 1/3.1" Sensor size
- Video Resolution
- 1080p @ 30 fps2160p @ 30 fps, 1080p @ 30 fps
- Video Features
- N/AN/A
- Features
- N/AHigh Dynamic Range (HDR), Panorama
General
- Announced
- Wednesday, 06 August 2025Wednesday, 18 February 2026
- Released
- Thursday, 14 August 2025Thursday, 05 March 2026
Battery
- Capacity
- 5000 mAh5100 mAh
- Type
- N/ALi-Poly
- Wired charging power
- 25W30 W
- Wireless charging support
- noYes
- Wireless charging power
- N/A10 W
- Fast charging support
- noYes
- Features
- N/ABypass charging, Wired charging from 0-50% in 30 minutes (as advertised)
Battery Life Test
- Browsing
- 14:46 hh:mmN/A
- Video watching
- 10:19 hh:mmN/A
- Playing games
- 9:23 hh:mmN/A
Design
- Height
- 164.4 mm153.9 mm
- Width
- 77.9 mm73 mm
- Thickness
- 7.5 mm9 mm
- Weight
- 192 g183 g
- Resistance certificate
- IP54IP68
- Resistance cert. meaning
- Dust-protected and water-resistant (against water splashes)Dust and water resistance (up to 1.5m for 30 min)
Network
- SIM cards
- Single SIMDual SIM (Nano-SIM + eSIM)
- Network_5G bands
- 5G: n1 (2100), n3 (1800), n5 (850), n7 (2600), n8 (900), n20 (800), n26 (850), n28 (700), n38 (2600), n40 (2300), n41 (2500), n66 (2100), n77 (3700), n78 (3500 MHz)n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n26, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n70, n71, n75, n77, n78, n79
- Network_4G bands
- LTE: b1 (2100), b2 (1900), b3 (1800), b4 (1700), b5 (850), b7 (2600), b8 (900), b12 (700), b17 (700), b20 (800), b28 (700), b38 (2600), b40 (2300), b41 (2500), b66 (1700 MHz)b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b7, b8, b12, b13, b14, b17, b18, b19, b20, b21, b25, b26, b28, b29, b30, b32, b38, b39, b40, b41, b42, b48, b66, b71
Connectivity
- WiFi support
- Yes ( Wi-Fi 5 )Yes (Wi-Fi 6)
- Bluetooth support
- Yes, v5.3Yes, v6.0
- USB ports
- USB Type-C 2.0,USB Type-C 3.2
- GPS features
- BDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS, QZSSBDS, GALILEO, GLONASS, GPS (L1 & L5), NavIC, QZSS
- Wi-Fi standards
- 802.11/a/b/g/n/ac802.11/a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- Wi-Fi features
- Dual-band, Wi-Fi DirectDual-band or Tri-band: Varies by market or region
Multimedia
- Audio type
- N/AStereo speakers