Google Pixel 7a vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Google Pixel 7a

Google

8.4

Best mid-range phone of 2023 — flagship cameras at $499

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung

8.4

Iterative but polished

Google Pixel 7a

What Reviewers Agree On

Same Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel 7 + 8GB RAM — no performance compromise vs the flagship
First A-series Pixel with wireless charging (7.5W Qi) and a 90Hz display
64MP main + 13MP ultrawide cameras — meaningful upgrade over the 7a's 12MP predecessor, near-flagship quality
Pixel AI features (Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Real Tone, Live Translate) trickle down at $499
6.1" compact OLED in aluminum frame at 193g — pocketable and well-built
$499 starting was a $50 increase over Pixel 6a — strong value vs $599 Pixel 7

Pros & Cons

Google Pixel 7a

Pros

Same Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel 7 + 8GB RAM — no performance compromise vs the flagship
First A-series Pixel with wireless charging (7.5W Qi) and a 90Hz display
64MP main + 13MP ultrawide cameras — meaningful upgrade over the 7a's 12MP predecessor, near-flagship quality
Pixel AI features (Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Real Tone, Live Translate) trickle down at $499
6.1" compact OLED in aluminum frame at 193g — pocketable and well-built

Detailed Comparison

Battery & Charging

Google Pixel 7a

4,385mAh battery + Tensor G2 inefficiency = mediocre all-day life. 18W wired charging is slow. FIRST A-series Pixel to support wireless charging (7.5W Qi).

4,385mAh battery — small for a 2023 phone with a power-hungry Tensor G2 chip.
Real-world: ~5 hours of SOT typical, all-day for moderate use but often needing a top-up by evening — most-flagged Pixel 7a complaint.
18W wired charging — slow by 2023 standards. 0-50% in ~30 min, full in ~1h30m.
FIRST A-series Pixel with wireless charging — 7.5W Qi. Not flagship-fast but a meaningful feature add at $499.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

The 5,000 mAh battery is unchanged but the more efficient chip pushes real-world endurance comfortably beyond a day — Engadget measured 29h 27m video runtime, Mrwhosetheboss got nearly 9 hours of screen-on time. Wired charging tops out at 45W, wireless at 25W. The Qi2 Ready implementation without built-in magnets is a consistent frustration, and Reddit users openly say the OnePlus 13's silicon-carbon battery was the more exciting release this year.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

What Reviewers Agree On

The 6.9-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED with Gorilla Armor 2 anti-reflective coating is the best smartphone display you can buy right now.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy and larger vapor chamber deliver benchmark-leading, consistently smooth performance with minimal thermal throttling.
Battery life on the 5,000 mAh cell easily lasts a full day, with most reviewers ending on 30-40% remaining.
The new rounded corners and flatter titanium frame make the phone noticeably more comfortable to hold than the S24 Ultra.
The new 50MP ultrawide is a real, visible upgrade — sharper detail, better low-light performance and autofocus for macro.
Gorilla Armor 2 and the titanium frame make this one of the most durable flagship phones available.
Seven years of OS and security updates match the best in the industry and help justify the long-term investment.

Deal Breakers

The S Pen lost Bluetooth functionality this year, so remote shutter and Air Actions gestures are gone — a sore point for long-time Samsung owners on Reddit who see it as another feature cut from the 'everything phone.'
At $1,299 the hardware year-over-year gains are minimal, and Reddit sentiment on r/gadgets and r/Android echoes what reviewers say: the Ultra no longer feels special enough to justify the premium.
Qi2 wireless charging only works through a separate magnetic case — the phone itself has no built-in magnets.
The main 200MP and 5x telephoto cameras are physically unchanged from the S24 Ultra, so image quality gains are marginal.
Galaxy AI features are guaranteed free only through the end of 2025, with Samsung hinting at future paid tiers — and Reddit users on r/gadgets are already skeptical the features justify being front-and-center at all.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Pros

The 6.9-inch QHD+ LTPO AMOLED with Gorilla Armor 2 anti-reflective coating is the best smartphone display you can buy right now.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy and larger vapor chamber deliver benchmark-leading, consistently smooth performance with minimal thermal throttling.
Battery life on the 5,000 mAh cell easily lasts a full day, with most reviewers ending on 30-40% remaining.
The new rounded corners and flatter titanium frame make the phone noticeably more comfortable to hold than the S24 Ultra.
The new 50MP ultrawide is a real, visible upgrade — sharper detail, better low-light performance and autofocus for macro.
Gorilla Armor 2 and the titanium frame make this one of the most durable flagship phones available.
Seven years of OS and security updates match the best in the industry and help justify the long-term investment.

Cons

The S Pen lost Bluetooth functionality this year, so remote shutter and Air Actions gestures are gone — a sore point for long-time Samsung owners on Reddit who see it as another feature cut from the 'everything phone.'
At $1,299 the hardware year-over-year gains are minimal, and Reddit sentiment on r/gadgets and r/Android echoes what reviewers say: the Ultra no longer feels special enough to justify the premium.
Qi2 wireless charging only works through a separate magnetic case — the phone itself has no built-in magnets.
The main 200MP and 5x telephoto cameras are physically unchanged from the S24 Ultra, so image quality gains are marginal.
Galaxy AI features are guaranteed free only through the end of 2025, with Samsung hinting at future paid tiers — and Reddit users on r/gadgets are already skeptical the features justify being front-and-center at all.

Most days end with 60 percent left over — good but not amazing for a modern flagship.
Local video rundown lasted an incredible 29 hours 27 minutes — almost two hours longer than the S24 Ultra.
Battery life is just under 9 hours of total screen-on time per charge, regularly ending days with 30-40 percent remaining.
Standby time after half a year of use remains excellent — never a single battery issue during long-term testing.
Qi2 Ready is frustrating — you need a third-party magnetic case for MagSafe-like functionality, and some cases have weak magnets that pop off.
Samsung is cutting corners by calling the phone Qi2 Ready without including magnets, and as the biggest phone maker it should do better.
The S25 Ultra loses in both capacity and longevity to the OnePlus 13, which packs a 6,000 mAh silicon-carbon cell.
Samsung stuck with the same 5,000 mAh cell rather than upgrading to silicon-carbon battery tech like the OnePlus 13.
'The OnePlus 13 was a more exciting release for me, with their new battery tech. Samsung has gotten pretty complacent, for the price they're asking.'