
Great

Apple
Excellent
Google Pixel 9a
A controversial redesign ditching the Pixel camera visor for a flat, minimal look with plastic back and IP68 water resistance.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The iPhone 17 Pro Max marks a significant design departure with an aluminum unibody chassis, centered camera plateau, and vapor chamber cooling. It is thinner and lighter while maintaining IP68 durability.
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Google Pixel 9a
Bright 6.3-inch pOLED panel with 120Hz and 2,700 nits peak brightness, marred by thick bezels.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display pushes peak brightness to 3,000 nits with ProMotion 120Hz, making it the most sunlight-readable phone on the market.
Google Pixel 9a
The 48MP main camera delivers flagship-adjacent quality with excellent computational photography, though the ultrawide struggles in low light.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The triple 48MP camera system delivers refined computational photography with improved low-light performance, though hardware changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Google Pixel 9a
Tensor G4 delivers near-flagship performance with improved thermals, though 8GB RAM limits some AI features.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The A19 Pro chip combined with vapor chamber cooling delivers best-in-class sustained performance with 40% better thermal management than the previous generation.
Google Pixel 9a
The 5,100mAh battery delivers the best battery life of any Pixel, but charging is painfully slow.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The iPhone 17 Pro Max delivers the best battery life of any iPhone ever, lasting 17+ hours in web browsing tests. 40W wired charging is a welcome improvement but still trails Android competitors.
Google Pixel 9a
Clean Android 15 with seven years of updates and most Pixel-exclusive AI features, limited only by RAM.
iPhone 17 Pro Max
iOS 26 brings Visual Intelligence, enhanced Siri with on-device AI, and deep Apple Intelligence integration, though some promised features arrived late after launch.