Head to head
Google Pixel 9avsSamsung Galaxy A56
The short answer
Choose the Pixel 9a for peak brightness and battery life per charge. Choose the Galaxy A56 for more base storage and battery lifespan. The Pixel 9a is £100 cheaper at UK RRP (£399 against £499). The Pixel 9a gets security updates for longer: until April 2032, against March 2031 for the Galaxy A56.
- Released
- 2025-04-10endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £399Google Store UK, retrieved 2026-09-11
- Security updates until
- 2032-04-01endoflife.date — Pixel, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Released
- 2025-03-28endoflife.date, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Price
- £499Samsung Newsroom UK — Galaxy A56 5G, A36 5G and A26 5G, retrieved 2026-08-20
- Security updates until
- 2031-03-28endoflife.date — Samsung mobile, retrieved 2026-08-20
2 wins for Pixel 9a2 wins for Galaxy A562 gaps borderline3 differences you won’t notice£100 apart at RRP
Verdict: Pixel 9a ahead on 2 rows, Galaxy A56 on 2 rows
On the makers’ published figures, the Pixel 9a wins on peak brightness (2,700 nits against 1,200 nits) and battery per charge (52.32 h against 44.57 h); the Galaxy A56 wins on storage (base) (256 GB against 128 GB) and battery lifespan (2,000 cycles against 1,000 cycles). 2 gaps are borderline, differences most people would not notice: display size (6.7 in against 6.3 in) for the Galaxy A56 and fast charging (45 W from the maker against 23 W from GSMArena) for the Galaxy A56. The differences in weight, battery capacity and Geekbench 6 (CPU, multi-core) are below the thresholds you would notice. Both state the same refresh rate and RAM. The other 36 rows have no threshold or no direction to judge by, so nobody wins them.
True to scale
Outlines from each maker’s published dimensions, drawn to scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
A win is marked only where the figures can be ranked and the gap is one you could notice. A row the site has no threshold for says whether the two differ, and that it is not ranking them. = marks the same figure on both, ≠ not ranked a difference with no ranking. Every figure carries its source.
Body
Display
Samsung Newsroom UK — Galaxy A56 5G, A36 5G and A26 5G claims 1200 nits · GSMArena — Samsung Galaxy A56 specifications reports 1900 nits
Pixel 9a is ahead here, by a gap you’d notice.
Platform
Memory
Camera
Battery
Connectivity
Benchmarks
4 attributes neither phone has a sourced figure for
OS versions supported · Google Mobile Services · Telephoto · 3DMark Wild Life Extreme. Rows appear as sources are cited — a gap in our data, not a statement about either phone.
Questions
Is the Pixel 9a better than the Galaxy A56?
On the figures, neither is better overall: the Pixel 9a wins on peak brightness, 2,700 nits (Google) against 1,200 nits (Samsung Newsroom UK) and battery per charge, 52.32 h against 44.57 h (both EU energy label); the Galaxy A56 wins on storage (base), 256 GB (Samsung Newsroom UK) against 128 GB (Google) and battery lifespan, 2,000 cycles against 1,000 cycles (both EU energy label). Every other row is borderline, too close to notice, or not ranked.
Which has the better battery?
The Pixel 9a, by a gap you’d notice: battery per charge, 52.32 h against 44.57 h (both EU energy label). The Pixel 9a is ahead on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: battery capacity, 5,100 mAh (Google) against 5,000 mAh (Samsung Newsroom UK).
Which is lighter?
The Pixel 9a is lighter on paper, but not by a gap you’d notice: weight, 185.9 g (Google) against 198 g (Samsung Newsroom UK).
Which has the brighter screen?
The Pixel 9a, by a gap you’d notice: peak brightness, 2,700 nits (Google) against 1,200 nits (Samsung Newsroom UK).
Which gets updates for longer?
The Pixel 9a gets security updates for longer: until April 2032, against March 2031 for the Galaxy A56. Sources: dates from endoflife.date.
Which is cheaper?
The Pixel 9a is £100 cheaper at UK RRP (£399 against £499). Prices from Pixel 9a: Google Store UK; Galaxy A56: Samsung Newsroom UK.
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either phone would also weigh. Any two phones in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.