Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Battle of the vanillas

Publish date: 2024-05-31
Since smartphone tech has slowed down a bit and we don't see massive evolutions year over year, nowadays it's a reasonable strategy to buy slightly older flagship models, instead of the newest (and most expensive) ones. This is why it's perfectly reasonable that you may be looking at buying either the Galaxy S22 or the Pixel 6 in 2023.Google's Pixel 6 line came out in late 2021 and redefined the Google phone, with a new design — that's here to stay — and Google's own processor at the core of them. The base Pixel 6 was considered great value for money back then and the sentiment remains. Even the Pixel 7 after it launched with the low, low price tag of $600, and we expect the same of the Pixel 8. And all of those launches keep pushing the Pixel 6's price down — now commonly found for $400.
Samsung's Galaxy S22 has also been replaced by a Galaxy S23, which means that — more often than not — if you spot one in a store, it will be discounted, too. But it has a bit more bells and whistles than the Pixel, and it sports Samsung's elaborate One UI software.OK, but which one was the better phone? Which one has the better camera and more dependable battery life? Better performance? Well, strap in and let's go — here's everything you should no about the Galaxy S22 vs Pixel 6:

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Galaxy S22 pros and cons

Pixel 6 pros and cons

Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Design


Google made a 180-turn with the design of the Pixel 6, and so far people like what they see. The company entered the glass sandwich era and the Pixel 6 features a flat front and a glass back with tapered edges around the back.

The most interesting element in the design is the Camera Bar - a strip across the back, housing the main camera system. On the front, the screen is surrounded by uniform bezels (although a bit on the thicker side) with a hole-punch selfie camera in the center.


The design of the Galaxy S22 is more of an evolution than a revolution, compared to its predecessor. The S22 refines the design of the S21 with uniform bezels around the screen and the same triple camera bump placed on the back.The Galaxy S22 is one of the smallest flagships in recent years, measuring only 146 x 70.6 x 7.6mm. The Pixel 6, on the other hand, is substantially larger at 158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9 mm. It also has thicker bezels and a more square design overall.

Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Display


Google upgraded the display technology in the new Pixel 6 series but only for the Pro model. The LTPO variable refresh rate tech is missing on the vanilla Pixel 6. It sports a 6.4-inch OLED panel with 2400x1080 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate.

The display on the Samsung Galaxy S22 is a smaller, 6.1-inch Super AMOLED panel with a variable refresh rate between 10 and 120Hz. The resolution is 2340 x 1080 pixels, with 19.5 aspect ratio, and 422 PPI density. Due to the smaller size and pretty much the same resolution, the display of the Galaxy S22 has more pixels on a square inch, meaning it's a tad crisper.

Samsung also bumped up the brightness of all the models across the S22 range, and the Galaxy S22 now can output up to 1,500 nits of peak brightness. Now, Google doesn't share peak brightness numbers for the Pixel 6, and we measured around 800 nits during our tests, so it looks like the Galaxy S22 wins this round. 

The way companies measure peak brightness is a bit subjective and it doesn't necessarily translate to real life figures. In our test the Galaxy S22 was able to output around 750 nits, which is on par with the Pixel 6, so it's a tie in this category.


Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Hardware and performance


Here’s where things get really interesting. The new Tensor chip inside the Pixel 6 is still a big unknown. We’ve done some tests and, of course, there are synthetic benchmarks all over the net but we still don’t know how this chip fares in the long run. The Galaxy S22 comes in two flavors - equipped with the next Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset or the Exynos 2200. The latter sports a GPU made by AMD with the RDNA2 architecture and ray-tracing support baked in. 

Judging by the graph, the new Galaxy S22 series outperforms the Pixel 6, at least on the test benches. The memory configuration of the Pixel 6 is 8/128GB, and the Galaxy S22 matches these numbers. There’s no microSD card slot on the Pixel, and the soon-to-be-forgotten expansion slot is missing in the Galaxy S22 as well.


Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Camera


The Pixel 6 has two main cameras on the back - a 50MP wide lens, and a 12MP ultra-wide. No macro snappers, monochrome nonsense, or other gimmicky contraptions. And these two cameras produce great images. You can take a quick look at the galleries below.

The Galaxy S22 now has a 50 MP sensor for the main camera, a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.

Camera SpecsGalaxy S22Pixel 6
Main (wide) camera50MP, 23mm, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.56" sensor size (1um)50MP, 26 mm; f/1.9 aperture, Sensor size: 1/1.31"; Pixel size: 1.12 μm
Ultra-wide12MP, f/2.2 aperture, 1/2.55" sensor size (1.4um) 12MP, 18 mm; f/2.2 aperture; Pixel size: 1.25 μm
Telephoto10MP, 3X native zoom
f/2.4 aperture, 1/3.94" sensor size (1um)
Front Camera10MP, f/2.2 aperture, 1/3.24" sensor size (1.22um)8 MP

Camera samples from the Galaxy S22 are done, and you can take a look below. It seems that the Galaxy S22 has a more flexible camera system and edges the Pixel 6 in that department.


Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Battery


Google bumped up the battery capacity of the Pixel 6 compared to its predecessor and it shows in the benchmarks. What’s interesting is that the new Tensor chip doesn’t handle gaming too efficiently. Other than that, the Pixel 6 and its 4,614mAh cell are doing great in the longevity department.

The Galaxy S22, on the other hand, comes equipped with a 3,700mAh battery. That’s a downgrade, compared to the 4,000mAh battery of the Galaxy S21, and it may be due to the compact size of the Galaxy S22.

The Galaxy S22 supports 25W fast charging, and Samsung is playing it safe with the vanilla model (the Ultra can charge with up to 45W). The Pixel 6, on the other hand can suck juice with up to 30W of power, so maybe there's an advantage for the Pixel here.

Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6: Price


The price of the Galaxy S22 is the same as the price at launch of its predecessor - $799 for the 8/128GB base model. It's not a bad price, considering it's a new generation with upgraded components and updated features. The problem is that Pixel 6 undercuts that by quite some margin.

The price of the Google Pixel 6 is absolutely amazing, and one of the strongest points of last year’s Google flagship. With a $200 lower price, the Pixel wins this category hands down. Of course, you can always find a trade-in deal to soften the blow, so this category is more flexible than the other ones. Samsung Galaxy S22 deals are already starting to pop-up, so pay attention to those.


Conclusion


The Pixel 6 and the Galaxy S22 are pretty close in some areas, and not so close in others. It seems that Samsung got the edge with the screen but then again, the Pixel is substantially cheaper. The Galaxy S22 might be faster but on the other hand, the new Google Tensor chip is all about AI and clever little tricks.

However, the Galaxy S22 wins out with extra features in the camera department (namely - telephoto for portraits), and a more robust ecosystem of devices around it. Samsung's tablets and laptops, the SmartTags, and Galaxy Buds. The Pixel does have Pixel Buds, but Google relies more on the general Android compatibility in other areas, instead of building its own experiences (for the time being).

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