The Pixel 3a isn’t as good as the Xiaomi Mi 9 according to DxOMark Mobile

The Pixel 3a is Google’s new affordable mid-range device that promises to offer a similar camera experience as their flagship Pixel 3. The more affordable device retains the same Portrait Mode, Super Res Zoom and Night Sight features.

When it comes to DxOMark Mobile’s evaluation, the device scored a respectable 100 points and it is just a point below the Pixel 3 and Apple’s iPhone XR.

The Pixel 3a features a single 12.2MP f/1.8 dual-pixel main camera that uses a 1/2.55″ sensor. It also gets both optical image stabilisation and electronic image stabilisation. In the photo category, it scored 103 points while for video, it achieved 95 points.

According to DxOMark, the Pixel 3a with a score of 100 lands in the second tier of their database of smartphone image quality. While it has the same 103 photo score as the Pixel 3 and iPhone XR, it loses out in the video department as the other two devices scored higher.

As a photography device, the Pixel 3a is found to have a similar output as its bigger Pixel 3 with some differences in white balance and bokeh rendering. They remarked that it can’t compete with the best dual and triple-camera smartphones they have tested but the Pixel 3a is still capable device thanks to its computational processing capabilities.

As a comparison, the Xiaomi Mi 9 which costs less than RM2,000 was given a score of 107 by DxOMark. It comes with a triple-camera setup which offers greater versatility with an ultra-wide-angle camera and a telephoto lens.

The lower Snapdragon 670 processor is said to have impacted the video quality and they noted some underexposure in low light, loss of detail and frameshifts while panning.

You can read the full review here. Below is the current smartphone ranking on DxoMark Mobile:

In the US, the Google Pixel 3a is priced at US$399 (about RM1,639), meanwhile, in Singapore, the Pixel 3a is priced at S$659 (about RM1,991). The device isn’t sold officially in Malaysia, but if you’re interested, you can get an import set for RM2,198.

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