Google Pixel 9a and iPhone SE 4 set to go head-to-head, if leaked renders are anything to go by

Excitement is building for the launch of two new affordable phones – one coming from Apple, the other from Google. Not only does it look like these phones are launching at pretty much the same time, but they could look nearly identical too.

Renders of the forthcoming Apple iPhone SE 4 were shared recently, having been sourced from a case manufacturer. And while it’s not possible to see the device completely, we get a good sense of the overall design that Apple is going for – hint, it looks like a completely new design for the series, which is exciting.

To accompany them, we now have alleged images of the Google Pixel 9a, too. This time they come from Android Headlines and show official-looking renders of the Pixel 9a in an array of colours. So, although we’ve seen the Pixel 9a previously, this is the best look at this phone so far.

From these images, we can see that the camera location and shape on these phones appears to be almost identical. The lozenge-shared area in the top left-hand corner of the rear presents the phone’s cameras, with Google offering two, while Apple only has one.

And even though we can’t see the front of the Pixel 9a, there’s no doubt that the Google phone won’t have Apple’s iconic notch at the top of the display. Unfortunately, because the iPhone is in a Spigen case, we can't really see the sides – but it’s likely to have flat sides to match the rest of the iPhone family.

Google Pixel 9a vs iPhone SE 4: How to the specs compare?

While the visual design of these phones might be close, let’s just take a quick look at how they may compare on the hardware front. Bear in mind that none of this information is official, we only have leaks to work with.

The Google Pixel 9a is expected to have the Tensor G4 processor and 8GB RAM, with 128 and 256GB storage options. The iPhone SE 4 could come with the A18 chip to match the iPhone 16 (which follows the pattern of Apple’s previous SE models). If the phone is to get Apple Intelligence, which seems highly likely, it will need 8GB of RAM too. It could also come in 128 and 256GB storage options.

By all accounts, the A18 is a better performer than the Tensor G4.

The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have a 6.1-inch display, with a 60Hz refresh rate and it’s thought to be an OLED display instead of LCD on the new model. The Pixel is expected to have a 6.2-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 2,700 nits peak brightness.

The battery in the iPhone SE 4 could be 3,279mAh, while the Pixel 9a could get a huge 5,100mAh battery. That might see the Pixel offering better stamina.

Finally, moving to the camera, the Pixel 9a is expected to carry a 48-megapixel main sensor, joined by an ultra-wide camera. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have one camera, again, with a 48-megapixel sensor.

Of course, there’s a lot of speculation here, but you can see that these two models could be really closely matched. As for the price – the Pixel 9a is said to start at £/$499 and the iPhone SE 4 around the £/$449-499 mark.

Hopefully, we’ll have more concrete details on each soon.