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iPhone 11 vs. Pixel 4: Comparing Apple and Google's flagship phones

For OS agnostics, we compare Apple and Google's most affordable marquee handsets.

Lynn La Senior Editor / Reviews - Phones
Lynn La covers mobile reviews and news. She previously wrote for The Sacramento Bee, Macworld and The Global Post.
Lynn La
8 min read

Though iOS and Android loyalists generally stick to their current phones' natural successors, it's easier than ever to switch between the two operating systems. So whether you're actively deciding which phone to get, or you're just curious about which is the better device, we compared the iPhone 11 and Pixel 4. They are the cheapest flagship phones from Apple and Google, respectively, and both are excellent daily drivers no matter the OS.

Though the iPhone 11 retails for $699 and the Pixel 4 costs $799, many carriers and offer deals throughout the year, which either lowers their prices outright or include some money back. Read on to see how we weighed the iPhone 11 and Pixel 4 against each other in terms of design, camera, performance and software. And if you want to save even more money, check out CNET's iPhone XR vs. Pixel 3 comparison.  

Read MoreBest Phones of 2019 | Best iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Cases | Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics | Best Portable Chargers and Power Banks for Android Devices 

Sarah Tew/CNET

The iPhone 11 may not have the Pixel 4's 90Hz display, novel astrophotography camera feature or touchless hand gestures, but it's still our favorite phone of the two. For starters, its camera records excellent video and it has a faster processor than the Pixel 4. It also has things like Wi-Fi 6, keeping it poised for future technology. What makes it even better is that its 64GB and 128GB models are $100 and $150 cheaper than the Pixel 4 at those storage options.

Read our Apple iPhone 11 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The Pixel 4 is a first-rate phone in and of itself. Nifty software features like Soli motion sensing and live audio recording prove useful and the phone's display has a high refresh rate that keeps things looking smooth. Its camera is also excellent. But the Pixel 4's higher price tag, limited storage options and underwhelming battery life mean the iPhone 11 is the clear winner here.

Read our Google Pixel 4 review.

How we tested

Watch this: Comparing iPhone 11 Pro vs. Pixel 4 night photos

Design: iPhone 11's polished look or Pixel 4's silky display?

Neither the iPhone 11 nor the Pixel 4 flaunt radically different looks from their predecessors. Despite their familiar designs, the phones are at least comfortable to navigate with one hand (the Pixel 4's smaller frame make it the slightly more comfortable phone to hold), and they're both water resistant.

Aesthetically, the iPhone 11 looks better. Its glossy glass backside is elegant and refined. The phone comes in a variety of colors besides black and white, including lavender, mint and red. (Meanwhile, the Pixel 4 just comes in orange in addition to the standard B&W.) And while both handsets have noticeable camera bumps, I like how Apple handled the iPhone 11's dual-camera setup in a neat, translucent layout, compared to Google's unseemly black square, stamped so severely on the Pixel 4's back.

google-pixel-4-vs-apple-iphone-11-3058

The iPhone 11 has an LCD screen (left) while the Pixel 4 has an OLED display.

Angela Lang/CNET

The Pixel 4 does have a trick up its sleeve, however, and that's its display. It has a higher pixel density, so it's technically sharper, and it's an OLED screen, which makes black hues a tad inkier and deeper than the iPhone 11. In the same vein though, whites look more "pure" on the iPhone 11 than on the Pixel 4. Overall though, colors are as vibrant and highly contrasted on both phones, and you won't notice much of a difference between the two unless you held them both side-by-side. Lastly, the Pixel 4's display refreshes at a rate of 90 times a second, while most phones, like the iPhone 11, refresh 60 times a second. By refreshing more often, things like playing games and scrolling through web pages and apps feel fluid, as if there's a spring in the Pixel's step.

Winner: The Pixel 4's 90Hz display makes viewing content liquid smooth. But the iPhone 11's refined design and cheerful colors make it more attractive of the two.

Camera: The iPhone 11's unsurprising hold on video

Both phones are equipped with excellent cameras and you'd be rightly satisfied if you chose either device for all your picture-taking needs. But there are certain aspects where one phone edges out the other.

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Angela Lang/CNET

The Pixel 4, for instance, takes sharp and vibrant pictures with a strong HDR effect, making some photos appear more cinematic and dramatic. It's digital zoom is also excellent, closing in on faraway objects while keeping them sharp. At the same time though, colors aren't as true-to-life as on the iPhone 11 and images can end up looking overly processed. 

The iPhone 11's portraits also look softer than the Pixel 4, which can look digitized. It handles the fallout between the fore- and background more naturally. Skin tones are warmer and more flattering. That being said, the Pixel 4's portraits comes off more crisp and detailed -- so it really is a matter of personal preference.

In addition, both phones have specific night modes for low light situations. Again, the HDR effect makes photos from the Pixel 4 appear hyper-real, but it does an amazing job at lighting up dark scenes. The phone's nifty astrophotography mode also takes impressive shots of starlit skies. 

Read more: Night photos on iPhone 11 and Pixel 4: Which is the best low-light camera phone?

When it comes to video though, the iPhone 11 really shines. Though I like how smoothly the Pixel 4 stabilizes video, the overall picture quality on the iPhone 11 is simply better, even in timelapse videos. Objects are sharper and the transitions between different light exposures is handled more artfully. For more details, check out photos from the iPhone 11 and photos from the Pixel 4.

Winner: With the iPhone 11's Night Mode holding its own against the Pixel 4, the iPhone 11's superior video recording ultimately wins the day.

iphone-11-vs-pixel-4-outdoor
Enlarge Image
iphone-11-vs-pixel-4-outdoor

With ample, outdoor lighting, both phones take excellent photos. The iPhone 11 is on the left and the Pixel 4 is on the right.

Lynn La/CNET
iphone-11-vs-pixel-4-zoom
Enlarge Image
iphone-11-vs-pixel-4-zoom

At max zoom, the iPhone 11 (left) is blurrier than the one on the Pixel 4 (right).

Lynn La/CNET
iphone-11-vs-pixel-4-portrait
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iphone-11-vs-pixel-4-portrait

Portrait mode on the iPhone 11 (left) looks more natural and soft than on the Pixel 4 (right), though the subject matter on the Pixel is sharper.

Lynn La/CNET

Longest battery life and performance: iPhone 11 wins

The iPhone 11 and Pixel 4 are equipped with an A13 Bionic and Snapdragon 855 processor, respectively. Even though they have different chipsets, you don't really notice any differences in speed with daily tasks like launching apps or firing the camera shutter. But on paper, the iPhone 11 has the edge over the Pixel 4 on benchmark tests. Check out both scores below.

3DMark Slingshot Unlimited

Google Pixel 4 7,714Apple iPhone 11 10,505
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited

Google Pixel 4 74,684Apple iPhone 11 97,199
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Geekbench v.5.0 single-core

Google Pixel 4 713Apple iPhone 11 1,338
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Geekbench v.5.0 multicore

Google Pixel 4 2,462Apple iPhone 11 3,436
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Both phones conveniently have wireless charging, but the Pixel 4 has a much shorter battery life than the iPhone 11. Its 2,800-mAh battery not only is a lower capacity than last year's Pixel 3 (which had a 2,915-mAh battery), but it clocked in only 10 hours for continuous video playback on Airplane mode. The iPhone 11, in contrast, lasted 15 hours and 24 minutes. 

CNET is currently running a streaming video battery test on the phones. In our initial result, the iPhone 11 lasted 13 hours and 52 minutes. However, we're still tweaking the test and will post final battery life results when we have them. 

Winner: The iPhone 11 pulls ahead with faster benchmark tests and a longer battery life.

Software and UI: Both have gestures and face recognition

As always, when comparing phones from Apple and Google you'll have to decide which OS works better for you: iOS or Android. Both phones have Dark Mode and digital search assistants (Siri and Google Assistant). Because the phones don't have physical home buttons, their interfaces rely on swiping gestures instead to switch between apps.

New to the Pixel 4 is face recognition, which the iPhone added in 2017 with the iPhone X. By scanning your face, you can unlock the phone and authorize payments. It's part of a suite of features Google calls Motion Sense. The feature can sense my hand when I reach for the phone to unlock it using radar (the face unlocking itself is carried out by an infrared camera, just like Face ID on the iPhone). This combo of readying and then firing up the tech makes face unlock faster. I don't have to tap-to-wake the screen or press any buttons beforehand, nor do I have to swipe after to use my phone. Because it's all just one fluent, cohesive process, the Pixel 4 is faster than the iPhone 11 at face unlock, though they both actually unlock the phone at about the same speed.

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Skipping a song by waving my hand over the Pixel 4.

Sarah Tew/CNET

(Note that face unlock isn't 100% infallible. Google acknowledges that someone who looks like you, such as a twin, can unlock your phone. Face unlock also works if you have your eyes closed or when you're sleeping, which is a big vulnerability. Google has yet to fix this problem, despite saying it will do so in October 2019. Face ID on the iPhone 11, on the other hand, only works if your eyes are open.

Motion Sense also introduced some hands-free gestures for the Pixel 4. I can wave my hand to skip songs, hover my hand to pause music and silence timers and alarms, for instance. It works surprisingly effortlessly and I liked that alarms quieted down as I reached for the phone, which is intuitive and less disruptive. 

Lastly, the Pixel 4 has voice transcription, which transcribes audio recordings and video recordings in real time. It's super useful for people who may be hard of hearing or for those who transcribe for work (i.e. yours truly).

Winner: Toss up. I like the Pixel 4's useful software goodies, but as far as which OS is "best" highly depends on the one you're already comfortable with.

Other phone features to consider:

Both phones have dual-SIM. In addition to your regular nano-SIM, both phones use e-SIM technology that supports multiple phone numbers. This is useful if you want to keep your personal and work phone number on the same device.

The iPhone 11 has Wi-Fi 6. Devices with Wi-Fi 6 speak that same Wi-Fi language to talk to each other, and compared to Wi-Fi 5, it's faster and more battery efficient. But Wi-Fi 6 was only certified in September 2019 and Wi-Fi 6 routers remain expensive. Instead of regarding it as an immediate benefit, think of Wi-Fi 6 as readying your phone for the future. 

apple-iphone-11-4
Angela Lang/CNET

The iPhone 11 has a chip just for "spatial awareness." Called U1, this new chip helps iPhones find other iPhones more precisely when they're in close proximity. Apple says this improves AirDrop, but many believe the U1 chip is laying the groundwork for a long-rumored Apple tile tracker.

Neither phone has expandable storage, but there are options. The iPhone 11 has a third 256GB model, for instance, in addition to the 128GB and 64GB options both phones have in common. Though it's the most expensive iPhone 11, it might be better value for you to have on-device storage. Especially since Apple's iCloud only gives you 5GB for free and it costs $10 a month for 2TB. 

Google, on the other hand, changed its policy so that Pixel 4 users don't have unlimited photo storage at original quality anymore. Instead, you can upload content at "high" quality, which is a lower resolution with less detail. Though it won't matter much when you're viewing photos on a phone screen, having a higher resolution is great for printing out physical, blown out copies.

iPhone 11 specs vs. Pixel 4


iPhone 11Google Pixel 4
Display size, resolution 6.1-inch LCD Liquid Retina; 1,792x828 pixels 5.7-inch OLED; 1,080x2,280 pixels
Pixel density 326ppi444ppi
Dimensions (Inches) 5.94x2.98x0.33 inches2.7x5.7x0.3 inches
Dimensions (Millimeters) 150.9x75.7x8.3 mm68.8x147.1x8.2 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams) 6.84 oz; 194g5.7 oz; 162g
Mobile software iOS 13Android 10
Camera 12-megapixel (wide), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide)12.2-megapixel (standard), 16-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing camera 12-megapixel with Face ID8-megapixel
Video capture 4K4K
Processor Apple A13 Bionic2.84GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Storage 64GB, 128GB, 256GB64GB, 128GB
RAM Not disclosed6GB
Expandable storage NoNo
Battery Not disclosed, but Apple claims it will last 1 hour longer than iPhone XR2,800-mAh
Fingerprint sensor NoNo
Connector LightningUSB-C
Headphone jack NoNo
Special features Water-resistant (IP68); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless chargingSoli motion-sensing and touchless gestures; 90Hz display; water resistant (IP68); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging
Price off-contract (USD) $699 (64GB), $749 (128GB), $849 (256GB)$799 (64GB), $899 (128GB)
Price (GBP) £729 (64GB), £779 (128GB), £879 (256GB)£669 (64GB), £769 (128GB)
Price (AUD) AU$1,199 (64GB), AU$1,279 (128GB), AU$1,449 (256GB)AU$1,049 (64GB), AU$1,199 (128GB)