The Downgrade Test: OnePlus 9 Pro vs. Google Pixel 4a 5G (Premium)

On the surface, it’s not at all fair to compare the flagship OnePlus 9 Pro to the mid-range Google Pixel 4a 5G. But I have my reasons.

Key among them, of course, is the downgrade test that I wrote about ahead of my review of the OnePlus 9 Series (which includes two phones, the OnePlus 9 and the OnePlus 9 Pro). The Pixel is the phone I was coming off when I started my evaluation of the new OnePlus handsets, and a key component in my personal evaluation of the OnePlus 9 Pro, which is the model I’d choose because of its slightly better camera system. That is, is the OnePlus 9 Pro superior to the Pixel 4a 5G in enough ways that it can “pass” the downgrade test?

Again, it sounds unfair given how heavily skewed this comparison should be to the handset, the OnePlus 9 Pro, that has the vastly superior hardware. That it isn’t speaks volumes about the quality of the Pixel 4a 5G. And perhaps even more broadly to that of Google’s largely unloved and unnoticed 2020-era Pixel lineup, which also includes the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5.

But this is personal, too. The various factors that I weigh and consider to be most important when judging any product for my own use will often vary from yours. With smartphones, I’ve mentioned photography being my primary consideration, and it is. But there are other concerns, too, and of course, any smartphone I use has to pass certain bars related to basic quality, performance, and functionality. This is what makes the most recent generations of Huawei smartphone flagships non-starters for me: While I’m positive that they still have the best camera systems in the market, something I care about quite a bit, their lack of the Play Store and Google apps and services removes them from any consideration. That’s the harsh reality.

Anyway, a few days after I posted my OnePlus 9 Series review, I did something that I almost always do, which is to throw a wrench into a carefully calibrated machine: I removed the Mint SIM from the OnePlus 9 Pro, put it back in the Google Pixel 4a 5G, and starting using the latter handset again.

Here’s what I discovered.

First, I was happy to have the smaller and lighter Pixel back in my hands: After using this smallish, not-quite-XL-class smartphone for roughly four months, I had really gotten used to the form factor. This is interesting because I’ve embraced the thin and large smartphone flagships that are common these days, and because my eyesight is poor enough that larger displays are advantageous. On a small display, I have to bump up the scaling too much.

And there really is something special about the Pixel 4a 5G form factor. It’s pleasant to hold, and I love the matte polycarbonate body, which I place in a very thin and minimalist case mostly just to preserve whatever little resale value it will have. By comparison, the OnePlus is big and heavy, and it’s made even more so by the bulkier case it requires to protect all the glass. It felt top-heavy to me for the duration, which doesn’t help with one-handed use.

We can chalk that one up as a win for the Pixel, but it’s a hollow victory because that display is dim and clearly not in the same league as that provided by the OnePlus 9 Pro. In the car driving to the gym and then again on the elliptical trainer at the gym where I typically watch part of a movie while exercising, the comparative issues with the Pixel display were driven home. It’s not just smaller, it’s dimmer … no, it’s just dim. That makes it hard to see, and I have to fidget with the manual display brightness controls too often. This wasn’t an issue with the large, bright OnePlus display. So the more expensive flagship wins that round decisively.

From a performance perspective, the OnePlus 9 Pro, with its modern and even ludicrous hardware specifications—seriously, who needs 12 GB of RAM on a phone?—beats the Pixel mid-ranger handily. And I think it’s fair to say that the OnePlus 9 Pro will be a viable handset for much longer than the Pixel as Android evolves and that more impressive hardware becomes more of a factor. But there are two caveats to that assessment. First, the Pixel will be supported for longer than the OnePlus, so the hardware future-proofing is less important. And second, and of more interest to me, especially since I switch phones throughout the year anyway, is that Pixel 4a 5G’s day-to-day performance is just fine, thank you very much. Even when coming off the OnePlus.

The only issue that I regularly notice is that some photography tasks can be slow, thanks to the mid-range hardware and the lack of a Pixel Visual Core chipset. Night Mode is very slow, though I like the results better than those on OnePlus. And post-shot processing—Google relies very much on computational photography to create excellent photos—is slow, though that doesn’t typically impact usage. Overall, OnePlus is the better performer by a wide margin. But I can live with the Pixel 4a 5G.

Since we’re on photography, I might as well get that comparison out of the way. I feel that both camera systems are excellent and quite comparable. But I’d still give the slight edge to the Pixel, despite its aging hardware and its lack of a telephoto lens. OnePlus telephoto shots aren’t great, to start with, and the digital zoom on the Pixel delivers very comparable results. The overall quality of shots is similar, with Pixel getting the nod for consistency and general excellence and OnePlus winning in ultra-wide, which offers a wider view and superior quality to the Pixel.

How one views that comparison depends on whether you find it more impressive that Pixel can even compete given its relatively lackluster hardware or that OnePlus, which has always faltered in this department, is suddenly even in the game. Forced to choose, I’d pick the Pixel. But it’s close, damn close, and I’m quite happy with the OnePlus 9 Pro camera system.

From a connectivity perspective, both handsets offer the same basic features, like Wi-Fi 6 and 5G support. And while this isn’t Google’s fault per se, I had some issues bringing Mint back to the Pixel, which requires you to manually create a new APN in Connectivity settings and manually enter some configuration values, some of which are long strings of text that are easy to mistype. Making matters worse, Mint has one set of instructions on its website, but it texts you a completely different set of instructions when you first bring up a new phone with its SIM card. And … seriously. It took me days of testing before everything—cellular data out in the world, calls and text messages, etc.—worked properly.

Again, not Google’s fault. But I had previously created the APN for the Mint SIM on the Pixel and it was gone when I put the SIM back in the phone. I can’t explain it, but it was an aggravation.

From an audio-video perspective, it’s once again no contest: Here, the OnePlus 9 Pro’s bigger and better display, combined with the more powerful stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos capabilities, just puts that handset over the top. The Pixel is fine, but it’s not in the same league.

Both handsets offer fast and accurate fingerprint readers, but because their relative locations are so different—the Pixel uses a rear-facing fingerprint reader, while the OnePlus has an in-display unit—switching between them is awkward. This is a problem that most people won’t face, of course, but I found myself pressing the Pixel display for a few days, waiting for a fingerprint reader that wasn’t there. Whatever, both work great and both are reliable. It’s a tie.

Also awkward, the Pixel and OnePlus put the volume buttons on different sides of the phone, so that took a few days or reorientation as well. And the OnePlus has a wonderful three-position alert slider that every Android handset maker should adopt.

From a battery life perspective, the Pixel is the clear winner. I get a consistent two full days of use from the Pixel 4a 5G, which I will credit to my usage patterns during the pandemic and its less capable (and less power-draining) components and display. But the OnePlus 9 Pro lasts a full day, which is normal, and its fast-charging capabilities are out of this world. This is a tie as well because two days of battery is a nicety, not a requirement.

After the form factor and display, the next big thing I noticed in making this transition is the simplicity and general minimalist vibe of the Pixel software image, which is not, contrary to what you may have heard, “stock” Android. I love the Pixel version of Android and its complete lack of crapware. But I also love the similarly clean and simple OxygenOS that OnePlus uses on its phones. And it has a big advantage over Google, too, in that it offers far more customization possibilities. For example, on OnePlus, I can remove the space-hogging Google search box from the home screen, but the Pixel does not allow that. Both are great, but if forced to choose, OnePlus gets the win here.

The Pixel 4a 5G costs only $500, about half the price of the cheapest OnePlus 9 Pro configuration, and well under the $729 starting price of the non-Pro OnePlus 9. But from a value perspective, it’s a close call. The Pixel 4a 5G works fine for me now, but I suspect that won’t be the cast one or two years from now. The OnePlus is more expensive, but it will absolutely last longer, even when you factor in the software support lifecycles. This one doesn’t factor into my own decision, but I think there are compelling cases to be made for any of the choices.

I didn’t really add up the respective wins to arrive at an overall winner because that’s not really how this works. Some of the wins matter more than the others, and some of the losses weigh more heavily. And it is in this kind of ranking that our personal preferences come into play.

In my case, I start with photography and go from there. As I noted above, I would give the Pixel the nod if forced, but it’s a very close call. So close, that it’s pretty much a wash, and that means I can weigh some of the other factors a bit more heavily. And that’s when the benefits of the OnePlus—which, yes, seems to make this content decidedly one-sided—come into play: Its superior display, performance, AV experience, and so on.

But let’s be fair here. I’m only able to make that leap because OnePlus finally delivered a competitive camera system. With previous OnePlus flagships, the camera was always the niggling problem, the one issue the prevented its otherwise excellent handsets from vaulting into the top-tier. With the OnePlus 9 Series, this is no longer a problem. That’s almost a miracle.

But then so, too, is the fact that the relatively lowly Pixel 4a 5G is even part of this discussion. We expect general camera system excellent from all Pixels, of course, and the 4a 5G delivers. But the rest of the handset, despite its mid-level components, dim display, and (relatively) cheap build materials, still manages to create a compelling overall package. I really, really like the Pixel 4a 5G. And I say that coming off weeks of experience with a flagship handset that costs twice as much and has a vastly superior display.

In short, this is harder than it should be. And maybe you can see why this comparison, which seems so unfair on the surface, is even worth discussing.

So what am I going to do? I’ll be moving back to the OnePlus 9 Pro sometime this weekend. But it’s not as decisive a victory as I’d like. And Google could absolutely win me back should it release a future Pixel flagship with three camera lenses. The future remains uncertain.