Why Apple iPhone SE 4 and Google Pixel 9a could be 2025's most exciting phones

tech.hindustantimes.com:

All the big players, including Apple and Google, have launched their flagships for 2024, and now, with 2025 on the horizon, speculation surrounding the 2025 releases is growing. The first couple of months are expected to be dominated by Samsung with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S25 series. While it could stand as a reliable Android option, Samsung may play it safe, which is why—as things stand—the real dark horses of the year could be the iPhone SE 4 and the Google Pixel 9a, both expected to be upper mid-range devices around the ₹50,000 mark. There are several reasons why we think so. Read on.

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To get Apple's top-tier performance, you currently need to spend at least ₹79,900 on the iPhone 16. But what if the iPhone SE 4, with its likely A18 chipset and 8GB RAM, makes it accessible around ₹50,000? This would be a big draw, and it may even cannibalise sales of the iPhone 16 for Apple, especially in price-sensitive markets like India.

As for the Pixel 9a, Google is expected to equip it with the latest Tensor G4 SoC, minus the new modem, making it eligible to run Gemini on-device. It may not get the Pixel 9 Pro's exclusive features like Video Boost, but it will certainly offer an AI-rich experience that could rival, if not surpass, some flagships.

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Yes, the iPhone 16 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro come with 120Hz displays, triple camera setups, and more. But if you think about it, models like Apple's SE series or Google's A-series phones offer largely the same experience. The Pixel 8a launched with the same Tensor G3 chipset as the Pixel 8 Pro, which costs twice as much. Similarly, when the iPhone SE 3 debuted, it featured the same A15 chipset as the iPhone 14—that's where the value lies. You're getting nearly the same performance with logical trade-offs, and for some people,