The Google Pixel XL Review: Life After Nexus
by Matt Humrick & Brandon Chester on November 8, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Snapdragon 821
- Pixel
GPU Performance
Section by Brandon Chester
The Pixel XL's Snapdragon 821 SoC uses the same Adreno 530 GPU that is used in Snapdragon 820. In the case of MSM8996 Pro AB, the max GPU frequency is set at 624MHz, which is also the same as Snapdragon 820. This means that at least on paper, one can expect the same GPU performance from the Pixel XL as existing Snapdragon 820 devices. Of course, there are always improvements to drivers and to the SoCs themselves as the manufacturing process matures, so there's always room for improvements in peak and sustained performance, but there won't be any major gains like what one would see from a completely new GPU or a bump in peak clock speed on the same part.
The Pixel XL performs similarly to existing Snapdragon 820 devices in 3DMark Sling Shot. All the devices from the past twelve months generally achieve the same overall score in this test, although when you look at the separate graphics and physics scores you'll see that some devices do better in each category than others. There's not much else to say here, as the Pixel XL isn't breaking any new ground, but it's also not behind the other Android flagship competition either.
As expected, the performance of the Pixel XL in GFXBench's Manhattan test is in line with existing Snapdragon 820 devices. This year devices have really standardized on a resolution of 2560x1440 and Snapdragon 820, so the Pixel XL's performance in both tests is essentially identical to other phones such as the HTC 10 and the Galaxy S7. It's hard to overlook the fact that the Pixel XL's performance is competitive with smartphones that launched in the first quarter of the year, while the most recent smartphones like the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are over 30% faster in this test despite being the same price.
In Car Chase the situation is essentially the same as Manhattan, with the Pixel XL performing similarly to existing Snapdragon 820 devices. In both cases the performance is actually a bit better, but not significantly so. The OnePlus 3 pulls ahead of the Pixel XL in the on screen test, which makes sense given that it's a 1080p device sitting among 1440p devices. Car Chase isn't available on iOS so there's no way to compare to Apple's A10, but among Android devices the Pixel XL does provide the best GPU performance available right now.
The Pixel XL's GPU performance is in line with the current flagship Android phones. Of course, it's already November, so it won't be too long before we see the next generation of phones arrive. Launching this late into the year means that performance isn't going to be significantly better than the initial wave of Snapdragon 820 devices that have been available since February or March, which does put the Pixel in a bit of an awkward position as far as price is concerned. You can grab a OnePlus 3 for $399 and it will perform equally as well in GPU-bound applications as the Pixel, or you can spend the same amount as the Pixel on an iPhone and GPU performance is significantly better. Whether or not this matters really depends on the customer, but it's something to consider when considering the balance of performance and features relative to the cost of a device.
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deathBOB - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Sounds like you standard underwhelming HTC product.Any word on the improvements to touch latency that have been talked about? Is it hardware or purely software? And is that part of the UI fluidity that you point out?
David_K - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The HTC 10 got a VERY positive review here few weeks ago. and in fact, it got positive reviews everywhere, It just couldn't breaks the Galaxy S7 Hype, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE my S7, but the 10 is a really nice and capable device, some would say better than the pixel, with expandable storage, bigger battery, nicer design, MUCH better audio (headphone out and speakers).DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
My gf loves her HTC 10Speedfriend - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
"Apple's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do similarly well at 9.22 hours and 9.32 hours, despite the fact that their batteries are significantly smaller than the Pixel XL's. "Why if the batteries are so much smaller, the phones are still so bog, especially the 7 Plkus. What is occupying the additional space? It seems to suggest that Apple would be incapable of moving to a higher res screen without increasing the size of the phone? Anyone with a view?
sor - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Probably a mix of a few things, but actual Barrett life is one of the reasons I roll my eyes when people complain about Apple making things small at the expense of battery. They still have great life despite being thin.The iPhone is about 1.5mm thinner, that contributes a good deal, and they've also got a larger haptic feedback element. They could increase battery by making it thicker, but I don't imagine they'd need more battery to get higher resolution. They have a leg up on SoC performance to drive those pixels, and they use IPS currently so they could switch to a higher efficiency screen like AMOLED.
name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
You do know that you can FIND the answer to your question?:https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+7+Plus+Tear...
Part of the answer is a high quality haptics engine. Part is OIS (and two camera housings). Part is a remarkably large primary speaker, and a respectably large secondary speaker.
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Lol .. another isheep spotted . SImply pulling up irrelevant numbers and trying to prop up a iphones . Case in point .. Pixel has a superlative display and this fellow brings in stupid irrelevant numbers from junk . Pixel is at top of the android tree in all means and measures . Accept it and just play with your one plus 3 and samsung junks .fanofanand - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
So verifying the accuracy of the display is "stupid irrelevant numbers from junk"? At least your comment is easily ignored. Maybe you love your oversaturated displays but some of us value accuracy.amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
look at the benchmarks, iPhone wins all benchmarks(the ones that matters) now.lol, looks like the tech world did a 180 in the last few years.
It used to be Android that wins all benchmarks, because that's all they got. Now the tide has reverse, iPhone cares so much about benchmarks now, while Android/Nexus/Pixel cares more about day to day usage. WTH?
BMNify - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The Auto HDR+ mode and HDR+ On mode are actually very different modes. HDR+ On is the traditional HDR, taking dark and bright exposures and combining them (which is slow). Auto HDR+ is Google's new HDR, which takes 9 dark exposures and combines them to reduce noise and then brightening the dark areas, and since it is continuously taking photos, Auto HDR+ has no shutter lag.Please update the article to include all 3 modes, HDR+ off, Auto HDR+ and HDR+ On.