The Google Pixel XL Review: Life After Nexus

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.