Tensor G4 of Google Pixel 9 shows only a slight performance bump on leaked benchmarks

limerod@reddthat.com to Android@lemdro.id – 63 points – Tensor G4 of Google Pixel 9 shows only a slight performance bump on leaked benchmarks
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cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/20003770

Tensor G4 of Google Pixel 9 shows only a slight performance bump on leaked benchmarks

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Meh, who cares about performance benchmarks for phones?

I'm much more interested to see how power efficient Tensor 4 is, and whether or not they've fixed the connectivity issues.

Knowing Google, they will be fixed when the phone is released then broken after the first software update and never addressed again.

I miss the Nexus concept. There were some whiffs, but then wins like the Nexus 6. Having a vendor juggle was always fascinating, and they mostly used good modems.

What I wouldn't give for a Nexus 5 with more modern internals.

The first few Pixel A models were kind of that

Nah, I mean, literally size, shape, external form. Gimme dat soft touch plastic removable back.

The Nexus 6 was ahorrible phone. It had so many issues. GOOLE AND Huawai got class actionaw suit over this phone. It was a giant piece of shit.

That was the Nexus 6P. Nexus 6 was made by Motorola and overall an amazing phone

Performance matters. The tensor chipsets throttle heavily because they have bad thermals and they cannot sustain their performance after just 3 minutes of mild to heavy use. After 10 minutes they perform worse than midrange snapdragon processors. It would be different if pixels were cheap. But, unfortunately they are not. Making this alongside connectivity issues a sore point for pixels.

seriously. if Samsung was rootable I'd never get pixel.

The thermals between the different Tensors are not the same. The G3 is made on a smaller manufacturing node and it's significantly more power efficient in daily use.

The a-series are priced at the mid range and they also use the same chipsets as the more expensive Pixels.

When I was talking about thermals I was primarily speaking about the tensor G3. The previous generations are way worse.

As for A series being priced midrange. In my country it costs Rs52999($635) for the base 8/128gb model. I can get the top 16/256gb variant of the oneplus 12R with the much superior Snapdragon 8 gen 2 for Rs45999($551). There are also other options like the Poco X6 pro, motorola edge 50 pro, and the Realme GT 6T which cost significantly less.

Unless, pixels start approaching the price point of other smartphones. Its a no go to pay the google price just for software and camera alone.

Well in that case the Pixels are simply overpriced there and there's definitely more hardware to be had in the ones you mentioned.

On a separate note, the Snapdragon based devices simply don't compare in security update support. That's the primary reason I've been putting up with the first gen Tensor. All of the first gen Pixels in use will be secure till the end of 2026. And the 8/8a series till 2030/31.

Samsung s24 series promise 7 years of OS and security updates just the same as pixel 8 smartphones. Fairphone also promises up to 8 years of security updates and at least 5 os updates until 2031.

Samsung uses a mix of snapdragon and exynos. Fairphone uses an usual but enterprise grade midrange snapdragon processor. So, 7 years of updates do happen with snapdragon. Just depends on the manufacturer and the contract they have with Qualcomm.

This is new development with Qualcomm's chipsets and they've historically been extremely reluctant to sign contracts for long update support so I'm skeptical till proven otherwise. They've always been a super profit maximizing company and they've typically been the king of the hill for Android and still are for modems, so they have all the incentives to not sign such agreements or not honor them. We don't know how strong these are. I'd be super happy to be proven wrong. I've worked (and still do) on the embedded side with devices built on QC chipsets and Qualcomm behave today as they did a decade ago.

Right, but these new benchmarks don't speak to that, do they?

It's a minor improvement at best. The thermal performance should be similar if not the same.

I'm pretty sure they're just treading water this year, and focusing on their in-house design for the Tensor G5 in 2025. Hopefully it doesn't break Graphene support.

I though G4 was supposed to bring a big improvement to the modem, or is that going to be G5?

I'll tell you a secret it well always be the next one. Has been that way forever with Google hardware. Don't know why people still think they well do something magical at this point.

Possibly, lol. Although going from Samsung's to their own completely custom silicon will be the best chance of seeing some actual improvements.

It's sounding like an upgrade from Exynos 5300 to 5400, so I'm not expecting much.

How is the camera bump getting worse???

Yeah, I like the camera bump on my Pixel Fold since it shouldn't go all the way across the back and is still square-ish. These are similar but worse. Pixel 6 was peak design IMO.

Looks miles better to me

Idk Pixel 6 feels like the most iconic version so far, really sad seeing what direction they've taken it

Agreed. The Pixel line had a really distinctive design language with the 6 but they've moved further away from that with each release since.

Still using my 6 Pro, the back glass is scratched to hell and back and covered in smudges

Yes, I know I can take better care of it, but at the end of the day, glass is glass

Arguably, the average person will not care. My mom will probably buy one because, and I quote, "Your phone takes good pictures!"

Benchmark tests don't matter to normal people

This shouldn't surprise anyone. The vast majority of their efforts have to be going into the fully custom (TSMC) G5 for next year.

Any word on what modem they're going to use in the G5?

What a bull shit excuse. Google has ruined their name in the phone space. I imagine pixel we'll be dead in a decade after never really taking off

And next year it well be well it's g1 the next one well be better. Rinse and repeat everytime Google does hardware. .