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The Pixel 9 collection sees the introduction of the Tensor G4, and it is not markedly completely different to final 12 months. Google is providing Arm’s newest cores which are clocked marginally increased alongside a brand new Exynos modem, however apart from that, you will not see any main adjustments on this 12 months’s silicon.
Clearly, which means the Tensor G4 is essentially equivalent to the G3 when it comes to day-to-day efficiency, and that is in keeping with my utilization of the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Professional XL. The telephones would not have any points in most mundane duties — similar to the Pixel 8 collection — however push the cameras or launch demanding video games, and you will see the inherent limitations of the Tensor G4.
As an outline, the G4 has a Cortex X4 core clocked at 3.1GHz, three Cortex A720 cores at 2.6GHz, and the standard set of 4 effectivity Cortex A520 cores which are designed to go as much as 1.92GHz. It has a Mali-G715 GPU that accommodates six cores, and the bottom Pixel 9 comes with 12GB of RAM, with the Professional fashions getting 16GB as commonplace.
Annoyingly, Google determined to go along with UFS 3.1 storage on all variants of the Pixel 9 collection, so even in case you go for the 256GB or 512GB fashions, you will not get UFS 4.0 storage. This is not an issue proper now, however with these telephones designed to final seven years, the transfer is shortsighted.
With that out of the way in which, let’s check out how the Tensor G4-based Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Professional XL scores towards their instant rivals.
Tensor G4 benchmarks: How does it measure as much as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?
I used Vivo’s unbelievable X100 Extremely to showcase the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3; it is among the finest telephones I utilized in 2024, and comes with arguably the very best general digital camera package deal round right this moment. Qualcomm did an amazing job on the whole with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and the chipset has significant effectivity features and affords a sizeable efficiency enhance on the identical time.
I am pitting the Pixel 9and Pixel 9 Professional XL towards final 12 months’s Pixel 8 Professional to focus on variations between the Tensor G4 and G3.
| Class | Vivo X100 Extremely | Google Pixel 9 Professional XL | Google Pixel 9 | Google Pixel 8 Professional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Total) | 14899 | 13028 | 12907 | 12478 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Internet Searching) | 11497 | 10322 | 9150 | 11575 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Video Modifying) | 6278 | 7606 | 7364 | 7356 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Writing) | 22368 | 15582 | 15399 | 13976 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 (Picture Modifying) | 32759 | 19293 | 20133 | 18901 |
| Geekbench 6 (single-core) | 2174 | 1895 | 1210 | 883 |
| Geekbench 6 (multi-core) | 6375 | 4111 | 3298 | 2748 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (rating) | 4677 | 2483 | 2588 | 2251 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive (FPS) | 28.01 | 14.86 | 15.5 | 13.48 |
The change to Arm’s newest choices has allowed the Tensor G4 to ship higher single ends in Geekbench, however there is a clear gulf between the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional XL on this space although they use the identical silicon. Google tends to set completely different energy limits and thermal constraints on its units, and with the Pixel 9 Professional XL getting a vapor chamber this time, that is probably the principle contributor. The usual Pixel 9 misses out on the vapor chamber, with Google limiting it to the Professional fashions.
The Tensor G4 continues to be behind the curve on the subject of multi-core scores, and any sustained utilization is throttled early. This is not the case with units powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, however on the upside, the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional XL do not get anyplace as sizzling. In actual fact, they recorded the bottom thermal scores of all units I examined in 2024, and Google clearly made this a precedence with the G4.
Speaking about priorities, Google nonetheless would not care about gaming, and the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional XL do not see any significant adjustments on this space. Whereas the Pixel 9 Professional XL had a stability rating of 78.7% in 3DMark’s demanding Metal Nomad Mild stress check, it had the bottom scores of any flagship.
Tensor G4 day-to-day efficiency: Higher than earlier than, with a gaming caveat
Whereas there are no groundbreaking options within the Tensor G4, it has a couple of benefits over final 12 months’s G3. The change to the Exynos 5400 modem is a giant deal, and it’s noticeable in each day use. My Pixel 8 Professional constantly has points choosing up a mobile sign at house, and the low-power antenna struggles to keep up a dependable connection to the house 5GHz community.
The Pixel 9 Professional XL mitigates this subject; I had no bother with mobile connectivity within the week I used the gadget, and it did a lot better on my house 5GHz community. That mentioned, it nonetheless is not on par with the Snapdragon X75 modem; all Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered units delivered a lot better bandwidth, and had a stronger sign.
Google’s newest telephones are hobbled on the subject of taking pictures, a routine process on most units. Whereas there isn’t any shutter lag with common pictures, portrait pictures take a second or two to avoid wasting to the gallery, and it simply is not potential to take pictures in fast succession on this mode. Once more, this is not a difficulty on some other high-end cellphone I examined in 2024, and I took hundreds of portrait pictures from the Discover X7 Extremely, Xiaomi 14 Extremely, Vivo X100 Extremely, and the OnePlus 12.
The Pixel 9 Professional XL remains to be restricted on the subject of gaming, and if something, it tends to throttle a little bit before its predecessor. Which means you do not get constant framerates in demanding titles, and it simply would not measure as much as the Adreno 750 — it is no less than two generations behind.
That mentioned, overheating is not as massive an issue this 12 months, with the Pixel 9 Professional XL working cooler than the Pixel 8 Professional in the identical titles. The Pixel 9 would not have the identical advantages, and it will get hotter in prolonged gaming classes — however nonetheless nowhere as a lot as earlier generations. It appears like Google set overly aggressive energy limits with the Tensor G4 to stop overheating, and that comes at the price of steady framerates.
Do you have to purchase the Pixel 9?
After per week of use, it is clear that Google made a couple of welcome tweaks to the {hardware}. Whereas the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Professional XL nonetheless do not measure as much as the likes of the X100 Extremely, they’re higher than earlier years, and there aren’t many annoyances in each day use. The most important subject remains to be round gaming efficiency — these telephones simply aren’t constructed to play visually-intensive video games.
In the event you do not care about that, there is definitely so much to love with the brand new Pixels. The construct high quality is a lot better than earlier generations, and there are respectable effectivity features over the Tensor G3. Most of all, it is the AI options that give the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional XL a substantial edge over different flagships, and the cameras proceed to be essentially the most constant of any gadget.
Total, the Pixel 9 Professional XL is good. The inner {hardware} will not be the very best round, however you get terrific AI-backed utilities that make an actual distinction in each day use, and the cameras are nice.
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