The Google Pixel 4 XL Review: Stuck In The Past In 2019
by Andrei Frumusanu on November 8, 2019 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Pixel 4
- Pixel 4 XL
GPU Performance
3D and GPU performance of the Pixel 4, much like all other devices this year with the same Snapdragon 855 chipset, will only be able to differentiate itself from the pack if it has any kind of special heat dissipation or extremely lax thermal throttling designs. We’re not expecting any big surprises here, and do hope the Pixel 4 XL is able to fare competitively.
Starting off with the 3DMark Physics test, which is actually a CPU benchmark within a temperature constrained test scenario, we see the Pixel 4 XL fall in line with the middle of the pack of Snapdragon 855 devices in terms of the sustained performance scores. It’s interesting to see the peak performance standing out and being ahead by a measurable margin against other S855 devices. I’m not too sure why this would be other than maybe Google having extra optimisations in the scheduling of the workload, or maybe even DVFS behaviour of the CPUs, as the actual workload performance shouldn’t change based on any other external factors such as drivers or software.
In the graphics workload, things are GPU bound and that’s the main limiting factor for the performance scores. Here the Pixel 4 XL again falls around the middle of the pack amongst other S855 devices.
This ranking is continued on over all the GFXBench tests as the Pixel 4 XL does adequately but still remains below medium amongst our Snapdragon 855 devices. A peculiarity we’re seeing in the benchmarks is that the peak performance of the Pixel 4 XL is a few percentages lower than that on other S855 phones. Again, I have no proper explanation for this other that it may be some regression in Qualcomm’s GPU drivers, or that maybe Google is being more relaxed on other DVFS behaviour such as on the memory controllers.
Again, whilst this performance isn’t outright bad, we have to keep in mind the pricing of the phone and its very late release date in the year. The contrast to Apple’s iPhone 11s here in the charts is pretty absurd, as it’s able to showcase scores essentially twice as fast as what the Pixel 4 XL can achieve.
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yacoub35 - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
The OnePlus 7T crushes the Pixel 4 in every aspect of hardware except stupid gimmicks like "radar". So glad I gave that a shot after being disappointed with the Pixel 4's reveal. Super happy with the 7T.Toss3 - Saturday, November 9, 2019 - link
Except for the camera which is very important for most users. If the S11 doesn't come with a VRR 120Hz screen, I might just wait and get an iPhone (never owned an iPhone before). Not sure how all of these manufacturers continue to mess up, especially Google.milkywayer - Saturday, November 9, 2019 - link
I love the 7. Only reason I had to drop it was lack of proper water resistance. I could probably put up with a mediocre camera but water proofing is a must with a toddler.hecksagon - Saturday, November 9, 2019 - link
Yet still can't make a home screen you can customize.Pooppoot - Saturday, November 9, 2019 - link
I have a Pixel 4 XL and the battery isn't actually a problem to me. It last pretty much a day for me and I have those features turned on!DnaAngel - Sunday, December 15, 2019 - link
With Soli(motion sense), Now Playing and Live Transscribe turned off, I get almost 2 full days on a single charge of my 4XL even with 90hz on. A far cry from my 3XL's SoT which was abysmal.willis936 - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Maybe google should try fixing their software too. You’d think money makers like play music wouldn’t so horribly unstable. It’s not like they’re hurting for cash. Something is going very wrong over there. I’m sure I’ll learn what in season 6 of silicon valley.peevee - Monday, November 11, 2019 - link
They've hired a lot of humanity major SJWs instead of good engineers. Google is now rotten inside.chrnochime - Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - link
Had to look up SJW. HAHA rotten inside...Would've been a much more fitting metaphor for Apple but ironically Apple is on their A game with the Iphone so.DnaAngel - Sunday, December 15, 2019 - link
Really? because I see article after article of all the issues Apple is having right now, many of them with the iPhone 11.