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Google has announced that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro handsets are on the way and has set an October 6 date for the big reveal – but there’s still a lot we don’t know about these phones. A new benchmark leaked to the internet may have filled in a few details for us.
According to Android developer Kuba Wojciechowski (opens in new tab) (through 9to5Google (opens in new tab)), who spotted a Geekbench listing for the Pixel 7 Pro: The chipset in the upcoming phone will offer an overall performance boost of about 10% over the Tensor processors in the Pixel 6 series. Graphics jobs, meanwhile, could see improvements of up to 20%.
That graphics upgrade should make the Pixel 7 phones significantly better at gaming and computational photography, though everyday phone tasks won’t feel quite as fast. However, don’t consider this official and unconfirmed, especially since Geekbench scores are quite easy to fake.
Slower than the competition
While on paper the chipset upgrade in the Tensor 2 may not be that impressive – something that has been rumored before – Wojciechowski says the manufacturing improvements will mean the Pixel 7 Pro (and Pixel 7) will be more energy efficient. That means longer battery life and faster performance speeds more often.
While admitting that the second-generation Tensor chip is “much slower than the competition” in these benchmark scores, Wojciechowski also points out that “thermal solutions, software optimization and miscellaneous components also play a big role in delivering good UX and performance.” performance”.
Another tidbit from this benchmark leak is that the Pixel 7 Pro will likely have 12GB of RAM, just like the Google Pixel 6 Pro before it. Once we get our hands on these phones for testing, we’ll be able to let you know exactly how the performance levels compare to the 2021-generation Pixels.
Analysis: living in the real world
While benchmarks can certainly be helpful in measuring a phone’s raw performance, they don’t necessarily simulate how consumers use their phone from day to day. In other words, we’re not too concerned that the Tensor 2 chipset looks like a relatively minor upgrade.
The processor is expected to be based on 4nm (nanometer) architecture – that essentially means more computing power packed into a smaller space. It should be able to perform better without drawing as much heat compared to the 5nm chipset in the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6a.
It also appears that Google is upgrading the TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) on this new chip. That means AI-related tasks, including speech recognition and the Magic Eraser tool, are handled better and performed faster. That may have more of an impact on how the phone feels to use.
The case can be made that modern flagship phones have processors with performance levels that most consumers don’t really need either. Apple just launched the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus with chipsets nearly identical to those used in the 2021 iPhones, for example — and they’re still very fast.