- Pixel models from the Pixel 6 onwards are achieving improved benchmark results
- This is likely down do newer GPU drivers being added in recent software updates
- In less positive news, the Pixel 6a lacks satellite communication features
There’s both good and bad Pixel news today, but the good news will affect more people than the bad, so let’s start there.
Reddit users are finding that Pixel phones with Tensor chipsets (meaning everything from the Google Pixel 6 onwards) are achieving much higher GPU scores on Geekbench 6 than they did at launch. This is widely being attributed to the Android 16 beta, but Android Authority reports seeing similarly upgraded performance on Android 15.
So chances are you don’t need to grab a beta version of Android to see improvements, but rather that recent stable software updates have massively boosted GPU performance.
The exact boost varies depending on model, but Android Authority claims its Pixel 6a unit saw a nearly 23% GPU performance increase, while elsewhere there are reports of a 62% improvement for the Pixel 7a, a 31% improvement for the Pixel 8, and even a 32% improvement for the recent Google Pixel 9.
Android Authority speculates that Google achieved this through including newer GPU drivers in recent Android updates, as while all recent Pixels use an Arm Mali GPU, they don’t always ship with the latest available GPU driver version.
How much impact these performance improvements will have in the real world remains to be seen, but they’re nice to see, and could help extend the lifespan of older Pixel models.
No Satellite SOS for the Pixel 9a
Now for the bad news, and this relates specifically to the new Google Pixel 9a, which we’ve learned doesn’t support Satellite SOS. Google confirmed as much to Android Authority, and this is a feature found on other Google Pixel 9 models which allows you to contact emergency services in areas without Wi-Fi or cell signal.
So it’s a potentially life-saving tool, and while Google didn’t say why it’s absent here, it’s likely because the Pixel 9a uses an older Exynos Modem 5300, rather than the 5400 used by the rest of the Pixel 9 series.
While this is a feature that you’ll hopefully never need to use, it would be reassuring to have, and this isn’t the only omission in the Pixel 9a, as we also recently learned that it lacks several AI tools offered by the rest of the Pixel 9 line.
In fact, this phone has had a slightly troubled launch, with not just these omissions emerging, but also a delay in sales of the phone while Google investigates a “component quality issue”.
Still, the silver lining there is that this delay allowed time for these omissions to be uncovered, so you might think twice about buying the Google Pixel 9a. Certainly, we’d wait until we’ve had a chance to put it through a full review before purchasing one.
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