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, meaning the Tensor G4 is essentially similar 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 does not have any points in most mundane duties — identical 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 same old 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 normal.
Annoyingly, Google determined to go together 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 in opposition to their fast 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 without doubt one of the greatest telephones I utilized in 2024, and comes with arguably the perfect total digicam package deal round right now. Qualcomm did a terrific job typically with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and the chipset has significant effectivity beneficial properties and provides a sizeable efficiency increase on the similar time.
I am pitting the Pixel 9and Pixel 9 Professional XL in opposition to final 12 months’s Pixel 8 Professional to spotlight 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 (Net Shopping) | 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 (Photograph 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 gadgets, and with the Pixel 9 Professional XL getting a vapor chamber this time, that is doubtless the primary 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 with regards to multi-core scores, and any sustained utilization is throttled early. This is not the case with gadgets powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, however on the upside, the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional XL do not get wherever as scorching. In actual fact, they recorded the bottom thermal scores of all gadgets I examined in 2024, and Google clearly made this a precedence with the G4.
Speaking about priorities, Google nonetheless does 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 Gentle 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 not any groundbreaking options within the Tensor G4, it has a number of benefits over final 12 months’s G3. The change to the Exynos 5400 modem is a giant deal, and it’s noticeable in every day use. My Pixel 8 Professional persistently has points choosing up a mobile sign at residence, and the low-power antenna struggles to take care of a dependable connection to the house 5GHz community.
The Pixel 9 Professional XL mitigates this difficulty; I had no bother with mobile connectivity within the week I used the machine, and it did significantly better on my residence 5GHz community. That mentioned, it nonetheless is not on par with the Snapdragon X75 modem; all Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered gadgets delivered significantly better bandwidth, and had a stronger sign.
Google’s newest telephones are hobbled with regards to taking pictures, a routine process on most gadgets. Whereas there is no shutter lag with common photographs, portrait pictures take a second or two to avoid wasting to the gallery, and it simply is not attainable 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 photographs from the Discover X7 Extremely, Xiaomi 14 Extremely, Vivo X100 Extremely, and the OnePlus 12.
The Pixel 9 Professional XL continues to be restricted with regards to gaming, and if something, it tends to throttle a bit of before its predecessor. Meaning you do not get constant framerates in demanding titles, and it simply does not measure as much as the Adreno 750 — it is at the least two generations behind.
That mentioned, overheating is not as huge an issue this 12 months, with the Pixel 9 Professional XL operating cooler than the Pixel 8 Professional in the identical titles. The Pixel 9 does not have the identical advantages, and it will get hotter in prolonged gaming periods — however nonetheless nowhere as a lot as earlier generations. It appears to be like like Google set overly aggressive energy limits with the Tensor G4 to forestall overheating, and that comes at the price of steady framerates.
Must you purchase the Pixel 9?
After per week of use, it is clear that Google made a number 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 every day use. The largest difficulty continues to be round gaming efficiency — these telephones simply aren’t constructed to play visually-intensive video games.
For those who do not care about that, there is definitely rather a lot to love with the brand new Pixels. The construct high quality is significantly better than earlier generations, and there are respectable effectivity beneficial properties 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 machine.
Total, the Pixel 9 Professional XL is sensible. The interior {hardware} will not be the perfect round, however you get terrific AI-backed utilities that make an actual distinction in every day use, and the cameras are nice.