{"id":1095,"date":"2025-03-22T01:01:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T01:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/?p=1095"},"modified":"2025-03-22T01:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T01:02:09","slug":"older-pixels-just-got-a-big-performance-boost-while-the-pixel-9a-is-lacking-a-key-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/2025\/03\/22\/older-pixels-just-got-a-big-performance-boost-while-the-pixel-9a-is-lacking-a-key-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"Older Pixels just got a big performance boost, while the Pixel 9a is lacking a key feature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Better GPU performance for Tensor and no satellites for the 9a<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/pHdtCNqDKsUiycECxp6hYE-1200-80.jpg\" alt=\"Google Pixel 9 in green Wintergreen color showing AI features on screen\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Google Pixel 9(Image credit: Philip Berne \/ Future)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pixel models from the Pixel 6 onwards are achieving improved benchmark results<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>This is likely down do newer GPU drivers being added in recent software updates<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>In less positive news, the Pixel 6a lacks satellite communication features<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s both good and bad Pixel news today, but the good news will affect more people than the bad, so let\u2019s start there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reddit usersare finding that Pixel phones with Tensor chipsets (meaning everything from theGoogle Pixel 6onwards) are achieving much higher GPU scores on Geekbench 6 than they did at launch. This is widely being attributed to the Android 16 beta, butAndroid Authorityreports seeing similarly upgraded performance onAndroid 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So chances are you don\u2019t need to grab a beta version of Android to see improvements, but rather that recent stable software updates have massively boosted GPU performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact boost varies depending on model, but Android Authority claims itsPixel 6aunit saw a nearly 23% GPU performance increase, while elsewhere there are reports of a 62% improvement for thePixel 7a, a 31% improvement for thePixel 8, and even a 32% improvement for the recentGoogle Pixel 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Android Authority speculates thatGoogleachieved this through including newer GPU drivers in recent Android updates, as while all recent Pixels use anArmMali GPU, they don\u2019t always ship with the latest available GPU driver version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How much impact these performance improvements will have in the real world remains to be seen, but they\u2019re nice to see, and could help extend the lifespan of older Pixel models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/detail-Google-1740810-GMSB3\">GMSB3 Battery for Google Pixel 6<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"no-satellite-sos-for-the-pixel-9a-3\">No Satellite SOS for the Pixel 9a<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/ffrwDHPSQQjaXeuUpRJTvf-970-80.png.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Google Pixel 9a(Image credit: Google)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now for the bad news, and this relates specifically to the newGoogle Pixel 9a, which we\u2019ve learned doesn\u2019t support Satellite SOS. Google confirmed as much toAndroid 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\u2019s a potentially life-saving tool, and while Google didn\u2019t say why it\u2019s absent here, it\u2019s likely because the Pixel 9a uses an older Exynos Modem 5300, rather than the 5400 used by the rest of the Pixel 9 series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While this is a feature that you\u2019ll hopefully never need to use, it would be reassuring to have, and this isn\u2019t the only omission in the Pixel 9a, as we also recently learned thatit lacks several AI toolsoffered by the rest of the Pixel 9 line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 investigatesa \u201ccomponent quality issue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/detail-Google-1746457-GZE8U\">GZE8U Battery for Google Pixel 7<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019d wait until we\u2019ve had a chance to put it through a full review before purchasing one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Better GPU performance for Tensor and no satellites for the 9a The Google Pixel 9(Image credit: Philip Berne \/ Future) There\u2019s both good and bad Pixel news today, but the good news will affect more people than the bad, so let\u2019s start there. Reddit usersare finding that Pixel phones with Tensor chipsets (meaning everything from &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/2025\/03\/22\/older-pixels-just-got-a-big-performance-boost-while-the-pixel-9a-is-lacking-a-key-feature\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Older Pixels just got a big performance boost, while the Pixel 9a is lacking a key feature<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[131],"class_list":["post-1095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google","tag-pixel-9a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1096,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1095\/revisions\/1096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterymap.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}