The troubles around the new Pixel 6 are piling up in the past couple of days. First, users reported screen flickering, and one customer even receiver a Pixel 6 with two punch-holes instead of one, and now it turns out the screen of the Pixel 6 Pro uses more energy in 60Hz mode than the smoother and normally more energy-hungry 120Hz mode when put in a bright environment.
Twitter user @Andreif7 (Andrei Frumusanu is actually one of the tech experts at AnandTech) posted his analysis of the power consumption on the Google Pixel 6 Pro. “Pixel 6 Pro power behavior, same LFD ambient brightness crap as on the S21 Ultra, however with just utterly absurd power figures. 60Hz also uses more power than 120Hz in brighter environments - it's a big fail. If you're using the phone in dark environments, skip it,” reads the post.
Imate source - @Andreif7"
It’s not clear how scientific the conducted tests were but the end result is clearly showing that the screen at minimum brightness consumes more energy in 60Hz mode than in 120Hz. Some of the figures don’t make any sense either. The 120Hz mode was more energy-hungry in dark environments than when high ambiance was present.
Andrei also points out that the overall energy consumption when Pixel 6 Pro display is set to minimum brightness is surprisingly high. For comparison, the Pixel 6 uses around 500mW, which according to Andrei is normal and the phone “doesn’t have issues”.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max, on the other hand, manages to get this number even lower - at 390-430mW at 120Hz, and that’s the reason behind the “stellar battery life” of the Apple model, according to Andrei.
Image courtesy of AnandTech
There’s also a graph posted in the comments, showing the screen consumption of various smartphones under the same conditions. Answering one of the comments Andrei is saying that this issue can't be fixed with a software update.
Google Pixel 6 Pro screen
The issue with the Pixel 6 Pro screen energy consumption is an interesting one. During our testing, we didn’t discover any issues with the display, and we were genuinely impressed by the brightness and the color reproduction.
Here’s an excerpt taken from our Google Pixel 6 Pro Review: “The 6.7-inch P-OLED display of the Pixel 6 Pro is excellent. Unlike the smaller Pixel 6, which has an FHD+ display, Google has outfitted its new crown jewel with a high-resolution QHD+ display. With a resolution of 1440 by 3120 pixels, it's tack sharp.”
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The part concerning the minimum brightness is even more interesting: “In terms of brightness, the Pixel 6 Pro doesn't disappoint. With a maximum measured brightness of 777 nits, it's technically not as bright as other flagship Android phones, but I had no issues with screen legibility under the everyday sun. At the same time, the minimum brightness can go as low as 1.8 nits, which goes easy on your eyes when using the phone at night time.”
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
What’s going on then? Could it be that Andrei has drawn the short straw here and his unit is defective? That’s surely a possibility, given the issues Pixel phones tend to display right after launch. It's true that we're not measuring energy consumption but in our battery tests the Pixel 6 Pro fared quite well.
Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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