Google's Pixel smartphones are now getting the April security update, which seeks to fix vulnerabilities and seemingly also unlocks the potential of Pixel 5's SoC.
The April Pixel update fixes the grid size customization issue on the Pixel 4 and older supported phones that seemingly arose after the quarterly feature drop.
The security patch also aims to resolve an issue that caused Pixel 4 and later devices to freeze during boot. It also takes care of a problem that made Pixel 3 and older phones appear offline when connected to a VPN.
For Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 owners, the update also improves camera quality on third-party apps like Instagram.
Pixel 5 performance issues have been taken care of
Now comes perhaps the highlight of this update. It brings performance optimizations for graphic-intensive apps and games to the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5.
Austrian newspaper Der Standard's editor Andreas Proschofsky ran benchmarks on the Pixel 5 after updating it and its scores on 3DMark have improved by up to 50 percent relative to its performance after the March update. 3DMark is a tool that determines the performance of 3D graphic rendering and CPU workload processing capabilities.
Turns out the April update for the Pixel 5 is a *much* bigger deal than expected. You might already have seen that Google touts "Performance optimization for certain graphics-intensive apps and games". This lead me to redo some benchmarks, and the results are pretty stunning. 1/
This doesn't necessarily mean that the results will be reflective in real-life performance, but is nonetheless interesting, especially given that such boosts are rare.
Proschofsky also notes that the Pixel 5 is usually slower than competing phones like the LG Velvet that are underpinned by the same chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, and theorizes that Google may have throttled the performance, and the new update has disabled throttling. This has fortunately not led to thermal issues, per Proschofsky, presumably because the chip's power consumption on the Pixel 5 was low when compared to other devices.
AnandTech's Andrei Frumusanu, who in their review of the Pixel 5 said that it didn't perform as well as other Snapdragon 765G-powered phones, also says that the 'performance has been essentially doubled' when compared to January scores.
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Thanks for the ping.
I can confirm that performance has been essentially doubled from the scores published there, and in line or better than other 765G phones. Tested on Pixel 5.
If you haven't received the update yet, you can check for it manually in System Settings. If you have a carrier-locked device, you may have to wait longer.
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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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