Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Radon87000

macrumors 604
Original poster
Nov 29, 2013
7,777
6,255
I watched this video and this was beyond embarassing.The iPhone was almost an entire lap ahead of the Pixel at one point


While in this speed test,its almost the opposite.The Pixel was ahead of the iPhone by a huge margin at one point.Is the 32GB iPhone 7 Plus that much slower than the 128GB one so that in the first video if we replace the Pixel with the 32GB 7 Plus than it would get destroyed in a similar manner?

 
  • Like
Reactions: nviz22

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,494
I had the opportunity to test the Pixel and 7 Plus, the Plus destroyed the Pixel with running applications, multitasking and over all speed. The A10 Fusion is hard to compete with.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
RE:- The PhoneBuff test.

The Pixel in that test under performed and was akin to the Galaxy S6/S6e last year with its very poor ram management, something which a stock device simply should not be having. Indeed the pixel in the video is peforming akin to the Nexus 5X with 2gb ram.

Ive seen videos showing the ram usage in settings and it is the same as the Nexus 6P so the Pixel is clearly not utilising more ram (only around 700mb is for system and 300mb cache, so there is 3gb nearly free) and therefore can not be running out, it's actually being Forceably expunged if that video is accurate. Which was same as the aggressive ram issue on the S6 except here we can't blame TW.

So why ?

Two possible scenarios.

1) Android 7.1 on the pixel still has bugs / chinks that need to fixed

2) The underclocked Snapdragon 821 could point to the fact they are also aggressively killing ram as a way to extend battery life.

We have seen the OP3 do a similar thing where it's 6gb ram on arrival only performed like a 2gb device, and even with the update to fix the issue, the build.prop limited adjustment OP changed to means it still only uses around 3 tops of the 6gb available. (Meaning unless you circumvent the issue and adjust build.prop yourself you will never benefit from 6gb).

Anyway so there are your two scenarios.

Its either ...
1. Buggy software
2. An artificial ram limiter which expunges stored data early in order to preserve battery.

(or possibly a combination of both)

If it's the latter, that would truly suck. A €750 pixel shouldn't perform like a €250 Nexus 5X memory wise.

However I hope it's the former and it's simply buggy software that will be fixed.

Time will tell, what we actually need is a Google Pixel Vs Nexus 6P running 7.0 (or 7.1 DP) to see a comparison in the behaviours ram wise when the software is essentially the same.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Peterg2 and I7guy

Fernandez21

macrumors 601
Jun 16, 2010
4,840
3,183
I watched this video and this was beyond embarassing.The iPhone was almost an entire lap ahead of the Pixel at one point


While in this speed test,its almost the opposite.The Pixel was ahead of the iPhone by a huge margin at one point.Is the 32GB iPhone 7 Plus that much slower than the 128GB one so that in the first video if we replace the Pixel with the 32GB 7 Plus than it would get destroyed in a similar manner?


In that test he had turned off animations on the pixel and did reduce motion on the iPhone, but these aren't the same and the iPhone is still utilizing animations to transition between opening apps, and even then the pixel is only beating it by a split second in each test.

The other thing is that the iPhone got the huge lead in the phone buff test during the second round, when the iPhone had all the apps in memory while the pixel had to reload them. The first lap the iPhone was only 23 seconds faster, on average about 1.4 seconds faster at loading each app, and if you remove obstacles such as rendering lapse and some of those games, the difference isn't much. So in removing the animations is what made it load the apps a split second faster in that other test.

Also, don't think the 32gb would make much difference, the read speeds are almost the same, the write speeds is where the 32gb model is much slower. So if the test included downloading and installing apps, that's where that would make a big difference.

Edit: Did you watch the video the whole way through? The iPhone comes back and ties it in the end. And again like in the phonebuff test, the pixel was reloading apps while the iPhone had them in memory.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MRU and JaySoul

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,453
5,074
Not discounting the results of those tests---can only comment on my personal experience. I've only just started using my Pixel XL last night but jeez, it certainly feels fast as hell. I haven't done any dozen application multitasking sessions but it otherwise flies...feels so much faster than my 6P.

While these results are a bit worrisome, I'm going to put the XL through its paces over the next 2 weeks to develop a full impression vs my last 2 phones...the aforementioned 6P and an iPhone 6S+.

Considering my first impressions, I'm optimistic. This phone looks and feels terrific so far.
 

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,599
33
These tests are nonsense. iOS will display a thumbnail of the apps main screen before the app finishes loading. Try actually doing something in the app to make sure its really loaded. A lot of times you can't scroll or click any buttons for like a second or two.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
These tests are nonsense. iOS will display a thumbnail of the apps main screen before the app finishes loading. Try actually doing something in the app to make sure its really loaded. A lot of times you can't scroll or click any buttons for like a second or two.

In the phonebuff speed tests they do interact with the app after it comes out of background so it's not just the thumbnail, they wait for the content to be ready. It still won regardless.
 

ag29

macrumors 6502
Oct 7, 2014
284
85
The Iphone 7's speed likely won't be beat by any Android smartphone within the next 2 years. Even if they add things like an octo core processor and 8GB Ram, I still have a feeling the Iphone would be faster just because it's software is way better optimized.

With that being said, i don't feel like comparing an Android smartphone to an Iphone is fair game anymore. Nowadays it's only fair to compare an Android with another Android.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Truefan31

Radon87000

macrumors 604
Original poster
Nov 29, 2013
7,777
6,255
No suprise, even OP3 and S7 (Exynos) beat the PIXEL in such tests.
If this isnt fixed,heck even my iPhone 6 was better than this.It never needed to reload Snapchat
[doublepost=1477504834][/doublepost]
In that test he had turned off animations on the pixel and did reduce motion on the iPhone, but these aren't the same and the iPhone is still utilizing animations to transition between opening apps, and even then the pixel is only beating it by a split second in each test.

The other thing is that the iPhone got the huge lead in the phone buff test during the second round, when the iPhone had all the apps in memory while the pixel had to reload them. The first lap the iPhone was only 23 seconds faster, on average about 1.4 seconds faster at loading each app, and if you remove obstacles such as rendering lapse and some of those games, the difference isn't much. So in removing the animations is what made it load the apps a split second faster in that other test.

Also, don't think the 32gb would make much difference, the read speeds are almost the same, the write speeds is where the 32gb model is much slower. So if the test included downloading and installing apps, that's where that would make a big difference.

Edit: Did you watch the video the whole way through? The iPhone comes back and ties it in the end. And again like in the phonebuff test, the pixel was reloading apps while the iPhone had them in memory.
Actually it only tied because the Pixel battery was at 89% vs 90% on the 7 Plus.Otherwise the win went to the Pixel in that test.Even then the fact that it was 17-4 at some point in one test while the iPhone almost lapped the Pixel in another is baffling .The results seem all over the place
 

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
The Iphone 7's speed likely won't be beat by any Android smartphone within the next 2 years. Even if they add things like an octo core processor and 8GB Ram, I still have a feeling the Iphone would be faster just because it's software is way better optimized.

With that being said, i don't feel like comparing an Android smartphone to an Iphone is fair game anymore. Nowadays it's only fair to compare an Android with another Android.

Easy enough if you have the Pixel to compare with. Regardless, benchmarks were out days ago so ...
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
I have a Pixel XL and iPhone 7 Plus and cannot tell any difference in speed between them tbh.
Thye are both very well engineered phones and both provide a great user experience....which is what counts the most anyway......

Yay your back :) how's the pixel ?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jamezr

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
16,040
18,959
US
Yay your back :) how's the pixel ?
Thanks! I am loving the Pixel more than I thought i would. IMHO Google really nailed the user experience. I am not a fan of rear FP scanners. But when I pick up the Pixel my finger can reach the FP scanner effortlessly. It feels natural to me. It hasn't felt that way with other phones with rear FP scanners.
There are some things I don't like too. Like the big chin at the bottom :) Or the battery meter being so small i can't see it.
But Nougat on the Pixel is IOS like on the iphone. It really has a nice smooth user experience. My battery life has been better than expected and right around 5.5 to 6 hours SOT. For me the Pixel XL is a keeper!
 

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,453
5,074
Thanks! I am loving the Pixel more than I thought i would. IMHO Google really nailed the user experience. I am not a fan of rear FP scanners. But when I pick up the Pixel my finger can reach the FP scanner effortlessly. It feels natural to me. It hasn't felt that way with other phones with rear FP scanners.
There are some things I don't like too. Like the big chin at the bottom :) Or the battery meter being so small i can't see it.
But Nougat on the Pixel is IOS like on the iphone. It really has a nice smooth user experience. My battery life has been better than expected and right around 5.5 to 6 hours SOT. For me the Pixel XL is a keeper!

Agree with just about everything. As hardware goes, the Pixel XL is terrific--easily my Android phone of choice and well worth the price increase over the 6P. Still prefer the front fingerprint scanner as well but the rear placement isn't the deal breaker I once felt it was.

Sadly, mine is going back. I won't repeat everything I put in a post on the Pixel thread but I still just can't get Android to work as seamlessly in my workflow with my other mostly Apple hardware and decided to save the $ is stick with my 6s+ for the immediate future.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.