Pixel 5 achieves tremendous performance improvements in the GPU with the April 2021 update

The latest software update for the Google Pixel series has recently started rolling out to users. The update includes a number of connectivity, camera and stability improvements for the entire range, along with performance optimizations for the Google Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G. These optimizations have significantly improved the gaming performance of Google’s latest flagship, according to recent reports.

When Google introduced the first stable Android 11 version for its Pixel devices, some users noticed that the graphical scale numbers decreased significantly after the update. As per HotHardware’s testing, the Pixel 4 XL and Pixel 4a achieved a major hit in graphics performance. Since the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4a 5G with Android 11 are pre-installed, we could not verify whether the phones also had a similar problem. But, Anandtech noticed that the Pixel 5 underperformed similar devices with the Snapdragon 765G chip. This led many to believe that the Android 11 update was the culprit.

In the April 2021 update, the change log mentions “Performance optimization for certain graphics-intensive applications and games.” Andreas Proschofsky van The standard tested the GPU performance of the Pixel 5 following the update using 3DMark, and he found that the results are now 30-50% better than before. According to recent tweets, his Pixel 5 scored approximately 2278/2260 for the OpenGL / Volcano tests in 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme before the April update. After the update was installed, the phone scored 3286/3083 in the same test, which is a significant improvement. Andrei van Anandtech has also confirm who has the update “Essentially doubled” his Pixel 5’s performance. We assume that the Pixel 4a 5G will achieve similar gains as it is also mentioned in the official change list.

At this time, we do not know the exact cause of the GPU performance regression. We do not know if there is a problem in the Android 11 update that is specifically causing this problem and if Google got confused somewhere. We will let you know as soon as we find out.