Hey Pixel users, suppose we told you that the graphics on your phone have improved and mobile games might now look better than ever on your device. Recent updates such as the latest beta version of Android 16 and the March Pixel Feature Drop for those on the stable version of Android 15 have resulted in “significantly higher” Vulkan API GPU scores on Geekbench. After the Android 16 beta was installed, these benchmark scores increased by 62% on a Pixel 7a, 31% for a Pixel 8, and 32% for a Pixel 9.
My Pixel 6 Pro running the latest beta version of Android 16 saw its Vulkan score hit 9397, a 34% improvement over the average Vulkan score for the Pixel 6 Pro. The phone’s OpenCL score on Geekbench 6 rose 13.5% from the average score for the model. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were scheduled to lose Android support once Android 15 was released, Instead, Google has added two additional updates which means that the series will be receiving both Android 16 and Android 17.
After the release of the March Pixel Feature Drop for those running the stable version of Android 15, some Pixel models also showed an increase in their benchmark GPU scores. The March Pixel Feature Drop included new GPU drivers and the Android 16 Beta shipped with even newer GPU drivers.
Pixel 6 Pro’s Vulkan API GPU benchmark score was 34% higher than the average for that model. | Image credit-PhoneArena
We should point out that just because a Pixel model has a higher benchmark score on a GPU test, based on the game or app you’re running, you might not notice any improvement in the graphics. If you want to check out the numbers for yourself on your own Pixel, you can install the Geekbench 6 app from the Play Store by tapping on this link. If you want to check the real-world implications for the improvement in Pixel GPU benchmark scores, open up a mobile game that you’re extremely familiar with and play.
This GPU improvement is limited to Pixel models running the Tensor application processor which means the new drivers were shipped to Pixel 6 and later models. Those phones feature an Arm Mali GPU but aren’t released with the most up-to-date version of the GPU driver. This allows Google to update the driver with software updates.
