Google Pixel 6 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro Max speed test reveals surprising results

Pixel 6 pro and iPhone 13 pro max side by side

(Image credit: Phone Buff/YouTube)

Past all measures, both the Google Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are two of the best phones to come out this year. Regardless of which i users buy, the feel should be fantastic. But that's not going to cease enthusiasts from comparison the two side-by-side to see which one ekes out a operation win.

Such tests can also create surprises. Take this contempo comparison betwixt the Pixel half-dozen Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, in which Google's custom Tensor chip holds its own against Apple tree's mighty A15 Bionic.

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In a video posted by YouTube channel PhoneBuff (h/t wccftech), a robotic arm is used to run through a suite of apps on both the Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone xiii. The exam involves opening and closing 16 unlike apps. Whichever phone opens, loads and closes all 16 apps the fastest wins. In an unexpected result, the Pixel half dozen Pro winds up trailing the iPhone past a mere v.22 seconds.

That's a pretty surprising result given other benchmarks we've seen, including our own. In our Pixel 6 benchmark testing, Google'due south new Tensor chip matched the performance of phones powered by the Snapdragon 888. But like those fellow Android devices, the Pixel 6 lagged behind the iPhone 13 in our testing.

PhoneBuff's video paints a closer race. Equally the video starts, the Pixel half dozen Pro leads the iPhone 13 in apps like Facebook, Starbucks, Microsoft's World and Excel, camera and Snapseed.

Things started to swing toward Apple's favor when the phones have to render a video with the app FilmoraGo. The A15 Bionic chip within the iPhone 13 Pro Max was and then fast that it made upward for the atomic number 82 that the Pixel half-dozen Pro made and pulled ahead. That lead was ultimately too much for Tensor to overcome.

Another expanse in which Apple also was able to pull further ahead involved games. It seems that apps that require a lot of graphics processing fare amend on A15 Bionic. It'southward an surface area that Apple tree has particularly excelled in in the mobile space, where the likes of Qualcomm have ofttimes lagged backside.

Actually, on my podcast, FTW with Imad Khan, I spoke to games journalist Rishi Alwani final twelvemonth about the mobile esports scene in Republic of india. In the episode, he revealed that pro PUBG Mobile players prefer to play on iPhone for one peculiar reason related to functioning.

"They all adopt playing on iOS, because those devices run longer with less heat and less dissipation bug," said Alwani of The Mako Reactor. "So while your [tournament] sponsors are unremarkably an Oppo or Vivo or OnePlus, most of the training happens on iOS devices, considering they're easier to piece of work with."

Then fifty-fifty though Android devices offered higher refresh displays, the heat dissipation during long practice sessions was a greater factor for pro players.

Either mode, considering Tensor is Google's freshman effort in custom silicone, it will be heady to meet what the next generation chip will bring.

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Imad Khan is news editor at Tom's Guide, helping direct the day's breaking coverage. Prior to working at the site, Imad was a total-time freelancer, with bylines at the New York Times, the Washington Mail and ESPN. Outside of work, you tin find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.