Introduction
Hello everyone and welcome to the channel. Here we go again, another heavy workload test for the all-new Google Pixel 8 Pro XL versus the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the S23 Ultra.
In this article, I will answer one of the most important questions Pixel users have: How much better is Tensor G when compared to the previous generation? The spoiler alert: The Pixel 8 Pro XL passed the test and exceeded my expectations.
So let’s find out what happened. If you are familiar with the heavy workload test, you can skip to the next chapter, but if you are new here, the test includes four heavy tasks for each phone to keep running simultaneously for 30 minutes as shown now on the screen, without any crashes or thermal warnings.
Test Explained
Here are the rules: All phones are running the latest stable software version available at the time of writing this article. I will be using cellular data instead of Wi-Fi, with the G set to Auto.
The Pixel 8 Pro XL and the S23 Ultra are set to their maximum resolutions, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a fixed resolution, which is lower than the other two. The 120Hz refresh rate is activated, and the screen brightness is calibrated on the same light meter.
All phones started at 100% battery, except for the S23 Ultra, which started at 96% as it lost 4% while preparing the camera. I will consider this in my calculations. The initial temperature readings from left to right are 30.2°C, 31.5°C, and 32°C. No apps are running in the background.
Preparation
I will start by initiating a Microsoft Teams meeting, then enabling screen sharing, which you can see on the secondary phone’s screen. Then, play a 4K video on YouTube in picture-in-picture view, plus navigating to Dubai Mall in Google Maps. All of this will be running in the background while playing Asphalt 9.
Right off the bat, starting the apps was enough to make the iPhone 14 Pro Max dim the display to be the darkest. The Pixel 8 Pro XL did the same but slightly less, while the S23 Ultra is still holding up.
Let me show you that the game is set to 60 frames per second on all phones for the sake of fairness. Now let’s count 30 minutes. The first thing worth mentioning is the Pixel 8 Pro XL’s graphics, which are on par with the other two phones, unlike the Pixel 6 Pro of last year, which had noticeably worse graphics than the competition in the same test back in January.
The Test
Somewhere in the second race, the S23 Ultra’s brightness dropped to be the lowest. The Pixel 8 Pro XL was the brightest, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max is somewhere in between. The S23 Ultra is very sneaky in dropping the brightness, which didn’t allow me to spot the exact timestamp.
Not only this, but its graphics started to be worse than the other two phones. To show you what I mean, here’s a screenshot of the same exact scene on all three. The Pixel 8 Pro XL and the iPhone 14 Pro Max look almost identical, while the S23 Ultra started to tune down some of the visual effects, like the light reflections on the car’s body. Plus, it doesn’t look as detailed.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with the S23 Ultra, as it never won this test, while the S23 Ultra of last year was always the king.
The Results
Let’s keep going. Shortly after at the 14 minutes and 25 seconds mark, the iPhone got a big hit on the brightness to be the darkest. The Pixel 8 Pro XL is still in the lead, and the S23 Ultra comes second. When it comes to performance, all of them are still in good shape.
Moving a bit forward, the S23 Ultra got its second brightness drop somewhere between the third and fourth race, which I couldn’t spot its timestamp. Here’s a screenshot from the previous race menu. Now, it’s very close to the iPhone 14 Pro Max, while the Pixel 8 Pro XL is still in the lead.
But after more minutes, at the 18 minutes and 30 seconds mark, the Pixel 8 Pro XL had a small brightness drop, but it’s still the brightest across the board. So far, I’m really impressed by the Pixel 8 Pro XL’s performance.
Now let me fast forward to the 20-minute mark to do a quick check and show you how it’s going. From where I see, all of them are doing really well when it comes to performance. The Pixel is still leading in brightness, followed by the iPhone, and the Galaxy comes third.
The iPhone leads the screen sharing quality as usual, while the Pixel 8 Pro XL and the S23 Ultra are equally bad. So, let’s keep going until something different happens.
Thermal Warning and Battery Consumption
Unfortunately, after 25 minutes and 40 seconds, the S23 Ultra gave a thermal warning and closed the picture-in-picture window, which is exactly what happened in the last gen test, but after 20 minutes instead. The temperature reached 42.6°C. When it comes to the battery, it consumed 28% battery, dropping from 96% to 68%, so rest in peace, Samsung, and let’s continue with the other two.
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Final Thoughts
So far, the iPhone and the Pixel are still performing. The iPhone has the edge when it comes to the screen sharing quality, while the Pixel has a brighter display and a slightly higher FPS, so the game feels smoother. And now let’s fast forward to see if things will change.
The iPhone performance kept getting worse over time until it reached the 25th race, and that’s when the game started to lag more frequently, as shown in this example. While the Pixel kept the same brightness level since the 18 minutes and 30 seconds mark, which is great, and the gameplay still feels smoother than the iPhone, but not as good as it was at the beginning of the test.
From this point till the 30-minute mark, nothing changed, but later, the iPhone performance started to get back on track. I assume that’s because the graphics of the last two races are not as extensive. Either way, this is a final look at both before ending the article.
Now, let’s jump to the numbers. As both made it till the end, starting with the temperatures: The Pixel 8 Pro XL reached a warning temperature of 41.5°C versus only 39.0°C for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. When it comes to the battery, the Pixel lost 25%, versus only 13% on the iPhone side.
And now, let’s compare the results. Both the Pixel 8 Pro XL and the iPhone 14 Pro Max finished the test successfully, while the S23 Ultra closed the picture-in-picture window and gave a thermal warning after 25 minutes and 40 seconds, so it’s disqualified. Temperature-wise, the iPhone 14 Pro Max was the coolest at 39.0°C, versus 41.5°C for the Pixel 8 Pro XL and 42.6°C for the Galaxy.
The iPhone was also the most efficient, consuming only 13% battery, while the Pixel lost 25%, and the S23 Ultra lost 28% in 30 minutes. So, the consumption per minute is 0.43% for the Pixel, 0.30% for the iPhone, and 0.93% for the S23 Ultra.
But there are some important points to consider: The Pixel has a higher resolution, the game was smoother most of the time, and the display was brighter throughout the entire test. But the iPhone had the edge in the screen sharing quality, as always. That shows how each always prioritizes things. Based on the count, I will call it a draw between the Pixel and the iPhone, while the Galaxy lost it for the second time.
And for those who are wondering about how much better the Pixel 8 Pro XL is when compared to the Pixel 8 Pro, I would say it’s at least 10-15% better. I’m planning to write a separate article comparing both, but most probably after the release of Android 14.
So, that’s pretty much it for today. That was my heavy workload test between the Pixel 8 Pro XL, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the S23 Ultra.