The Google Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 have received a massive GPU performance boost with the April 2021 security patch. Thanks to the update, the GPU performance of these phones has increased by 30-50%.
Apart from the performance improvement, the April 2021 security patch fixes some issues with the camera quality in third-party apps and patches a few security exploits.
The Snapdragon 765G-Powered Pixels Finally Perform as Per Expectations
The Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 are powered by Qualcomm's premium Snapdragon 765G chip, which features an Adreno 620 GPU. Qualcomm positioned this chip as a cheaper alternative to the Snapdragon 865 in 2020 while still offering a relatively similar feature set and performance levels.
When the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 first launched in October 2020, reviewers found its GPU performance lower than other Snapdragon 765G devices and even devices with three-generation old chipsets. The poor performance was blamed on Android 11 since the Pixel devices were the first to the market with this version of Android.
Six months later, Google has finally fixed all the GPU performance woes of the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 with the April 2021 security patch. In the release notes of the security patch, Google says "performance optimizations for certain graphics-intensive apps & games."
Under the hood though, it looks like the company has made some massive changes as the Pixel 5's GPU performance has doubled in most cases. In benchmarks like 3DMark, the Pixel 5 is almost 30 to 50% faster vs. when running the March security patch.
On the March 2021 security patch, the Pixel 5 scored 2278 and 2260 in 3DMark's Open GL and Vulkan Sling Shot Extreme tests. These scores jumped to 3286 and 3083 post the April security patch.
While not mentioned, the performance improvements should also be applicable for the Pixel 4a 5G since it is powered by the same Snapdragon 765G chip.
The performance boost does not mean that the Pixel 5 is now beating other flagship devices in the market though. Its performance is now in line with existing Snapdragon 765G-powered devices, something which should have been the case right from the day it first launched.
The April Security Patch Also Fixes Other Pixel Annoyances
Apart from the boost in GPU performance, the April security patch also fixes some other bugs and annoyances with the Pixel devices. Below is the full change-log of the update as posted by Google on its support forums:
- Improves for camera quality in certain third-party apps.
- Fix for issue causing certain devices appear offline while connected to a VPN.
- Performance optimizations for certain graphics-intensive apps and games.
- Fix for issue causing certain devices to freeze on the Google logo during startup.
- Fix for missing home screen grid settings on certain devices.
You can also find all the exploits patched in the April 2021 security patch in Android Security Bulletin.
Google has already started rolling out the OTA in phases and your Pixel phone should get it soon, depending on your region and carrier.