Pixel 6 Pro Lags Behind The Galaxy S21 In 5G Performance

Google debuted the Tensor SoC with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro last month. While it boasts of superior performance, there’s one aspect where it could be behind the Samsung Galaxy S21 – 5G performance.

A new cellular test performed by the folks at PCMag tells us that the Snapdragon 888-toting Galaxy S21 could manage 5G and 4G signals better than the Pixel 6 Pro which, interestingly enough, utilizes a Samsung Exynos modem. The test found that the Galaxy S21 caught better 4G signals under nearly all circumstances, outdoing the Pixel 6 Pro by up to 2 to 5dBm.

PCMag said (via) that its tests were conducted using Verizon and T-Mobile’s networks in the U.S. In terms of 5G performance, the Pixel 6 Pro barely touched download speeds of 1Gbps. However, the Samsung flagship comfortably breached the 2Gbps barrier. Meanwhile, Samsung fared well in six out of the seven tests on mid-band 5G networks.

The Pixel 6 performed better than the Galaxy S21 on low-band networks in rural areas

It’s worth pointing out that some customers of the Pixel 6 have said that the cellular network shuts off entirely when switching between 5G, 5G UWB, and 4G LTE. However, it’s unclear what’s causing this.

One positive for the Pixel 6 Pro during the testing was its performance on low-band network signals, particularly in rural regions. The Google flagship managed to do better than the Galaxy S21 in this regard. But the test results overwhelmingly show that Qualcomm’s chipset is the dominant force in the mobile industry.

Of course, this is bitter-sweet news for Samsung since the Google Tensor chip utilizes the Exynos modem. Perhaps this could motivate the Korean manufacturer to further improve cellular performance with its upcoming high-end SoC, the Exynos 2200.

The new chipset will make its debut with the Galaxy S22 series in February 2022. However, the variant would be limited to some markets, with the U.S. getting the flagship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset. We’ve already come across benchmark data of both chipsets, revealing identical performance attributes, though Qualcomm appears to have a slight advantage.

Samsung is banking heavily on the GPU performance of the Exynos 2200 chipset, thanks to its partnership with AMD. The company has also confirmed that the next-gen Exynos SoC will support ray-tracing for advanced gaming performance.