The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL has been benchmarked with monstrous RAM but poor performance

16GB of RAM but weak scores

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

This yearGooglecould have something new planned, as leaks suggest a Pixel 9 Pro XL will sit above the standardGoogle Pixel 9and the Pixel 9 Pro, and while you might expect such a phone to be seriously powerful, an early benchmark paints a mixed picture.

Spotted by X user@QaM_Section31(viaNotebookCheck), the Pixel 9 Pro XL is listed with 16GB of RAM onGeekbench, which is 4GB more than the 12GB in thePixel 8 Pro, and double what you get in thePixel 8.

That’s a promising amount, and could help with on-device AI tasks. But sadly the phone’s Tensor G4 chipset doesn’t look so promising, as the device returned a single-core score of 1,950 and a multi-core result of 4,655.

For reference, NotebookCheck claims that the Tensor G3 found in the current Pixel models returns an average single-core score of 1,711 and an average multi-core result of 4,382, in a database of tests taken by the site.

So that would make the Tensor G4 only about 10% more powerful, and well behind the likes of theSnapdragon 8 Gen 3used in most of thebest Android phones, let alone theA17 Proused in theiPhone 15 Pro Max.

A second set of substandard scores

Sadly, this Pixel 9 Pro XL result might not just be an anomaly, as a couple of days earlier the standard Pixel 9 seeminglyappeared on Geekbenchwith the same chipset, and achieved even worse results, somehow falling behind even the Tensor G3.

But that in itself calls these scores into question, because surely the Tensor G4 will be a more powerful chipset than the G3. Benchmark results can vary, so it could simply be that these two examples scored at the low end of what you can expect from the G4. And it’s also worth noting that since the Pixel 9 line isn’t finished yet, this will be early versions of the phones, so the results could improve with release hardware and software.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Still, it’s not a promising start, and suggests that if nothing else the Tensor line of chipsets will probably continue to trail behind most rivals for power.

It’s likely that the Google Pixel 9 trio will launch in October, so there’s probably still at least a few months before we’ll find out for sure how powerful these phones are.

You might also like

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

How to lock apps on a Google Pixel phone

I’m a die-hard Apple fan, but even I’ll admit that the Google Pixel 9 Pro is the best-looking phone of the year

How to watch Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light FREE online from anywhere