Samsung’s Galaxy S handsets are seen by many as the de facto Android flagships in the North American and European markets. Given Google’s stewardship of Android and the majority of Google Services consumers expected to be bundled with their smartphones, it’s perhaps surprising that Google’s Pixel brand is not leading the charge.
Google’s recent Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro handsets have set out to change that, but can they match the mighty Galaxy S21 family? And will consumers be able to spot the difference?
Google Pixel 6 Pro
For example, take 5G connectivity. As the Galaxy S21 used for the test is a US-based unit, it’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon system on chip and uses Qualcomm’s 5G modem. Google’s Pixel 6 Pro, running Gogole’s Mobile Tensor chip is the system on chip that is using Samsung’s Exynos-based modem.
Sascha Segan has put the two handsets together in a comparison that pitches cellular data rates between the Galaxy and the Pixel; looking at capturing the signal, and the speed of data transfer. Segan also notes that they didn’t measure the time to switch between the various options of 4G LTE, 5G, and 5G UWB.
The results showed that the Galaxy S21 family has a slight performance advantage over the Pixel 6 Pro, although there are many more variables that could have contributed to the difference. As for the actual difference:
“…in all situations the S21 side-by-side reported better signal strength, generally between 2-5dBm.“
“…The biggest differences appeared on Verizon mmWave, where the Pixel 6 Pro struggled to make it much over 1Gbps where the S21 approached or broke 2Gbps.“
As with many benchmarks, it’s easy to quantify who has the best number, but it’s harder to take this into the real world and make a definitive judgement. Even if you could, there’s usually something better around the corner, or at the very least a curious wrinkle to look forward to.
This year’s Galaxy S21 family comes in two broad flavours – a handful of markets have a Qualcomm Snapdragon powered Galaxy, while the majority of handsets around the world run Samsung’s Exynos chipset… which includes a modem that will be broadly similar to the modem found in the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Outside of the US the raw potential of the two handsets are similar.
Next year though, many expect Samsung to move the vast majority of Galaxy S handsets over to the SnapDragon platform, and that means the 2022 edition of the Qualcomm modem for everyone. It might be a slight edge over the Pixel 6 handsets, and it’s unlikely to be something brought out by sales staff, but it’s a slight edge nonetheless.
Now read the latest smartphone headlines in Forbes’ regular Android Circuit news column…
