Google Pixel 6 Pro vs Pixel 3 XL

75 out of 100
Google Pixel 6 Pro
VS
50 out of 100
Google Pixel 3 XL

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.7-inch Google Pixel 6 Pro (with Google Tensor) that was released on October 19, 2021, against the Google Pixel 3 XL, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and came out 37 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 6 Pro
  • The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
  • Has 3x more RAM: 12GB versus 4GB
  • 2.3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (771K versus 336K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Comes with 1573 mAh larger battery capacity: 5003 vs 3430 mAh
  • Delivers 109% higher peak brightness (860 against 411 nits)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Google Tensor
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 3 XL
  • Weighs 26 grams less

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 3 XL crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Choose the importance of each parameter to more accurately identify the smartphone that best meets your particular needs.
Adjust priorities
Feature
Priority (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery Life:
Connectivity:
The higher the priority, the more it will affect the final NanoReview score.

Value for money

You can enter your local prices of these phones (in USD or other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
VS

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.7 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3120 pixels 1440 x 2960 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 18.5:9
PPI 512 ppi 522 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes No
Max rated brightness 500 nits 400 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 800 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ No
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 88.8% 83.39%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 98.5% 100%
PWM 360 Hz 250 Hz
Response time 1 ms 15 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 6 Pro +109%
860 nits
411 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.9 mm (6.45 inches) 158 mm (6.22 inches)
Width 75.9 mm (2.99 inches) 76.7 mm (3.02 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 210 g (7.41 oz) 184 g (6.49 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IPX8
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Yellow White, Black, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
88.8%
83.39%

Performance

Tests of Google Pixel 6 Pro and Google Pixel 3 XL in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Max clock 2800 MHz 2500 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 2 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex A55
- 2 cores at 2.25 GHz: Cortex A76
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-X1
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Gold (Cortex-A75)
L3 cache 4 MB 2 MB
Lithography process 5 nanometers 10 nanometers
Graphics Mali-G78 MP20 Adreno 630
GPU clock 848 MHz 710 MHz
FLOPS - ~727 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Pixel 6 Pro +166%
1035
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
2821
1667
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
Pixel 6 Pro +129%
771218
336697
CPU 199110 94959
GPU 299002 116641
Memory 119211 44770
UX 161867 82658
Total score 771218 336697
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Pixel 6 Pro +274%
6218
1663
Max surface temperature 40.4 °C 44.7 °C
Stability 56% 94%
Graphics test 37 FPS 9 FPS
Graphics score 6218 1663
PCMark 3.0
11405
8924
Web score 8585 6962
Video editing 6870 6542
Photo editing 17867 18252
Data manipulation 11133 6711
Writing score 16302 9750
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory clock 3200 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128, 256, 512 GB 64, 128 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 14 GB 13 GB

Battery

Capacity 5003 mAh 3430 mAh
Max charge power 30 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (23 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 35 min)
Full charging time 1:59 hr 2:00 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:47 hr -
Watching video 12:29 hr -
Gaming 04:43 hr -
Standby 93 hr -
General battery life
27:15 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 50 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 4x Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 114° -
Lenses 3 (50 MP + 48 MP + 12 MP) 1 (12.2 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.2 micron
- Sensor: 1/1.31", Samsung GN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS)
- Laser autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12.2 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 28 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - 48 MP
- Aperture: f/3.5
- Focal length: 104 mm
- Pixel size: 0.8 micron
- Sensor: 1/2", Sony IMX586 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
-
Ultra-wide lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2
- Pixel size: 1.25 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.9", Sony IMX386 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
-
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 6 Pro from DxOMark -
Selfie camera
Megapixels 11.1 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3840 x 2880 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.0 f/1.8
Focal length 24 mm 28 mm
Pixel size 1.22 microns 1.4 microns
Sensor type CMOS CMOS
Sensor size - 1/3.2"
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.2 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.1 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 16
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speakers test
Max loudness
84.6 dB
84.2 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced October 2021 October 2018
Release date October 2021 November 2018
SAR (head) - 1.39 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.4 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Google Pixel 6 Pro is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
7 (70%)
3 (30%)
Total votes: 10

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