Google Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro benchmark block lifted

Google has lifted the block that it had put in place on its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro that prevented users from being able to freely install popular benchmarking apps like Geekbench and 3D Mark. In a highly unusual move, Google had put the block in place during the review embargo period for the Pixel 8 series phones ahead of their public release. This stopped reviewers from being able to properly test Google’s marketing claims about the Tensor G3 chip powering the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro devices -- unless they knew how to manually sideload the apps.

Following the official launch of the devices and the review embargo period concluding, it was even more surprising to learn that the block remained in place and regular Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro customers were also being prevented from installing benchmarking apps through the Play Store. However, following the issue being raised in our article yesterday, Google subsequently lifted the block and users are now free to install the benchmarking apps on their devices through the Play Store. It now appears that the block on benchmarking the apps being extended to regular users once the devices went on sale may have been inadvertent -- unlike its efforts to stymie reviewers.

In recent Pixel launches, Google has attempted to downplay the importance of outright performance, instead trying to shift the emphasis to the AI features of its devices. It has been a strategy somewhat forced on the company as its partner Samsung Foundry has been unable to maximize the performance potential of Google’s Tensor designs.There had been hope that the Tensor G3 might rectify the performance and efficiency shortcomings as it uses a more up-to-date architecture than the preceding Tensor G2.

However, as results for Geekbench (CPU performance), 3D Mark (GPU performance) and its efficiency have surfaced, the unusual lengths to which Google attempted to suppress the results from circulating widely have become apparent. It is clear the Tensor G3 fails to deliver on Google’s promises of being “super fast and efficient", even if Google's usual software-based AI magic helps to offset some of these shortcomings -- as it has in the past.

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