OnePlus 11 vs Pixel 7 Performance Comparison: 8 Gen 2 Supremacy

If there’s one smartphone brand that screams performance, it’s undoubtedly OnePlus. Now, you could make an argument against the company’s new trajectory, which incorporates a more diversified portfolio comprising VFM devices. Nevertheless, OnePlus is still all about performance, and the OnePlus 11 is a testament to the same. To that end, the device is powered by Qualcomm’s all-new, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform.

At the same time, there are a lot of up-and-coming smartphone brands, as well as established players that could ruffle OnePlus’ feathers. Case in point is the Google Pixel 7, which is backed by the company’s custom Tensor G2 chipset. So, which of the two phones should you buy if you desired the most horsepower per dollar spent? Well, let’s find out, shall we? 

SoC Breakdown

Before we get on with the performance comparison, let’s take a closer look at the core distribution for each SoC. Starting with the Google Tensor G2 chipset, the platform retains its predecessor’s ‘2+2+4’ core configuration. As a result, the unit gets two Cortex X1 cores clocked at 2.85GHz, which work alongside two Cortes A78 cores clocked at 2.35GHz. The final cluster comprises four energy-efficient Cortex A55 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. 

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform, on the other hand, features a somewhat unique configuration. For one, the SoC gets a Cortex X3 core which is clocked at a whopping 3.2GHz. Moreover, the platform is backed by four more performance cores, which are further segregated into two separate clusters. To that note, the chipset comprises two Cortex A715 cores and two Cortex A710 cores. 

Interestingly, both clusters are running at 2.8GHz. That said, unlike Cortex A715 cores, Cortex A710 cores support 32-bit apps too, thereby ensuring the SoC is compliant with legacy apps as well. Lastly, the system on a chip comes with three Cortex A510 efficiency cores clocked at 2GHz. 

Benchmarks

With the core breakdown out of the way, let’s take a look at how our contenders fared in synthetic benchmarking applications. First up, is the Antutu benchmark, which is an all-encompassing benchmarking utility that tests a smartphone’s CPU, GPU as well as memory.

Here, the OnePlus 11 struck a resounding lead and secured over one million points! In particular, the device net 1,22,8398 points, which is mind-boggling, to say the least.

The Pixel 7, on the other hand, overturned just 7,68,441 points. Now, do note that benchmarks seldom paint the full picture. However, they can give us an indication of a handset’s capabilities. So, if you look at the points breakdown, you’ll notice that the OnePlus 11 secured well over half a million points in the GPU section alone.

On the flip side, the Pixel 7’s Achilles heel seems to be its GPU. So, from the test results, we can infer that the OnePlus 11 comes with a much more powerful GPU. And, as our gaming tests will show, that is precisely the case. More on that later, though. 

Moving on, we ran GeekBench on the two phones next. For those unaware, GeekBench tests a smartphone’s single-core and multi-core performance across a myriad of simulated test scenes.

Here, the OnePlus 11 secured 1,492 and 4,975 in single-core and multi-core tests respectively. The Pixel 7 was once again, left playing catch-up and churned out just 1,058 and 2,999 points respectively. Needless to say, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s improved performance cores furthered the gap between the two SoCs.

Finally, we ran CPDT or Cross Platform Disk Test on the phones to gauge their storage’s read and write speeds. It’s important to keep a tab on the same as a phone’s storage predicates how quickly it can boot up, launch apps, install apps, etc. Unsurprisingly, the OnePlus 11 retained its commanding lead in this comparison too. 

But, before we talk about the results, you should know that the OnePlus 11 comes with UFS 4.0 storage. For the uninitiated, UFS 4.0 is the latest breakthrough in storage solutions, and it is twice as fast as UFS 3.1 standard employed by the Pixel 7. And, sure enough, the benchmarks paint a similar story too. 

To that end, we ran CPDT or Cross Platform Disk Test on both devices. Here, the OnePlus 11 net sequential read and write speeds of 1.3GB/s and 903MB/s respectively. The Pixel 7, on the other hand, topped out at 930MB/s and 172MB/s respectively. While the duos’ read speeds are somewhat comparable, the Pixel 7 can’t hold a candle to the OnePlus 11’s sequential write speeds in the test run. 

Throttling

While it’s important to see how quickly a phone can reach its peak performance, it’s just as important to gauge how long it can sustain its maximum throughput. To that end, we ran two different apps on the phones that will give us insights into their performance stability.

First up, is the CPU Throttle test, an app that allows a user to overload the CPU cores with multiple threads for a set amount of time. In our case, we overloaded the octa-core CPUs with 20 threads for 30 minutes. Here, the Pixel 7 throttled to 67 percent of its peak throughput. The OnePlus 11, on the other hand, throttled to just 86 percent.

Interestingly, the OnePlus 11 averaged a higher GIPS or instructions per second than the Pixel 7. Despite that, the device could sustain its peak performance for longer, which is great. Do note that turning on the high-performance mode will throttle the phone much quicker. In fact, in one of our test runs, the OnePlus 11’s peak throughput dropped by almost 55 percent when the performance mode was turned on. 

Turn the page over to 3DMark’s Extreme Stress Test, and you’ll get a slightly different result. But first, let us walk you through what the test actually does. You see, while the CPU throttle test tries to bring a CPU to its knees, the 3DMark benchmark stresses the GPU, the same way a game would. To do so, the app runs 20 graphically demanding scenes or loops. 

Here, the Pixel 7 overturned a slightly better stability score of 66.4 percent. The OnePlus 11, on the other hand, overturned a stability score of 58.8 percent. Now, do note that the Pixel 7’s throughput was nowhere close to the OnePlus 11’s yield during the test run.

To that end, the Pixel 7’s best loop score – which is the test loop where it performed at its peak – was 1,846 points. Further, the device rendered the graphically demanding scenes at a maximum of 13FPS. The OnePlus 11’s best-loop score was much higher at 3,584 points, with the device running the scenes at up to 26FPS. Regardless, we can call this bout a draw, as both SoCs managed to oust one another in different benchmarking apps. 

Gaming And Daily Usage

Of course, you might be wondering just how well these benchmark numbers translate to daily usage. Well, for the most part, both devices felt equally snappy during our stint with the phones. The OnePlus 11 did feel a tad more responsive, with apps opening slightly quicker. But, the difference wasn’t night and day, so to speak. 

We will admit, though, that the OnePlus 11 was more adept at running demanding games. Now, for the most part, both phones will run games at similar settings. To that end, you can play CoD Mobile on the devices at Very High Graphics and Max FPS presets respectively.

Alternatively, both phones can run the game at 90FPS (Ultra FPS preset) too, albeit at the Low graphics preset. What’s more, you will seldom run into any performance niggles whilst playing these games either. 

However, if you do end up running more resource-hungry titles like Genshin Impact or Nimian Legends, then you’ll see the tide swing in OnePlus’ favor. To give you a better picture, we ran Nimian Legends Vandgels on the devices at reasonably high graphics presets. 

On that note, the game was set to run on FHD resolution with other quality metrics like anti-aliasing, soft particle effects, etc enabled. Further, the quality of shadows, terrain, vegetation, and the draw distance was set to the third preset respectively. 

With the settings in place, the Pixel 7 couldn’t run the game at 60FPS. In fact, the device barely managed to sustain 40FPS during our playthrough. That’s not all, as the unit’s average FPS was just 24FPS, which is disappointingly low. The OnePlus 11, on the other hand, ran the game at around 60FPS for the most part.

The smartphone’s performance did throttle around the 10-minute mark wherein, the in-game FPS dipped to 30FPS. That said, the smartphone scaled the FPS back to around 50FPS after a minute or so had elapsed. 

Conclusion

The Google Pixel 7 is no slouch in the performance department. Yet, the OnePlus 11 is in a league of its own. The icing on the cake is that the device retails eerily close to Google’s offering as well

To wit, the 8GB+128GB variant of the device will run you down $699 whereas the 12GB+256GB variant of the device costs $799. So, if you’re looking for a flagship that retails around the $600 mark and you prioritize the phone’s performance above all else, the OnePlus 11 is a no-brainer.