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Google’s Pixel 8 Pro has a lot going for it. Among its strengths is the 6.7-inch LTPO OLED display, a Samsung E7 panel made with M13 OLED materials. It is one of the first phones to feature M13 displays, which are brighter and more power-efficient. Sure enough, with a peak brightness of 2,400 nits, the new Pixel has the brightest display of all smartphones currently sold in the US. We now have a measure of its efficiency as well.
Pixel 8 Pro’s display is a lot more efficient than competing phones
Dylan Raga, a display reviewer at XDA Developers, recently pitted the Pixel 8 Pro against the Pixel 7 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max in a display efficiency test. Last year’s Google flagship came out the worst. It consumed 6.4W of power to reach a brightness of 960 nits. The 2022 iPhone did slightly better, consuming about 4.5W of power for the same level of display brightness.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra achieved 960 nits of brightness with less than 4W of power. However, the Pixel 8 Pro decimated them all. The latest Google phone did that consuming just 3W of power. That’s less than half (47 percent) of the total power consumed by its predecessor. Quite clearly, the internet giant has improved things in this department by leaps and bounds. The new Pixel is miles ahead of the competition when it comes to display efficiency.
The brightness by power graph for the Pixel 8 Pro tends to meet those graphs for the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max as the brightness is turned up. The Samsung phone catches up to the Pixel quicker than the iPhone. However, we seldom use our phones at maximum brightness. At the optimal brightness level, the new Pixel wins the race with a comfortable margin.
As far as the 2022 Pixel is concerned, it’s no match for the latest model. Its successor reached almost 1,500 nits of brightness while still consuming just about 6W of power. The Pixel 7 Pro’s poor power efficiency was one of its biggest drawbacks. It was less efficient than the Pixel 6 Pro. Unsurprisingly, Google faced a lot of criticism for this. It appears the company took it personally and came out with a much more efficient display this year.
Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series will feature M13 OLED panels
Google‘s lead may not be around for much longer, though. Samsung is applying M13 OLED materials to the Galaxy S24’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. Rumors say the phones will boast a peak brightness of 2,500 nits. They should bring efficiency improvements too. The new Samsung flagships are expected to arrive in January 2024. It remains to be seen how the Pixel 8 Pro’s display compares against the Galaxy S24.
