If you’re the proud owner of a Google Pixel smartphone, you owe it to yourself to grab the brand-new April update for your device (RQ2A.210405.005) right now. Not only will you benefit from some bug fixes and quality updates, but you’re also going to see a pretty good performance boost if you’re using a Pixel 4a (5G) or a Pixel 5.
When Android 11 dropped back in September of last year, quite a few reviewers found that their newer Pixel devices seemed to take a performance hit. As HotHardware wrote at the time:
“In the 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme test for the Pixel 4 XL with Android 11, we see roughly a 9 percent bleed-off in performance in the overall benchmark (compared to Android 10), which is comprised of 5 percent and 18 percent drops respectively in the graphics and physics components. Things fared even worse for the Pixel 4a, which saw its overall score tumble by a whopping 33 percent. Also, notice the significant drop-offs in the Pixel 4 XL Physics performance scores, as well as the Pixel 4a graphics performance degradation.”
Compare that doom-and-gloom to early benchmarks with the April update, which I’d argue should be installed as soon as possible if you’re using an affected device. As Andreas Proschofsky from Der Standard writes:
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Google’s full list of changes for the April update can be found here, and you’ll find all of the security issues it’s patching with the update here.
As always, updating your Pixel is an incredibly easy process. Simply visit Settings > System > Advanced and tap on System update to get started.
You might have to wait a bit if you’re a Verizon subscriber, however, as it appears that Factory and OTA images containing the April update are available for every carrier but Big Red. No word on why, or how long it’ll take for the update to show up there, but keep checking your Pixel for the new update. It’ll be worth it.