Google's flagship phone, Pixel XL, was the first phone ever to use the new and more excellent Snapdragon 821 processor from Qualcomm. But right now, the Google Pixel may have found its rival - thanks to the arrival of the ASUS Deluxe Special Edition ZenFone 3. Is the hyped Pixel still the winner when it comes to performance or will ASUS' new handset beat Google this time?

Performance

Both the ASUS Deluxe Special Edition ZenFone 3 and Google Pixel have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 as their processor. The only way to test how they compare in performance is through the use of benchmarks. Using a Geekbench test, Google Pixel scored 4,121 on multi-core testing. Since the ASUS Deluxe Special Edition ZenFone 3 is still to be released, another device from ASUS that runs on the processor's predecessor, the Snapdragon 820, was used. Surprisingly, the benchmarks hit a higher score of 5,420 for multi-core use.

Even without the ASUS Deluxe Special Edition ZenFone 3, consumers can fairly assume that the handset will be much better at performance compared to Google Pixel. One of the advantages of ASUS ZenFone is that it has the higher-specced Snapdragon 821 clocked at a faster 2.4 GHz compared to Google Pixel's 2.15 GHz.

An initial conclusion

In terms of specs, the Google Pixel and ASUS Deluxe Special Edition ZenFone 3 have varying offerings to consumers. Google Pixel has a 4GB RAM but ASUS has a bigger memory at 6GB. The ASUS ZenFone 3 also has a higher storage capped at 256GB compared to the Pixel's 128GB. Both have front cameras with 8MP but ASUS' rear camera seems better with 23MP than Pixel's 12.3MP.

In entirety, the ASUS Deluxe Special Edition ZenFone 3 looks like a workhorse on its own but consumers cannot be really sure until it is release and faced with actual processing conditions. For now, Google Pixel still reigns on having the fastest and best processor with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821.