A8X in iPad Air 2 Smokes Google Nexus 9’s Tegra K1 in Graphics Rendering

Kishonti Informatics’ latest GFXBench OpenGL ES 2.0 and 3.0 benchmarks have revealed that Apple’s new A8X Application Processor in the iPad Air 2 is not only significantly faster than other Android tablets in CPU tasks, but also smokes Google’s new HTC-built Nexus 9, powered by the Nvidia “Denver” Tegra K1 Application Processor in terms of graphics performance (via AppleInsider).

For those who aren’t aware, GFXBench basically renders video-game style graphics to demonstrate the core capabilities of the GPU. Compared to Nexus 9, iPad Air 2 scored 13% higher in Open GL 3.0 and 28.9% faster using Open GL 2.0, despite the Nexus 9’s Tegra K1 being clocked 60% faster and Nvidia’s core competency in developing GPUs. In CPU operations, iPad Air 2 performed GeekBench multiple-core tests 39% faster than Google Nexus 9.

“Apple introduced its A8 successor for iPhone 6 models, delivering enhanced CPU and GPU power that beats comparable new high end Android flagship smartphones by a significant margin. Apple’s latest A8X Application Processor further enhances the graphics power for iPad Air 2, beating not only Nvidia’s Kepler mobile GPU but even more soundly trouncing a series of top-scoring Android tablets powered by Intel Atom (with the “Bay Trail Intel HD” GPU), Qualcomm Snapdragon (with an Adreno GPU), or even Samsung’s yet to be released new Exynos Application Processor (which uses an ARM Mali GPU).”

So while Google seems to be discounting the Nexus 9 by $100 over the cost of the cheapest iPad Air 2, it surely won’t be matching Apple’s larger capacity options or Touch ID, and the significantly superior performance of A8X chip.