diff --git a/datafusion/functions/benches/encoding.rs b/datafusion/functions/benches/encoding.rs
index 0b8f0c5c51a58..451baff5183fd 100644
--- a/datafusion/functions/benches/encoding.rs
+++ b/datafusion/functions/benches/encoding.rs
@@ -27,10 +27,35 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 fn criterion_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
     let decode = encoding::decode();
+    let encode = encoding::encode();
     let config_options = Arc::new(ConfigOptions::default());
 
     for size in [1024, 4096, 8192] {
         let bin_array = Arc::new(create_binary_array::<i32>(size, 0.2));
+
+        c.bench_function(&format!("hex_encode/{size}"), |b| {
+            let method = ColumnarValue::Scalar("hex".into());
+            let arg_fields = vec![
+                Field::new("a", bin_array.data_type().to_owned(), true).into(),
+                Field::new("b", method.data_type().to_owned(), true).into(),
+            ];
+            let args = vec![ColumnarValue::Array(bin_array.clone()), method];
+            let return_field = Field::new("f", DataType::Utf8, true).into();
+
+            b.iter(|| {
+                black_box(
+                    encode
+                        .invoke_with_args(ScalarFunctionArgs {
+                            args: args.clone(),
+                            arg_fields: arg_fields.clone(),
+                            number_rows: size,
+                            return_field: Arc::clone(&return_field),
+                            config_options: Arc::clone(&config_options),
+                        })
+                        .unwrap(),
+                )
+            })
+        });
         c.bench_function(&format!("base64_decode/{size}"), |b| {
             let method = ColumnarValue::Scalar("base64".into());
             let encoded = encoding::encode()
diff --git a/datafusion/functions/src/encoding/inner.rs b/datafusion/functions/src/encoding/inner.rs
index 877acbb529920..027ec8e5e59ab 100644
--- a/datafusion/functions/src/encoding/inner.rs
+++ b/datafusion/functions/src/encoding/inner.rs
@@ -410,11 +410,7 @@ impl Encoding {
                     .collect();
                 Ok(Arc::new(array))
             }
-            Self::Hex => {
-                let array: GenericStringArray<OutputOffset> =
-                    array.iter().map(|x| x.map(hex::encode)).collect();
-                Ok(Arc::new(array))
-            }
+            Self::Hex => hex_encode_array::<_, OutputOffset>(array),
         }
     }
 
@@ -459,6 +455,45 @@ impl Encoding {
     }
 }
 
+/// Hex-encode a binary array into a string array, writing the lowercase hex
+/// digits directly into a single pre-sized value buffer. Each input byte maps
+/// to exactly two hex characters, so the output size is known up front and no
+/// per-element `String` is allocated.
+fn hex_encode_array<'a, InputBinaryArray, OutputOffset>(
+    array: &InputBinaryArray,
+) -> Result<ArrayRef>
+where
+    InputBinaryArray: BinaryArrayType<'a>,
+    OutputOffset: OffsetSizeTrait,
+{
+    let total_input_bytes: usize = array.iter().flatten().map(|v| v.len()).sum();
+
+    let mut values = vec![0u8; total_input_bytes * 2];
+    let mut offsets = Vec::<OutputOffset>::with_capacity(array.len() + 1);
+    offsets.push(OutputOffset::zero());
+
+    let mut pos = 0usize;
+    for v in array.iter() {
+        if let Some(v) = v {
+            let out_len = v.len() * 2;
+            // The slice is sized to exactly `2 * v.len()`, which is the only
+            // condition under which `encode_to_slice` can fail, so this cannot
+            // error.
+            hex::encode_to_slice(v, &mut values[pos..pos + out_len])
+                .map_err(|e| exec_datafusion_err!("Failed to encode to hex: {e}"))?;
+            pos += out_len;
+        }
+        offsets.push(OutputOffset::usize_as(pos));
+    }
+
+    let array = GenericStringArray::<OutputOffset>::try_new(
+        OffsetBuffer::new(offsets.into()),
+        Buffer::from_vec(values),
+        array.nulls().cloned(),
+    )?;
+    Ok(Arc::new(array))
+}
+
 fn delegated_decode<'a, DecodeFunction, InputBinaryArray, OutputOffset>(
     decode: DecodeFunction,
     input: &InputBinaryArray,