Benchmark leak reveals Tensor G5 will be a let down, but may edge out Snapdragon 8 Elite in gaming
If there's one thing that's holding Pixel smartphones back, it's their in-house Tensor chipset that's no match for Apple's A-series processors and Qualcomm's flagship chipsets. It was expected that Google's next chip, the Tensor G5, would bring the performance of the Pixel 10 on par with other top flagships, but according to leaked benchmark scores, speeds will be in the same ballpark as the Pixel 9.
Leaker Jukanlosreve came across Google's next chip on Geekbench. Apparently, the benchmark scores are for the base Pixel 10 model, which a previous report said is codenamed "Frankel."
The phone scored a disappointing 1,323 on the single-core test, and an equally-dismal 4,004 on the multi-core test. For comparison, the Pixel 9 managed 1,800 and 4,573 on the same tests.
The benchmark run has also revealed that Google's next chip will feature one core clocked at 3.40GHz, five cores running at 2.86GHz, and two cores with speeds of 2.44GHz.
The primary core is going to be the Cortex X4 CPU, the five middle cores will be the Cortex-A725, and the two efficiency cores will be the Cortex-A520.
The next-gen chip has a new architecture and while it keeps the same big core as last year, it has switched to Arm's latest design for the middle core and probably the small core as well.
Given that the Pixel 9 was released in late August, the Pixel 10 is still several months away, which may explain the low scores. The chip benchmarked is probably an early version of the chip and its performance will likely improve as it's optimized.
That said, it still won't be as speedy as other high-end chips. Speed has never been Google's goal, which designs its chips for use cases unique to its Pixel phones.
The Tensor G5, which will power the Pixel 10, was spotted on Geekbench. | Image Credit - Jukanlosreve,X
The phone scored a disappointing 1,323 on the single-core test, and an equally-dismal 4,004 on the multi-core test. For comparison, the Pixel 9 managed 1,800 and 4,573 on the same tests.
The benchmark run has also revealed that Google's next chip will feature one core clocked at 3.40GHz, five cores running at 2.86GHz, and two cores with speeds of 2.44GHz.
The primary core is going to be the Cortex X4 CPU, the five middle cores will be the Cortex-A725, and the two efficiency cores will be the Cortex-A520.
In contrast, the Tensor G4, which fuels the Pixel 9, features one Cortex-X4 with a maximum frequency of 3.1GHz, three Cortex-A720 cores running at 2.6GHz, and four Cortex-A520 cores clocked at 1.92GHz.
The next-gen chip has a new architecture and while it keeps the same big core as last year, it has switched to Arm's latest design for the middle core and probably the small core as well.
Given that the Pixel 9 was released in late August, the Pixel 10 is still several months away, which may explain the low scores. The chip benchmarked is probably an early version of the chip and its performance will likely improve as it's optimized.
That said, it still won't be as speedy as other high-end chips. Speed has never been Google's goal, which designs its chips for use cases unique to its Pixel phones.
Chinese tipster says that the Tensor G5's GPU will be more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Elite's GPU. | Image Credit - Jukanlosreve,X
One bright spot is that the chip is rumored to have a very powerful GPU, which could finally make gaming fun on Pixel phones.
The Tensor G5 will likely be more power efficient than the G4, given it will be manufactured on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)'s 3nm process and use the Integrated Fan-Out tech.
The Tensor G5 will likely be more power efficient than the G4, given it will be manufactured on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)'s 3nm process and use the Integrated Fan-Out tech.
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