Under the Hood of Tensor G5: What's Google's New Chipset Like?

Yesterday, Google introduced the new Pixel 10 series and with it, the long-awaited Tensor G5 chipset. After years of struggling with Samsung’s manufacturing, Google finally switched to TSMC, which should mean cooler and more power-efficient phones. But is it really as rosy as Google paints it? Let’s take a look at what the new chip can do and where it still lags behind the competition.

Finally with TSMC, but still a step behind

The biggest novelty is the switch from Samsung to the Taiwanese company TSMC and its 3-nanometer manufacturing process. This is a step in the right direction – TSMC traditionally produces more efficient chips than its Korean competitor. Google claims that the batteries in Pixel 10 phones will last over 30 hours, compared to 24+ hours in the previous generation. Part of the credit goes to larger batteries, but Tensor G5 certainly helps as well.

Regarding overheating, which plagued previous Pixels like a plague, Google implemented improved cooling. The base Pixel 10 has a graphite solution, while Pro models received a vapor chamber.

Performance: better, but no showstopper

The processor has an interesting layout – one large core, five medium, and two small ones. This is a change from last year’s 1+3+4 layout. Google talks about a 34% increase in CPU performance compared to Tensor G4, which sounds nice until you look at the competition.

Leaked benchmarks show a score of 2,296 points in the single-core test of the Geekbench 6 benchmark. For comparison – Snapdragon 8 Elite scores over 3,000 points. In multi-core, it reached 6,203 points, while competing Snapdragon or MediaTek chips commonly achieve scores over 9,000 points.

The AnTuTu test fared even worse – Tensor G5 scored 1.14 million points, while Snapdragon 8 Elite approaches three million in phones with better cooling. This is a vast difference that cannot be talked away by marketing.

Graphics Performance

Here, Google starts to be suspiciously quiet. It only talks about “updated GPU IP” and that games run “very, very well.” No specific numbers, no comparison with its predecessor. According to leaks, it’s an Imagination Technologies DXT-48-1536 chip, which would be a departure from the Mali GPUs used so far.

Bad news for gamers – ray tracing is not supported. And when Google is silent about performance, it most likely means it has nothing to boast about.

AI and Photography: Where Google Shines

While Google falters in raw performance, it excels in AI. The TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) is 60% more powerful and can run the latest Gemini Nano model locally on the phone. It runs 2.6× faster and 2× more efficiently than on Tensor G4.

Google implemented a clever architecture called the Matryoshka transformer. A smaller, fast model (2 billion parameters) is nested within a larger, higher-quality model (4 billion parameters). The phone dynamically chooses which one to use depending on the situation. Token windows have increased from 12,000 to 32,000, which corresponds to roughly a hundred screenshots or a month’s worth of emails.

The ISP (image signal processor) also received a significant upgrade. It can perform advanced scene segmentation – recognizing skin, lips, eyes, and other details for more accurate portrait photos. Video is standardly recorded in 10-bit HDR quality for 1080p and 4K/30fps. Unfortunately, 8K video still needs to be processed in the cloud via Video Boost.

Who is Tensor G5 for?

Google never aimed to compete in benchmarks. Tensor chips have always been about smart features, not raw power. The G5 enables over 20 AI functions running directly on the phone – from real-time call translation (even preserving the speaker’s voice!) to the new Magic Cue feature and 100× Pro Res Zoom.

For the average user who doesn’t play demanding games and isn’t concerned with benchmarks, Tensor G5 is sufficiently powerful. The switch to TSMC should resolve overheating and battery life issues. AI features are top-notch, and the camera traditionally excels.

However, for the price of flagship Pixels, you get significantly more powerful hardware from the competition. Google is betting that users will appreciate smart features more than benchmark numbers. And perhaps it’s right – but it would be nice if we didn’t have to choose between performance and features.

What do you think about the new Tensor G5 chipset?

Source: own, AndroidAuthority, Google Blog