Pixel 10 leak suggests Google could be getting serious on performance

Google is planning a massive shake up of the way it produces its Tensor chips for Pixel smartphones, and the Pixel 10 is where it will all start.

Reports from South Korea late last year suggested that Google was ready to ditch Samsung for its Pixel 10 chip, and instead adopt a fully in-house design built on TSMC’s 3nm process.

Now a new report from Android Authority has doubled down on those claims, as well as offering a little insight into how Google’s first fully in-house chip will pan out.

Major changes for the Pixel 10

Citing a source inside Google, the report claims to have learned that the Tensor G5 for Pixel 10 will continue to license Arm Cortex CPU cores, just like virtually every other Android phone.

However, Google will turn to a new Imagination Technologies DXT GPU in place of the existing Arm Mali. The VeriSilicon DC9000 will handle display controller and 2D GPU duty, taking over from Samsung’s Exynos DPUs.

Perhaps the most exciting change, given how key the camera is to the Pixel experience, is that the Tensor G5 will have a fully custom Image Signal Processor (ISP) this time around. Previous Tensor chips have relied on a number of third party elements with a little Google embellishment, for their photographic wizardry.

Another slightly smaller deviation, according to the report, is in Google moving away from its home-brewed ‘BigWave’ AV1 codec and Samsung’s MFC codec, and towards a single third party solution in Chips&Media’s WAVE677DV.

Google has always employed a custom-built audio DSP and its own memory compressor in previous Tensor chips, and that’s set to continue in the Tensor G5 for Pixel 10.

The same goes for the TPU, which you’d expect given that AI processing was the whole reason Google cited for going with its own chip designs in the first place. It’ll be a next-gen version, but a natural evolution from the Tensor G4 all the same.

Will the Pixel 10 be a strong performer?

Google is still offering a mish-mash of first and third party components here, which is unsurprising given the complexity of producing these chips. As a first attempt, it seems unlikely that the Tensor G5 will be competing with the Snapdragon 8 Elite straight out of the gate.

However, performance has never been a strong suit of Pixel phones, even though the Pixel 9 Pro handles itself well in day to day running. Google’s Tensor chips have typically handled the everyday stuff perfectly adequately, but have fallen well behind Qualcomm in benchmarks and gaming performance.

That’s why we’re excited to hear that Google is switching to a new GPU for the Tensor G5 in the Pixel 10. Could it get closer to the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the OnePlus 13 in this respect?

News that Google is going to have even more of a handle on the way its cameras operate is also exciting. The Pixel 9 range already offers one of the best point and shoot camera experiences around, so we’re intrigued to see where Google can take its outstanding image processing with the Pixel 10.