For most smartphone companies, the investment or trouble of custom smartphone chips will never be worth it. In these cases, they just go with something made by MediaTek or Qualcomm. However, there are some companies, such as Google, that make the decision to make their own custom chips.
Unfortunately, chip making isn’t an easy process, and a lot of the time, companies getting into it don’t make the best chips off the bat. In Google’s case, its custom Tensor chips have managed to hold up its smartphones since the Pixel 6 series, but not without issue. It seems that the Pixel 11 series is going to try and fix those, but not without a price.
The Problems With Google Pixels And Tensor Chips
Back when Google introduced its own custom chips with the Google Pixel 6 series, I felt like the Android game would be changed forever. Google already had the best software experience thanks to pairing software made by Google with hardware made by Google. Once its own custom chips entered the equation, I reckoned that they’d be able to get the kind of architectural synergy that Apple’s iPhones can lay claim to.
Unfortunately, that did not end up being the case. We’re all the way at the Tensor G4, which is four generations in, and yet, that dream that I envisioned isn’t quite here. Google’s Tensor chips don’t perform as powerfully as we might have hoped (though Google gives the impression that they weren’t chasing benchmarks in the first place) and they deal with thermal and efficiency issues too.
That doesn’t seem to stop Pixel enthusiasts from hopping on the new devices each year, as the devices are great beyond those problems, especially in the software and camera departments.
Google’s Tensor G6 Chip Will Be An Example Of Winning Some And Losing Some
The good thing is that as much as Google’s Tensor chips seem to be dulling the Pixel experience, the company is committed to fixing things on that end. However, the major downside is that it is going to come at a cost.
The Tensor G5, coming next year, is going to come with some minor efficiency and thermal improvements because Google will be moving away from Samsung’s chip manufacturing to TSMC’s, which is generally seen as superior. However, the Tensor G5 still won’t be exactly where most people want it to be, which is a problem.
Fortunately, according to Android Authority, based on a leak from Google’s gChips division, we now all know the intended specifications for the Tensor G6 chips which will ship in the Pixel 11 series in 2026. In these leaks, Google acknowledges the weakness of its chips, particularly when it comes to poor battery life and overheating, and it aims to improve that.
One way it is going to do this is by introducing a “Cinematic Rendering Engine” to reduce battery drain when recording video. However, the GPU will step back to a GPU initially intended for the Tensor G4. As a result, it will lose ray-tracing support, despite the fact that the G5’s GPU will have it. The SoC will also drop to seven cores, down from eight in the G4 and G5.
Google Wants A Cheaper Chip And These Changes Will Help
The leaked documents also make it evident that a big part of Google’s motivation is getting a cheaper chip. That’s unsurprising, but the leak gives us a chance to actually see Google admit it.
Cutting costs and expecting better performance don’t necessarily fit together, so it explains why Google is making so many compromises. Pixel users aren’t necessarily chasing the highest benchmarks, so this change could potentially cause little disruption to its sales.
