Google Tensor has a bright future, but that puts interim Pixels in a tough spot

Ben Schoon | Jul 9 2023 - 9:00 am PT

Google Tensor has been a show of faith for the future of Pixel hardware, but it’s also been holding the lineup back. That’s set to change, hopefully, in a few years, but that wait is going to be rough on Pixel releases in the meantime.

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The Pixel 6, Google’s first Tensor-powered device, was a turning point for the company’s hardware efforts. It’s led to considerable growth for the lineup, with a report just this week detailing that Pixel has seen 67% further growth in 2023, especially in the country of Japan.

But it’s not been without problems.

Tensor has led to two problems with Pixel phones. For one, software has been a little messy ever since the transition. Countless updates have been delayed in the time since Tensor took over, and we’ve seen messy problems, such as when an update decimated Pixel 6 connectivity. That just didn’t happen in the times beforehand.

Arguably more troublesome, though, has been the hardware effect. The gap between Tensor and chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek is real and has an impact. Pixel phones can’t compete on battery life, tend to run much hotter, and don’t hold up to quite the same standard on connectivity, though Google made big strides there on Tensor G2.

As a report brought out this week, there’s a good chance Google will fix much of this in time. The company is expected to launch Tensor G5 in 2025 as its first fully custom chip. That would arrive in Pixel 10 and would also be the first Tensor made by TSMC. That move alone is promising, as TSMC has been shown time and time again to have a leg up on Samsung’s processes. TSMC-made chips are generally more efficient, faster, and overall just better, where Samsung-made chips, like the Exynos line, have struggled far longer than Tensor has been around.

The future of Google Tensor, with this in mind, is quite bright. There are no guarantees, but the parts of Tensor that Google built itself are the best ones – so there’s hope.

But, while we’re waiting, this puts existing Pixels in a difficult place. As I brought out in my recent review of the Google Pixel Fold, it’s not very hard to accept or deal with Tensor’s shortcomings in current Pixels. You’re getting an objectively worse chip, but you’re also getting that for a much lower price than competing devices. But just as the Fold is a hard sell at the same price as Samsung’s foldables, regular Pixels seeing a price hike would also make Tensor a harder pill to swallow.

Effectively, Google can’t, or at least shouldn’t, make the price of its current Pixels higher until this new chip is in place. It doesn’t necessarily have to, and there’s nothing really pointing to that happening, either. But with Pixel 7a raising the base cost of the Pixel line, it stands to reason that increases could be coming for the rest, too. And, even without that, keeping the price the same also limits what Google can do to improve its devices unless it’s willing to cut its margins even more.

Now, of course, it’s entirely possible that Samsung could get its act together and make this problem a moot point. Tensor G3 and/or G4 could end up solving a lot of these problems. Samsung has been making improvements, after all. And Tensor G3 looks to be a solid upgrade too.

I don’t think anyone will really lose out from buying a Pixel 8 or a Pixel 9 with a Samsung-made Tensor chip inside; Google just can’t demand the same premium as anyone else.

The good news? Every current Pixel phone will be able to hold out until Tensor G5’s debut. The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will stop getting updates at the end of 2026, a full year after Google’s first Tensor G5-equipped device comes out.

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Top comment by Arthur

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In terms of day to day performance differences between a Pixel 7 Pro for instance and a S23 Ultra, in many tasks they are neck and neck with Pixel winning a few and the Galaxy winning some as well. For me the main benefits of the Snapdragon come through with energy efficiency and connectivity, that's where the Snapdragon has a real leg up on the Tensor. If the G3 improvements pan out then we should see the Pixel 8/8 Pro come much closer to the Snapdragon. Obviously the Snapdragon lead in these areas could further expand with the SD 8 Gen 3 that will debut on the S24 early next year but still if the G3 makes decent improvements over the G2, more than the G2 over the G1 then that should make most Pixel 8 owners happy and hopeful for what's to come in the Pixel 9.

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Samsung has fully confirmed a July 26 launch event for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5, along with other devices. As of this week, reservations are open, so you can ensure you’ll get a device on day one, and you can get a $50 credit with that too.