Is the Pixel 11’s Tensor G6 actually better than the G5? I crunched the numbers

Google unveiled the Pixel 11 series last week, powered by its new Tensor G6 processor. And, in typical Google fashion, it’s surprisingly light on the details of its latest flagship silicon, just as it was with the Tensor G5 and last year’s Pixel 10 series.

Still, we know quite a bit about the Tensor G6, both from Google’s own claims and from what it conspicuously left unsaid. The result is a chip that looks less interested in chasing Qualcomm and Apple on raw CPU and GPU performance, and more focused on AI, efficiency, and security.

A few immediately interesting things pop up just from a quick look at the spec table. The CPU is a seven-core affair, down from eight cores last year. Google has opted to trim one of the middle Arm C1-Pro cores, potentially freeing up silicon area for other components, such as the greatly improved TPU. Perhaps higher clock speeds and more modern architecture will offset this change, but we shouldn’t expect a vastly improved multi-core CPU score this year.

Google has also moved to the PowerVR CXT series for its GPU. As rumored, this is an older, low-ish-end part that is unlikely to be much of an upgrade over last year’s DXT model. We’re still waiting to publish our benchmark results, but we’ll discuss what to expect below.

On the upside, Google claims that its fifth-generation TPU offers up to 50% more number-crunching performance for on-device AI. Combined with model and software optimizations, the company claims the new chip can be up to 3.5x faster than the last generation. Of course, that’s Google’s own workload-specific figure, rather than a standardized benchmark.

Google didn’t mention it specifically, but it’s also reportedly moved to a new MediaTek modem build, which might help resolve lingering connectivity and power draw issues. We’ll just have to test it. The Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold also support hardware AV1 video encoding.

There’s a new Titan M3 security processor, the first Titan update in roughly five years. It’s built on the RISC-V architecture, with “post-quantum secure boot.” In other words, it’s a more robust, tamper-resistant security chip that lets secure apps trust your phone is running the software that it says it is. The Titan M3 also stores certificates for SIM, bank cards, and other secure information.

Starting with everyday performance, the Pixel 11 promises 25% faster web browsing and 15% faster app launch times, suggesting a modest single-core performance uplift, given that both tasks are mostly single-threaded.

That seems rather disappointing, given the move to the newest Arm C1 Ultra as the biggest core. I’d expect the new core to offer more than a 30% improvement over the aging Cortex-X4 on IPC alone, before faster clocks and newer manufacturing nodes are taken into account. Remember, Tensor has completely skipped the X925 core.

Perhaps Google is playing it more conservatively with clock speeds or isn’t leveraging the Ultra core much for mainstream tasks. In any case, the Tensor G6 is up to 20% more energy-efficient than its predecessor, which should improve battery life.

Instead, the biggest performance gains on the chip come from the new TPU. The Pixel 11 boasts 50% faster AI number-crunching on its TPU compared to the Pixel 10 series, a substantial uplift for its fifth iteration of custom machine-learning silicon. Again, Google didn’t detail exactly how it arrived at these improvements, but presumably it’s a larger core with faster, parallel execution units.

The Pixel 10’s switch from Arm Mali to Imagination Technologies PowerVR GPU was a contentious choice last year, and one that Google was surprisingly coy about during its launch window. It’s suspiciously quiet about the Pixel 11’s gaming capabilities this year, too, offering only minor tidbits like: “Pixel 11 improves gaming performance in titles including: Asphalt Legends, Disney Speedstorm, and Squad Busters, thanks to silicon and software optimizations.”

That’s hardly reassuring at all, but there might be a silver lining. According to online sources, the cores appear to be clocked at a rather high 1.29GHz (up from 1.10GHz last year). This might help keep performance in the same ballpark, but that clock speed boost will undoubtedly eat into the efficiency savings promised by the P-variant of the core.

Given the architecture downgrade, I would not expect notably superior performance from this change on the GPU side, even despite the clock speed boost. The Tensor G6 remains well off the pace of Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek in peak gaming performance, though many titles will run at comfortable frame rates with modest graphics settings.

The Tensor G6 is another distinctly Google piece of smartphone silicon, but I’m not convinced it’s the best chip Google could have made. At least not from the perspective of a high-performance flagship. Google appears more concerned with silicon costs than addressing long-running criticisms of its platform’s raw performance.

Case in point: the CPU receives newer cores but loses one, while the GPU appears to be little more than a modestly faster version of last year’s underwhelming PowerVR setup. Neither looks likely to close the performance gap with Qualcomm, Apple, or MediaTek. Google’s 25% faster web browsing and 15% faster app launches are welcome, but don’t exactly inspire confidence that it’s going to feel all that much different from its predecessor.

The TPU is where Google can make much bolder claims, and it plays to the brand’s AI selling point. A claimed 50% boost in AI performance, along with improved efficiency, a new Titan M3 security chip, and a new modem, give the Tensor G6 meaningful upgrades that won’t show up in traditional benchmarks.

But that’s also the problem: Google is asking us to care less about the areas where Tensor has historically lagged, and more about AI features that we’ll have to test before we know whether they actually make a difference. Until then, the Tensor G6 looks less like an all-around flagship processor and more like another highly specialized Pixel chip — one that prioritizes Google’s software ambitions over outright performance.