Leak Confirms Google Tensor Issues

Leaked Google documents confirm that the company’s Tensor mobile processors haven’t met its expectations for performance, thermals, battery life, and cost savings. So it’s perhaps not surprising that the company is planning some changes for future revisions of the chips.

The Tensor has been controversial since Google shipped the first version of the chip with its Pixel 6 series phones in 2021 after years of delays. It was designed to accelerate AI-based tasks like photo processing that were previously handled by custom chips like Pixel Visual Core. And while Google promised it would deliver “the right levels” of performance and efficiency, it never has. Tensor is perhaps best known to users for its lackluster performance, poor battery life, and heat, and it has consistently underperformed Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon processors, even in the AI tasks for which Tensor was created.

An unusual new leak discussed by Android Authority reveals that Google has always been aware of these issues internally. But rather than give up, the company will instead make minor changes to its Tensor G5, due next year, and Tensor G6, which is due in 2026. The G5 will use a new TSMC manufacturing process that will improve its thermals and efficiency, but do nothing to advance general performance. And the G6 will arrive with a graphics downgrade–it will no longer support raytracing–to improve thermals and battery life further. But the biggest goal with the Tensor G6 is to reduce costs and “make this business viable.”

The most interesting thing about this leak, arguably, is how badly Tensor comes off internally. It’s more expensive to make than Google anticipated, and it has technical issues that will be familiar to anyone who purchased one of these devices.

“Tensor-based Pixel programs have not met our financial targets,” the leaked documents explain. So the new financial goal, starting with Tensor G6, is to bring the cost of the processor down to $65, less than one-half the cost of a Qualcomm chip.

“Thermals [are the] number one reason for Pixel returns,” it continues. “28 percent of Net Promoter Score (NPS) mentions is [about] overheating. Thermal comfort limits are too high, power use-cases need to reduce temperatures.”

“Battery life” is the second-biggest problem, the leaked documents explain, with multiple internal and external audiences “unanimously indicating poor battery life.”

To resolve these issues, the G6 will “improve thermals,” which is decidedly vague, though Android Authority notes that this chip version will feature a “Cinematic Rendering Engine” that will reduce video recording power consumption by 40 percent. “Users expect 36 hours of battery life,” the document reads. “Good battery life attracts user[s] and drives loyalty with higher satisfaction.”

Having recently switched back to the Pixel 9 Pro XL after finishing my iPhone 16 Pro Max review, I can say that the comparatively lackluster performance and objectively inferior battery life of the Pixel were immediately noticeable and unwelcome. Worse, I started getting pop-ups about it switching to lower frame rates when I recorded a video recently, and the phone got quite hot. This is a shame because the Pixel 9 Pro XL is gorgeous and I love what Google does with its heavily modified Pixel version of Android.

But I’m also not surprised to learn that 86 percent of Pixel 6 and 7 series users couldn’t make it through a full day on battery. That’s the Pixel experience I have, for sure.