Tensor G6 may power the Google Pixel 11, but it still won’t catch up to its flagship rivals

He latest Tensor G6 leak It’s good news and bad news for the Pixel 11, adding more weight to what we already expected from Google’s next-generation chip destined for this year. Pixel 11 Series.

On the one hand, it looks like Pixel 11 customers will benefit from a significant jump in CPU performance. The chip is expected to feature a unique C1-Ultra Arm core at 4.11 GHz, along with four C1-Pro cores at 3.38 GHz and two C1-Pro cores at 2.65 GHz. Google is completely skipping the Arm Cortex X925 era, jumping directly into the same CPU cohort as the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9500.

This represents a potentially significant boost from the G5 tensioners and its Arm Cortex-X4, A725 and A520 configuration. Looking at the single-core Geekbench 6 results, there is around a 40% potential increase between new and old cores, which would obviously be a significant jump if it holds up. Multi-core gains could be even greater, given the higher overall clock speeds and the move away from very small cores.

However, despite the very modern CPU cores, Google’s cluster is still somewhat conservative compared to other flagship chips, even those built with the same Arm cores available on the market. MediaTek’s Dimensity uses one C1-Ultra core and three C1-Premium cores, which are larger and more powerful than the Pros. Likewise, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon features two large custom Oryon cores and six smaller cores, offering plenty of heavy-duty potential. For a brand that seeks merge mobile and PC use casestwo or more powerful cores are beneficial; Tensor is not in that league yet.

I hope the Pixel 11’s CPU has performance closer to Samsung’s Exynos 2600 within some new Galaxy S26 models, which use a very similar C1-Ultra and C1-Pro configuration. However, with higher clock speeds, Tensor should make progress by a modest margin. This puts it in a very strong performance category that will ensure it has solid daily performance, if not outperforming benchmarks.

Unfortunately, the graphics are almost certainly It remains the Pixel’s Achilles heel.. The Tensor G6 is reportedly switching to a PowerVR CXTP-48-1536. The Tensor G5 has a DXT-48-1536 and, according to the Imagination Technologies website, its GPU range goes from A (smallest and most energy efficient) to E (highest performance).

After some digging, it’s not entirely clear where the CXTP lands. The 2021-era C series consists of the very low-end CXM for smart TVs and the CXT, a more flagship-level product (almost certainly no longer by 2026 standards) that supports ray tracing.

From what I can discern, the “P” model is not part of the original 2021-era C series. If it is anything like DXT versus DXTP, then the “P” indicates improved energy efficiency. He DXTP arrived in early 2025 with an efficiency gain of 20% FPS per watt over the DXT. The CXTP is likely to offer something similar. That sounds impressive, but no one knows how it compares to the power consumption of the 2023-era DXT in the G5.

Exactly what this means for the Pixel 11’s gaming performance is unknown. The C-series is clearly not designed to match the maximum performance of the D-series, and Imagination’s own materials suggest a 20% better performance-per-area density than the CXT. In all likelihood, the Tensor design team is weighing exactly how to extract the best performance from a limited GPU silicon budget, and perhaps the new “P” model, a move to a smaller 2nm node, or simply licensing costs have shifted this slightly in favor of the CXTP over last year’s DXT, while keeping performance competitive with the previous generation.

Like the Tensor G5’s DXT, the CXTP can support ray-racing. However, this requires additional cores and space, and I suspect Google is moving towards the C series to save space on silicon. So don’t bet on this generation’s ray tracing either.

As the graph above shows, the Tensor G6 would need to make substantial changes to its GPU configuration to catch up with the competition. Even if the new 2nm manufacturing process and more efficient GPU cores could enable higher clock speeds and/or better sustained performance, using an improved 2021-era architecture is likely to be a minor downgrade at best. As a result, the Pixel 11 will almost certainly remain a slower gaming phone than the 2026 flagship phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, Dimensity 9500, and, most likely, even the Exynos 2600 equipped with AMD also.

Google’s custom silicon project has never really been about chasing benchmark leaderboards, and the Tensor G6 isn’t going to suddenly change the status quo. Maybe we have to wait for G7 tensioners or more for that.

For overall application performance, CPU upgrades will be noted for both substantial performance gains and efficiency gains from moving to a more efficient architecture. Sadly, gamers don’t seem set to receive the same benefits, but perhaps the Pixel 11 will eat into battery life enough to feel like an upgrade for those longer sessions. In any case, this is unlikely to affect the series. Fans who aren’t worried about Tensor’s lack of graphics groan..

Instead, Tensor is a means for Google to pursue its AI ambitions without being beholden to other silicon partners. For example, the chip is about to transition from its long but often problematic use in the Samsung Exynos modem to the MediaTek M90. We’ll have to test it out to see if this finally eliminates the series of connectivity and battery drain issues once and for all.

Likewise, Google is preparing its own Titan M3 Security Chip and a next-generation “Santafe” TPU and “Metis” image signal process for the Tensor G6. Those updates alone would allow Google to introduce interesting new features in the realm of on-device AI and computational photography, which will no doubt be much bigger selling points for the Pixel 11 series than performance could be. With that in mind, and ignoring the competition’s moves, the Tensor G6 could well prove to be a notable upgrade when the Pixel 11 series arrives later this year.