Tensor G6 is going to be weak.

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]So, a recent leak of Tenta G6 specifications don't really leave us with a ton of confidence that the Pixel 11 will be well a major bump over the Pixel 10. But let's get into specifications, what they mean for you, what they mean for Tenta in this video.

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[00:00:23]There's a couple of things I think that stand out in this leak. namely first and foremost that the Pixel 11 is actually going to come with an 8 GB RAM option.

[00:00:31]Before we even discuss the chip, I think this is kind of really important. It's not necessarily a major issue, but could mean some issues for certain AI powered functions that come with that device.

[00:00:40]I'm actually intrigued to see if Google justifies removing things like pixel screenshots and can't quite remember off the top of my head what other apps use more RAM but or need it to work. Kind of like how the A series, which does ship with 8 GB of RAM, uh doesn't have some of those options. uh that's by the buy in some respects because while that shouldn't affect the chip, it does absolutely mean the experience won't necessarily be quite as good by virtue of that lower onboard memory. So whether or not Tensor G6 is an improvement, it means it might hinder the base model.

[00:01:09]That's kind of why I'm getting that out first and foremost. Before we get into those further details though, the Tensor G6 chip will also be the first with the new Titan M3 chip. And there's some other changes here that kind of we expected aren't necessarily coming. So, I have to remind myself what the Titan chip series even does. But basically, these provide additional layers of security that go further with device storage encryption. It's device level encryption and it handles things like secure biometrics, the base data, fingerprint data. I guess think of this like as a vault independent of the tensor chip itself that also protects against various potential exploits and threats that you might face on a day-to-day basis. And now we will we will say we expected the Pixel 11 to have improved face unlock. This is why I'm mentioning it and the Titan M3 chip sort of hinted at that. But it doesn't actually look like the new hardware is coming with the Pixel 11 series to enable this even though we are getting that new Titan M3 chip. So while it means we aren't getting 3D level face unlock, maybe the Titan M3 chip will improve the security of the other biometric data on a future phone later down the line. Think Pixel 12 and onwards. I'm actually a little bit saddened by this because while I don't don't use face unlock all that much, I think it's important to know as Project Tuscana as what it's known as was something we were expecting, but there's absolutely no sign of it here. So, yes, no improved 3D face unlock with this device even though Titan M3 is here.

[00:02:35]Now, let's get into some Tensor G6 specifications proper, but starting with some bad news first. Yes, you heard what said, bad news first. So, as far as the GPU goes, Tent G6 isn't looking all that much better than Tent G5. And I know that is really, really hard to hear.

[00:02:51]This leak is courtesy of Mystic Leaks, and it states that the Tent G6 chip will ship with an imagination or is it power core or power VR? This is a C series CXTP481536 GPU. Absolutely terrible name. I know it rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?

[00:03:09]Well, basically this is actually appeared in some previous leaks out there, but it doesn't appear on the company's website. The closest we could find was an outdated GPU that dates back to, yes, you're going to hear me correctly here, 2021. I guess in some respects, one saving grace is that the P here in the CXTP naming seems to be a newer variant of that GPU. But still, if this is based on an outdated setup, that's sure to rub a lot of you and enthusiasts out there up the wrong way given the discrepancies and the power differences between these GPUs that we've seen on tensors and the best processors out there. And as I say, I think rightly given the gaming performance gap between Pixel phones and most of the Android phone brands at the top tier, this is a really bitter pill to swallow if the new GPU is going to be notably weaker than on position. And dare I say it, it could potentially be weaker than its predecessor. And I do get that Google maybe doesn't want to try and sell phones based on raw specifications. But come on, this isn't ideal, is it really, for Google's top tier phone in their lineup. That said, the CPU upgrades at least look a little bit promising despite the fact the GPU could be a bit of a downgrade. While the specific core setup has been obiscated in the original leaks, Tenti G6 is apparently using at least one ARM C1 ultra core clocked at 4.11 GHz, four C1 Pro cores at 3.38 GHz and two more C1 Pro cores at 2.65 GHz. ARM actually introduced it C1 cores in the second half of 2025 and they're actually used in MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset which is a very capable processor that's found in many flagship phones from last year.

[00:04:50]It's actually in the OPPO FindX9 series and the Vivo X300, not the Ultra, which I have tested here on the channel. Go check out that video down in the description below. But just for context, the tent G5 chip is built on a OnePlus 5 plus2 setup using Cortex X4, A725, and A520 cores. So, just looking at the CPU cores themselves, Sensi G6 is potentially off to a great start. The C1 Pro cores are more powerful than the A2, A725 cores, and even the lower clocked cores will provide more power than the A520, which are actually comparable to the C1 Nanoes that Google's not using here. Prior reporting from before ARM introduced this brand new uh branding suggested a OnePlus 6 setup which would point to Google just using one C1 Ultraore. That report also mentioned better power efficiency from the GPU, which actually means it might be outdated given the potential downgrades that we mentioned just a moment ago. I will say this isn't damning by any stretch of the imagination, but the gains just might not be as pronounced as some of you might have hoped. And I actually hoped before finding this out.

[00:05:53]The idea of a truly flagship level tensored chip just might have to wait another year. I'm sorry to say that might be the case. What else is there to discuss here? Well, there is the MediaTek M90 or the MT69860 modem. It might not seem like it, but this is notable as it finally sees Google ditching the Samsung Xynus modems this time around as it has been using in Pixel phones for a number of years at this point. I'm not necessarily shocked by this revelation. I do think Pixels has suffered a little bit with Excynus modems since day one. I think the Pixel 6 series which had terrible connectivity. I think most of those major problems on those first tensor chips that suffered with signal loss, dropouts, all that kind of stuff have been eradicated slowly over the past few years, but there's still maybe some hangovers from using those Samsung modems in the latest phones. I think switching out was likely a conscious decision to at least hopefully improve connectivity. And with MediaTek making real gains across all areas of their product portfolio in the last 18 to 24 months, I think it kind of makes sense to switch now and maybe rely less on Samsung given the cutting of ties with Samsung Foundry last year and the move of TSMC with Tens G5. I think we'll have to wait and see how that pans out though. But yeah, I think this is a good move all things considered. There's apparently also a new TPU and a new GXP.

[00:07:07]That's Google's custom image signal processor or ISP, not to be confused with internet service provider. Given that we haven't seen any major camera upgrade on the Pixel for some time now, actually wondering if this is merely improving the processing of images with that existing setup. But to contradict that, it does look like the base Pixel 11 is actually returning to a 50 megapixel main sensor after dropping down last year with the Pixel 11. I personally like this change. I think it's a good major improvement over the Pixel 10. I think it makes the base model potentially a little bit more enticed as well. The Pro phones are also getting a new main sensor. No word on the specifications of that, but there is going to be a bigger telephoto sensor too. So, if the resolution increases dramatically, this new ISP is likely going to handle more data uh in its pipeline and improve the processing of images out of those new sensors, which is also great news. That's not getting into how things are processed. It is something that we'd like to see improved, but not exactly tied to the ISP anyway. So, yes, we're hoping for some improvements across the board. with how Google processes images and that does look like a big big thing that maybe might have slipped the net for a lot of people out there. I would say though overall I'd call that a bit of a mixed bag of what the Tensor G6 is going to provide on the next generation of Pixel phones hopefully coming in the next few months. I think the Boo Boys out there will be and the haters will be out in force anyway. I don't think we're getting the generational performance gains once again this year. I don't think Google actually cares about that like maybe we do as the kind of people who are using these day-to-day. I think it's actually going to be fascinating where this lands in Xphones in terms of the performance charts because yeah, the the Tensor series has kind of held Google back a little bit in terms of that. And I am actually a little bit worried that there's a bit of a big gulf starting to form between Pixels and the best in the business despite the experience of them using them day-to-day isn't necessarily that drastically different. Um I'm wondering how they how they bridge that gap. I feel like Google probably needs to do a little bit more, but maybe the idea is to make incremental improvements and slowly reel the rest in over time. Um, who knows? At this stage, what do you think though?

[00:09:05]Tensor G6 might not be another performance grade leap that we're expecting and maybe hoping for. Um, it doesn't look like Google's ever going to go back to Qualcomm at this point in time, and it doesn't look like Qualcomm is just leaving everybody else in their dust. Let me know what you think down in the comments sections below. I'm sure we'll learn more in the coming weeks and months, as is often the case. It's really not that long until new hardware starts to appear over that horizon.

[00:09:27]Yeah. So, I'm excited to see just what this means in the real world. Cheers for watching though. Hopefully, you enjoyed it and I'll speak to you later.