With the Pixel 10<\/a>\u2019s Tensor G5, Google finally had the chance to turn things around.<\/p>\n It could have finally offered a flagship that delivered a proper balance of performance and battery life. Instead, it fumbled that opportunity.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s Tensor problems trace back to Samsung<\/p>\n A partnership that never should have been<\/p>\n Designing and building an SoC in-house is expensive.<\/p>\n So, to get a head start, Google used Samsung\u2019s Exynos chip as a base platform. It also used Samsung\u2019s process node to fabricate the chip.<\/p>\n Since the 2021 Pixel 6, Pixel fanboys have blamed Samsung \u2014 and, to a certain extent, Google \u2014 for the issues plaguing Tensor chips.<\/p>\n While Google gradually shifted to off-the-shelf CPU and GPU designs from Arm, it continued to rely on Samsung\u2019s foundry and modem for Tensor chips.<\/p>\n This led to all Pixel phones suffering from two major issues: poor thermal performance and mobile connectivity issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Exynos 5400 modem inside the Pixel 9 largely fixed the latter problem, though it arrived a couple of years too late.<\/p>\n Samsung and TSMC rank among the world\u2019s largest foundries, capable of producing the latest chips on cutting-edge process nodes.<\/p>\n However, the two are not alike, with TSMC pulling ahead of its Korean competitor with its fabrication technology in the last few years.<\/p>\n The same chip fabricated on TSMC\u2019s and Samsung\u2019s process nodes can show significant differences in power efficiency and performance.<\/p>\n The 2022 Galaxy S22<\/a> is the prime example of this. It launched with a 4nm Samsung-fabricated Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, which was widely criticized for its poor thermal performance.<\/p>\n A few months later, Qualcomm switched to TSMC for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The underlying CPU architecture remained the same; just the switch alone brought a massive improvement in thermals and power consumption.<\/p>\n Since then, Qualcomm has stuck to TSMC\u2019s node for fabricating its new Snapdragon chips.<\/p>\n Likewise, Apple has close ties with TSMC, booking out its newest node for the initial few months for its new A-series chips. If Apple\u2019s ready to pay billions of dollars to TSMC, there has to be a good reason for it.<\/p>\n After years of growing criticism from the Pixel community, Google finally turned to TSMC\u2019s foundry to fabricate the Tensor G5 this year.<\/p>\n Given TSMC\u2019s solid track record, it raised expectations ahead of the Pixel 10\u2019s launch that the move would finally fix one of the Pixel lineup\u2019s biggest flaws \u2014 poor battery life.<\/p>\n Tensor G5 proves TSMC alone can\u2019t fix Google\u2019s problems<\/p>\n Google fell way short with its execution<\/p>\n With the Pixel 10 lineup now out for over a month, it\u2019s clear that Google\u2019s move to TSMC hasn\u2019t translated into a major boost in battery life. Other chips from Qualcomm and Apple still deliver far better efficiency.<\/p>\n Yes, the Pixel 10 runs cooler than previous Pixels, and while that\u2019s an equally important improvement, it alone is not enough.<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be as disappointing if Google had used the available thermal headroom to boost the Tensor G5\u2019s CPU performance instead.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not the case either, with the Pixel 10\u2019s Tensor G5 failing to beat even flagship Snapdragon chipsets from two years ago. The company stuck to older ARM CPU cores, instead of adopting the latest option available.<\/p>\n Worse, the new PowerVR GPU has turned out to be a major disappointment, delivering average to below-par gaming performance.<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-pixel-9-pixel-8-pixel-7-pixel-6-tensor-family-portrait-2024.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
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