Pixel 10 Will Still Use An Exynos Modem Rather Than MediaTek In Tensor G5, Leak Shows

A hands-on leak of a Pixel 10 Pro this week revealed a few key details about the device, including that its Tensor G5 chipset won’t be using the MediaTek modem that it was originally expected to switch to.

The hardware on Pixel 10 series is largely the same as the existing Pixel 9 lineup, but the big news this year is the chipset under the hood. Tensor G5 is expected to be the first Google chipset produced by TSMC instead of Samsung, making it Google’s first fully custom design that doesn’t rely on roots in Exynos. The new chip isn’t expected to be a performance overhaul, but a switch to TSMC should, on its own, provide a boost to overall efficiency.

However, it apparently won’t lead to a change in Tensor G5’s modem, which will remain the same according to a new leak.

In the hands-on Pixel 10 Pro images that surfaced this week, the “DevCheck Pro” app reports back that Tensor G5 is using a baseband starting in “g5400,” the same as we’ve seen with the Pixel 9 series. This all but confirms that Tensor G5 and, in turn, the Pixel 10 series, will be using the same Exynos 5400 modem as the Pixel 9 series. This is despite the TSMC switch, and following prior reporting that cited “a source inside Google” claiming that a modem from MediaTek would be used. These hands-on images appear to directly disprove that.

While MediaTek may have provided improved efficiency – Exynos modems have notoriously been a part of Google Pixel’s heat issues in the Tensor era – it’s worth noting that Exynos 5400 largely did improve many of those problems. The Pixel 9 series has run considerably cooler than past Pixels, and improvements in the rest of Tensor G5 thanks to the TSMC switch will likely make up the difference, even if it still lags behind what you’ll find in a Snapdragon SoC.

The leak also shows that Pixel 10 will run on 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while Tensor G5 has a new core layout. For more on that, read our further coverage.