Should The Pixel 10 Ditch Tensor For Snapdragon? It’s Complicated

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

What if Google’s next Pixel flagship used Qualcomm’s high-flying Snapdragon 8 Elite rather than Google’s in-house Tensor processor? While obviously entirely hypothetical (Google already has plans for the Pixel 11’s Tensor G6), the hit-and-miss nature of the Pixel’s in-house chip has often left many of us contemplating if the Tensor project has failed and if Pixel wouldn’t be better off using the same chip as everyone else.

Performance is the obvious and most talked about point of difference, of course. It’s well documented that Tensor typically benchmarks a couple of generations behind brand-new rivals, leaving Google’s current Tensor G4 closer to 2022’s 8 Gen 2 than the new powerhouse 8 Elite. Things don’t look set to change with the G5; the gap has widened as Qualcomm has powered ahead with custom CPU cores that Arm’s Cortex CPUs can’t match.

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

This isn’t to say that the current Pixel 9 is slow, nor will the 10 series. With both the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Galaxy S25 Ultra in hand, I can attest that both launch apps and power through my daily tasks without breaking a sweat. But honestly, even much more affordable phones now offer plenty of performance when browsing social media. For premium users looking to play the most demanding Android games or fire through video editing apps, there’s no doubt that the Snapdragon 8 Elite has much more headroom — an especially important consideration given the seven-year lifespan of these handsets. Still, this has been the case for several years at this point, so let’s look at other developments to make this thought experiment much more interesting.

Performance is the most obvious difference, but moving to Snapdragon could change a lot more.

Another boon for recent Snapdragon flagships is enhanced battery life. Thanks to TSMC’s 3nm process, rival handsets outlast the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s battery life for a roughly equivalent 5,060mAh capacity (see the Magic 7 Pro – 5,270mAh, and Galaxy S25 Ultra – 5,000mAh below). Granted, display and other spec differences contribute, but there’s a general theme, too. Pixel falls far behind our competitors in our video playback, web browsing, and video call tests — offering anywhere from just 66% to 85% of the screen on time of the Galaxy S25 Ultra in these scenarios. Depending on what you’re doing, that can result in a couple of extra hours of screen-on time. This is certainly reflected in my time spent with the two phones — the Pixel 9 Pro XL will easily take me through a whole day, but the S25 Ultra is more likely to push on through a second day of basic use.

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Robert Triggs / Android Authority

However, Google’s handset does equal and even sometimes just about best the competition when it comes to image and video capture, allowing you to take more of those precious snaps before the phone goes dead. Tensor’s imaging pipeline seems more frugal than Snapdragon’s, possibly owing to its tighter integration with its AI processor. Still, this seems to depend far more on the camera hardware than the processor, as seen by the huge variation in results from our Snapdragon 8 Elite flagships. In any event, hopefully, general battery life will likely improve when the Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 finally swaps Samsung Foundries for TSMC and a more cutting-edge 3nm node, but we’ll have to see if it can close that gap.

A final point worth considering about Snapdragon is Qualcomm’s huge range of extra options. Qualcomm has long had blazing fast and reliable modems for 5G and the latest Wi-Fi standards (Samsung’s modems have been meh). Additionally, there’s aptX Lossless for high-end wireless audio and Snapdragon Seamless for better integration with the latest PCs. Few brands ever throw in everything Qualcomm has to offer, but these would let Google do some more interesting things with its broader ecosystem. Granted, Google is investing in Satellite SOS and other features that ensure the phone feels up-to-date, so it’s more a case of picking and choosing what would make for the most interesting products. I would undoubtedly love snappier connectivity between my Pixel and PC, as well as an option other than the unreliable LDAC to play back my FLAC

Could you give up those Pixel goodies?

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

OK, enough of the Snapdragon schmoozing. Obviously, we’d be giving up much of what makes the Pixel so great if it ditched Tensor for Snapdragon, right? Well, I’m not so sure that’s as true today as it was a couple of years ago.

Take AI, for example, Tensor’s early golden goose that kept the early models on everyone’s radar. Fed up with the sluggish pace of machine learning silicon innovation, Tensor allowed Google to push ahead with computational photography and on-device AI capabilities that were leaps and bounds ahead at the time. While Google already cut its teeth on these ideas while still using Snapdragon, the Pixel 6 upped the ante with Live Translate, Face Unblur, and Real Tone, and Google’s two follow-up phones cemented its reputation on these fronts.

However, 2024 leveled the playing field. Galaxy AI showed that Samsung and Snapdragon can match much of what Google has to offer, and that gap has narrowed further with the S25 series. Close cooperation between the two has brought real-time translations, document summarization, and even new AI imaging features on-device. Countless other brands have introduced similar AI capabilities with their 2025 flagship products, such as the OnePlus 13 with its Gemini Nano-powered Magic Compose and live translation tools, leaving the Pixel 9 series with fewer unique AI accolades. Plenty of brilliant Pixel-exclusive features remain, of course, and Google will no doubt throw a few more at us when the Pixel 10 rolls around. However, a lot of these tools could almost certainly run on a Snapdragon-powered Pixel, too, complete with the other benefits we’ve listed so far.

Whether its AI, photography, or updates, Tensor provides fewer clear advantages each year.

Photography isn’t a safe space for Pixels these days, either. While the brand continues to be one of the more reliable performers when it comes to HDR and color accuracy, plenty of other phones can do that, too. In fact, I’d argue that OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi produce better-looking pictures in terms of color science and are plowing their phones with useful filters and other AI tools to make them creative powerhouses. Google’s latest innovations in Add Me and Best Take are welcome but hardly push the creativity envelope, but that’s what high-end photographers all clamor for.

Long-term updates, too, aren’t exclusively Pixel’s domain either. Google has made it easier for vendors like Qualcomm to support their chips for longer, albeit without necessarily supporting the latest Android hardware features further down the line. Still, Samsung now supports its Galaxy flagships with seven years of OS upgrades, matching Google. OnePlus promises four OS and six years of security patches, and several others have committed to the four/five split.

A Snapdragon chip certainly doesn’t guarantee long-term support, but it wouldn’t be a barrier to Pixels lasting seven years either.

Speaking of updates, Android 16 breaks the long-standing practice of rolling out significant upgrades alongside the latest Pixel. If Google wanted, it could completely shift its launch window to be one of the first with a new Snapdragon processor. Now, wouldn’t that be something?

Snapdragon is a no-brainer, then?

Well, that sounds pretty conclusive. Surely, Google is foolish not to opt for Snapdragon?

Well, let’s not be so hasty: price is the elephant in the room, and we know that the 8 Elite doesn’t come cheap. Tensor isn’t exactly a bargain bucket chip, but it’s not as pricey, and the company plans to bring the cost down even further over the next two generations. Meanwhile, rumors suggest that next year’s Snapdragon flagship will cost even more. If you’ve wondered why brands have seemingly very tight budgets for updating their designs, it’s because silicon costs are consuming ever greater portions.

Could Google offer such long updates, continually revamp its design, or invest so heavily in its beloved software features if it had to pay the Snapdragon tax? Only Google knows, but I imagine something would have to give. At the very least, Tensor allows Google to support budget, flagship, and tablet products from a single building block — an idea Apple leverages to great success as well.

I’d love a faster Pixel, but Tensor has less tangible benefits I’d miss.

Let’s not forget that rivals have only recently closed the gap on Tensor’s advantages in AI, photography, and updates. Being at the helm of its chip destiny affords Google a level of planning it can’t have when buying off the shelf. Unfortunately, Tensor doesn’t appear to have anything all that groundbreaking planned for the next couple of generations. Still, it will power 4K 60fps HDR video, 100x zoom, a new Cinematic Rendering Engine, and ambient health-related features in the next couple of generations, keeping the Pixel fresh with new features to talk about. Plus, the potential for another breakaway design change is probably worth keeping the chip around for.

So, would I really want Google to ditch Tensor and return to Snapdragon for the Pixel 10 and potentially beyond? Part of me says yes, but equally, there are already plenty of great phones if you’re desperate for a Qualcomm chip. Tensor’s more intangible qualities have helped make the Pixel the beloved series that it is, and despite our quibbles, it still plays an important enough role in the series’ identity to keep it around. In any event, we’re stuck with Tensor for at least a couple more years anyway.