Are Google’s Tensor chips actually that scorching and inefficient?

Google’s Pixel smartphones delight themselves on very good software program however haven’t fairly garnered the identical popularity for his or her processor {hardware}. Regardless of customized silicon within the type of Google’s Tensor chip, efficiency and energy consumption have been hit-and-miss. Nevertheless, issues have anecdotally improved in latest generations, together with the brand new Pixel 9 sequence.

However is there any knowledge to again up lots of our intestine emotions? We’ve been testing smartphones for years, so I dug out our outcomes for the Pixel 6 Professional and its authentic Tensor processor to check in opposition to the newest Pixel 9 Professional XL and its Tensor G4, and each mannequin Professional in between. Let’s get into it.

Google’s Tensor beneath the microscope

First, stress take a look at runs by means of 3DMark’s Wild Life benchmarks present us with an excellent have a look at how the telephones deal with sustained efficiency when working beneath heavy load. We’ve tracked the telephones’ inner/battery temperature (so how heat the telephone feels to the contact relatively than contained in the CPU) to see if newer fashions are working hotter or cooler. Consider this as a worst-case state of affairs relatively than something near the temperatures you’ll expertise scrolling Instagram or flipping by means of net pages.

Nonetheless, the unhealthy information is that temperatures have risen fairly sharply. Over the course of the 20-minute take a look at, each the utmost and common temperatures on the Pixel 9 Professional XL have been greater than these on the Pixel 6 Professional—from peaks of 40.1°C to highs of 43.2°C. That stated, the newest mannequin suggests this development is slowing when in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional, displaying solely marginal will increase in peak and common temperatures.

The exception right here is the Pixel 9 Professional; it runs significantly hotter than the 9 XL mannequin and the Pixel 8 Professional. Clearly, the smaller enclosure area leaves much less area for strong cooling to maneuver warmth away, that means a hotter telephone in hand and the potential for elevated efficiency throttling.

Nevertheless, temperatures don’t paint your complete image. Whereas inner warmth has gone up, every Pixel Professional mannequin has vastly improved its stress take a look at stability rating. This appears counterintuitive however highlights that newer telephones are comfortable working in greater temperatures environments earlier than throttling efficiency. How can this be?

Higher cooling is almost certainly to affect these outcomes. These temperatures mirror the warmth all through the gadget relatively than simply within the processor. Superior cooling will transfer that warmth away from the SoC and all through the gadget. So whereas your handset could really feel hotter, the chip inside is definitely working cooler. The Pixel 9 Professional versus Professional XL is once more an incredible instance of this; it’s the identical chip, however a smaller space to dissipate warmth ends in greater temperatures and extra aggressive efficiency throttling on the Professional.

Effectivity can even assist on this regard. A processor that’s higher at changing energy into efficiency and losing much less as warmth is much less more likely to must throttle again efficiency to maintain temperatures beneath management. Thermal runaway is way much less doubtless. The Pixel 6 Professional demonstrates this fairly nicely; it seems to run the good and but has the worst stability rating, suggesting a better build-up of warmth contained in the chip. In the meantime, the Pixel 7 Professional produces comparable temperatures and but affords improved stability. Google acknowledged that the Tensor G2’s 5nm node was extra environment friendly than the unique Tensor’s.

What about effectivity and battery life?

Energy consumption is the opposite half of the equation, and for that, we are able to flip to our in-house battery take a look at to see if there have been any good points right here to help the speculation about improved effectivity. We have a look at a wide range of metrics to get a stable overview of varied typical eventualities, from net looking to video recording. The Pixel Professional sequence’ cameras and shows have modified a bit, so there’s some leeway within the outcomes. Nonetheless, battery capacities have barely modified over 4 generations, at 5,003mAh, 5,000mAh, 5,050mAh, and 5,060mAh, respectively.

There’s a transparent development in longer battery life with the transfer to newer fashions. Whether or not you’re looking the net, recording video, or making video calls, we are able to see a notable bounce between the unique Tensor and Tensor G2 within the 6 Professional and seven Professional. We’ve seen an additional leap with the transfer to the Pixel 9 Professional XL, owing to the transfer to a extra environment friendly manufacturing course of, as the remainder of the chip is just about unchanged. Our gaming benchmark is the one exception, however that’s doubtless as a result of efficiency good points come on the expense of the effectivity wins — therefore the upper temperatures too.

Averaged throughout our assessments, the Pixel 7 Professional is 35% extra battery environment friendly than the 6 Professional, the 7 Professional and eight Professional are roughly the identical, and the 9 Professional XL sees an 11% bounce over the 8 Professional. There’s a whopping 48% battery longevity enhance from the first-gen Tensor chip contained in the Pixel 9 Professional to the Tensor G4 contained in the Pixel 9 Professional XL. That’s fairly an enchancment over simply 4 years.

In fact, we count on processors to grow to be extra environment friendly each era or two, owing to the transfer to extra environment friendly manufacturing nodes. Google’s Tensor has gone from Samsung’s doubtful 5nm LPE to a a lot improved Samsung 4nm (presumably 4LPP+) course of with the Tensor G4, and the outcomes outlined right here present clear advantages of the newer chip and its manufacturing course of.

The image’s clear, however there’s much more to the story that falls exterior of testing. Google’s alternative of modem, as an example, impacts networking effectivity and temperatures, that are notably noticeable when roaming in poor sign areas. Tensor has adopted newer Samsung Exynos modems, together with within the newest Pixel 9 sequence, which boast far larger effectivity, bringing the telephones a lot nearer to Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S sequence. Anecdotally, we’ve seen much-improved connectivity and fewer battery drain because the generations have passed by.

That stated, we’ve nonetheless felt these telephones warmth up once in a while (however what telephone doesn’t), suggesting future Pixels might nonetheless profit from extra cutting-edge manufacturing processes like TSMC’s 3nm, which you’ll discover in flagship handsets arriving by early 2025. Subsequent 12 months’s Tensor G5 is anticipated to maneuver over to TSMC, suggesting that the sequence’ finest years are nonetheless but to come back with the Pixel 10.