The Google Pixel 10 series phones do not appear to be solid performers. (Image Source: Google)The Google Pixel 10 series phones do not appear to be solid performers. (Image Source: Google)

Google’s Pixel series has hardly been known for its performance, particularly since the switch to the company’s Tensor SoCs. The Pixel 10 series appears to take that even further, with early hands-on benchmarks showcasing CPU performance on par with 2023 flagship chipsets, and GPU performance worse than on the Pixel 9 series and identical to 2021 flagship chipsets.

Google unveiled the Pixel 10 series globally a week ago. The premium phones are finally being delivered to users, with the first batch of deliveries now providing actual hands-on performance metrics for the Tensor G5-powered phones

While Geekbench remains officially unavailable for the Pixel 10 series, a user on Reddit has now put their new Pixel 10 Pro XL unit through AnTuTu’s tests. The flagship phone earns a total score of 1,173,221, which would currently place it alongside phones like the Honor 200 Pro and Motorola Edge 60 Pro—featuring the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and Dimensity 8350, respectively—on AnTuTu’s official chart.

On the CPU side, the phone scores 415,848. That’s a figure identical to chipsets like the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and MediaTek Dimensity 9300+. It also represents about a 15% improvement versus the Pixel 9 Pro XL. All considered, effectively last-gen flagship CPU performance, although that will change in a matter of weeks with both Qualcomm and MediaTek set to debut new flagship chipsets. 

On the GPU side, PowerVR’s IMG DXT-48-1536 on the Pixel 10 Pro XL delivers a score of 367,206. That is, rather worryingly, lower than the Pixel 9 Pro XL and its Mali-G715 MC7 GPU. The last-gen phone has been tested to score north of 440,000 on this same test, indicating about a 20% drop in GPU performance across generations. That figure also places the Tensor G5’s GPU in the same ballpark as chipsets like the four-year-old Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. 

Ricci RoxRicci Rox – Senior Tech Writer – 3051 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2017

I like tech, simple as. Half the time, you can catch me writing snarky sales copy. The rest of the time, I’m either keeping readers abreast with the latest happenings in the mobile tech world or watching football. I worked as both a journo and freelance content writer for a couple of years before joining the Notebookcheck team in 2017. Feel free to shoot me some questions on Twitter or Reddit if it so tickles thine fancy.