When the Google Pixel 7 series was teased in May 2022, we were told it had a Tensor 2 chipset, a Google-made chipset that inherited the chip it debuted in the Google Pixel 6 series. We’ve just heard the first leak about this upcoming component, and it’s a surprising one.
Bear with me here as the source is puzzling: someone managed to buy a locked Google Pixel 7 Pro prototype and sent its launch log to the Telegram channel Google News | CN (Opens in a new tab) (presumably with Google itself The news tool of the same name has nothing to do with it).
The channel then shared key information: the upcoming phone will apparently have the same screen as its predecessor, while the Tensor 2 chipset is apparently very similar to the original.
If there are limited changes to components in the chipset, that means the Pixel 7 probably won’t have as much processing power as its predecessor, the Pixel 6 — but that doesn’t mean it’ll be exactly the same, as Google could add more AI smarts , but don’t expect a super-powerful Android.
That fact might put you off — after all, newer models of phones are expected to be more powerful — but in reality, it’s really not an issue.
Analysis: the worse the better
Every new iteration of the Android processor should be faster than the last. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 should be faster than the 888, the 888 should be faster than the 865, and the 865 should be faster than the 855.
In practice, however, things are not that simple, and we can demonstrate this by looking at benchmarks. At TechRadar, we use the Geekbench 5 test to see how fast the phone is in the lab, although other sites use alternatives. It has shown us some really interesting things recently.
Phones using 2021’s high-end Snapdragon 888 chip typically perform as well as phones using its predecessor’s 865 chip, while the latest 8 Gen 1 phones tend to perform below both. That’s partly because these newer chips have horrific overheating issues that can cause performance to drop off quickly with use — and there’s something to be said for newer chips that excel in areas that benchmarks haven’t found.
But the simple fact is that cell phones are getting fast enough. If your fingers aren’t fast enough, or if gaming graphics already outpace what a small screen can do, then you don’t need your phone to be nimbler. Instead, the new chips focus more on power optimization and efficiency, new camera capabilities and improved AI intelligence. Being strong or fast is no longer as important as being smart.
So it’s likely that Google is just catering to audience usage and is less about power and more about everything else. If the Pixel 7 doesn’t excel in benchmarks, that’s fine — the phone could improve in many other areas, and it’ll remain a contender for our best smartphones list.
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