Google Pixel 11 Pro and Tensor G6 showcase severe GPU thermal throttling in hands-on benchmark tests

The TSMC-built Tensor G6 chipset powers Google's new Pixel 11 series. Phones in the series have paid quick visits to Geekbench and 3DMark over the past week, with less-than-impressive performance results, and that trend looks set to continue. 

As tested, the new Pixel 11 Pro failed to inspire confidence in a series of AnTuTu runs. The flagship phone earned an overall score of 1,710,984 in its best run, with that figure being comparable to the average Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 device on AnTuTu's charts. 

For more perspective, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 debuted in 2022 and powered devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. This specific run was with the device at a temperature of 11.3°C, and the Pixel 11 Pro recorded a CPU score of 826,956 in those conditions—roughly on par with Snapdragon 8 Elite devices.

It's in the GPU department that the Pixel 11 Pro (buy on Amazon US, curr. $1,099) and Tensor G6 largely struggled. At its best, with the device effectively at freezing temperatures, it scored 414,765 on the GPU test—again in the same ballpark as Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones. With its temperature rising to 11.3°C, that figure dropped to 226,111. That represents a 45% drop in graphical performance and is identical to Snapdragon 888 phones from 2021. 

With the device at 36.7°C, the Pixel 11 Pro's PowerVR CXTP-48-1536 GPU effectively collapsed, however. It only managed a 40,362 score, or less than 10% of its peak performance at "freezer temps". On the flip side, CPU performance remained mostly stable across all three runs.