Tensor G3: Google Pixel 8 series chipset fails to match the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in early Geekbench appearance

Information on Google's next mainstream mobile chipset, the Tensor G3, has floated around the grapevine for a while now. The Tensor G3 will power the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro and now appears to have made its first trip over to Geekbench, leaving a stream of disappointment in its wake.

According to the leaked image, the Tensor G3 only manages to earn a single-core score of 1186 on Geekbench 5. On the multi-core test, it stumbles with a score of 3809. Those numbers represent a minimal improvement over the Pixel 7 series' Tensor G2, which was, in turn, an incremental update on the first-gen Tensor that debuted on the Pixel 6 series back in 2021. Our database has the Tensor G2 listed with scores of 1049 and 3244 on the single-core and multi-core tests respectively. The Tensor G3 looks to be about 10% more powerful than its predecessor.

Google's Tensor chipsets have never offered competitive CPU performance and that seems set to continue with the Tensor G3, as the leaked numbers see it lag behind last year's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The last-gen chipset averages a single-core score of 1274 and a multi-core score of 4185 on Geekbench 5. Disappointingly, it also seems to perform worse than even a mid-range chipset like the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 on Xiaomi's Poco F5.

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