Google is advancing its steps to make fully custom in-house Tensor chips starting with phasing out Samsung and its Exynos foundation. The information comes from a Taiwanese publication Economic Daily according to which, Google has handed over the testing of itself-developed Tensor G5 chip to a Taiwan-based KYEC that would give it full authority over the chip-making.
As per the timeline, the testing isn’t expected to start until the middle of this year. The chipset will be used on Google Pixel 10 series set to debut in October 2025. The publication further stresses the chipset’s AI capabilities which isn’t surprising given how AI is slowly becoming a norm on flagship phones. You can check out the Samsung Galaxy S24 series for instance.
Talking about the Tensor G5, the chipset is codenamed “Laguna” and it is likely based on a 3nm process. Moving to a lower fabrication node gives chipsets an immense upgrade in terms of performance and power efficiency.
Using KYEC instead of Samsung’s Exynos chip foundation would give Tensor G5 an edge over Samsung’s Exynos SoCs. Moreover, this is probably the step it requires before switching over to Samsung foundry’s competitor TSMC next year.
For the unversed, Exynos chipsets lag behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series time and again although the South Korean giant is trying to bridge the gap. The Exynos 2400 SoC is a specimen compared to its rival Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC although the reviews for the former are yet to arrive.
Coming back to Google, the Tensor G5 SoCs will power the Google Pixel 10 series in late 2025. The search engine giant will still stick to Samsung for the G4 SoC slated to arrive later this year with the Pixel 9 series. Reports suggest G4 will bring a slight upgrade over G3. We are talking about a 1.7x increase in CPU performance and a 14.7x increase in AI performance. That’s what we could see with the G4 SoC which is loosely based on Samsung’s Exynos 2400 SoC.
You can follow Smartprix on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google News. Visit smartprix.com for the most recent news, reviews, and tech guides.
