The phone hasn’t even launched yet, but the prospect of a Pixel 6 series powered by a custom Google Tensor SoC is already raising some big questions.

According to a robust report, the Pixel 6’s Google Tensor SoC will look a bit different from other flagship chipsets on the market.

Although next-gen SoCs from Qualcomm and Samsung aren’t too far away, the Google Tensor chip is designed to compete with the current-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and Samsung Exynos 2100 flagship chipsets.

If the GPU setup indeed matches Samsung’s Exynos 2100, then the Pixel 6 will be a decent gaming phone too, albeit still a few frames behind the Snapdragon 888’s graphics capabilities.

However, we’re anticipating that the chip’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) will offer even more competitive machine learning and AI capabilities.

Read more: Snapdragon 888 vs Exynos 2100 tested.

It’s worth exploring in more detail, which we’ll get to, but the prominent point is that two powerhouse Cortex-X1 CPUs should give the Google Tensor SoC more grunt for single-threads but the older Cortex-A76 cores may make the chip a weaker multitasker.

On paper, the Google Tensor processor and the Pixel 6 series look to be very competitive with the Exynos 2100 and Snapdragon 888 found through some of 2021’s best smartphones?

With two Cortex-X1 cores for the heavy lifting, Google may feel confident that its chip has the right mix of peak power and efficiency.

Opting for smaller, lower power cores frees up the chip’s silicon, energy, and thermal budget for these bigger components.

Alternatively, it could be said that choosing two Cortex-X1 CPU cores forces Google to adopt two smaller, lower power mid-tier cores?

Read more: Why the Pixel 6’s Tensor chip is actually a big deal (and why it isn’t).

But on paper, the Google Tensor looks every bit as compelling as the flagship-tier Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 2100.

What do you make of the Google Tensor vs Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 2100