Gaming on the Pixel 10 isn’t pretty right now

After testing well-liked Android emulators on final 12 months’s Pixel 10 Professional XL and Pixel 9 Professional XL, I got here away disenchanted. Efficiency is considerably worse on the brand new mannequin, making some video games a lot much less pleasurable and others utterly unplayable. Switching the Tensor G5 processor to an Creativeness Applied sciences DXT-48-1536 graphics unit looks as if an actual step backwards.

Making an attempt to emulate traditional consoles – particularly 3D ones – is at all times a troublesome ask, however what about video games constructed particularly for Android? Nicely, I examined these too, and once more, the outcomes are a combined bag for Google’s newest flagship.

For this spherical, I used the identical two telephones and went via among the hottest Android titles from the previous couple of years. Name of Responsibility: Cell’s Battle Royale mode helps excessive body charges (as much as 120 fps, relying on the telephone) on medium graphics, so I loaded it with antialiasing enabled to emphasize the GPU. Subsequent, I ran Asphalt Legends for a extra steady recreation. Neither telephone helps the sport’s 120fps mode, so I maxed out the graphics to see how they might deal with it.

The Genshin Influence stays as well-liked as ever, so I fired it as much as see how each telephones would carry out at max settings with the 60fps cap. One focal point: The Pixel 9 runs Genshin via the Vulkan API, whereas the Pixel 10 makes use of OpenGL, so the comparability is not fairly one-to-one.

You’ll be able to take a look at some gameplay clips with efficiency overlays within the video above, however let’s dive into the ends in extra element.

Wanting on the efficiency abstract, it is clearly a combined bag, with neither telephone managing to lock within the most framerate in any of those titles. Google’s latest flagship pulls forward in Genshin Influence, however underperforms in Asphalt Legends, particularly within the backside 5% of frames. In the meantime, COD Cell reveals that the 2 handsets are virtually neck and neck. In any case, the newer Pixel 10 Professional XL is not an outright winner, although it gives sufficient acceptable efficiency to maintain these video games playable even at elevated settings.

We see extra vital discrepancies in deeper knowledge. In Asphalt Legends, for instance, the Pixel 10 Professional XL by no means reaches 60fps, whereas the 9 Professional XL often does, which is mirrored within the greater common body charge.

Curiously, the Pixel 10 Professional XL reveals considerably extra “jank” – frames that take greater than 100ms to seem, inflicting noticeable micro-stuttering. This occurs extra usually when loading and beginning races, though it drops barely much less frames than final 12 months’s mannequin throughout gameplay.

With the upper body charges of COD Cell’s Battle Royale mode, the Pixel 10 Professional XL struggles extra with sturdiness. Though the common and worst body charges are comparable between the 2 telephones, we nonetheless see extra jank within the new mannequin. I counted 288 frames over 100ms on the ten Professional XL and none on the 9 Professional XL, leading to a smoother expertise on the older gadget.

If there’s one downside to the Pixel 9 Professional XL, it is that it runs barely hotter on the finish of this 13-minute check. Nevertheless, not one of the telephones appear to endure efficiency throughout that point.

Lastly, Genshin Influence reveals a transparent efficiency win for the Pixel 10 Professional XL, presumably because of using a distinct graphics API. Whereas it may’t deal with a stuttering 60fps, it stays comfortably above 50 more often than not, offering a smoother expertise than the 9 Professional XL, which averages nearer to 40fps. Nevertheless, we noticed a one-time interval of great jank on the ten XL across the one-minute mark, whereas the 9 XL delivered 28 frames that exceeded 100ms.

The Pixel 9 Professional XL does not appear to be working notably exhausting right here – its temperature is way decrease than that of the ten XL – and we often see spikes above 40fps. It’s unclear why its body charge stays so low. I retested a number of occasions and noticed the identical outcome every time, suggesting both a deliberate software program optimization for battery life or a bug within the Android 16 model I am operating.

Whereas the Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 ensures that each one these video games run acceptably if not brilliantly, the outcomes aren’t nice contemplating the telephone generally takes a step again from final 12 months’s mannequin. Nevertheless, there are different, extra apparent issues relating to Android video games.

The ability is nice. In response to Android’s system-level battery knowledge, the Pixel 10 Professional XL attracts much more energy to attain its efficiency edge in Genshin Influence – an unsustainable 7.2W common throughout gameplay that can drain the battery rapidly. Equally worryingly, it consumes extra energy in Asphalt Legends providing worse efficiency. Peak durations reaching as much as 17 W are completely unacceptable.

Energy consumption is nearer in COD Cell, the place the Pixel 9 Professional XL is barely hungrier than the ten Professional XL, however the distinction shouldn’t be vital in comparison with different checks.

One other main challenge is recreation compatibility. Some titles merely do not assist PowerVR GPUs. The superior Alien Isolation, for instance, is out there on older Pixel fashions from a couple of years in the past, however I am unable to get it to put in on my Pixel 10. Though Genshin Influence nonetheless works, as we have seen, the favored title has dropped assist for PowerVR GPUs just like the one discovered within the Pixel 10 collection, which might result in stability testing points for elements of the sport or graphics. There are undoubtedly many different examples.

Talking of glitches, in case you watch COD Cell’s Pixel 10 Professional XL efficiency video with anti-aliasing enabled, you will discover numerous artifacts affecting foliage and automobiles. These disappear when AA is disabled, however it’s precisely the form of drawback that happens on platforms with restricted driver assist.

Many have speculated that these points might stem, no less than partially, from the telephone transport with an older PowerVR DXT-48-1536 (v24.3) GPU driver. Creativeness Applied sciences launched an up to date driver (v25.1) in August, including Android 16 compatibility, Vulkan 1.4 assist, and extra. Nevertheless, Google hasn’t launched it to the Pixel 10 collection but — and driver updates are traditionally sluggish.

I requested about plans for Pixel 10 driver releases and obtained the next response from a Google spokesperson.

We’re persevering with to enhance driver high quality in our month-to-month and quarterly system updates. For instance, the newest September and October patch releases included driver enhancements: https://assist.google.com/pixelphone/thread/379076388?hl=en. In future releases we’re planning additional GPU driver updates.

It is good to listen to that Google is planning enhancements, however the assertion is obscure and gives no concrete timeline or assurance of great efficiency good points. The newest updates appear to incorporate solely minor bug fixes slightly than the long-awaited driver overhaul. We’ll have to attend and see if issues enhance – however optimism is difficult to return by.

Whereas Google’s newest flagship gives acceptable efficiency for well-liked Android titles, severe cell avid gamers ought to maintain off earlier than leaping into the Pixel 10 collection. If you cannot wait, final 12 months’s Pixel 9 lineup might provide higher efficiency, particularly for emulators, and virtually actually at a cheaper price.