Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An Android Authority survey has revealed what people want most from the Pixel 10’s chip.
- Most respondents want longer battery life, followed by better performance.
- Very few people wanted more powerful on-device AI.
Google’s Pixel 10 series is widely expected to be the first with processors manufactured by TSMC instead of Samsung. This is a good thing in theory as TSMC-made chips have historically been more efficient than Samsung-manufactured silicon.
It also sounds like this could be a long-term arrangement that lasts until the Pixel 14 series. This all got me wondering what people really want from the Pixel 10’s processor. So we posted polls on the website, Twitter, and YouTube. It turns out there’s one improvement you definitely don’t care for.
What do you want most from the Pixel 10’s chip?
One thing you really don’t want across all three polls is more powerful on-device AI. This accounted for under 8% of the vote across all three polls, and under 6% on our website and YouTube surveys. My first impression is that this means people either don’t care about on-device AI or they think Pixel phones are already very capable in this regard. But after reading user comments, it’s clear that the former is the case.
YouTube user @ramsaygames9256 was one of several respondents to express their displeasure with AI:
Nobody wants on device AI. Such a fad and a genuine mistake.
This sentiment was echoed by Twitter user @WorryIdoNOT:
Nothing. Maybe less AI. Better yet, NO AI at all.
Meanwhile, YouTube user @jb3839 said Google should take notes:
See Google, No cares about AI (sic).
The most popular wish across all three polls was for improved battery life. The switch to TSMC has historically resulted in smartphone chips with improved battery life, and I’m expecting this from the Pixel 10 series as well. It also doesn’t help that older Tensor-powered Pixel phones have often seen mediocre battery life relative to the battery capacity. This has improved with the Pixel 9 series, but colleague Joe Maring still decried the Pixel 9 Pro’s battery life.
YouTube follower @michael_c2 tells us why he chose battery life:
I would be fine with half the power and twice the battery life although I realized that’s not quite how it works. Phones have been snappy for six, seven years even on mid-range chips. So you don’t really notice the benefits of more processing power. At least not until we see more like AAA games come to these mobile platforms.
User @HLXanthus also expressed a desire for improved battery life above all else:
I was die hard Nexus and then Pixel but they couldn’t get the battery performance i needed so moved to Samsung (sic).
Better performance, in general, was the second-most popular choice in our polls. Pixels have long lagged behind rival Android flagship phones when it comes to raw performance. We have seen some Pixels offering great sustained performance. However, this has been one of the few bright spots when it comes to performance.
User @hardikagarwal69 was one of several who voted this way:
I’m getting 8 hrs of SOT on my pixel 8a so I will choose performance.
Finally, the third-most popular option was “less heating.” This is another long-standing complaint about Pixel handsets, and this is something I’ve personally experienced a few times with my Pixel 7 Pro. In fact, several users rightfully noted that reduced heating would open the door to improved performance too.
Twitter user @rd3106 was one of several commenters wanting a cooler Pixel phone:
Less heating, my one complaint with the Pixel 9 is that it gets rather hot and slows down in certain use conditions.
In any event, it’s clear that the Pixel 10’s Tensor G5 chip needs to prioritize battery life, general performance, and reduced heating above more powerful AI if it wants to impress our polled readers.
