Google Pixel 9 may get a big performance upgrade — and it’s all thanks to Samsung

A new chip could give the Google Pixel 9 a big boost in power, according to a new report from Korean site Financial News (via Revegnus on X/Twitter).

The Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 should be made by Samsung Electronics Foundry, just as previous Tensor chips have been. The alleged difference this time is that the Tensor G4 will be built on the same 4nm process as the Exynos 2400, found in Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus models outside the U.S.

A big part of this apparent upgrade will be the use of FOWLP, or fan-out wafer-level packaging. This will make for better heat management, improving the chip’s performance, and efficiency.

This could be exactly what Google needs for its next-gen flagship phone. The Tensor G3 chip found in the Pixel 8 series is quite far behind rival devices like the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the OnePlus 12 or the iPhone 15 series, so a performance bump would serve the next Pixel well.

And while we’ve not tested an Exynos-powered S24 yet, the consensus of reviewers and users seems to be that the usual performance gap between the Exynos and Snapdragon versions of Samsung Galaxy S phones is fairly small this year, which hopefully means similar results for the Tensor G4 against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in most rival Android phones.

Financial News also reports that the next Exynos chip could use a 3nm chip, the smallest process on offer for mobile silicon right now, and currently only found in the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chip. This hopefully means that future Galaxy S phones, and also the following Tensor chip in what we assume would be the Pixel 10, could be an even bigger step forward.

The Google Pixel 9 series should arrive in October this year, going by Google’s established release pattern. But we’ll likely get the Pixel 8a before that this summer, and possibly a Pixel Fold 2 at some point this year as well.

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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he’s also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he’s likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.