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Google likely never intended the Tensor G4 to be a radical performance improvement over the Tensor G3, with rumors dating back to 2023 suggesting the SoC would be only a minor upgrade. Now it looks like that may finally be true, but the company isn’t without upgrades elsewhere, as the Exynos 5400 5G modem inside the Pixel 9 series is said to offer better power efficiency than the previous generation baseband chip.

The Tensor G3 was equipped with a 9-core CPU cluster, while the Tensor G4 is even downgraded, at least on paper, to an 8-core configuration. Of course, in order to provide better performance than the previous generation, Google may equip the upcoming SoC with more advanced "1 + 3 + 4" cores. As for why the tech giant did not adopt a 10-core CPU cluster based on the Exynos 2400 for better multi-core performance, Android Authority reported that the company may have insisted on using this design in order to make the temperature performance of the Tensor G4 better during operation.

However, despite the reduced core count, the Tensor G4 still scores 33% faster than the Tensor G3 on AnTuTu, but previous benchmarks showed that SoC running on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which may be equipped with a larger heat sink. Another report claims that, like Samsung's Exynos 2400, Google will use FOWLP "fan-out wafer-level packaging" to provide higher multi-core scores and keep the heat dissipated longer.

However, if this was Google's goal, it could have easily used more CPU clusters and paired that configuration with advanced packaging to achieve higher scores.

Whatever Google's reasoning, the Tensor G4 more or less seems to be a stopgap measure, and while the company was previously reported to be marketing the chip as a "game-changer," we highly doubt it will be an extraordinary release. What's different is the Exynos 5400 modem paired with the SoC alone, which sources reportedly reveal is 50% more power efficient than the Exynos 5300 used in the Pixel 8. Unfortunately, not all Tensor G4s will benefit from this power-efficient modem, as Google is said to be working on a solution that pairs the latest chip with an older baseband chip.

After looking at these specs, we can clearly see that the Tensor G4 will obviously not be Google's "shining moment". For this, we have to wait until 2025, when Google will launch the Tensor G5, its first fully customized chip, which has previously been reported to have reached tape-out and will be mass-produced on TSMC's 3nm process.