Next-gen processors are leaving Google's Tensor in the dust

We’re in the home stretch of 2026, which means all the major players have now unveiled their next-generation smartphone silicon. Well, almost all of them. The exception is Samsung’s Exynos 2700, which won’t debut until the launch of the Galaxy S27 series. Still, I’ve had the chance to get hands-on time with flagship smartphones powered by the latest CPU, GPU, and AI technologies the industry has to offer. So now it’s time to put them through their paces and find out which chipset really is the fastest.

For today’s test, Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 powers the REDMAGIC 12 Pro, while Google’s Tensor G6 can be found inside the Pixel 11 Pro XL. OPPO’s Find X10 Pro Max runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro, and Apple’s latest A20 Pro powers the iPhone 18 Pro Max. I’ve put together a side-by-side comparison of their core specifications below.

Custom CPUs still top the charts

Qualcomm’s Oryon and Apple’s latest custom CPU cores continue to outperform the off-the-shelf Arm designs used by Google and MediaTek. This time, it’s Apple that reclaims the performance crown. We’re now on the third generation of Qualcomm’s original Oryon architecture, and even pushing clock speeds to 5GHz hasn’t been enough to compensate for the lack of more substantial architectural changes. Arm’s latest C2 Ultra and C2 Premium cores put in a respectable showing, but still haven’t caught the leaders. Meanwhile, Google’s use of the older C1 Ultra architecture in the Tensor G6 leaves it trailing some way behind.

On the Android side, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is approximately 12% faster in single-core performance than the Dimensity 9600 Pro, and 29% faster than Google’s Tensor G6, according to Geekbench 7. The gap widens considerably in multi-core workloads, where Qualcomm’s latest silicon scores 14% higher than MediaTek’s chip and 59% higher than Google’s.

However, the A20 Pro inside our iPhone 18 Pro Max takes things a step further, scoring 37% higher in single-core testing and just under 6% higher in multi-core testing than the Snapdragon-powered REDMAGIC 12 Pro. That’s an interesting split. It gives the latest iPhones a substantial advantage in single-threaded tasks, such as opening apps or running emulators, while the difference in more heavily parallel workloads is considerably smaller.

The next-generation pecking order feels eerily familiar, then. Apple has reclaimed its CPU crown after a couple of generations of trading blows with Qualcomm’s custom Oryon architecture. Meanwhile, Google continues to take a more conservative approach to its Tensor processors, leaving its latest flagship some way behind its major rivals.

Sustained graphics performance remains an issue

Turning to graphics performance, Qualcomm’s latest chip just about springs back to the top of the leaderboard. The newest Adreno GPU edges out the A20 Pro’s five-core GPU by 6% in Wild Life Extreme and 8% in the Solar Bay ray-tracing test. Those aren’t enormous margins, but they still translate into a few extra frames in the latest and most demanding mobile games. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 has a more substantial advantage over the Dimensity 9600 Pro in ray tracing, outscoring MediaTek’s chip by 20%. For traditional rasterization, however, Apple and MediaTek are virtually neck and neck, which bodes well for the vast majority of mobile games.

All three chips are more than twice as fast as Google’s Tensor G6, leaving the latest Pixel a questionable choice for serious mobile gamers once again. It’s also worth noting that Google’s silicon still doesn’t support ray tracing, so there’s no Solar Bay score to compare.

Next, let’s look at stress-test results. However, a word of caution: these numbers can vary considerably depending on a handset’s cooling system and internal PCB layout. Take the following results with a rather hefty pinch of salt.

Take the REDMAGIC 12 Pro, for instance. It boasts a liquid-cooling system and an internal fan, although switching the fan off doesn’t meaningfully affect our results. This gaming-focused handset allows internal temperatures to climb as high as 58°C, helping the chip sustain peak performance for longer. Even so, it still ends up trading blows with the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

The trade-off is heat. The Snapdragon-powered handset runs considerably hotter than its rivals, with its exterior reaching similarly scorching temperatures. The cooling system is clearly doing a good job of dissipating heat from the chipset, but it also makes the phone uncomfortably hot to hold. Rival handsets generally keep temperatures below 40°C to 45°C for precisely this reason.

That makes the REDMAGIC a somewhat difficult device to compare directly with its competitors, but the results still tell us something important. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 delivers incredible peak performance, but with more conventional temperature limits, it would likely surrender its lead to Apple’s A20 Pro relatively quickly. Apple’s GPU also sustains its performance remarkably well, without needing to push temperatures to the same extremes.

Sustained performance isn’t just a Qualcomm problem this generation, either. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro initially delivers performance comparable to Apple’s latest silicon, but my OPPO handset struggles to keep pace as temperatures rise. The Find X10 Pro Max consequently falls some way behind during prolonged, intensive sessions. It doesn’t drop as far as Google’s Pixel 11 Pro XL, but the performance gap is closer to 45% than 140%. That’s a significant narrowing of the deficit, particularly for extended gaming sessions in a well-cooled environment.

Even in the worst-case scenarios, though, all three rival chips remain comfortably ahead of Google’s Tensor G6. Its comparatively modest GPU is capable enough for everyday use and sustains performance as temperatures ramp up, but its lower starting performance leaves it with little headroom to compete.

Overall, Apple takes the win here. The A20 Pro delivers substantial graphics performance and, more importantly, holds onto it without having to resort to the extreme thermal limits seen in the REDMAGIC.

Should you buy a phone with a fast 2026 chip?

2026 might not have delivered the biggest year-on-year performance gains we’ve ever seen in the mobile space, but there’s no denying that we’re still spoilt for choice when it comes to flagship processing power. Apple’s A20 Pro and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro have narrowed the gap with, and in some cases overtaken, Qualcomm’s once-dominant Snapdragon series, while all three have once again left Google’s Tensor project some considerable distance behind.

It’s not all bad news for Google this year. The Tensor G6’s CPU is only a generation behind the latest competition, and its everyday performance feels every bit as snappy. It also brings support for newer SME2 features that help power more advanced AI workloads. As we’ve seen in previous generations, Google’s custom TPU continues to underpin some of the industry’s better on-device AI experiences.

However, Google’s rivals aren’t standing still. All three competitors have made substantial investments in dedicated NPUs and improved heterogeneous AI acceleration across their chips’ various processing components. Apple, in particular, has moved quickly to close some of the AI capability gap that previously left its silicon trailing the competition.

Flip the argument around, though, and it’s becoming harder to see Google making the same progress in areas where Tensor has historically struggled. The Tensor G6 still lacks ray-tracing support, a feature its competitors have offered for several generations. Qualcomm and MediaTek are already exploring AI-assisted resolution and frame-rate upscaling, technologies that could meaningfully change mobile gaming’s performance and visual quality. There’s little indication that Google is in a hurry to close that particular gap.

It’s an old argument these days, but Google seems content with Tensor being the weakest link in an otherwise competitive flagship phone. The Pixel experience remains compelling for plenty of reasons, but Tensor is increasingly difficult to recommend on its own merits. Qualcomm, Apple, and MediaTek are setting the pace for what premium smartphone silicon can deliver, while Google is still playing catch-up in some fairly fundamental areas. That’s not necessarily a deal-breaker for committed Pixel buyers, but it’s becoming an increasingly difficult position for Google to defend with each new generation. Especially when trying to attract new customers from rival brands.