Anyone who owns a Pixel 10 can hope for a noticeable increase in performance for games and apps.
If you purchase through these links, we receive a commission that supports our editorial work. The price for you remains unchanged. These affiliate links are through a marked symbol. Learn more.
With the release of “Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1”, Google has rolled out a long-awaited update for the graphics unit of the Pixel 10 series. This new driver addresses one of the most persistent criticisms of the in-house Tensor chips: the gaming performance, which is often perceived as inferior to the competition.
Google updates Pixel 10 GPU drivers
The update updates the driver for the PowerVR GPU to a version that the manufacturer Imagination had already made available in August 2025. The most important innovation is support for the modern graphics interface Vulkan 1.4. In theory, this allows demanding games and graphics-intensive applications to access the hardware more efficiently, resulting in a smoother presentation should lead (Source: Android Authority).
Gaming and general CPU performance has always been considered one of the weaknesses of Pixel smartphones. The Tensor chips perform well in everyday tasks such as writing messages, taking photos and videos, and watching content in apps. However, when it comes to modern mobile phone games or demanding apps, Google SoCs often lose out – new benchmarks prove this year after year.
Google had already announced the GPU update
As early as October 2025, Google promised to improve driver quality with future updates, but at the time left it open how extensive the changes would be (source: Android Authority). With the driver upgrade that has now been released, the company is keeping this promise.
Since such innovations from beta versions are usually released for all users in one of the next “Pixel Drops”, the improvement should soon arrive on all Pixel 10 devices – probably early 2026. Future tests still have to prove whether the theoretical advantages are also reflected in measurable performance increases in practice.