Pixel 10 Slow? Google Finally Unleashes Long-Awaited Update to Boost Power

Since its launch, the Pixel 10 has been plagued by graphical performance issues. The culprit? An outdated driver that simply needs an update… It appears that Beta 1 of Android 16 QPR3 finally brings this much-awaited upgrade.

Shortly after its release, the Google Pixel 10 found itself in the spotlight, and not for the right reasons. Users were complaining about graphical performance issues. Attention quickly turned to the GPU of Google’s in-house Tensor G5 chip: the PowerVR DXT-48-1536 from Imagination Technologies.

In truth, the problem wasn’t the hardware itself but rather the driver Google used, which was outdated (version 24.3). Even though Imagination Technologies had released version 25.1 in August, Google had apparently not seen fit to equip the Pixel 10 with the latest graphic driver. Fortunately, if there’s good news, it’s that the solution to these power issues was simple: deploy the latest version. After nearly three months, Google seems to have finally decided to do so with the first beta of Android 16 QPR3.

Android 16: Google Finally Rolls Out the Long-Awaited Update to Enhance Pixel 10’s Power

Google had promised in October they planned “more GPU driver updates for upcoming releases.” That time has finally arrived with Beta 1 of Android 16 QPR3: the GPU has been upgraded from version 1.602.400 to 1.634.2906. This update finally aligns with version 25.1 of the driver – the one released in August by Imagination Technologies, which brought, among other things, compatibility with Android 16 and support for Vulkan 1.4.

It was a Discord user, A_Button117, who spotted the update through the Hardware CapsViewer for Vulkan app, which allows advanced users to check the graphical capabilities of a device. The screenshots he shared – and which were reported by our colleagues at Android Authority – confirm it: the driverInfo field now shows version 25.1, while the conformanceVersion field indicates 1.4.1.0 (for Vulkan 1.4).

This announcement is certainly good news on paper: a driver update can enhance fluidity, stability, and compatibility with certain games – for instance, the 5.0 update of Genshin Impact had previously overwhelmed some Pixel 10 devices. However, it is still uncertain whether this update will actually improve performance in everyday use and translate into immediate gains: it might simply help avoid bugs and prepare for future OS versions. Google has not provided further details on this matter.

However, we can hope that this GPU driver update will eventually be rolled out to the general public, as is often the case with changes introduced in QPR versions once the beta phase is completed.