Google’s January 2026 update brings much-needed relief to Pixel 10 owners who have struggled with GPU performance since launch. This patch improves graphics under certain conditions while also fixing annoying bugs like always-on display flickering and touchscreen freezing. But here’s the interesting part. These updates don’t mean Google is throttling Imagination PowerVR GPUs. Instead, these represent the usual post-launch tuning: balancing thermals, improving drivers, and optimizing power management. Because Google prioritizes smooth day-to-day performance over benchmark scores, these incremental improvements reflect careful optimization rather than unlocking hidden features. This is exactly how modern smartphone development is actually taking place.

Tensor G5 is Google’s latest custom chip for the Pixel 10 series and is focused on AI, featuring powerful new CPUs (Cortex-X4, A725, A520), PowerVR GPU, and an upgraded 4th generation tensor processing unit fabricated on TSMC’s 3 nm process to significantly improve performance for AI tasks.

Google released the January 2026 security update for Pixel smartphones this week. The update runs Android 16 QPR2 and brings what Google describes as “general GPU performance improvements in certain conditions” to the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold.

The Pixel 10 series has faced GPU issues since its launch. Users have filed numerous complaints regarding Google’s Tensor G5 chips, and the company has promised to deliver GPU performance improvements in future updates. This January patch is one of Google’s major attempts to address these issues.

This update also resolves constant display flickering that occurs when the clock changes or notifications arrive, and a touchscreen bug that causes the screen to intermittently become unresponsive to touch input. Some Pixel 10 users may observe an improvement in battery life under certain conditions.

The fix also applies to other Pixel generations. Webex calls no longer produce a noisy ringback tone, and the Wallpaper app no ​​longer freezes when you remove the Live Universe wallpaper. Google will gradually roll out the January patch to the Pixel 7a and all newer Pixel models. The user is[設定],[システム],[システム アップデート]You can check by going to

^{Figure 1. The Pixel 10 Series Tensor G5 SoC uses Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR DXT-48-1536 GPU.}

The release of a software patch for the Pixel 10 series is not a sign that Google isn’t taking full advantage of the Imagination GPU. Software updates do not imply unused hardware capacity. Post-launch patches for flagship smartphones typically focus on scheduler adjustments between CPU and GPU resources, thermal and power management, driver fixes, camera and display pipelines, and operating system regressions. These changes reflect advances in system integration rather than unused silicon capacity.

Google’s Tensor platform emphasizes power management and sustained operation over peak GPU performance. Historically, Tensor SoCs have prioritized thermal stability, battery life, and concurrent execution of machine learning and image signal processing workloads. As a result, Google often limits GPU boost states early in a product’s lifecycle. Subsequent patches will adjust these limits as real-world thermal and stability data accumulates. This approach reflects controlled operation rather than constrained performance caused by architectural limitations.

GPUs based on Imagination designs are highly dependent on software maturity. Performance is tuned depending on driver quality, compiler behavior, and Vulkan pipeline optimizations. Initial firmware often lacks full tuning for real-world workloads, leaving performance underutilized until Google and Imagination Technologies complete field-driven optimizations. This pattern is common on platforms that don’t use Qualcomm’s Adreno GPU.

Google also avoids optimizing devices for synthetic benchmarks or peak frame rates in games. Instead, the company prioritizes consistent user interface behavior, balanced camera and GPU execution, efficient ML and GPU coexistence, and predictable thermal over time. As a result, patches tend to improve stability and consistency rather than raw graphics throughput.

what do we think?

If Google intends to unlock previously unused GPU features, the patch documentation will likely mention graphics performance improvements, rendering improvements, or changes to Vulkan and OpenGL. Patch notes that focus on stability, power behavior, or interface responsiveness indicate system-level tuning. Evidence suggests that Tensor G5’s Imagination GPU is working as designed, optimizing performance incrementally rather than withholding it. If future updates explicitly show improved graphics performance, our evaluation may change. For now, this behavior is consistent with normal post-launch adjustments for Google’s Tensor platform built around Tensor G5.

_{Like what you’re reading? Tell a friend. We do this all day, every day.}