What is the real difference for the Games in 2026?

On one hand, I have the Xiaomi 17 Ultra – a powerhouse powered by Qualcomm’s benchmark-dominating Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. In second, there is Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL, which is powered by the latest Tensor G5 chip. On paper, Google’s latest flagship looks much less impressive in terms of raw performance, a fact Pixel fans have accepted for years and it’s a constant thorn in the side for those who like a bit of mobile gaming from time to time.

But benchmarks don’t always tell the whole story – we rarely notice an extra 5% or 10% difference when browsing the web or scrolling a feed. Similarly, modern Android games aren’t always built to push state-of-the-art silicon to its limits, and real-world performance often depends as much on optimizations and framerate caps as it does on brute force. So the question is: Is Google’s Tensor still as far behind as the synthetic numbers suggest, or can the Pixel 10 Pro XL punch above its weight where it really matters?

To find out, I put both phones through a series of real gaming tests. For a little housekeeping, I updated both phones to the latest stable builds available from their manufacturers. There is no beta here, these are the numbers consumers will see.

I wanted to start at the beginning, showing where the most noticeable differences are when it comes to demanding graphics and higher frame rates. So I chose COD Mobile’s Battle Royale mode and its high frame rate mode.

However, COD Mobile limits pixels to 90 fps and only allows graphics to be set to medium with frame rates above 60. Meanwhile, the Xiaomi can run up to 120 FPS with graphics set to Very High. I tested both graphics settings to see if the Snapdragon is actually able to hit that frame rate with max graphics, since the previous model didn’t have these options when I last tested.

It turns out that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 can not only reach 120fps on medium graphics, but it can also do so at Very High. Both settings remain pretty stable around 120 fps. The Pixel 10 Pro XL isn’t too far off its 90 fps target on average, but its stability is worse: 5% of frames fall close to 80fps or below, while the Snapdragon is undoubtedly smoother, in both the average and worst frames.

Additionally, the Pixel 10 Pro XL also drew far more power, clocking in at an average of 5.8W compared to 3.9W for the Xiaomi 17 Ultra on medium settings and 4.8W on very high. While there are a lot of variables here, from display to networking, this is an interesting and potentially important difference, too.

While the average and 5% lower frame metrics don’t seem too bad for the Pixel, it’s worth seeing how it compares to the Xiaomi over long running sessions. The Tensor G5 hovers around a consistent 70fps. It’s still very playable, but the occasional junk and frame-pacing spikes show that Google’s chip isn’t feeling particularly comfortable with consistent rendering. Compare this to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 which barely stumbles despite its more demanding graphics settings.

The performance difference is even more pronounced in the fast-paced Asphalt Legends and the graphically demanding Genshin Impact. Despite the improved performance in the latest QPR beta, most Pixel 10 owners are still stuck at barely playable performance with maximum graphics in these games.

In both titles, the Pixel 10 Pro XL averages around 40 fps, dropping to 35 at times. It’s still perfectly playable, especially considering it’s with every graphics setting cranked up. Thankfully, frame pacing isn’t an issue here as it was with Call of Duty. I did not notice any major lag or hanging during my playing session.

However, when similarly priced flagship smartphones can reach a nearly locked 60 FPS in Genshin Impact and 120 FPS in supported titles like Asphalt Legends, the Pixel’s results are clearly disappointing. Double or more performance is too significant an advantage to ignore.

Going into this test, I thought the practical frame rate limitations of actual games might help make Tensor’s on-paper benchmark deficit look a little better in practice. It’s true that the phone can reach 60 fps when you turn down the graphics settings, and even at maximum settings, it stayed well above 30 fps in my tests. However, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s massive performance edge can’t be denied.

The Pixel and Tensor are far behind the flagship Snapdragon-powered smartphones of 2026. They offer half the performance of the regular one in actual games, while the 8 Elite Gen 5 can best Google’s flagship even with high graphics settings enabled. This is a matter of concern, not because the Pixel can’t play games smoothly, but because rivals in the same price bracket are much faster and more future-proof in terms of upcoming titles. At flagship prices, matching the competition – barely keeping up – is the expectation.

If Google wants to seriously close this gap, it needs to rethink its GPU strategy at a fundamental level. Right now, Tensor feels like it’s designed to be “good enough” for mainstream workloads rather than truly competitive at the flagship level – and it’s becoming harder to justify as rivals move beyond that baseline.

A more powerful, modern GPU architecture with higher peak performance and stronger thermal scaling will help significantly reduce lag, especially in demanding games and simulations. Unfortunately, switching from Arms Mali to the new Imagination GPUs hasn’t made any difference so far. What’s worse, early signs suggest that next year’s Tenor G6 will fall into a very similar performance bracket, putting the Pixel at risk of being left behind at the high end, while competitors continue to stretch the definition of what a flagship display looks like.

In the here and now, should gamers avoid the Pixel 10? Well, this is not a direct question. Google is slowly improving performance, but all the driver changes in the world won’t be enough for Qualcomm. Even with older titles and moderate emulation, the Pixel 10 series will undoubtedly blow you away with solid performance at reasonable graphics settings. If gaming is an immediate interest rather than the primary reason for buying a phone, a modern Pixel still makes a lot of sense; It performs quite well for playable experiences, and its AI and photography tools are also very good.

However, if you want the smoothest possible frame rates in today’s games and emulators and want to keep headroom free for future generations, the extra power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will be worth the extra cost. It also helps that phones like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra pack impressive camera and AI capabilities in their own right, so you won’t necessarily be missing out on all the Google features.