TheGoogle Pixel 8’s Tensor G3 performance was subjected to a lot of criticism when the phone launched. Despite using modern CPU cores and a newer Arm Mali-G715 Immortalis GPU, the SoC’s performance was hardly any better than its predecessor. This was especially apparent when running heavy games like Genshin Impact, as the Pixels struggled to run it smoothly, which otherbest Android phonesof 2023 could easily do. Google is fixing this issue to a large extent with theDecember 2023 Pixel Feature Drop, which significantly boosts the GPU’s performance.
With the latest update, Google is updating the Arm Mali’s kernel driver to a much more recent build: from r38p1, released on June 10, 2025, to r44p1, released on August 09, 2025. Based on early feedback, it appears this brings a huge jump in gaming performance. OnePixel 8 Prouser reported that the phone’s frame rate in Genshin Impact’s Fontaine city jumped from ~20-25fps to 45+fps without generating excess heat.
YouTuber TechDroider also noticed a similar jump in gaming performance, with the Pixel 8 now able to run Fortnite at a stable 60fps on the highest graphics settings. Google bundles the new Arm driver withAndroid 14 QPR2 Beta 1.1as well, so if you are on the latest beta build, you should see a similar performance improvement.
While not as good as the Adreno 740 GPU inside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that powers flagship Android phones like theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultraand theOnePlus 12, this is still a great performance boost.
Google is rolling out the new Mali GPU driver to all Tensor-based Pixels. While they might not get the same level of performance boost as the Pixel 8, there should still be noticeable improvements.
The newer GPU driver might also help with the laggy and jittery scrolling many Pixel 8 owners have complained about since the phone’s launch.
If you are a heavy gamer, you should still avoid buying the Pixel 8 because the Tensor G3’s performance is not as good as the competition. But the phone should now do a much more respectable job for casual gaming. Given the December 2023 Pixel Feature Drop packs plenty of new features as well, you should update your Pixel to it as soon as possible to enjoy all the benefits.
