I tested the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s driver upgrade — here are the real winners and losers

After months of waiting, Google is fulfilling its promise to bring a GPU driver update to the Pixel 10 series. As part of the Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1 update, the Pixel 10 now runs Imagination’s 1.634.2906 driver version, bringing with it Vulkan 1.4 support and a selection of other improvements.

So why does this matter? We previously noted that the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s gaming performance was fine but certainly not on the cutting edge, as you might expect from a $1,199 flagship. In fact, last year’s Pixel 9 Pro XL easily outperformed it in a series of emulation tests, suggesting that Google’s choice of a DXT-48-1536 GPU inside the Tensor G5 chip might have backfired.