Pixel 10 finally gets its long-promised GPU driver upgrade, but the real test starts now

Google is rolling out a long-awaited GPU driver update for the Pixel 10 series, following a promise made back in October. With the release of Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1, the Pixel 10’s Imagination PowerVR GPU is now running a newer driver, and on paper, it’s a meaningful step forward.

The update bumps the GPU driver from version 1.602.400 to 1.634.2906, and more importantly, the system’s driverInfo now reports version 25.1. That lines up exactly with the driver Imagination Technologies announced back in August, which introduced Android 16 compatibility, Vulkan 1.4 support, and other under-the-hood improvements.

The update was spotted by Discord user A_Button117, who shared screenshots from the Hardware CapsViewer for Vulkan app with us. For context, this is a diagnostic tool commonly used by developers and power users to check a device’s graphics capabilities, including GPU driver versions and supported Vulkan features. The screenshots confirm that the Pixel 10 Pro XL is now running the newer driver, with the conformanceVersion listed as 1.4.1.0, indicating support for Vulkan 1.4. Theoretically, this means demanding games and graphics-heavy apps should now run more smoothly on the Pixel 10 series after the update.

Now, this driver upgrade in the QPR3 Beta suggests Google is doing more than routine maintenance. Changes introduced in QPR builds tend to land in stable releases via future Pixel Drops, meaning this GPU driver upgrade should eventually roll out to all Pixel 10 users once it exits beta.

That said, it’s still unclear how much this update improves real-world performance. Google hasn’t shared any details, and driver upgrades don’t always translate to immediate performance gains in gaming or graphics-heavy tasks. We’ll be benchmarking the Pixel 10 to see whether the newer driver delivers any notable improvements, or if this is mostly an update for the sake of compatibility.