Rumors long suggested that Google worked on a Pixel 5 packing its in-house Tensor chip at some point in the past, but we were never sure about the specifics. It was unclear if the company ever intended to launch the phone with Tensor of if it was just testing the new chip in an existing hardware frame ahead of working on the Pixel 6. Marques Brownlee's latest video detailing the history of Google phones shines more light into this topic (via Android Authority).

In his 30-plus-minutes-long ode to all the Google phones that launched in the past, Marques Brownlee cites "conversations" he's had with "people at Google" (skip to 29:41), saying that the company has been working on Tensor for a long time. As it turns out, Google wanted the Pixel 5 to be the first phone to launch with its shiny self-created chipset. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing supply chain issues put obstacles in the way of this plan, forcing Google to switch to the midrange Snapdragon 765G in the last moment.

The processor choice did raise eyebrows back when the Pixel 5 launched, as it can be considered a downgrade compared the Pixel 4's flagship Snapdragon 855 processor. This led to speculation that Google may had originally planned on something else, and it looks like these rumors were true.

Leaks showed that Google had a slightly different version of the Tensor chip in the works than the one that ended up launching in the Pixel 6, so it's possible that the Pixel 5 was supposed to have received a variant of the SoC with slightly older technology that was available back in 2020.

While previous rumors led us to believe that the Pixel 5 merely served as an existing body to test the new Tensor chip in, Marques Brownlee's video is as close as we can get to a confirmation from the company itself. Given that the Pixel 5 was widely considered to be a stop-gap solution, the revelation shouldn't be too surprising.