I spoke to my friend in Russian over the phone. I don't speak Russian. “Oh my god, this is crazy!” she responded.
I was using the Google Pixel 10's new real-time voice translation feature in phone calls, which employs generative AI to listen to a snippet of your voice at the start of the call, and then generates an approximation (calls aren't recorded, and processing happens on the device). I could hear myself on her end, a familiar deep rumbling, except in a completely foreign language. My friend said she preferred hearing my voice, even if it was slightly off, over a robotic translation.
On a different day, I tried the Pixel 10's Camera Coach feature, and it successfully ran me through a few steps to capture a stellar photo of my wife, my dog, and a friend. (As a photographer, I'd like to think I could have captured a similar photo without the help.) Later on, I was looking at some other images I captured and asked the new conversational photo editing tool in Google Photos to remove the leash my wife was holding, and it did the deed in a few seconds—no need to fuss with editing tools. These are the kinds of everyday helpful features Google's Pixel phones have pioneered since the original's debut in 2016.
Pixel 10. Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
But the 10th-generation Pixels have more generative AI capabilities than ever before. Some of these are helpful, while others feel like they've been shoved in so someone could check a box on a list. There's a certain dissonance in using some of these features, at least for me. Google's Pro Res Zoom feature, which allows you to capture photos at 100X zoom, is incredibly impressive. But if parts of the photo are generated by what the AI thinks should be there, is it really my original image? That's what you may wrestle with if you want these Pixels as your next phone upgrade.
Ten-Four
Before we get all philosophical, let's chat hardware. The Pixel 10 series includes the Pixel 10 ($799), Pixel 10 Pro ($999), and Pixel 10 Pro XL ($1,199). There's also the Pixel 10 Pro Fold folding phone, but it's not launching until October 9. I won't rehash many of the spec improvements made this year, but you can dig deep here.
The first thing I want to impart—because I've seen a lot of discourse about benchmarks on social media—is that Pixels have never delivered the best results in raw performance. They're smooth-performing phones, but much of Google's prowess with its Tensor chips is in optimizing its devices to power those smart features. The new Tensor G5 does come with a performance boost, and my benchmarks show a sizable jump from the G4 in the Pixel 9 Pro. I never saw a hang-up in day-to-day use, but if you're chasing power, this might not be the phone for you.