Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
The Pixel 10 Pro-series is out, and I’ve been using the entire lineup for the last few days. But most of my time has been spent with the Pixel 10 Pro XL for a good reason. You see, while most of the attention is understandably going to the upgraded camera shenanigans or Google’s AI features, there’s a rather underrated upgrade that has my attention. This year, Google says it has seriously upped its game with the speakers on the Pixel 10 Pro, and I wanted to see if it can deliver the goods.
Look, let’s be honest. A phone’s speaker might not be what gets the biggest attention, but it’s important to me. Working from home, I’ll often pop open a podcast on my phone’s speaker instead of going through the rigmarole of casting it to my music streamer. My favorite internet radio station is what I play back from my phone’s speaker when I step in for a shower. Google Meet calls, WhatsApp calls, family video calls — they all usually happen over my phone’s speaker. You catch my drift. For me, it’s one of the clearest indicators of how much thought has gone into creating a complete experience. So, just how much of an upgrade is the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s speaker?
Are you happy with your phone's speakers? 656 votes Yes, I am 42 % It's okay, could be better 38 % No, I'm not 20 %
Clearer, louder, better balanced
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Coming from the Pixel 9 Pro XL, I was curious to see if the 10 Pro XL would finally deliver the kind of audio that could rival my little portable Bluetooth speaker, or even the Nest Mini plugged into my bathroom wall socket. The Pixel 9 Pro XL absolutely doesn’t cut the mustard at the task. It takes as little as a running water faucet to drown out the music from the phone. Audio quality is pretty flat, and there’s noticeable distortion and harshness at the top end if you listen to heavy metal or even high-energy drum-and-bass music like me. Google’s marketing this year made it a point of highlighting the reworked speakers on the Pro models, so I wanted to put those claims to the test in the real world.
The top earpiece is finally clearer, louder, and far less distorted than on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
The first thing I noticed after setting up the Pixel 10 Pro XL was how much clearer the top earpiece speaker sounded. On the 9 Pro XL, going above 70-80% volume often created a harsh edge to voices. Podcasts in particular could become fatiguing to listen to, especially when the hosts’ voices peaked. And it’s an absolute no-go with metal music cranked up. The 10 Pro XL goes a long way towards fixing this. Google claims that both the earpiece and bottom-firing speakers have been upgraded, but to me, the biggest upgrade has come with the speaker in the earpiece.
It’s ever so slightly louder, sure, but carries far less distortion even when set to play at full blast. From what I can hear, the two speakers are finally fairly matched in overall volume levels. When I held a decibel meter against the top speaker, I recorded a maximum of about 80 dB, while the bottom-firing speaker registered about 81 dB while playing a pink noise test track. Do keep in mind that the mastering volume of the test tone will also matter here, and the overall speaker volume can peak even higher. In practice, this upgrade means that the phone is consistently above the 70 dB level that is comfortable for human hearing, and more importantly, it remains listenable instead of breaking up, giving a close-to-true stereo experience.
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