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.
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Then there is the bass. I’d wager a guess that nobody has ever described a Pixel phone’s speaker as punchy. The Pixel 10 Pro XL moves the needle in the right direction, though. Listening to Legend Has It by Run The Jewels, I was surprised to hear some semblance of the lowest notes reverberating through the phone — way more than I ever experienced on my Pixel 9 Pro XL. Similarly, playing the latest album by Deftones, I could actually make some sense of Chino Moreno’s vocals instead of being subjected to a wall of noise. Even the bass guitar comes through the mix.
The dual-speaker arrangement itself has not changed drastically. Google continues to place two speaker grilles at the bottom, though only one of these is the actual speaker. The big difference is the repositioning of the main bottom speaker from left to right, which is now harder to block accidentally with your hand while gaming or watching videos in landscape. It’s a small ergonomic tweak that fixes a major annoyance I had with the phone and is part of a large number of small changes that add up and improve the overall experience.
Vocals-heavy content sounds crisper and fuller, with less high-end distortion. It'll fill up a small room, but loud ambient noise remains a challenge.
Coming to the overall loudness levels of the phone, my informal testing revealed that it’s definitely louder than the 9 Pro XL. I clocked the difference at about 2 decibels with a pink tone test track, but I’d take the exact numbers with a grain of salt. On paper, that’s not a huge jump, but combined with the more defined stereo signature and the wider, more open sound quality, it’s more capable of filling up a room. Though I’d agree with my colleague, Rita, that the switched-up tuning makes the 10 Pro sound a bit hollow.
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
One oddity that carries over is the way Google handles changing the volume. It appears that the slider is still logarithmic instead of linear. While that correlates with the logarithmic amplification of decibel levels, it can be a bit jarring to observe barely any change in the first several steps, and a more rapid amplification toward the end. I find myself fiddling a lot to find the sweet spot.
Can the Pixel 10 Pro XL replace a Bluetooth speaker?
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
So, can you replace a Bluetooth speaker with the Pixel 10 Pro? It depends. I’ve found that casual listening benefits the most from the improvements to the hardware. My Spotify playlists and YouTube videos sound less boxed in and more natural, though it still falls short of a dedicated speaker for music. I popped into the shower with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the improvements were noticeable, but the increased loudness isn’t enough to overpower running water just yet, especially if you’re an avid podcast listener. Voice-heavy content certainly sounds crisper and fuller, with less of the high-end distortion I mentioned earlier, but not enough to break through a loud din. My iPhone 16 Pro Max definitely performs better on that front.
After a few days with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, my overall impression is that while the speaker situation has improved on the phone, it’s still no replacement for a dedicated speaker unless most of your listening happens in a quiet room. The better high-end performance, bass presence, and vocal clarity certainly make it sound a lot better if you’re watching a YouTube video in bed, chatting on a video call, or taking a call over the loudspeaker. However, if your use case is on-the-go listening with loud ambient noises around you, the lack of overall volume — despite the improvements — ensures that we’re not quite there yet. It’s a good enough upgrade, but perhaps not quite enough to justify Google’s emphasis on the matter, and certainly not enough to be a deciding factor in your purchase decision.
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