Google Pixel 10 Pro XL The Pixel 10 Pro XL is, hands down, Google's best flagship to date. It makes the most of its maxed-out body, picking up a bigger battery, brighter display, louder speakers, and shiny new camera features. Sprinkle in a suite of new AI features, magnetic accessories, and the same great software support, and it's easy to recommend the Pixel 10 Pro XL to just about anyone.
Barely a year ago, I wrote that the Pixel 9 Pro XL was everything I hoped for out of a Google flagship and then some. It felt like everything I’d always wanted from a Pixel came together with everything Google was already doing right, and the finished product was even better than the sum of its well-polished parts. I spent several months throughout the year dipping back into the most premium Pixel whenever I got the chance between testing other phones, and I felt like it just kept improving with each passing update.
Eventually, though, I started looking to the future. I wondered how Google could follow its best launch ever and worried it might push too far and lose the magic. And then I got the Pixel 10 Pro XL in my hands, and my fears (mostly) melted away. Here’s how this maxed-out flagship earned a place in my small-phone-loving heart.
The one with everything (but a SIM tray)
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
A lesser (or more efficient) Pixel 10 Pro XL reviewer might sit here and tell you that if you’ve seen the Pixel 9 Pro XL, then you’ve seen the Pixel 10 Pro XL. And, on at least a base level, they’d be right. This phone looks a lot like its predecessor — like, a lot. It has a similar camera bar that’s become a camera island, a familiar glossy frame, and a few color options that all feel like I’ve seen them before. And, you know what? I love it — even if my old cases won’t fit.
Then again, that should come as no surprise because I loved the Pixel 9 Pro XL. I waxed poetic about it immediately after launch, calling it the best iPhone ever made, and I could copy all that praise and paste it here without a second thought. Well, I’d need to make a few tweaks, but only because the Pixel 10 Pro XL pushes slightly further than its predecessor. It’s brighter, it’s louder, and its glossy frame is just a bit smoother — quite literally since there’s no longer a physical SIM tray.
Thankfully, though, that loss of a physical SIM tray is my only bone to pick with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and it’s only because it makes my own life difficult. As a reviewer, there’s no easier way to swap phones than to pry a SIM card out of one device and slot it into another. As a consumer, I wouldn’t mind having one fewer moving part on a phone that I’ve just spent over $1,000 on.
Anyway, back to the positives. As long as you can live without that SIM tray, the Pixel 10 Pro XL has everything you could ask for from a flagship, and then some. Its 6.8-inch LTPO OLED panel is functionally the same as last year’s, but it now tops out at 3,300 nits over the previous 3,000, and is a little brighter in high-brightness mode (2,200 nits instead of 2,000), too.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is, hands down, the best-made phone I've used this year.
I also thoroughly appreciate the matching 1,344 x 2,992 resolution and variable 1-120Hz refresh rate because the Pixel 10 Pro XL has become my go-to device for managing my fantasy Premier League squad and keeping up with the first few weeks of college football during some early fall travel. So far, everything has looked great spread across the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s display, except for my rotating cast of injured defenders.
Do I sometimes miss the pocket-friendly comforts of a smaller phone like the 6.3-inch Pixel 10 Pro my colleague Joe just reviewed? Sure, I’m normally a small phone guy, but I have to admit I like the XL’s larger speakers (an exclusive upgrade) and the fact that Google found just enough space to make its biggest battery a bit bigger — though it may not actually be longer-lasting, more on that in a moment.
Before I get to what Google has going on under the hood, I have to talk about the last piece of the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s highly refined exterior: its color options. They’re… fine. I remember just a few years ago when Google offered its Pro-level Pixels in shades like Bay, Hazel, and Mint, and they were all great. Now, the options are a little more muted, with blue-gray Moonstone and soft Jade joining the longstanding Porcelain and Obsidian. I’m pretty sure my review unit is Obsidian, but I don’t love that I’m not sure how different it’s meant to be from Moonstone.
Then again, one thing the Pixel 10 Pro XL has that those colorful Pixels didn’t have is magnets. Yes, there’s finally an Android alternative to MagSafe, and it’s called Pixelsnap. It’s not exclusive to the Pixel 10 Pro XL — it’s a standard feature across the entire lineup — but the biggest Pixel makes the best use of the technology thanks to Qi2.2 support in place of the standard Qi2 on the other models.
More importantly, Pixelsnap allows you to use magnetic accessories like wallets, chargers, and stands that you might have lying around from a previous generation of iPhone. For me, that means quickly attaching my beloved Peak Design stand wallet and a magnetic power bank floating around in my tech drawer, just waiting for an official use. And sure, I could have adopted these accessories sooner with a magnetic case, but I’m too married to the no-case lifestyle that shows off Google’s beautifully finished aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
Oh, and yes, the temperature sensor is still around, but I haven’t used it, and I doubt you will either.
The Tensor G5 is an upgrade, but I have concerns…
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Of course, I knew that, going into my time with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, I would love everything about its design. I was never worried about that for a second. Where I was less sure was with the changes that Google had waiting inside. After all, we spent months theorizing how the TSMC-made Tensor G5 might blow away its predecessor and what it could mean for the future of the Pixel family.
That’s some considerable pressure to put on the first 3nm design in a growing line of in-house chipsets that have historically struggled with thermals and just-okay battery life. After all, we’ve only seen small year-over-year improvements out of the Tensor line, so it’s tough to expect a TSMC-powered miracle. Did we get one anyway? Well, kind of.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
In general, I think that the Pixel 10 Pro XL runs brilliantly. I haven’t had any issues with the phone in my day-to-day usage, jumping between regular apps like Strava, Slack, and Spotify without issue as I prepared to run the Erie Marathon and searched desperately for somewhere to shake out my legs before the big day. I love the way Pixel UI feels, and I can’t stop looking at some of the smaller tweaks to the interface, like the color-coordinated settings app and the simplified quick settings shade.
I even have to give Google a little credit for improving how Pokémon Go performs on its top-end flagship. Previously, I’d fire up the GPS-intensive title and find that my Pixel turned into a small, pocket-sized star, warming after just a minute or two of gameplay. Now, though, I feel a bit more comfortable running around Erie, Pennsylvania, with my Woobat in tow as I spin stops and battle gyms that I’ll probably never see again.
If you can ignore the benchmarks, you'll absolutely love the Pixel 10 Pro XL in your day-to-day life.
When I finished my little pre-race adventure, I found that my Pixel 10 Pro XL still had enough juice to navigate me back to my hotel while streaming my go-to playlist over Bluetooth. This is exactly the type of performance I want from my phone as a distance runner, and I would have been disappointed to find the 5,200mAh cell run out of steam a little early.
But before I convince you that the Pixel 10 Pro XL is all good, all the time, I guess I have to mention its benchmarking performance. Normally, I’d do this first, but I wanted to give you a taste of where the Tensor G5 shines before I give you the underwhelming news. I set the Pixel 10 Pro XL up for our standard gauntlet of CPU and GPU-heavy tests, and the results are, well, fine — pretty much like they’ve always been.
And, when I say fine, I mean at least Google is putting up better numbers than it did with the Tensor G4. The Pixel 10 Pro XL beats its predecessor across all of our Geekbench 6, PCMark Work, and 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme tests, but doesn’t pick up much ground on the likes of the Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered Galaxy S25 Ultra or the A18 Pro-powered iPhone 16 Pro Max. I haven’t had a chance to benchmark Apple’s newest iPhone 17 Pro yet, but I’m nervous about the margin it’ll set over Google’s latest chipset.
Unfortunately, for a little more bad news, I’m not quite sure how to feel about the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s battery life. On one hand, yes, the battery inside this beast is larger than ever before, jumping from 5,040mAh to an even 5,200mAh. By all accounts, that should lead to a nice little boost in performance, especially when paired with a more performant chipset. In reality, though, the opposite happened.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
This time, I’ll start by comparing the results of our standardized battery drain test before I get to my real-life testing. When compared to the previous Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, the Pixel 10 Pro XL comes out ahead in roughly half of our categories. It lasted longer while browsing the web and looping a 4K video, and handed in matching scores in our gaming simulation, but fell behind across a simulated Zoom call, snapping photos, and recording a 4K video — all of which I’ll probably do on a daily basis.
Interestingly, my time with the Pixel 10 Pro XL has felt like I’m getting better battery life than I really am. I’ve never had to doubt my ability to reach the end of a busy day with at least some charge remaining. During my trip to Erie, I finished most days with about 20 or 25% charge left in the tank, only dropping as low as 10% on race day itself — a morning that began before 5:00 AM. As mentioned, I’ve kept my usage pretty nicely varied, bouncing between apps and spending hours navigating or streaming before the big cell kicks the bucket.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
When it does run out, you’ll have yet another annual charging upgrade to look forward to. This year, the Pixel 10 Pro XL officially supports the top 45W wired speed that Google introduced with the Pixel 9 Pro XL. In our testing, that translates to a full charge in just over 75 minutes, which is — surprisingly — identical to the time it took the Pixel 9 Pro XL to fill its smaller cell. As with the Pixel 9 series, though, there’s some clear throttling going on with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, as we found in our extensive testing using the brand new 67W Pixel Flex charger. Expect peaks of around ~35W maximum as Google is favoring long-term battery health over raw charging power.
Either way, the Pixel 10 Pro XL charges 10 minutes faster than its smaller Pixel 10 Pro sibling, even if it gets boat-raced by Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra with the same 45W maximum, and much higher peaks.
Also, the adoption of Pixelsnap means that you can attach your favorite magnetic wireless chargers to the Pixel 10 Pro XL, including tried-and-true MagSafe options and Google’s Pixelsnap chargers (just don’t get the Stand version, it’s kinda bad). The Qi2.2 certification should unlock 25W wireless charging, at least as long as you’ve splurged on a Qi2 charger with the same capabilities — which seems unlikely unless you’ve just switched from an iPhone.
I love Google’s camera quality, and its color science shows signs of life
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
If we’re being honest, you probably bought a Pixel for one of two reasons: the light, smooth Pixel UI software, the cameras, or maybe both. And if you’ve been following the Android 16 rollout, you know the former is safe, sound, and in good hands. We’ll come back to that and its bag of tricks in a second, I promise.
But if you came into the Pixel world trusting Google’s brilliant image processing over the last few years, you might have been disappointed. Sure, the image quality has always been sharp, and Google is all about adding new tools to its box of editing magic, but we found ourselves let down by the more and more natural processing over the last few generations. To get things accurate, Google began sacrificing some of the personality from its photos, leaving us wanting more — especially our resident photography queen, Rita.
Google didn't change its camera hardware, but the Tensor G5 adds some brand-new photography magic.
So now, with the Pixel 10 Pro XL sporting the same camera hardware, right down to the megapixel, as its predecessor, I wondered whether or not Google would address its fading colors. After all, I already know that the 50MP, 1/1.31-inch primary camera is excellent, and I already know that I like it best when set to 2x zoom. The 48MP 5x telephoto sensor is a reliable backup, and I’ve even learned to trust its slightly longer focal length, preferring 5x zoom over the previous 3x zoom that I’d counted on as a nice middle ground.
Google’s 48MP ultrawide and 42MP selfie cameras are back for another round, too, so I’ll save some of the details and hop right into the camera samples.
2x 2x 2x Portrait Mode
Up first, I wanted to see how the Pixel 10 Pro XL would handle a family weekend away before my marathon. I packed up, drove to the Jersey shore, and started snapping away. Of the four samples above, I think I’m happiest with the one to the left, which shows much better colors than I remember capturing last year. The transition of the sky is spot on, yet the water tower that has loomed over me every summer since I can remember is exposed just right.
I’d list the close-up of the praying mantis and the colorful lantana flowers as close seconds, the first for its impressive detail in a not-too-common insect, and the second for its vibrant colors and dark shadows under the leaves.
Macro 2x 2x
Moving on, I already mentioned that I love the Pixel 10 Pro XL at 2x zoom, and the middle samples above confirm that. There’s just enough room for the masts atop the row of boats, while the focal length does just as well to make the bench feel small in my shore town’s wetlands. Once again, the shot of the right portrays a spot-on sunset, though the neon signs are just a little more blown out than I might really like.
It’s not long ago that I remember bemoaning ultrawide cameras altogether, but that’s mostly because I didn’t have a good grasp of the field of view. Now that I do, I love the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s 48MP sensor. Sure, there’s some distortion at the edges of the 123-degree image, but it gives the boat and the life-saving station a true sense of scale. I’m also happy with the overall color profile in those two shots, though the little free library to the far right looks flatter than I remember it being on an evening walk.
5x 5x 5x 50x 10x 100x
And then, there’s the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s updated zoom capabilities, which are perhaps the Tensor G5’s biggest upgrade. When we reviewed the Pixel 9 Pro XL, we bemoaned that it still only offered up to 30x zoom — a mark also achieved by the much-cheaper Galaxy S24 at the time. Now, the Pixel 10 Pro series goes to 100. Well, 100x Pro Res Zoom with help from AI, that is.
Before we get to the maxed-out zoom, though, let’s talk about the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s mid-range shots, which I think are much better. The 5x zoom shots of a crowd of runners and the small white sculpture in front of a Baltimore hotel are spot-on, recreating the soft shadows to the left and the warm morning light to the right. I like what I could pull out of the 50x zoom image of the bumblebee, too, with iridescence in its wings and visible fuzz on its back.
But for every win, there must also be a loss. In my case, that’s the 100x zoom shot that includes people to the right. Google is very clear that it applies different processing methods to people to avoid hallucinations in AI processing, which generally means it just doesn’t process them. As a result, the areas surrounding those people are sharp, while they look like slightly fuzzy stickers rather than accurate parts of the image.
1x 2x 5x 10x
Running across Google’s entire range of zoom options, I’m pretty happy with everything from 1x to 10x zoom. The details are consistent across all four shots, with only a slight color shift in the sky as I reached 10x zoom.
30x 50x 100x
However, once I hit 30x zoom, Google’s AI-powered Pro Res processing kicks in. The Pixel 10 Pro XL grabs a burst of shots, which it then fine-tunes to sharpen the lines and generate smaller details that should be there. I mostly stuck to structures and landscapes for my long-range zoom testing, taking away as many chances for hallucinations as possible, and I’m pretty impressed with how sharp the scaffolding behind the iconic Domino Sugars sign is right up to the 100x peak.
Unprocessed Processed
This last pair of shots from the rear camera shows exactly how Google’s processing works. The image on the left shows the original scene, with slightly blurry letters and a somewhat soft bird, while the picture on the right shows a marginally sharper sign and more detail in the bird’s feathers. Google’s processing isn’t perfect, though, with the lettering of the specific New Jersey statute that prohibits public smoking becoming a bit of a mush of letters.
Portrait Mode
Flipping around to the front, we have Google’s high-resolution 42MP selfie camera — and it’s pretty good. I’m pleased with the color recreation in my face and clothing as I walked a few blocks after dinner one evening, with the Pixel 10 Pro XL capturing every last strand of dog hair on my sweatshirt. I think the processing could be a little bit cleaner around my hair, but the softening by my left shoulder gives the final image a very natural bokeh look.
You can also check out full-resolution versions of these samples (and many more) at this Google Drive link.
Before I move on, I need to touch on one more thing: Google’s updated video capabilities. I admit that this is another thing that made me nervous about my time with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but it probably didn’t need to. Was I impressed by the Jonas Brothers’ music video? Not really, but as my colleague Scott learned, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is actually much better in everyday recording scenarios.
I’ve mostly been using my device to capture quick clips of what I’m up to, panning across Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, and recording an ancient Willie Nelson doing his best on stage, but Scott was able to cut together an entire video showing off everything from Cinematic Blur to Pan to Google’s flexible stabilization modes.
And, with up to 8K recording at 30 frames per second (thanks to Video Boost) or 4K at 60 frames per second, it’s worth trying anything you can until you get the right shot. You may just have to skip Locked video stabilization and its mandatory 2x crop, though, unless you have the world’s longest arms.
Cue the magic… or at least try to
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
Of course, one thing ties together everything I’ve written about so far: Pixel UI. To me, Google’s software is just as good a reason to buy a Pixel as its cameras, and it largely comes down to the fact that there’s always something new. Well, this year, the old is largely better than the new, but the important thing is that Google keeps trying to flex its muscle.
And when its flexing works, it really works. In my occasional testing so far, I’ve been impressed by the brand-new Camera Coach, which gives you step-by-step instructions to improve the composition of your photos. The Camera Coach won’t give you a composition, but it’ll look at what your viewfinder sees before offering suggestions to clean up the final frame and tap into features like portrait mode.
Google's Pixel UI has always been my favorite Android skin, and Material 3 Expressive makes it feel even better.
Google’s Help me edit button inside Ask Photos is good, too, even if it can’t decide on the correct name. Essentially, Help me edit is like the next step in Magic Editor, allowing you to type out what you’d like to change in your image before the Tensor G5 takes over to make it happen.
Unfortunately, some of the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s other features feel more like concepts than finished ideas. It decided to give Samsung’s Now Brief a shot with the Daily Hub, but that’s gone so poorly that Google has temporarily deactivated the feature. Previously, it offered an overview of your appointments, the weather, and things you might be interested in, but Google’s YouTube recommendations were all over the place, and it never seemed to grasp what I actually needed to research.
And then, there’s Magic Cue. To me, this feels like it should be the concept of Motorola’s Next Move, but made better. Google wants Magic Cue to pull information when you might need it, making it easier to answer questions in a text message or bring things up in a call. So far, though, it’s not doing so hot. I can occasionally get it to send me information about a reservation — which was helpful before my marathon — but it rarely gives me the full picture. I’ll either get the date and time or directions to the restaurant, but seemingly never both.
I have faith that Google will make its new highlight features good, and it usually does. Sometimes, it just takes a long, long time. Remember Video Boost? That took a whole year to shake itself out, but it happened.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
If nothing else, the Pixel 10 Pro XL ships with Android 16 onboard, and I absolutely love how it feels. Its redesigned quick settings menu is easier to navigate, and the color-coordinated settings app is a big improvement, too. I’m still getting used to one or two things, like the refreshed app drawer grid and the Gemini widget on the home screen, but I think the changes have been good so far.
Besides, the Pixel 10 series introduces a new approach to multitasking, with an Open Canvas-like Split Screen mode, and I love it so much more than the old 50/50 setup. If you ask me, the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s software strengths far outweigh its bright new ideas, and I’m relieved I’ll have seven years of updates and myriad Pixel Drops ahead of me to get it all figured out.
Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL belongs in your pocket, unless…
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
When I reviewed the Pixel 9 Pro XL, I thought Google had achieved perfection. I didn’t think there was anything else it realistically needed to add, just fine-tuning a feature here and there and maybe being a little more ambitious with its camera zoom. Well, Google did that. And then, it did some more. It packed the Pixel 10 Pro XL with small changes everywhere, and it’s made a pretty big difference.
Is it perfect? No, I’d probably still like slightly better battery life from the Tensor G5 and the 5,200mAh battery. I’d also like to see some of Google’s newest AI-powered features work as they were meant to.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL really does check all of my boxes, even if my heart is with the smaller Pro model.
Then again, the improvements of the Pixel 10 Pro XL have made me realize the Pixel 9 Pro XL wasn’t perfect, either — because this phone really is better. It’s more than good enough for me to come right back to it once I’ve made it through the chaos that is Techtember… and Techtober.
In fact, there’s probably only one phone that could sway me away from putting my eSIM back into the Pixel 10 Pro XL in just a few months, and that phone is the Pixel 10 Pro — the small one. I’ve always been a small phone guy, and the 6.3-inch Pixel 10 Pro ($999 at Amazon) is calling my name. It’s picked up the same upgrades as the XL, with better camera zoom, Pixelsnap support, and upgraded charging, but it’s just not quite so beefy in my pocket.
Of course, if you’re not quite so sold on life in the Pixel ecosystem as I am, you might find yourself ready to explore even more alternatives. If so, there are three main rivals that are most worth a look, but Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra ($1299.99 at Amazon) offers the most bells and whistles. It has its quirks, like a pared-down S Pen, but it also provides a more powerful chipset, better battery life, and a 100x camera zoom that doesn’t rely quite so heavily on AI.
Outside of that, you might want to check out either the OnePlus 13 ($899.99 at OnePlus) or the new iPhone 17 Pro Max ($1099 at Apple), but one will be much kinder on your pocket than the other. Yes, the OnePlus 13 is nearly a year old, but it tops out at 120x camera zoom, and its 80W wired charging runs circles around everyone else on this list. You’ll also get 50W wireless charging and a couple of unique back panels to pick from — but the Midnight Ocean version is by far the best.
And then there’s the iPhone. Apple’s flagship launch looks a little different this year, with a camera bump that stretches all the way across the top edge and a unibody aluminum build with a glass panel set within it. I haven’t had a chance to put the A19 Pro chip through its paces yet, nor do I think I’m ready to abandon Android for iOS (we’ll test that theory soon), but Apple’s long-term updates and excellent video recording features might be worth it.
If you ask me, though, I’ll be going right back to the Pixel 10 Pro XL as soon as I get a chance.
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Excellent build quality • Improved camera flexibility • Smooth-as-ever software MSRP: $1,199.00 Ultimate power from the Pixel 10 line The most powerful option from the Pixel 10 line is the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. With a 6.8-inch display, Tensor G5 shipset, 16GB of RAM, UFS 4.0 storage options, a powerful triple camera setup, and a battery in excess of 5,000mAh, you should be able to power through any task in your day. See price at Amazon Positives Excellent build quality
Excellent build quality Improved camera flexibility
Improved camera flexibility Upgraded battery capacity
Upgraded battery capacity Smooth-as-ever software
Smooth-as-ever software Slightly better charging
Slightly better charging So many exclusive features Cons No SIM slot in the US
No SIM slot in the US Tensor G5 is better, but still not 'elite'
Tensor G5 is better, but still not 'elite' Some new AI features still need work
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