For anyone who’s been following my recent work here at Android Authority or over on my YouTube channel, you’ll know that I’m a big Pixel fan. I’ve been on Team Pixel for years, and when the Pixel 10 series launched, I jumped on the Pixel 10 Pro on day one. And honestly? I absolutely love it. It’s a phenomenal device that packs an incredible amount of power into a relatively compact and beautifully designed body. The camera system is a dream, the software is clean and intuitive, and even the subtle Moonstone colorway makes me happy whenever I pick it up.
However, I’m also keenly aware that not everyone can afford a $1,000 smartphone. For many people, the premium features of a “Pro” moniker, especially the fancy camera tricks, are overkill for their daily needs. This is where the standard Google Pixel 10 comes in. It promises the core Pixel experience at a much more palatable price point.
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But what do you actually give up when you save a few hundred dollars? Is the standard Pixel 10 a compromised experience, or is it the smarter buy for most people? To find out, I decided to experiment. For one full week, I put my Pixel 10 Pro in a drawer and used the standard Pixel 10 as my one and only daily driver.
I wanted to see what the experience was really like. Would I feel the compromises every time I unlocked the phone? Would I be itching to get back to my Pro model by the end of the week? The results were surprising. It turns out that for most of my day-to-day life, switching to the Pixel 10 made almost no difference at all. Well…mostly, anyway.
The things I loved (and even preferred) about the Pixel 10
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
I’ll get to the things I missed about my Pro model in a bit, but first, I want to talk about the areas where the standard Pixel 10 met or even exceeded my expectations. These are the aspects of the phone that were either identical to its more expensive sibling or, in a few surprising cases, actually better.
A design that’s cohesive and comfortable
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority Pixel 10
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