Google’s messaging with its Pixel 10 family—the Pixel 10, 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold—is simple: the physical designs of the phones are taking a backseat this year, and Gemini and AI are doing the driving and navigating. That’s why, other than some new colors, the whole Pixel 10 lineup looks so similar compared to the Pixel 9 series.
To be fair, there are hardware upgrades to the Pixel 10, but most of them are under-the-hood improvements for stuff like performance and battery life—it’s a spec bump year for Google. So let’s start there.
What’s New on Pixel 10
The first thing that caught my eye about the Pixel 10 was the “Indigo” blue color, and that was intentional by Google, I’m told. Since these are the 10th-generation Pixels, Google said it wanted to give a nod to the original “Really Blue” Pixel. I like the color a lot, though I didn’t have the new “Blue Shadow” Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 on hand to compare the shade of blue. Either way, blue is definitely in this year—unless you’re Apple, orange will apparently be the iPhone 17 Pro’s new special color. The Pixel 10 also comes in “Frost” (pastel purple), “Lemongrass” (yellow), and “Obsidian” (black).
In my hand, the Pixel 10 feels almost identical to the Pixel 9. It’s still a matte aluminum frame with a glass screen and glossy glass back. But, wait, what’s that inside the pill-shaped camera bar? Yes, that’s a third camera lens—a 10.8-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom. It’s the first time that a regular Pixel has three cameras. But there’s a small catch—the main and ultrawide cameras are getting small downgrades. The main camera has 48 megapixels (down from 50 megapixels on the Pixel 9), and the ultrawide is only 13 megapixels (down from 48 megapixels). The image sensors are also smaller, which may mean worse low-light performance. However, it’s possible that improved software and AI processing can make up for the hardware downgrades.
The 6.3-inch LTPO OLED display is the same size as before, but it is brighter (up to 2,000 nits for HDR and up to 3,000 nits for peak brightness), so visibility outdoors should be better. Additionally, Google increased the battery life to “up to 30+ hours” and “up to 100-hour battery life” when the “Extreme Battery Saver” mode is turned on. On the topic of the battery, the Pixel 10 supports Qi2 wireless charging. Google is also introducing a new MagSafe-like magnetic charging puck called Pixelsnap. This works exactly like MagSafe charging pucks for iPhone, with the magnets attaching to the Pixel 10 securely. There will be a few Pixelsnap accessories, including a stand and cases.
To nobody’s surprise, there’s a new Tensor G5 chip, with a 35% faster CPU, powering everything. The Pixel 10 comes with 12GB of RAM standard and two storage options (128GB and 256GB). And for the first time on any Pixel phone, there’s built-in Satellite SOS, which works more or less the same as it does on newer iPhones.
What’s New on Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL
The Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL are similarly internal hardware upgrades compared to the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. You can spot the difference between the Pixel 10 Pro/10 Pro XL and the regular Pixel 10 by their polished aluminum frames (read: fingerprint magnets) and matte glass back. The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL also have their own special colors. There’s a gray “Moonstone” color that has shades of purple under specific lighting, and the “Jade” is a lime-ish colored green-yellow. Of course, if you’re boring, you can always get “Porcelain” (white) and “Obsidian” (black). It’s a bummer there’s no “Indigo” blue for the Pixel 10 Pros.
Both phones have the same 6.3-inch and 6.8-inch LTPO OLED screens, but they’re even brighter than the Pixel 10 (up to 2,200 nits for HDR and up to 3,300 nits for peak brightness). Aside from that, the Pixel 10 Pros have pretty much the same upgrades as the Pixel 10, including longer battery life with Pixelsnap support, the Tensor G5 chip, and Satellite SOS. These are “Pro” phones, so you do get more RAM (16GB) and additional storage capacities to choose from (128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB). The potential game-changers are in the AI and Gemini features, which I’ll get to in a minute.
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