aug / 2025
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It is laborious to imagine that we’re formally at yr 10 for the Google Pixel, however even only a look again on the previous three generations of the search large’s telephone lineup paints a transparent image of its maturity and the place issues are headed.
Living proof, the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, consisting of the Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional XL, is, at first look, a secure improve. Their designs look almost equivalent to final yr’s fashions, you may wrestle to identify the variations in specs between the tenth and ninth generations, and so they’re priced squarely within the threshold of contemporary flagships.
However additionally they have a software program suite that really advances the best way we work together with our smartphones — or not less than, that was my takeaway after utilizing the telephones for the previous week. With the Pixel 10 sequence (customary mannequin included), I’ve by no means been extra satisfied that AI on telephones is right here to remain. It would not need to be pressured, intrusive, or extreme; it simply must be clever sufficient to know its place.
Earlier than I dive into all of the AI insanity, there is a crucial matter that deserves simply as a lot consideration: eSIM. It is the primary hurdle each new Pixel 10 proprietor (within the US) will encounter — whether or not they’re switching from an older Pixel or leaping ship from an iPhone — and fortunately, it is one Google has made surprisingly painless.
To match the setup processes, I ported my bodily SIM from T-Cellular onto the Pixel 10 Professional XL and my secondary eSIM from Mint Cellular onto the Pixel 10 Professional. Each strategies took lower than 5 minutes and have been just a few QR code scans away from working mobile connections.
I would by no means had a extra burdenless interplay at my native service store, however one thing did catch me off guard. At one level, the T-Cellular affiliate congratulated me on switching to a Google Pixel 9 Professional XL. That is not a typo. With the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, the year-over-year distinction in {hardware} design is at an all-time low, and I do not blame Google for that — or the affiliate for mixing up the fashions.
The contoured edges nonetheless greet your fingers with a heat embrace, the polished aluminum body exudes premium, and the digicam bar continuously reminds you the way critically Google takes its cellular optics.
Permit me to chase my geekery with one of many few downsides of this yr’s Pixel design: the load. At 232 grams, the Pixel 10 Professional XL is likely one of the heaviest telephones in the marketplace, beating my earlier day by day driver, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely (218 grams), and iPhone 16 Professional Max (227 grams). The telephone is not essentially prime or bottom-heavy, both, that means you may really feel the gradual build-up of wrist pressure irrespective of the way you maintain the machine up.
Google tells me there are a number of the explanation why its telephones weigh extra this yr, which I can solely nod in approval to. First, the Pixel 10 Professional sequence options upgraded prime and backside audio system, producing a change in loudness that I observed nearly instantly when taking part in my normal recipe movies by J. Kenji López-Alt within the kitchen.
The Pixel 10 Professional and Professional XL even have bigger 4,870 and 5,200mAh batteries, respectively, up from final yr’s 4,700 and 5,070mAh capacities. All through the weekend, I used to be ending my days with roughly 35% of battery remaining on the XL mannequin, a minor however nonetheless appreciated enchancment over its predecessor. The quicker 45W wired charging, unique to the XL, was one other welcome contact.
Maybe the largest new characteristic, and the one which may be best in convincing iPhone customers to modify over, is Pixelsnap, a system of in-body magnets that may pull in wi-fi energy on the Qi2 customary. Assume MagSafe for Android. This permits the telephones to snap onto the 1000’s of magnet-based equipment in the marketplace, from tripod stands to pockets instances to charging docks.
Google has totally embraced the know-how by providing a slew of display screen savers that seem while you’re charging its Pixel 10 telephones. These embody a full-scale climate show, a Google Pictures slideshow, sensible dwelling controls, and a clock. As somebody who typically units their telephone on a wi-fi charging stand bedside and on the workplace desk, the ambient characteristic is straightforward to understand.
The choice to proc the display screen saver when the Pixel 10 Professional is charging or charging and set upright is a pleasant contact. You can too prohibit the characteristic to when the machine is in wi-fi charging solely, as it could in any other case seem with even a wired connection.
Nonetheless, the display screen savers aren’t good. For one, the climate panel, particularly once I noticed it demoed on the Pixel 10 Professional Fold on the Made by Google occasion, can seem too conspicuous and show an extreme quantity of knowledge for what is going to seemingly be one thing I have a look at each half an hour. And whereas the clock display screen saver may also show the temperature, it would not present incoming notifications, making it really feel extra like a downgraded always-on show.
One of many looming questions going into my Pixel 10 Professional testing was how vital an improve the brand new Tensor G5 chipset brings. Since Google took the matter of processing energy and silicon into its personal palms, the model has all the time performed second fiddle to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon fashions. Primarily based on benchmarks, that also holds true, with the Tensor G5 performing worse than the Snapdragon 8 Elite discovered on competing flagship telephones.
However from a extra sensible outlook, I’ve discovered the Tensor G5 nonetheless succesful sufficient to function underneath intense workloads, from modifying HDR, 60fps movies to gaming to operating Android Auto navigation whereas on a name. The in-house processor, which contains a modified structure that dynamically shifts between full and sub fashions, is really realized within the numerous new AI options on the Pixel 10 Professional sequence.
I am speaking quicker compute occasions throughout Pixel Screenshots, Recorder transcriptions and translations, and different native AI duties that might sometimes take seconds longer. That saved time provides up, of us.
A standout AI characteristic for me is Magic Cue, which, when it really works most frequently, sifts by way of your Gmail, Calendar, and different Google providers to populate related info and context when and the place it is sensible. I just lately booked the incorrect return flight for a piece journey, and through my name with United, Magic Cue displayed my flight and account info on the telephone app display screen, lowering the friction of me parsing by way of my Gmail and the assorted affirmation messages that sometimes include reserving flights.
It is this seamless, intuitive integration of AI that retains catching me off guard – in one of the simplest ways. That carries by way of to the cameras, a well-known meeting of 50MP extensive, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto sensors. Probably the most notable change with the Pixel 10 Professional digicam is the Tensor G5 chip’s enhanced picture sign processing (ISP) and the slew of AI methods that it handles.
I took lots of of images over the previous week with the Pixel 10 Professional XL, 9 Professional XL, and Galaxy S25 Extremely, and I discovered the previous to ship the perfect mixture of colours, shadows, and highlights. The improved picture stabilization on the primary lens additionally helps protect element with fast-moving topics and low-lit pictures.
The place the Pixel 10 Professional digicam actually shines this yr is in far-distance capturing, due to a brand new Professional Res Zoom that makes use of generative AI to appropriate noise and distortion. It is a sensitive topic, I do know, however the output, even at 100X zoom, is what clients who favor idealism over realism and comfort over labor have been ready for. The distinction between the Pixel Professional Res Zoom and Samsung’s Area Zoom leans closely in Google’s favor.
The AI-enhanced zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional sequence is not flawless — at occasions, it overcorrects and makes individuals appear like sci-fi characters. However when it really works, which is at a 95% success charge for me, it is genuinely spectacular.
Digital camera Coach is the opposite large new AI characteristic throughout the digicam app, and I discovered the on-screen directions simple to comply with, clear to know, and versatile sufficient to seize numerous photographs of the identical topic. The place it falls quick is in capturing transferring objects like impatient youngsters or dashing automobiles, as going by way of the information and methods requires time and fixed focus. As long as you are leaving the digicam app with one useful takeaway every time you employ the characteristic, I would contemplate {that a} win for Google.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
There’s nonetheless a lot to unpack with the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, however my first week with the gadgets has proven me what dwelling with AI superphones looks like. For longtime Pixel customers eyeing an improve, each fashions are a no brainer — showcasing Google’s finest {hardware} to this point and an Android 16 expertise that feels tastefully acquainted, delightfully playful, and genuinely helpful.
The Pixel 10 Professional is the best way to go for customers preferring a extra ergonomic and cozy cellular expertise. If cellular leisure and quick charging are excessive in your precedence record, contemplate the Pixel 10 Professional XL. The bigger mannequin prices $100 greater than final yr, but it surely additionally begins with 256GB of storage (versus 128GB), so the $1,199 could also be simpler to justify.
As all the time, contemplate the assorted trade-in gives and promotions out of your carriers and big-box retailers. There is a good likelihood you may rating a few hundred {dollars} off with minimal effort.
ZDNET’s assessment workforce spends upwards of a yr testing the ins and outs of each main telephone launch, evaluating the day-to-day efficiency, digicam high quality, battery life and endurance, and particular options. Here is a breakdown of each issue we contemplate earlier than we make suggestions:
- Design and ergonomics: How good a telephone appears to be like and feels performs a giant function in lots of customers’ shopping for journeys, so we contemplate these points closely when testing.
- Efficiency: A number of elements have an effect on a telephone’s efficiency, together with LTE/5G sign, battery life, and background duties. Due to this fact, we sometimes start our evaluations with a completely charged handset, all background duties closed, and as secure a cellular connection as doable.
- Digital camera high quality: ZDNET checks telephone cameras by capturing lots of of images and movies of varied topics and in numerous lighting situations. We additionally examine the output to that of older fashions.
- Battery life and charging: It is also vital for us to guage how lengthy telephones final underneath gentle, reasonable, and heavy utilization, how lengthy they take to recharge, and the way they do it (wired, wi-fi, or each).
- Particular options: These options distinguish examined gadgets from a bustling smartphone market and hopefully deliver added worth to customers, not the alternative.
- Pricing and availability: Past funds concerns, we additionally observe if a telephone is accessible within the US or solely internationally.
For a extra intensive breakdown, take a look at our complete telephone testing methodology web page.
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