aug / 2025
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It is laborious to imagine that we’re formally at 12 months 10 for the Google Pixel, however even only a look again on the previous three generations of the search big’s telephone lineup paints a transparent image of its maturity and the place issues are headed.
Working example, the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, consisting of the Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional XL, is, at first look, a protected improve. Their designs look almost an identical to final 12 months’s fashions, you will 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 in addition they have a software program suite that really advances the way in which we work together with our smartphones — or at the least, that was my takeaway after utilizing the telephones for the previous week. With the Pixel 10 sequence (normal mannequin included), I’ve by no means been extra satisfied that AI on telephones is right here to remain. It does not should 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 vital subject 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-Cell onto the Pixel 10 Professional XL and my secondary eSIM from Mint Cell 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 might by no means had a extra burdenless interplay at my native provider store, however one thing did catch me off guard. At one level, the T-Cell 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 cell optics.
Enable me to chase my geekery with one of many few downsides of this 12 months’s Pixel design: the burden. At 232 grams, the Pixel 10 Professional XL is likely one of the heaviest telephones available on the market, beating my earlier every 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 will really feel the sluggish build-up of wrist pressure irrespective of the way you maintain the machine up.
Google tells me there are a number of explanation why its telephones weigh extra this 12 months, 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 enjoying my standard 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 12 months’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 most important new characteristic, and the one that could be simplest in convincing iPhone customers to change over, is Pixelsnap, a system of in-body magnets that may pull in wi-fi energy on the Qi2 normal. Assume MagSafe for Android. This allows the telephones to snap onto the hundreds of magnet-based equipment available on the market, from tripod stands to pockets instances to charging docks.
Google has totally embraced the know-how by providing a slew of display savers that seem while you’re charging its Pixel 10 telephones. These embrace a full-scale climate show, a Google Photographs slideshow, good dwelling controls, and a clock. As somebody who usually 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 saver when the Pixel 10 Professional is charging or charging and set upright is a pleasant contact. You may also limit the characteristic to when the machine is in wi-fi charging solely, as it will in any other case seem with even a wired connection.
Nevertheless, the display savers aren’t excellent. 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 data for what is going to possible be one thing I take a look at each half an hour. And whereas the clock display saver can even show the temperature, it does 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 arms, the model has at all times 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 working Android Auto navigation whereas on a name. The in-house processor, which incorporates a modified structure that dynamically shifts between full and sub fashions, is actually realized within the numerous new AI options on the Pixel 10 Professional sequence.
I am speaking quicker compute instances throughout Pixel Screenshots, Recorder transcriptions and translations, and different native AI duties that might usually take seconds longer. That point provides up, people.
A standout AI characteristic for me is Magic Cue, which sifts by means of your Gmail, Calendar, and different Google companies to populate related data and context when and the place it is smart. 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 data on the telephone app display, lowering the friction of me parsing by means of my Gmail and the assorted affirmation messages that usually include reserving flights.
It is this seamless, intuitive integration of AI that retains catching me off guard – in one of the best ways. That carries by means of to the cameras, a well-known meeting of 50MP huge, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto sensors. Essentially 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 a whole bunch 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 best mixture of colours, shadows, and highlights. The improved picture stabilization on the principle lens additionally helps protect element with fast-moving topics and low-lit images.
The place the Pixel 10 Professional digicam actually shines this 12 months is in far-distance capturing, because of 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 prospects who favor idealism over realism and comfort over labor have been ready for. The distinction between the Pixel Professional Res Zoom and Samsung’s House Zoom leans closely in Google’s favor.
The AI-enhanced zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional sequence is not flawless — at instances, it overcorrects and makes folks seem like sci-fi characters. However when it really works, which is at a 95% success price for me, it is genuinely spectacular.
Digicam Coach is the opposite huge new AI characteristic inside the digicam app, and I discovered the on-screen directions simple to observe, clear to know, and versatile sufficient to seize numerous photographs of the identical topic. The place it falls quick is in capturing shifting objects like impatient kids or dashing automobiles, as going by means 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 utilize the characteristic, I might take into account {that a} win for Google.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
There’s nonetheless loads to unpack with the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, however my first week with the gadgets has proven me what residing with AI superphones appears like. For longtime Pixel customers eyeing an improve, each fashions are a no brainer — showcasing Google’s finest {hardware} thus far and an Android 16 expertise that feels tastefully acquainted, delightfully playful, and genuinely helpful.
The Pixel 10 Professional is the way in which to go for customers preferring a extra ergonomic and comfy cell expertise. If cell leisure and quick charging are excessive in your precedence listing, take into account the Pixel 10 Professional XL. The bigger mannequin prices $100 greater than final 12 months, however it additionally begins with 256GB of storage (versus 128GB), so the $1,199 could also be simpler to justify.
As at all times, take into account the assorted trade-in gives and promotions out of your carriers and big-box retailers. There is a good likelihood you will rating a few hundred {dollars} off with minimal effort.
ZDNET’s evaluation group spends upwards of a 12 months 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 take into account earlier than we make suggestions:
- Design and ergonomics: How good a telephone seems and feels performs a giant position in lots of customers’ shopping for journeys, so we take into account these elements closely when testing.
- Efficiency: A number of components have an effect on a telephone’s efficiency, together with LTE/5G sign, battery life, and background duties. Due to this fact, we usually start our evaluations with a totally charged handset, all background duties closed, and as secure a cell connection as attainable.
- Digicam high quality: ZDNET checks telephone cameras by capturing a whole bunch 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 essential for us to guage how lengthy telephones final underneath gentle, average, 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 convey added worth to customers, not the alternative.
- Pricing and availability: Past finances issues, we additionally word if a telephone is on the market within the US or solely internationally.
For a extra intensive breakdown, try our complete telephone testing methodology web page.
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