In 2024, I wrote a very strong recommendation for the Pixel 9 Pro XL and called it “my favourite Android ever.” A year later, my sentiments have changed; however, they weren’t replaced by Google’s latest offering, the Pixel 10 Pro XL. (I reviewed the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but I’ll call it the 10 Pro for simplicity from here on out. Plus, most of what I have to say also applies to the smaller 10 Pro.) While the Mountain View tech giant’s flagship offers a solid experience, when other companies work towards innovation, the 10 Pro is more like a misstep towards perfection.
After the solid Pixel 9 Pro XL, I wanted Google to make a better version for 2025, or elevate it with a new gimmick, but the tenth Pixel isn’t too different from the ninth. And while there are some improvements, they’re barely noteworthy, and the latest features I was pretty excited about don’t work well in practice. So while the 10 Pro is an impressive device, it’s mostly just as remarkable as its predecessor. This isn’t great, especially in a market with interesting devices like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, OnePlus 13 and the iPhone 17 series.
I had hopes and beliefs that Google would pull a gimmick out of its hat of tricks for the launch of its 10th Pixel, but I was left disappointed. Bring back ‘Active Edge,’ you cowards! I’m sorta kidding here, but I did expect to see something weird, and while I’m a little disenchanted, it could also be for the best.
So last year
Google didn’t do a lot with the phone’s design. Even though the dimensions are the same as the 9 Pro XL, this year’s model is 11g heavier because of the bigger battery. I’m always of two minds regarding a slightly heavier phone. On the one hand, the 10 Pro XL’s heavier body makes it feel more premium. On the other hand, the thinness of handsets like the S25 Edge makes them feel premium in another way, and I think it’s the future of smartphones. It’s like the Pixel 10 Pro’s refinements are “so last year,” instead of making the device future-proof.
The phones are duplicates except for the colour, the placement of the SIM tray, and the extra speaker grill. None of the colours caught my eye this year, as I found them boring.
While it’s not something you’ll notice by just looking at the phone, the Pixel 10 series now has Pixelsnap technology, bringing Qi2 directly to the handset, instead of using a case – like every other Android on the market. While not the most exciting update, it’s cool that Google was the first to adopt this. Unfortunately, I don’t use many Qi2 products, like magnetic wallets, but alongside the 10 Pro, Google gifted me the new Qi2 Pixel Stand, and I now often place my phone on the stand when it’s charging. The first time I did this, I received a notification saying the device was connecting to the Stand and that it’s charging at 25W, which is nice to know that the handset is charging as fast as wirelessly possible, and it hasn’t done this since, so it’s not annoying.
I like the Pixel 10 Pro’s design, but not any more or less than the 9 Pro’s. This is unfortunate because I want to love it more than its predecessor. It’s the shiny new Pixel, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing special.
Similar to the design, the Pixel 10 Pro features a 1344 x 2992-pixel resolution with a 6.8-inch display, which hasn’t changed from its predecessor either. Expect an HDR10+ 120Hz refresh rate panel with peak brightness of 3300 nits. Images and videos look excellent and detailed, with colours popping. The smooth display is buttery; you’ll notice it when playing games, scrolling through web pages, and more. Initially, I had the screen resolution set to max, but that killed battery performance. For most of my review, I had the handset set to ‘high resolution’ of 1080 x 2340, which was good enough for watching content.
Weird battery experience
The Pixel 10 Pro features the Tensor G5 chipset, 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. It runs quickly enough to handle various tasks. It is quick whether I’m using AI features, opening apps, or doing anything else on the handset. However, in terms of benchmarking, I found that the device was disappointing.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL’s battery life wasn’t bad after changing the resolution to ‘high’ from the ‘max’ setting. With the max setting turned on, the handset’s battery drops quickly, not even making it to a day. I usually have this setting on when reviewing phones, so I was disappointed. However, with the resolution set to high, the phone could easily make it to over a day of battery life. It’s not the most impressive battery on the market, but it’s definitely serviceable. MobileSyrup suspects that something is going on with the GPU consuming too much energy, so we’re hoping for a fix sooner than later.
The Pixel 10 Pro also has dual speakers on the bottom, which are impressively loud. Music sounded great. I was playing some tunes in my bedroom, and my roommate was singing along, about 20 feet, two rooms away.
As always
Camera performance is stellar, but that’s not shocking considering the shooters are the same as last year. The Pixel 10 Pro’s cameras are copies of its predecessors, meaning the same great shots you could capture with the Pixel 9 Pro, you can capture with the 10 Pro. Which means the primary shooter hasn’t changed in three years – very boring. I think it’s time for Google to update its camera hardware. Of course, it still looks good, but with phones like the S25 Ultra and the Vivo X200 Ultra out in the world, it’s time to make some changes.
Despite the lack of change, it’s still a solid camera that can shoot day or night, ultrawide and telephoto with up to 5x optical zoom. There’s now a 100x zoom Super Res mode that uses AI to assist the camera in creating photos, but sometimes the shots aren’t that great. Using it on something like a sign that the phone can use generative AI to recreate isn’t too bad. However, faces or pretty much anything with detail won’t work. I wish Google did something similar to Apple, showing a really good 50x zoom AI shot instead of a 100x zoom that looks pretty meh.
Speaking of AI, the Pixel 10 series has this new Camera Coach feature that uses AI to give step-by-step instructions on how to take the best photo for the scene. I used it for product photography, but I wasn’t fond of the instructions. I think they were solid for first-timers, but as someone who’s been doing this for nearly a decade, I found the experience annoying more than anything.
The AI of it all
Other AI features I found were similarly not all that helpful. Of course, Gemini and Gemini Live have always been valuable experiences for me. However, this year’s new highlight of the Pixel 10 series AI feature is Magic Cue.
Magic Cue is a new proactive Gemini feature; essentially, Gemini is trying to guess what you want next. So if you’re talking to a friend about your upcoming concert, Magic Cue is supposed to grab your ticket information, so you can quickly send it to your friend. Or if you’re about to call Air Canada, your plane ticket will show up in the Phone App, so you have it ready when you speak to the agent.
Initially, MobileSyrup editor-in-chief Jon Lamont (who reviewed the Pixel 10) and I had issues with the AI feature and couldn’t even get it to work. After digging, we discovered that it was potentially because we were in the Google Messages beta. After removing the Messages beta from our phones, the feature started to work, but it took 24 hours for it to really start cooking, and still, I’m finding it starting to gather more information from my apps.
In my experience, I haven’t found it too helpful; it’s either not gathering useful information, or if someone asks me what I’m doing later today, it’s suggesting that I open my calendar app instead of just pulling up what I’m doing in the evening. It wouldn’t pull any information from my Gmail for a long time, but recently, my friend asked me about a TIFF movie we would see together, and it suggested the info. Unfortunately, it grabbed the information for the wrong film, but it’s improving.
This feature is imperfect and has some growing, but I see the potential; it needs to bake longer. Another hit AI feature is Daily Hub. It works like Samsung’s Daily Brief, which pulls information from your calendar and other apps and lets you know your plans for the day. It’s also supposed to gather information about the weather, anything interesting in the news, and recommended YouTube videos. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about Daily Hub yet; however, throughout my whole time with the handset, I was never able to get the feature to work. Now, Google has pulled the AI functionality “to enhance its performance.” Hopefully, when it’s back, I can use it.
I liked some other fun features on the Pixel 10 series. I had a lot of fun with the ambient, always-on full-screen wallpaper. On the 10 Pro, you can show your full-screen wallpaper in your always-on display, so whenever I look at my phone locked, it has my wallpaper, but it’s dimmed. This isn’t all that important, but it’s a fun little touch that I like on my phone. Material 3 Expressive is pretty lovely, I like the refresh, but it’s not a consistent experience across apps. It’s available on some apps but not supported by everyone at launch, so that’s a little annoying. And I’m sure many third-party apps will never get the aesthetic.
A new Journal app allows Pixel users to document their ideas and thoughts, and there are even AI-generated prompts. The app generates an emoji based on the content, then charts it to show the trends in your emotions over time. But I didn’t really use it, because I already use Google Keep to track my thoughts. I sort of wish Google used AI in Keep instead of something. I’ve been using Keep forever, and it has all my thoughts, book ideas and more. I won’t switch to the Journal app now, even though it has some AI features.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL was one of my favourite phones last year, but the 10 Pro XL doesn’t continue that sentiment. I like the design, and the camera (but I liked it last year too), the battery is serviceable (with the resolution lowered), the speaker is great, the Tensor G5 works, and there’s a boatload of AI features that should improve over time. But with the aging camera tech, an only serviceable battery, and the Tensor processor that falls behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the A19 Pro, it’s hard to appreciate the 10 Pro XL.
I liked the handset, but it’s time to make some changes, Google. On top of that, the 10 Pro XL is $1,629, which is pretty expensive. No shade, but just grab the Galaxy S25+ for $1,438. It offers a similar experience but in a slimmer body with a better battery. While the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s cameras are better, the S25+’s are still quite good, and you’re saving some cash. The OnePlus 13 is $1,249, and you’re getting a better experience (except for the camera, Google still wins here). But the Pixel 10 Pro XL is pretty expensive, and again, while I enjoy the experience, there are better options for the price point – unless you need an excellent camera. If you’re all about a great camera experience, though its tech is aging and some consider the S25 Ultra or iPhone 16 Pro’s (not even 17 Pro’s) shooters better, this is the best option for the price – other than just buying last year’s 9 Pro XL.
I’d recommend the Pixel 10 Pro XL for people who like the Pixel experience, like myself, or want one of the best camera experiences on the market, on a large-screened phone, especially considering the price of the iPhone 17 Pro Max or the S25 Ultra. If you want the best value gaming, battery, screen or design experience, though, there are better options.
