A week later with Google Pixel 10 Pro: These upgrades are convincing me to leave Samsung

aug / 2025

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It is arduous to consider 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 big’s telephone lineup paints a transparent image of its maturity and the place issues are headed.

Living proof, the Pixel 10 Professional collection, consisting of the Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional XL, is, at first look, a secure improve. Their designs look practically an identical to final yr’s fashions, you will wrestle to identify the variations in specs between the tenth and ninth generations, they usually’re priced squarely within the threshold of recent flagships.

However in addition they have a software program suite that really advances the best way 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 collection (commonplace mannequin included), I’ve by no means been extra satisfied that AI on telephones is right here to remain. It would 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 important 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 check 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 had 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-Cell affiliate congratulated me on switching to a Google Pixel 9 Professional XL. That is not a typo. With the Pixel 10 Professional collection, 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 digital camera bar always reminds you ways critically Google takes its cell 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 among the heaviest telephones in the marketplace, 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 gradual build-up of wrist pressure regardless 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 collection options upgraded prime and backside audio system, producing a change in loudness that I observed nearly instantly when enjoying my ordinary 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 sooner 45W wired charging, unique to the XL, was one other welcome contact.

Maybe the largest new characteristic, and the one which may be simplest 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 commonplace. Assume MagSafe for Android. This permits the telephones to snap onto the hundreds 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 whenever you’re charging its Pixel 10 telephones. These embody a full-scale climate show, a Google Images slideshow, sensible residence 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 may also limit 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 after 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’s going to seemingly be one thing I have a look at each half an hour. And whereas the clock display screen saver may 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 important 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. Based mostly 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 below intense workloads, from enhancing HDR, 60fps movies to gaming to operating Android Auto navigation whereas on a name. The in-house processor, which includes 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 collection.

I am speaking sooner compute occasions throughout Pixel Screenshots, Recorder transcriptions and translations, and different native AI duties that will sometimes take seconds longer. That point provides up, people.

A standout AI characteristic for me is Magic Cue, which sifts by way of your Gmail, Calendar, and different Google companies to populate related data and context when and the place it is sensible. I lately booked the improper 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 screen, decreasing 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 best ways. That carries by way of to the cameras, a well-recognized meeting of 50MP huge, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto sensors. Essentially the most notable change with the Pixel 10 Professional digital camera is the Tensor G5 chip’s enhanced picture sign processing (ISP) and the slew of AI methods that it handles.

I took a whole lot of photographs 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 digital camera actually shines this yr is in far-distance capturing, due to a brand new Professional Res Zoom that makes use of generative AI to right 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 House Zoom leans closely in Google’s favor.

The AI-enhanced zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional collection is not flawless — at occasions, it overcorrects and makes folks seem like sci-fi characters. However when it really works, which is at a 95% success fee for me, it is genuinely spectacular.

Digicam Coach is the opposite large new AI characteristic inside the digital camera app, and I discovered the on-screen directions simple to comply with, clear to grasp, and versatile sufficient to seize numerous pictures of the identical topic. The place it falls brief is in capturing transferring objects like impatient kids or dashing autos, as going by way of the guidelines and methods requires time and fixed focus. As long as you are leaving the digital camera app with one useful takeaway every time you utilize the characteristic, I would take into account {that a} win for Google.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

There’s nonetheless a lot to unpack with the Pixel 10 Professional collection, 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} so far 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 cell expertise. If cell leisure and quick charging are excessive in your precedence record, take into account the Pixel 10 Professional XL. The bigger mannequin prices $100 greater than final yr, however it additionally begins with 256GB of storage (versus 128GB), so the $1,199 could also be simpler to justify.

As all the time, take into account the assorted trade-in provides and promotions out of your carriers and big-box retailers. There is a good probability you will rating a few hundred {dollars} off with minimal effort.