Pixel 10 Pro XL Initial Review: 10 generations in, Google is still trying to get it right

Google Pixel hit the scene in 2016 and, ever since, Google has been trying to figure out how it wants to build a flagship Android smartphone. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride in one way or another, but after a week using the Pixel 10 Pro XL, I think, for better or worse, this is the culmination of Google’s efforts thus far.

Hardware & Display | The best kind of déjà vu

Google has gone through a lot of designs through the history of Pixel, with each little “era” bringing its own identity. While the Pixel 4 generation will perhaps always be my favorite Pixel design, the “Tensor era” brought about a design that Google mostly perfected with the Pixel 9 series last year. The “camera bar” look is instantly recognizable and perhaps a perfect mix of form and function, which is why I’m really glad to see it return this year, mostly unchanged from last.

The boxy Pixel 10 Pro XL design feels good in the hand with its mix of matte glass and polished metal, though I do still wish we had a grippier, less debris-prone matte frame along the sides. Anything on your fingers seems to latch on to the polished rails unlike any other phone I use, which led to not one but two times in a week that I needed to grab an alcohol wipe to clean the sides of the phone. It’s a non-issue for anyone using a case, of course, but I do hope Google reconsiders this finish with its next redesign. 

That out of the way, two things stood out to me on the hardware front this year, the first being the colors.

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Google continues the trend of limiting flashy colors like its delightful “Really Blue” – like “Indigo” to its base model devices, leaving the Pro tiers with subtle tints. It could be worse, though. I liked the “Jade” color in my hands-on time earlier this month, but “Moonstone” is what I’ve spent my time with over the past week. The off-grey color is more of a standout than many give it credit for, with the blue-ish color changing quite drastically depending on its surroundings. In warmer indoor lighting, it tends to look more gray, while it can look more blue or purple in some outdoor situations. Do I still wish we had proper vibrant colors on the Pixel 10 Pro XL? Of course! But, ultimately, most people are going to cover these in cases anyway. Then again, Google should perhaps take a note from Samsung, which introduced a vibrant blue color on its Galaxy Z Fold 7 recently andsaw “nearly half” of customers choose it. Just a thought.

The other thing that stood out to me this time around was the weight.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL is heavy by slab phone standards. I generally don’t have an issue with phones being a little hefty, but it’s a little weird that Google’s slab phone weighs more than my Galaxy Z Fold 7. The 232 gram weight of Pixel 10 Pro XL isn’t egregious, but it’s something to work on because the weight of your phone shouldn’t be noticeable, and on this device, it very much is.

Big & bright

What needs no improvement is the display. Google’s 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display is big and bright, and easily one of the best you can get in a phone today. The vibrant colors and 120Hz refresh rate combine with peak brightness of 3,300 nits for a display that’s as easy to use indoors as it is out – something I noticed during a disc golf tournament that was held on a cloud-less Sunday morning that really put this display to the test. 

I think we’ve mostly hit the law of diminishing returns on smartphone displays, as the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s display doesn’t feel drastically better than the one found on 2023’s Pixel 8 Pro, just as in that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s display doesn’t feel like a huge upgrade over, say, the Galaxy S23 Ultra. They’re constantly improving and it’s always appreciated, but it’s just a more and more minor point each year. The only thing I do wish was that Google would adopt Gorilla Armor like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, both for the sake of that anti-glare finish and the improved scratch resistance – it took just two days for me to get some tiny scratches on the display.

I do continue to enjoy the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display, though. Combined with Google’s Face Unlock – theonly one on Android that’s actually worth anything – it makes unlocking and using secure apps a breeze, and has been a nice change of pace from the side-mounted sensors on the foldables I’m usually using.

Qi2 magnets are finally here

The biggest hardware change comes in the arrival of Qi2 and “Pixelsnap.” In other words, the Pixel 10 Pro XL has magnets built in for wireless charger alignment and accessories. We’ll touch on the former point later, but for me, this aspect of the device means more than just charging.

Magnets open up a world of accessory options, and I immediately have come to love being able to attach my wallet to the phone or easily mount it in my car. This functionality exists pretty much everywhere when it comes to third-party cases, but it’s a delight to finally have it built into the phone for two reasons. First, it means I don’t have to use a case 24/7. Second, it means that magnet is in the right spot. A lot of third-party cases and magnet attachments are clunky, with alignment often being off or the orientation lock being missing. It’s usually not an ideal experience for the end user, but Google’s inclusion in the phone means that everyone has to play ball and, whether you’re using an official case or a third-party one, the experience is better for everyone.

With charging being a huge part of the equation, though, let’s talk about that experience for a moment. 

For me, I’ve immediately gone headfirst into the Qi2 and MagSafe worlds. I’m charging on a MagSafe-style stand, I’ve got a MagSafe mount in my car, and I picked up a great little Qi2 battery bank that tops up the Pixel 10 Pro XL at 15W without much added bulk on the phone or in my bag. With the iPhone having beein in this world for a few years now, the pool of accessories is endless and, with Google helping to pioneer the latest Qi 2.2 update, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is on the bleeding edge of this, with plenty of new chargers on the way. 

Perhaps my only note on the entire experience is that the magnets are little weaker than expected. Compared to my iPhone, the magnets just seem about 10% weaker. Far from a problem, but it had me hesitate on a couple of mounting situations.

Software & AI |

2021’s Pixel 6 series came alongside the last reinvention of Android’s design, so it’s only appropriate that the Pixel 10 does the same. Google’s new Material 3 Expressive design language will be rolling out more widely in the very near future, but the Pixel 10 series is its proper debut.

Google’s new coat of paint on top of Android isn’t a complete revamp, but it breathes life into the platform without making anything feel foreign. The new design language is full of bolder UI elements, the grouping of elements in apps, and more. In the actual system, you’ll see a lot of refinement to the software more than you will new features, but it’s not completely devoid of those. One of the new additions is being able to adjust the Quick Settings pane to have bigger toggles, which is a nice change. On the homescreen, the Pixel Launcher can show an additional row of apps thanks to a smaller At a Glance widget, and you’ll also get some sleek new wallpapers and wallpaper effects that use AI to cut out the subject of a photo, or interlace it with effects such as the current weather. 

Android is a mature OS across the board now, but it’s an update like this that makes it feel fresh to use. And Google isn’t alone in that. Everyone seems to be going through the same process right now, with Samsung fresh off of its One UI 7 revamp, and Apple preparing iOS 26. Where Samsung made some functional changes in One UI 7 that were confusing and annoying for users, though, Material 3 Expressive feels more like Apple’s “Liquid Glass” revamp – a visual update that feels familiar enough not to confuse anyone. That said, where I still feel Apple’s new design language is somewhat gaudy and off-putting, Material 3 Expressive does a better job of feeling like a natural extension of what the platform had already established.

Google continues to put out the best examples of how to use AI, with a caveat

The big story with the Pixel 10 series as a whole, though, is very much AI. What else would it be, after all.

There’s the return of Pixel Screenshots and Studio, features that came in handy from time to time on my Pixel 9 Pro Fold over the past year, but still struggle to prove their value in my usage, as well as some newcomers.

The biggest promise is Magic Cue, an overarching way for AI to proactively provide information that fits into the context of what you’re doing. Google’s examples of this include:

These are great ideas, and I wish I had more to say about how they worked.

However, Magic Cue is one of those features that really only proves its utility over time. In the few days I’ve been using the Pixel 10 Pro XL, none of these have really had a chance to kick in naturally beyond the name of a museum I was researching showing up when I opened Maps a full day later – that’s pretty neat at bare minimum. Magic Cue’s lack of utility for me is probably largely because I’m terrible at using calendars, but also because of how Magic Cue is designed to work.

The problem with Magic Cue for me remains similar to a lot of other AI tools – it’s built to work in just a few areas. The main problem in my use case is that I’m still using Google Voice for my primary number, meaning I can’t use Google Messages. While not a day goes by where I don’t consider swapping for features like this, I’m not alone as other users who prefer alternative SMS apps, mainly talk in WhatsApp or Telegram, and various other use cases are also largely left out of the most relevant parts of Magic Cue. There’s no “easy” way to change that, but I’d think that the keyboard would be the most ideal alternative to building it directly into the app itself.

The places I use AI the most on Pixel remain the ones where it enhances a feature that’s already baked into how I use my phone. Google’s use of AI behind the scenes of Gboard’s autocorrect and voice-to-text remains the biggest reason I’m often left frustrated on other Android phones, and Gemini replacing Assistant continues to improve with time. More and more, I’m finding myself using Gemini Live as a quick way to get easy answers or talk out a complicated question. I still don’t fully trust everything Gemini tells me – I’m not sure I ever will – but the ways in which Google has been expanding it just continues to convince the AI skeptic in me.

For a deeper dive into Magic Cue and the Pixel 10’s various other new AI features, go check out Abner’s Pixel 10 Pro review.

Tensor G5 | Google’s long-awaited TSMC switch fixes the biggest problem – despite what the ‘fans’ will tell you

Tensor, despite Jimmy Fallon’s excitement, has proven to be a mixed bag throughout the past four generations of Pixel, and it remains that way today. Tensor G5 is the single biggest update to Google’s smartphone chip since it was first introduced, largely because it moves over to TSMC from its original roots in Samsung. This is the first Tensor chip that is fully made by Google, and it has its own set of pros and cons.

On the bright side, the switch to TSMC seems to have finally addressed the biggest problem with Tensor – heat.

Overheating Pixels with Tensor chips have been a problem that Google is well aware of, and this is the generation that finally seems ready to put that discussion to bed. In my week with Pixel 10 Pro XL thus far, the sole time I’ve noticed the phone running noticeably hot was during the initial setup. In my day-to-day use, it’s been running fairly cool overall. Cooler, in fact, than my Galaxy Z Fold 7 with its Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, the Nothing Phone (3) with its Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, and, so far, roughly on par with my experience with Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13. It just doesn’t heat up in normal use, correcting quite literally the biggest complaint I’ve had about past generations. There’s the occasion warm-up, but nothing that I wouldn’t expect from basically any smartphone in 2025.

But what many will be disappointed to see is that performance hasn’t really changed.

Tensor G5 is more or less just as powerful as the prior generation, meaning it has far less raw horsepower compared to the like of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. As I’ve said many times, I don’t think that matters, because the overall experience is still quite good. The whole of the Android UI, jumping back and forth between apps, and most tasks are just not meaningfully impacted by the “lack” of power. You might see some apps – like photo or video editors – are a bit slower to export, or that some games don’t run quite as well, but it’s not particularly common to find these hiccups. My usual benchmark for raw horsepower on Android is Fortnite, as the game can take advantage of extra power well, and shows the impact of when performance is falling short. The Pixel 10 Pro XL, set to the “High” preset, performed fairly well here. The graphic themselves were roughly on par with when I test the game on my Fold 7 or some recent Android gaming tablets, and the performance was… fine. But what this showed was where the heat remains. Tensor G5 heats up relatively quickly in games, but then holds at a relatively warm temperature through the rest of the session. After closing the game, it cooled back down quickly. That’s just a wild generational difference, because prior Tensor chips would have been hot to the touch in the same situation, and held that heat for a while.

Tensor G5 is also paired with faster UFS 4.0 storage this year, at least on the higher 256GB+ models. This didn’t lead to as much of an impact as I was hoping, though. On Samsung and OnePlus devices that made the switch to this faster storage a few years ago, there was a noticeable jump in how fast the UI and overall experience felt. On Pixel, not nearly as much. It’s snappier, but barely. Why? I think it might come down to that the UI on Pixel was already at the same general level as those other devices despite the slower storage. So, all’s well that ends well, basically.

Google’s efforts with Tensor G5 were never about raw performance or winning benchmarks. Based on various leaks and just the way Google has spoken about Tensor over the years, it was abundantly clear that the goal this year was to keep optimizing for AI, and to address problems with heat. Mission accomplished.

Cameras | Consistently good, but where did the magic go?

Google Pixel has effectively built its name on having “the best” camera on a phone, but I’m not sure how true that is nowadays.

The camera on Pixel 10 Pro XL is roughly the same as the last generation, which is to say it’s very good as consistently taking a picture that you know will be “good” before you see the final result. But, at the same time, the magic of past generations has mostly vanished.

Pictures taken with the Pixel 10 Pro XL are true-to-life, but in a way that makes reality look pretty flat and unexciting. The natural shadows and contrast of real life scenes are flattened out with the use of HDR processing to put out an image where all parts of the scene are fully visible, whether that’s how it looked in real life or not. On the one hand, that can provide a lot of detail in an image, but it’s not always how you as the person who took the picture actually remembered it. This pretty much comes as a result of Google’s processing of a photo, as the biggest frustration for me was seeing a vibrant, rich photo in the viewfinder, only for the final image to be processed with subdued colors and contrast.

As an example:

In this shot, the fully-processed photo is more true-to-life with its colors. That red roof was indeed a bit duller than the viewfinder showed. The grass wasn’t such a vibrant green. The sky wasn’t quite that blue. On the one hand, I do appreciate that Pixel photos are generally true to life. But, on the other, sometimes that’s not how I remember it. On that above example, it was a beautiful day out and my memory of that scene was vibrant and beautiful compared to the duller reality shown in the end result. 

There’s a middle ground here somewhere, and I think it can take a couple of different forms. 

The simplest solution would be to revive some of the contrast that gave the Pixel its decisive, iconic look for years. Not everything in a photo needs to be perfectly exposed. Some areas are just dark! That’s fine! 

The other would be to take a page from Apple’s playbook.“Photographic styles” gives the user more control over the end photo, and I would love to see Google adopt this. A collection of presets – including at least one more tuned to Pixels of the past – would give the user a lot of choice in how their photos look. An extension of the Gemini-powered “Camera Coach” good even step in and suggest which preset to use based on the scene the camera sees. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

The Pixel 10 Pro XL camera is far from bad. I’d describe it as pretty great overall because it gets the most important thing right – consistency. I know every photo, whether there’s motion or rough lighting or whatever, is going to be pretty good. But I truly can’t help but want to take a step back to the magic that previous Pixel generations captured, the magic that’s missing today.

100x zoom with AI is a good idea with an obvious downside

Perhaps the biggest new feature this year on the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s camera is the addition of 100x zoom. Google’s “Pro Res Zoom” builds on existing methods of pulling more data out of the camera and sharpening the image, but utilizes AI in a relatively clever way. Using the zoomed-in image, Google will generate an AI-enhanced copy that generates sharper versions of what’s pictured. It’s pretty hit or miss, but it’s a nice option to have. You’ll often get a pretty decent shot of whatver was so far away, though other times it really falls flat on its face.

Of course, the end result is not technically “your photo,” but it often results in pretty convincing shots. And, if the AI shot isn’t your cup of tea, you also automatically get a standard 100x zoom shot that, while generally unusable, is at least “real.”

That said, there’s an obvious downside to using image generation to enhance photos.

It gets things wrong.

I’ve noticed that 100x zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro XL is most useful when zooming in on a “known” subject. So trees, plants, buildings, etc. It’s really good at those. What is it not good at? Text. It’s really bad at text. As per usual, one of my main places testing this out over the weekend was at a disc golf course, where I zoomed in on a basket with the word “DiscCatcher” on it from about 250ft away. That word turned into a bunch of circles instead because, ✨AI✨. 

It’s not just text either. I tried this on another basket on a much longer hole, and the end result of the shot was laughably unrealistic.

It does end up working when the text is legible, though.

Using image generation to enhance zoomed-in shots is, as mentioned, a really good idea, but I think Google needs to spend some time refining this one for edge cases. Until that happens, “Pro Res Zoom” is going to be a very mixed bag, and a gaping hole in the otherwise trustworthy Pixel camera.

Battery Life | By all accounts, it doesn’t make sense

The most confounding thing about my time with Pixel 10 Pro XL, though, has been battery life.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL, at least on paper, has a lot of things pointing to better battery life. For one, the battery itself is a little bit bigger at 5,200 mAh. Beyond that, Google’s switch to TSMC for Tensor G5 comes with an inherent boost in power efficiency. Then, there’s the utilization of UFS 4.0 storage, which is also more power efficient.

All of those should add up to a much better experience in terms of battery life but, somehow, they don’t.

Generally speaking, I’m seeing 3-5 hours of screen time over 14-17 hours of use before the Pixel 10 Pro XL hits 25%. That’s generally where I’ve found my nights ending. In average use – messaging, email, social media, videos, and the occasional game with a mix of Wi-Fi and cellular networks – I’m certainly not killing this phone before bed, but I can also see heavier travel days or just longer days out of the house bringing about some battery anxiety. That’s basically the same as we saw with last year’s Pixel 9 Pro XL.

The battery is perfectly acceptable – somewhat good, even – and I don’t think many people will be running into issues here, but I expected more. In the words of my favorite spinach puff chef, “by all accounts, it doesn’t make sense.” 

Charging doesn’t go a very long way to making up for this either. 

Wired charging caps out at just shy of 40W, without much of an improvement over last year, while wireless charging jumps up to 25W, assuming you have the right accessories on hand. I do not yet have those accessories, so I can’t speak to 25W speeds. If Abner’s experience with the Pixel 10 Pro getting super hot using 15W charging through the Pixelsnap Charger is any indication, though, I’m betting this will be pretty toasty. Generally, I just found myself dropping the XL onto a standard MagSafe-style charger because I didn’t need a faster top-up, but again, that’s only going to come into play on heavier days where I think this phone will end up needing a charge before the day has run out.

I’ll be traveling to Germany the week after this review goes up, and I’ll be updating this second based on how that experience goes. Plus, Android typically needs more than a week to fully optimize for your usage, so I’ll be curious to see if the battery keeps improving, something I’ve already been seeing in the past couple of days before this review goes live.

Stay tuned for updates!

Tidbits | All-in on eSIM

One of the most controversial changes Google has made in the Pixel 10 series in the US is the removal of physical SIM card slots. With Android’s tumultuous history with eSIM, that can spell headaches for some. The good news? eSIM is easy once it’s going. You might have to call your carrier for some help if you’re moving from a physical SIM or from an iPhone to Android, but once the initial headache is handled, you’re good to go. And there are good examples and bad too. Google Fi is the gold standard of eSIM, being easy to install either via a QR code or the Fi app. Major carriers also tend to have things mostly cleaned up by now. 

If you’re buying a Pixel 10, my advice would be to take a look at your carrier’s eSIM setup process before trying to activate your new phone. 

Better speakers

The speakers on Pixel 10 Pro XL are noticeably better than prior generations. They’re a bit louder, but mostly have more depth and richness to the audio, both compared to the last generation and other devices like my iPhone 15 Pro. Where I often will pair to speakers throughout my home to listen to music (or grab a pair of earbuds), I found myself leaning towards the phone’s own speakers in a lot of scenarios over the past week.

It’s not really something I can describe. You just have to hear it, because these are really good. 

Google’s latest first-party case is solid

The history of first-party cases from Google started off with a bang with those iconic fabric cases that the company infuriatingly refuses to bring back and ranges to truly-awful options from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 8 generations. Following up on last year’s Pixel 9 cases, this year’s batch is a happy medium with a soft-touch finish and the addition of built-in magnets for “Pixelsnap” and Qi2 accessories. The magnets in the case feel marginally stronger than the ones in the phone, too, which is a nice bonus. But, more than anything, the official cases are just good at providing protection to the device without completely giving up the colors Google picked.

Conclusion |  The culmination of 10 generations of Pixel, for better or worse

Despite some shortcomings, I’ve very much enjoyed my time with the Pixel 10 Pro XL because, at the end of the day, Google’s experience is pretty much unmatched. You’ll get more raw horsepower from alternatives, but the Pixel’s mix of hardware and software is just a delight in everyday use – something that hasn’t changed in the 10 generations Google has been working on this lineup.

And that’s really what the Pixel 10 Pro XL is. It’s the culmination of nearly a decade of Google working on Pixel. It learns from a lot of mistakes that Google made in the past, strives to do better, but ultimately, still has some notable asterisks on the whole package. That’s been true of virtually every Pixel to date, and remains true this year too. 

Google is confident in this year’s release, and they should be. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is a very good phone that’s fixed its biggest problems while also being a masterclass in how to implement AI features. But it’s also a sign that Google’s work isn’t done yet. 

Pixel 10 Pro XL starts at $1,199 in the US and is available from major carriers and retailers, with many offering bonus trade-in and gift card deals through early September.

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