The exercise of releasing a new Pixel series every year is an opportunity for Google to prove it can make a solid smartphone, like any top Android manufacturer. Most of the changes coming with the Pixel 10 Pro are on the software side. It’s a year when Google decided to fix old issues and go all in on artificial intelligence. You can also purchase the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which is slightly larger.
Muscle flex
The Pro 10 has a 6.3-inch screen while the Pro 10 XL has a 6.8-inch screen, matching what you get with the Pixel 9 Pro series. Screen resolution is also the same but there’s an improvement in brightness, going from 2,000 nits to 3,000 nits peak, while on the new phones it’s 2,200 nits to 3,300 nits peak.
Pixel 10 Pro offers some of the best telephoto zoom quality in any lighting. Picture: Mathures Paul
Having slightly higher brightness is helpful on sunny days. There’s a 5,200mAh battery, up from 5,060mAh, but every drop of juice is worth having. Remember, this is a phone on which you will use many AI features, some of which draw a lot of power. Even if you push the phone to its limits, close to 6.5 hours of screen-on time can be enjoyed, with brightness turned up.
The phone rocks the new Tensor G5 chip, built by TSMC. Being a 3nm chip, it’s power efficient and snappier than before. The games you played last year are probably the same titles you would go for this year. Where the new chipset helps is AI processing.
Tensor chips have improved over the years. The leap shown this year is good but it is slightly behind the processors on Samsung Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16. What’s good about it is the Tensor Processing Unit, which is specifically designed to accelerate machine learning and AI-related tasks, like running on-device models and editing photos. These tasks work well. In the real world, the phone is very smooth but those who are tech enthusiasts, they may take to Reddit with their thoughts.
In terms of durability, there’s Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on both sides of the phone.
More power to Qi2
Google now has its own range of MagSafe-style Qi2-based tech accessories, called Pixelsnap. It’s a nice addition, even if slightly late. It isn’t case dependent (the phone has built-in magnets); it’s integrated into the phone, meaning there are magnets on the inside to hold the accessory.
Using Google 100x ProRes zoom. Picture: Mathures Paul
The good thing is that the Apple MagSafe charger is compatible with Pixelsnap, giving you an opportunity to mix and match with many accessories available in the market. Qi2 is an ecosystem update that will affect the entire accessory market. It will push Android phone manufacturers to follow in Google’s footsteps.
The art of illusion
Many of the top artificial intelligence features introduced this year have to do with the camera. There are three cameras on the back and also a camera bar like before — 50MP 24mm equivalent f/1.68 (wide), 48MP 11mm equivalent f/1.7 (ultra-wide) and 48MP 112mm equivalent f/2.8 (telephoto 5x optical zoom). It may look a lot like last year’s camera hardware but that’s not a bad thing because the Pixel camera system has reached a certain level of maturity on the hardware front.
The camera bar on the back has become a hallmark of Google’s phones. Picture: Mathures Paul
Instead of changing the hardware, phones can take advantage of AI. Further, a better ISP (Image Signal Processor) translates into features like 100x ProRes zoom.
One change we notice in this year’s phone is Google’s claim of 100x ProRes Zoom. ProRes is a technology we associate with a video recording format. At 10x or 20x zoom, Google’s Super Res technology handles it very well. It basically upscales the resolution without killing details. At 10x, one can even say there’s “optical-level” zoom.
What about 100x? First, you have to switch down from 50MP to 12MP mode. The pros first. Shooting anything at 100x takes steady hands and Pixel handles it well even without a tripod. Of course, with a tripod, shots improve quite a bit, but who carries one to, say, the market and then spots a rare bird at a distance for a few seconds? The magic is a file you need to download once you try to improve the resolution of photos taken with 100x.
If you capture a bird, it will look like one with some of the colours retained. There will be a loss of quality but you can get away with it most of the time, which is saying a lot for the phone’s camera capabilities. When capturing people, the results may not be to your liking because hard edges present themselves. By the way, why would anyone take a photo of a person at 100x unless it’s the story of a peeping whatever!
Google has also got the UI part right when zooming in, thanks to the picture-in-picture view. With 100x zoom, it’s not exactly an enhancement of what the camera is picking up. It’s using AI to fill in some gaps. For someone who believes in authenticity, AI can’t be a good thing. For others, hey ma, look what a distant neighbour is eating.
The main camera goes toe to toe with Samsung Galaxy S25, with both scoring equal points
If there’s large text on a signboard, chances are it will be legible. Not so much for text in colour. It all depends on how you feel about AI modifying photos. Google is part of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), which means any of the photos you take and that use AI to fill in details will be appropriately marked. That kind of transparency is required from other companies.
Coach for visuals
Camera Coach is a new and interesting AI-powered feature. For someone who has been using photography equipment for a long time, at first you may be miffed with the feature. Who wants a lecture? Hang on… if you choose to accept a few suggestions, photos do come out better.
Camera Coach looks at a scene and then comes up with suggestions. For example, we trained the camera on a bowl of fruits and within seconds Camera Coach suggested ideas like “fruit bowl still life”, “pear and banana”, “bowl details” and “curtain and artwork”.
Once an option is selected, the camera offers a step-by-step guide to take the picture, like a tight zoom, adjust angle to exclude the couch and centre the bowl in the frame. It’s a reasonable ask from AI and it offers a chance to see combinations you may be overlooking. The problem is that the feature depends on Internet connectivity.
Google is also listening to users. There has been a dramatic improvement in portrait mode — hair strands don’t go missing, nor do ears. The transition appears natural. Another advantage: When using the telephoto lens, switch to manual focus to get a tighter crop on an image. But most people will leave it at autofocus.
Magic Cue is a powerful AI feature, accessible on Pixel 10 phones
For video, Pixel allows 8K recording at 24 and 30fps while 4K at 24, 30 and 60fps. .
Big AI features
One of the biggest AI features this year is Magic Cue. It’s an on-device AI that understands the context of what you are doing and proactively offers you the next step. Say you text someone that a restaurant reservation needs to be pushed back, Magic Cue can suggest making a call, meaning you don’t have to switch between apps or search for a number.
There’s also a new way to create music in Google’s Recorder app if you have a recording of yourself singing. Once you’re done singing, choose a mood and let the device “harmonise the track”. The one feature we couldn’t try is instant voice translation, so more of that in a future article.
Make the call
Google’s audience for Pixel phones is not Pixel users. It can pull away customers from the likes of Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi. If it’s about Samsung Galaxy S25+ or Ultra versus Pixel 10 Pro, the former wins because of the number of AI features it presents, besides better hardware, like a titanium frame, S Pen and an excellent processor. Further, Samsung is offering an anti-reflective coating on the screen, which should become a feature on all premium phones.
‘AI Phone’ anybody? If it’s meaningful AI you’re looking for and the best of Google’s technology, Pixel 10 Pro can be the device of your choice.
