Asking the Pixel 10 to be greater than what it’s feels grasping.
Google’s non-Professional Pixel is priced pretty at $799, which is considerably lower than the $999 Pixel 10 Professional. It comes with some useful upgrades, like Qi2 charging with built-in magnets. Its AI options lastly present promise. It features a devoted telephoto lens for the primary time. It’s a correct flagship and an all-around easygoing Android telephone. But when I’m being grasping, then I do have one request: higher cameras.
The rear cameras on the Pixel 10 are completely effective. For somebody who’s not choosy about picture high quality, they’d be higher than effective. And perhaps I’d assume they have been effective, too, if I wasn’t cursed with the information that the cameras on final yr’s mannequin are higher. And that’s as a result of up till this yr, the non-Professional Pixel got here with the identical most important and ultrawide digital camera {hardware} because the Professional. However we will’t have every thing, and when Google added that telephoto lens this yr, it downgraded the opposite two rear cameras to basically what’s within the midrange Pixel 9A. So the Pixel 10 has a superbly effective digital camera system, so long as you’re not too grasping.
$799
The Good
- Qi2 wi-fi charging with magnets is nice
- AI is definitely form of helpful, lastly
- Telephoto digital camera is a pleasant addition
The Unhealthy
- Predominant and ultrawide cameras aren’t fairly pretty much as good because the Professional
- Battery life is simply okay
Outdoors of the digital camera scenario, the Pixel 10 comes with the identical main upgrades because the Professional telephones this yr: a brand new chip and a few magnets. Tensor G5 is the brand new processor on the ten sequence, which I’ve discovered to run a tad cooler than earlier variations. The G5 is Google’s first customized chipset made by TSMC, and it handles heavier workloads effectively. The common 10 comes with 12GB of RAM in comparison with 16GB within the 10 Professional, and I did discover slightly extra stuttering on dense net pages than on the Professional. However for the non-skilled telephone person, it handles most duties simply effective.
Google Pixel 10 specs
- Tensor G5 chipset with 12GB of RAM | 128GB or 256GB of storage
- 6.3-inch 1080p 60-120Hz OLED
- 48-megpaixel f/1.7 most important digital camera | 13-megapixel ultrawide | 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto | 10.5-megapixel selfie digital camera
- 4,970mAh lithium-ion battery
- Qi2 wi-fi charging as much as 15W; 55 p.c cost in half-hour with wired 30W charger
- IP68 mud and water-proof
There’s a complete lot of on-device AI working on the brand new chip — which you’ll learn extra about in my Pixel 10 Professional evaluation — and I think it contributes to the Pixel 10’s just-okay battery life. A full day of average use is not any drawback, however in the event you add some intensive actions like an prolonged hotspot or gaming session, then you definately would possibly begin in search of a charger within the late afternoon. The common particular person in all probability received’t be bothered by it, however energy customers will desire a charger or energy financial institution useful to keep away from battery nervousness on the finish of the day.
AI remains to be hit-or-miss, however the hits are getting higher.
AI remains to be hit-or-miss, however the hits are getting higher. The Pixel 10 doesn’t supply the generative AI-assisted digital camera zoom characteristic that the Professional and Professional XL have, however you do get Magic Cue, which fetches useful info based mostly on what you’re doing. And it truly does work. It’s solely in a handful of Google apps proper now, however it may possibly assist put one thing in your calendar as you hash out plans in Messages or counsel a vacation spot once you open Google Maps based mostly on one thing you saved in your screenshots. I had a number of extra false positives whereas testing it on the Pixel 10 than I did with the ten Professional; there have been occasions when it urged info that wasn’t related or it provided to create a calendar occasion once I instructed a buddy I’d “be there in 30.” I nonetheless discovered it extra helpful than not, and it’s simple sufficient to disregard when its recommendations are off the mark.
The Pixel 10 gained a telephoto digital camera however misplaced slightly picture high quality within the course of.
The Pixel 10 has Qi2 with built-in magnets, and it’s a delight. There’s no case required (not like with the Samsung S25 sequence telephones), and I totally loved thwacking the telephone onto a bedside PixelSnap charger on the finish of every day. With the addition of what’s basically MagSafe, the Pixel sequence is wanting like a reasonably full various to the iOS ecosystem lately. Every night time once I put my telephone on the charger, triggering bedtime mode, my Pixel watch adopted swimsuit and altered modes, too. That’s not a brand new characteristic, however little moments like that add up all through the day.
I spent every week with the Pixel 10 Professional earlier than switching to the common 10, and there’s not a lot that feels radically totally different on the cheaper mannequin — besides the show. The usual 10 comes with a 6.3-inch 1080p display screen with as much as a 120Hz refresh price, in comparison with the 1280p show on the ten Professional. Its peak brightness of three,000 nits is sufficient to maintain the telephone usable on a sunny day, and 1080p is simply sufficient decision for a display screen that measurement. The display screen appears extra vulnerable to dropping from its high 120Hz refresh price, which is ok however slightly jarring once you’re scrolling the NYT Video games app and all of the sudden 60Hz.
I additionally seen some vignetting when utilizing the telephone in shiny mild — darkness across the edges of the display screen, such as you would possibly see in {a photograph}. This seems to be a identified difficulty, resolved by switching to the “pure” show shade profile. Total, it’s a effective show however you undoubtedly get extra by spending extra on the Professional.
As regards to getting extra for extra with the ten Professional: cameras. The Pixel 10’s 48-megapixel f/1.7 most important digital camera doesn’t appear all that totally different from the ten Professional’s 50-megapixel f/1.7 digital camera — till you get to the sensor measurement. The common 10 makes use of a 1/2.0-inch sort sensor that’s about half the dimensions of the 1/1.31-inch sort sensor within the Professional fashions. A much bigger sensor will produce cleaner photographs with higher dynamic vary, and it’s a distinction I felt, particularly in portrait mode. Significantly if mild is low, your topic is transferring, and in the event you’re utilizing the 2x zoom possibility, portrait mode on the common 10 isn’t pretty much as good as on the Execs. Pictures present extra noise, effective element like hair appears crunchy, and topic isolation isn’t as exact.
A portrait-mode photograph with the topic transferring towards the digital camera at excessive velocity is about as powerful a state of affairs as you possibly can throw at a telephone digital camera, so it’s not too stunning that the Pixel 10 can’t deal with it effectively. However it’s a method that the smaller digital camera sensor ends in noticeably worse efficiency. Outdoors of portraits, the Pixel 10 takes completely good images. The ultrawide — additionally a smaller sensor than on the Execs — handles dim indoor lighting acceptably. The 5x telephoto lens is useful and undoubtedly an improve over utilizing 5x digital zoom. Perhaps a telephoto lens and a killer most important digital camera are an excessive amount of to ask for in a $799 telephone, however I’ll maintain wishing for each anyway.
Gotta admit the blue shade is sweet.
Final yr, the Pixel 9 felt just like the telephone that Android had wanted for a very long time: one thing elegant, easy, and sturdy. The Pixel 10 takes that very same mannequin and principally improves it, including Qi2 and a telephoto lens. The worth stayed the identical, which is nothing to sneeze at when the costs of every thing else maintain going up.
Shedding the higher-end digital camera may not be a dealbreaker for most individuals, but it surely’s slightly powerful to swallow if you already know what you’re lacking out on. Most individuals who purchase this telephone received’t be burdened with that information, and I feel the Pixel 10 will make that group completely completely happy.
Pictures by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Comply with Proceed: Google Pixel 10, 10 Professional, and 10 Professional XL
Each good machine now requires you to comply with a sequence of phrases and circumstances earlier than you should use it — contracts that nobody truly reads. It’s not possible for us to learn and analyze each single considered one of these agreements. However we began counting precisely what number of occasions you need to hit “agree” to make use of gadgets once we evaluation them since these are agreements most individuals don’t learn and undoubtedly can’t negotiate.
To make use of a Pixel 10 sequence telephone, you have to comply with:
The next agreements are non-compulsory:
- Present nameless location knowledge for Google’s providers
- “Permit apps and providers to scan for Wi-Fi networks and close by gadgets at any time, even when Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is off.”
- Ship utilization and diagnostic knowledge to Google
- Discuss to Google hands-free: “When you agree, Google Assistant will wait in standby mode to detect ‘Hey Google’ and sure fast phrases.”
- Permit Assistant on lock display screen
Moreover, if you wish to use Google Assistant, you have to comply with let Google acquire app information and phone information out of your gadgets. Different options like Google Pockets might require further agreements.
Last tally: 5 obligatory agreements and a minimum of 5 non-compulsory agreements
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