I’ve been using Google’s newPixel 10 Profor the past five days, and while our review is still a few days away, I wanted to encapsulate my experience so far. As you can tell from the title, this is a fantastic phone, but it’s equally exhilarating.
That’s not Google’s fault per se, but rather a consequence of just how good Google’s past phone is. A major upgrade last year for the ninth edition made thePixel 9 Prothe best phone you can buy, but the more modest upgrades in the Pixel 10 Pro make it far less exciting than I was hoping for.
This is further accentuated by the phones the Pixel 10 Pro is launching around. TheGalaxy Z Fold 7feels incredibly special thanks to an ultra-thin design, and theRazr Ultra 2025brings flagship specs to a flip phone. TheOnePlus 13leads the way in several areas, and Apple is set to dazzle the world with theiPhone 17series, including the ultra-thiniPhone 17 Air, at its Awe-droppingiPhone 17 launch eventnext month.
Against this backdrop, the Pixel 10 Pro is so good, yet so familiar, that it isn’t as exciting as the competition. Ahead of our full Pixel 10 Pro review, here’s why it’s an excellent phone, but one that isn’t that exciting.
Modest upgrades to an excellent phone
The Pixel 10 Pro feels fantastic yet forgettable. It’s the uber-reliable workhorse smartphone that mostly won’t let you down, but equally, it hasn’t blown me away in any particular area. A family member asked me why they should buy the Pixel 10 Pro series, and the answer was much shorter than when discussing the best phones right now.
The Pixel 10 Pro is slightly thicker and eight grams heavier than the Pixel 9 Pro, but this comes with the added benefit of a larger battery, improved cooling for the new flagship processor, and slightly higher peak brightness on the display.
The hero hardware feature is related to PixelSnap, with the Pixel 10 Pro being the first Android phone to support the new Qi2 charging standard, thanks to built-in magnets. However, even this has lost its luster, given that the iPhone has been doing this for years, although it is a new feature in the best Android phones.
Then there is the triple-camera setup with a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide and 48MP telephoto camera offering 5x optical zoom. This the exact same as the one found on the Pixel 9 Pro. Yes, the Pixel 10 Pro gains a new 100x Pro Res Zoom feature that is as good as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but fundamentally, this is exactly the same camera setup.
It delivers equally incredible photos, and that’s fine, but it feels like Google should have evolved its camera setup, purely to differentiate the tenth-generation phone. As if for further proof, all the Pixel 10 Pro product photos in this article were captured in RAW using thePixel 10 Pro XL, which features the same camera setup.
All of these things are great improvements, but I’ve realized that the Pixel 10 Pro is missing a wow factor. The Pixel 9 Pro hardware is so refined, and Google focused heavily on the Pixel 10 with the added telephoto camera, that the Pixel 10 Pro is essentially a tweaked version of last year’s flagship. That’s at least on the hardware side, with Google betting heavily that AI is ready to take the prime time.
The big bet on AI
Magic Cue is a new feature that can look across select apps to help surface information when you need it. When someone sends you a message asking what time your flight or train lands, Magic Cue can review your personal email and calendar to surface the answer with a single tap. When you call an airline or other similar company, Magic Cue can surface this booking information directly within the call.
There are inherent challenges to this, especially if you predominantly use a Workspace-based email, such as a work email or personal email with a custom domain, as Magic Cue can only currently view your personal calendar. However, Google is working to change this, and the available Magic Cue features are the building blocks towards the AI we deserve.
Then there’s Daily Hub, which summarizes your calendar, key information, news, weather, and more into a single location in the morning and the evenings. This is another feature that has considerable potential, but its utility is not yet fully clear. Once Google can enable access to your work calendar, this should prove to be far more useful.
The changing tide of the smartphone industry
The biggest challenge for the Pixel 10 Pro is not the phone itself, but that it launches in the midst of a sizable shift in the industry.
TheGalaxy Z Fold 7,Galaxy S25 Edge, andHonor Magic V5all push the boundaries of smartphone thickness, and the upcoming iPhone 17 Air will condition customers to desire a sizeable hardware change.
As the world becomes thinner, Google needs a compelling reason for the Pixel 10 Pro to stand out, and sadly, I haven’t found one yet. I’m still fully testing the Tensor G5 processor and battery after some recent updates, so stay tuned for the full review to find out if this is enough of a reason.
