Sorry, Google, but the Pixel 10 doesn’t excite me

Remember the first Pixel devices, and the Nexus phones before them? I do. I loved my Nexus 5, and I remain convinced the Nexus 6P was the height of smartphone design. The Pixel 6 harked back to it, which was new and exciting at the time. However, I’m now bored with the Pixel lineup.

I’m not accustomed to being unimpressed with Pixel phones; usually, the line always had something to interest me. But the Pixel 9 was just…meh. And now, it looks like the Pixel 10 will keep the same design, mostly the same features, same old story. Pixels are entering iPhone territory here, and unlike my colleague, who still thinks the Pixel 10 series is interesting, I’m not excited about it.

I’ve been a solid supporter of the Pixel vision for years. I’ve owned Pixels. It makes sense, considering I’m a former Nexus guy, and although I disagreed with Google increasingly locking down its ecosystem to the Pixel, I still appreciated the hardware. I passed on the first Pixel because I was still rocking my Nexus 6P, but I was all over the Panda Pixel 2XL.

Since then, I’ve owned the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 8. Both phones delivered what I expected: great hardware, slick software, and some cool Google features built right in. The cameras, as always, were best-in-class.

Let’s not forget the Made by Google events every fall. I joined the hype year after year, waiting to see something bold and fresh, until now.

We’ve seen rumors and renders of the Pixel 10 for months now, and there’s little left to surprise us. Frankly, it looks like the Pixel 9. The signature camera bar is there, the materials are the same, and even the silhouette hasn’t changed. It might be thinner if I squint. Or not. It’s hard to care.

The upgrades under the hood are modest. There’s a 99% chance the next Tensor chip won’t wow anyone. Maybe some better thermals, but not much else. The phone will have a slightly brighter display. Every device’s display gets slightly brighter with each release, so there’s nothing exciting there.

The phone is already good, so why change it, right? But this feels more like maintenance than building the next generation of smartphones.

Google is an AI company now; it’s where the company has a real advantage over its competitors. The Pixel 8’s Magic Editor is a great feature. I love call screening and live transcription. These features are genuinely helpful. But now every feature released by Google begins with “AI can now…” and I can only roll my eyes.

We’ve reached a saturation point where these AI upgrades are all starting to blur together. It’s hard to remember now, but only two years ago, I didn’t need anything to “Summarize this,” or “Fix this photo,” or “Reply to this message.” These aren’t exactly mind-blowing AI capabilities.

I’m not saying I don’t want a smarter smartphone. I just want something that feels new; otherwise, it’s just the same AI slop stuffed in stale hardware. Also, many of the new AI upgrades will make their way to the Pixel 9 and probably Pixel 8 via Feature Drops as well, so there’s nothing there to get me excited for the Pixel 10.

I don’t want more AI or iterative spec bumps. I want real ambition again. I want Google to take risks with more than machine learning. I’m talking hardware, UI, and software vision.

I’d like to see a truly smart assistant that is always alive and ready to go. Agentic AI living right there on the home screen would be cool. Imagine if I could look at my phone and say, “Man, I don’t know what to make for supper tonight.” And it would say, “No problem, we’re having steamed chicken and wild rice.” And then it would order the food from the grocery store and arrange delivery, and then surface a recipe when the time came.

If that’s too much, how about a serious crack at haptics? Or here’s an idea, Google: Fix the keyboard. GBoard has been full of glitches and autocorrect gaffs lately. Sometimes, it feels like a skin slapped over the iPhone keyboard. Heck, even a fresh UI layer would shake things up a bit—Material 3 Expressive is hardly revolutionary.

I want the Pixel to succeed, which is why I may be coming down a bit harder than normal on the Pixel 10. I have high expectations, and nothing I’ve seen so far meets those. Using the same hardware for three generations in a row is an Apple move, not Google. Maybe the Pixel 10 Pro Fold will shake up some excitement, but I’m not holding my breath.

I sat out the Pixel 9 and got a REDMAGIC 10 Pro instead. It looks like I’ll be sitting out the Pixel 10 as well.