Google Pixel 10 Pro Review

Introduction

The arrival of the tenth edition of the Pixel doesn’t come with as much fanfare as some of the super-slim phones that have littered 2025, like the Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air.

Instead of going big with a radical 10th edition redesign or rethink, the Pixel 10 Pro is Google’s latest attempt to combine its ever-expanding AI platform with a top-end smartphone.

But AI tends to get in the way, and with competition like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra taking the crown of best camera phone away from Google, does the Pixel 10 Pro do enough to warrant its ‘Pro’ billing?

Design

• Much nicer to hold than the XL model
• Four colours, including Moonstone
• PixelSnap adds magnets and Magsafe support

After a fairly hefty redesign last year with the Pixel 9 series, the Pixel 10 was always unlikely to come with a raft of changes. That’s certainly how things have transpired.

The Pixel 10 Pro is, basically, visually the same as the Pixel 9. The Google logo is marginally different on the back, and there are new colour options, but in most instances, the two phones look very much the same.

That’s not a dig, in fact I think this is one of the better-looking Android phones on the market with its polished sides, slightly rounded edges, smooth frosted back and very uniform bezels.

Unlike the larger Pixel 10 Pro XL model, which we felt was a little too big and bulky in our review, the smaller Pro is predictably more comfortable to hold and grip. The edges are slightly rounded, and this makes it just that little bit softer to hold. There’s no radical thinness going on here like the Galaxy S25 Edge or iPhone Air, but that’s far from a necessity.

Google is one of the few Android phone makers that releases its phones in actually tasteful colours, rather than garish options. The Moonstone variation I have is my pick and one of my favourite phone hues of recent years. It’s best described as a mixture of grey and blue, with contrasting silver accents, although it does vary depending on how the light hits it. There are standard black and white options, and Jade – which has rose gold accents and a striking pastel green covering the back.

The biggest design difference between the Pixel 10 Pro and the outgoing 9 Pro is something you can’t even see. Embedded within the phone’s back is a ring of magnets, allowing certain accessories (think chargers, wireless stands, certain cases) to attach without faff. Google calls this feature Pixelsnap.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s hardly unique, as Apple’s iPhone range has had a similar feature called MagSafe for years. But, Google isn’t really fussed about the similarities; in fact, it’s playing into it by allowing MagSafe accessories to play nice with Pixelsnap.

For instance, I have a MagSafe Anker charging stand on my bedside table and the Pixel 10 Pro snaps into place perfectly, just like the iPhone 16 Pro.

There are some nice Pixelsnap accessories, like a ring that props the phone up for video watching, and having the vast selection of MagSafe options open to you is great. I particularly like it for car chargers, as the magnets keep the phone in place very firmly.

Pixelsnap also supports Qi2 wireless charging, which is faster than previous Pixel phones at around 15W.

Overall, the Pixel 10 Pro is a well-designed phone. It looks good and, more importantly, is built exceptionally well. It feels sturdy, while the IP68 rating is always a key addition. There’s not much to set ot apart from recent Google Pixel phones, but that’s not really a bad thing if you’re coming from an older device.

Screen

• Very bright, very good OLED
• Great speakers
• Easily viewable outdoors

Google isn’t being coy about the screen on the Pixel 10 Pro. In a briefing ahead of launch, reps sang the display’s praises in a way I haven’t seen from Google before. Just about everyone claims their display is ‘the best’, but I actually think the Pixel 10 Pro does indeed have one of the best phone screens around.

On paper, all the boxes are ticked. The 6.3-inch panel (the same size as the iPhone 17) packs a crisp 2856 x 1280 resolution for a 495PPI, can move between 1-120Hz for smooth scrolling and is covered by Corning’s Victus 2 glass.

It’s great in everyday use, too. The panel gets very bright – Google says around 3300 nits in certain scenarios and 2200 nits for HDR video playback – and this makes it a pleasure to use outdoors on sunnier days. Some phones supposedly can reach higher peak brightness levels, but the way the Pixel 10 Pro adapts to the surroundings is better than I have seen elsewhere.

Colours are really nice: greens and reds aren’t too saturated – something I have issues with elsewhere – and it’s warm in its default mode that just feels inviting. This is a very well-calibrated panel.

By default, the screen is set to what Google calls ‘High resolution’, which is 2410 x 1080, although you can bump this up to Max resolution (2856 x 1280). Google clearly defaults to the lower-res to eke some extra juice out of the battery, but I much prefer the sharper look of the Max resolution model. Try both, and if you can’t tell the difference, keep it on the original setting.

The larger screen-toting Pixel 10 Pro XL is naturally the better choice for games and media watching, but you’re still getting a good experience with the smaller Pixel. HDR content looks great, more natural than on phones that try to use AI to give faux HDR effects, and the speakers are really good for a small phone.

Software

• Material 3 Expressive adds some new design elements
• Large amount of AI features
• Years of updates included

I’ve typically been less than complimentary about AI-focused software features on phones, often calling them gimmicky. And yes, the Google Pixel 10 Pro does include a lot of those ‘gimmicky’ AI features, like dodgy writing assistance – but it also feels like the best interpretation of an AI phone. It’s how the AI (Gemini in this case) permeates everything and surfaces information when you need it that makes it great, and it speedily does everything too.

The AI isn’t perfect, and I’ll get onto some of my issues with how it’s used in the camera below, but this is my favourite use of it on a phone yet.

Magic Cue, for instance, scans data and text and integrates AI everywhere without it ever really making itself obvious. It’ll highlight phone numbers, suggestions from Google apps and surface directions to restaurants you’ve booked. You need to use the phone for a while to really notice it, but after a week, I found myself using it a lot.

Google’s call-screening features are notably better than the competition in their accuracy, and the Recorder app is a joy. This isn’t new, but the way it transcribes recordings and lets you search them is faster than it has been before.

Google is doing AI well here because it doesn’t really make itself too obvious. There are no pop-ups or obvious call-outs; it just sort of happens. You might not even notice it working away for the first week or so, but then it suddenly hits, and it changes what you expect a phone to do.

There are, of course, obvious elements of AI scattered around – this is Google, after all. You can search directly in the search engine’s AI Mode from the classic Android search bar, bypassing the web. There are ways to completely change your photos using generative AI (what is a photo, anyway?), and the Weather app has a slightly odd AI weather report.

While AI is key in the software, Google has kicked on with how its bespoke version of Android 16 looks. There’s a new design language here in Material 3 Expressive and it adds a fresh coat of paint to various system elements.

It looks great, and it makes the Pixel’s software one of the nicest phone operating systems to use. As Cam mentioned in his Pixel 10 Pro XL review, the software is fun, playful and bouncy. Animations are natural and smooth, while system elements (like the quick settings menu) adapt to the colours of your wallpapers in a deeper way than before.

There are lots of customisation options, and many of the changes you make – matching accent colours to your chosen wallpaper, for example – bleed into Google’s own apps too, giving everything a very unified feel.

On the more practical side, the Pixel 10 Pro will get seven years of software updates. That means your Pixel 10 Pro should get up to Android version 22 or 23 before support is ended.

Cameras

• A very good camera overall
• Video skills are a bit of a letdown
• Reliable in all instances, although AI is getting more pronounced

For going on a decade, Google’s phones have been the easiest Android phones to recommend to those who want the best overall photography experience. They haven’t always had the best specs, but they took the best pictures.

I’m still happy to say that the Pixel 10 Pro has a great camera that I can recommend easily, even if it’s not perfect. It’s a different story for those who want a phone for video though, as the videography capabilities aren’t really ‘Pro’ at all.

The trio of cameras on the back is virtually identical to the one that featured on the Pixel 9 Pro. There’s a 50MP wide with /1.68 aperture, a 48MP ultra wide with Macro Focus for closeups and a 48MP 5x tele lens.

Combined with Google’s vast array of image processing smarts, the Pixel 10 Pro reliably takes a good photo, whether it’s a bright sunny day or inside a dingy bar. Like previous Pixel phones, there’s a lot of contrast in photos – so everything is very eye-catching and pleasing, shadows have more definition and skin tones are accurate. Daylight photos are warm and rich, while detail is preserved at night.

When shooting with the Night Sight mode, the phone does a good job of preserving a similar look across all three of the lenses and annoying noise and grain, so common with shooting on a phone at night, are mostly removed.

Things take a bit of a hit when using the zoom, and this is where some of the AI processing starts to ruin the experience. While the 100x zoom predictably relies heavily on AI to clean up images (although it won’t do this on humans), it’s obvious when moving past 5x. Shots feel artificial and a bit too smooth. There are far worse examples of this on other phones, but it’s worrying to see this start to creep on Google’s phones, too.

AI is more obvious in the camera app, too. The Camera Coach is a feature supposed to help you position a shot, but – and to be fair, it is labelled as a beta – it didn’t give me any useful tips and took too long to kick into action.

Video, on the other hand, is a bit of a letdown. Although this isn’t really a surprise, considering Pixel phones have never really impressed in this area. You can shoot in 8K at 30fps, but that’s about where the ‘Pro’ features end. No shooting to external drives, no log modes and very few customisation options.

Performance

• Tensor G5 can’t compete with the best for GPU performance
• 16GB RAM, up to 1TB storage
• Quick for most AI tasks

The Pixel 10 Pro’s performance will divide. For those who worship benchmark scores and relegate a device to the bargain bin if it lacks graphical grunt, the 10 Pro isn’t the phone. In many of our tests, the flagship Tensor G5 chip performed closer to mid-range Qualcomm options in graphics tests.

It’s not just in benchmarks, either. While basic games like Mario Kart Tour play well, more demanding games like Wuthering Waves or Genshin Impact struggle. Frames are dropped, stuttering starts, and the phone gets a little too warm for my liking. Cheaper phones like the Nothing Phone 3 will give you better gaming and graphics performance. This is not a gaming phone.

I am not writing off the Tensor G5, and for many people, it’s got more than enough grunt. The smooth and fast AI features I mentioned in the ‘Software’ section are smooth and fast because this chip is designed as such, prioritising performance in those areas over gaming.

There’s rarely a slowdown in day-to-day use, and in standard tasks like browsing, messaging and navigating apps, however the camera isn’t the quickest. In the standard 12MP mode it’s fine, but switch to the 50MP shooting and there are notable stutters in the experience.

Paired with the Tensor G5 is 16GB RAM (4GB more than the standard Pixel 10), and storage options up to 1TB. It is a shame that starting storage remains 128GB, which feels too stingy in 2025. Even Apple has ditched this with the iPhone 17 starting at 256GB.

Battery Life

• Up to 25W wireless charging
• Full charge takes roughly 100 minutes
• No charger included

Battery life on the Pixel 10 Pro is perfectly fine for a phone of this size, and it’ll get most users through a day without too much battery anxiety. The 4870mAh cell is slightly larger than the 4700mAh-toting Pixel 9 Pro, although the results are very similar. Go for the Pixel 10 Pro XL if you want a true multi-day phone.

On light usage days – let’s say a three hours of screen-on time – I’d get through an 8 am to 11 pm day with around 45% charge left.

On more demanding days with around five or six hours of screen-on time, the Pixel 10 Pro struggles more. Hitting the top-end of six hours of use would deplete the phone, and on a few occasions, I needed a late evening top-up.

These tests were done with the phone’s display set to its max setting, so you might eke a little out if you sacrifice some of the sharpness and lower it.

Not only does the Pixel 10 Pro XL last much longer, but it has faster charging too. The Pixel 10 Pro tops out at 30W charging, faster than the max 27W of the Pixel 9 Pro, but down on the 45W speeds of the 10 Pro XL. You’ll have to provide your own charger, so make sure you get one with a minimum 30W speeds for the best performance.

In charging tests, the Pixel 10 Pro juices up notably slower than the XL model. While a 30 minute charge of the Pixel 10 Pro XL saw it jump from 0-75%, you’ll get to just below 50% on the Pixel 10 Pro. A full charge took around 100 minutes, about 10 minutes more than the XL and basically the same as the Pixel 9 Pro.

I really do love having Pixelsnap with its support for MagSafe charging accessories here. I have various MagSafe chargers around, both at home and in the car, and they all worked perfectly with the Pixel. Magnets are great.

Should you buy it?