Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Review: The Big-Screen Android Phone To Beat – BGR

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is the largest of the Pixel 10 slab phones, serving as a big screen alternative to the standard Pixel 10 Pro for those who want that extra screen real estate and a larger battery. It’s also, of course, the most expensive slab phone in the lineup, starting at $1,199.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL shares many of the same features as both the smaller Pixel 10 Pro and the base model in the lineup, the Pixel 10. Given that, is it worth that extra cash? I’ve decided to review the Pixel 10 Pro XL separately from the Pixel 10 Pro, but I won’t go quite as in-depth as I did for the review of that model, given how many features they share. You can check out my full Pixel 10 Pro review for my thoughts on the smaller Pro device.

They are still different phones, though. Is bigger better? Or is it really just down to personal opinion?

The design of the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is excellent. The phone shares the same design as the standard Pixel 10 Pro — it’s just a little bigger. That’s a good thing, though. The device feels very premium. It’s comfortable to hold. And it’s clearly durable. On the Pixel 10 Pro XL is a matte glass back with a glossy logo and glossy aluminum frame. Both the front and back glass are Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which helps with durability — plus, the phone is IP68 rated.

While the Pixel 10 Pro XL has many of the same design elements as the iPhone 16 lineup, the camera bar on the back is a notable difference. I quite like the camera bar as it helps stabilize the phone on a table, meaning that it won’t rock or move when you tap the display. To be fair, you probably don’t tap the display on an iPhone hard enough for the device to move much, but it’s still nice to have that stability.

Otherwise, the design is very similar to that of the Pixel 9 Pro XL. On the right edge is a power button and volume rocker, while on the bottom can be found a USB-C port. The device comes in four colors: Moonstone, Jade, Obsidian, and Porcelain. I’m reviewing the Jade model, but I also have the Moonstone Pixel 10 Pro and quite like it. The colors are subtle, but they look great.

Google says that the speakers on all of the Pixel 10 devices are improved over the Pixel 9 series, and indeed, I found the speakers on the Pixel 10 Pro XL to be excellent. They won’t replace a decent pair of headphones, but they offer more depth and bass response than most other phones out there. They also get relatively loud, which is handy.

Overall, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL offers one of my favorite designs of any Android phone. Yes, it’s basically the iPhone of the Android world, but that’s not a bad thing. Apple is known for premium designs and high-quality builds, after all.

The display is one area where the Pixel 10 Pro XL is a little different than the Pixel 10 Pro, but that’s mostly just because it’s bigger. Of course, that’s likely the main reason you would buy this phone over its smaller counterpart. Extra screen real estate can come in handy, depending on how you use your phone. On the Pixel 10 Pro XL, you’ll get a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display with a 1,344 x 2,992 resolution, equating to 486 pixels per inch. The display is very crisp, making even smaller text easily legible.

LTPO OLED screens can range from 1Hz to 120Hz. That doesn’t necessarily make it feel or look any different than a phone with a basic 120Hz panel, but it does help when it comes to power efficiency, as it means the phone can range down how often it refreshes if there’s a static image on the screen. The display on the phone also gets very bright, with a peak brightness of 3,300 nits. I found it easily bright enough to see content on the screen outdoors, even in direct sunlight.

All that to say, there’s nothing I really wanted from the display on the Pixel 10 Pro XL that it didn’t provide. It’s big, beautiful, and bright. And if you want that big screen Pixel experience, you’ll get it here.

Under the hood, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is powered by Google’s new Tensor G5 chip, which is the first Tensor chip to be manufactured by TSMC on its 3-nanometer process. The end result is a decent performance boost over the Tensor G4, but don’t expect it to quite go head-to-head with the likes of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite or Apple A18 Pro chip, at least when it comes to basic CPU performance.

That said, the phone performed very well and was easily able to handle anything I could throw at it, including heavy gaming and multitasking. Both of the Pro devices have a vapor chamber cooling system, which helps them maintain performance over longer periods of time without getting hot. I found it to work quite well, and the device definitely didn’t get as hot as the base Pixel 10.

In other words, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL won’t quite compete with the highest-performing phones out there, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. It’ll easily process what you need it to and should still perform well for years to come, given how well Google has been integrating hardware and software over the last few years of Pixel phones.

The camera experience has long been one of the highlights of the Pixel series, and that remains true with the Pixel 10 Pro XL. That said, the camera system is the same as what you’ll get on the standard Pixel 10 Pro. I’m happy that’s the case, though. It means that you can decide between the devices based on whether or not you want a bigger phone with a larger screen, rather than having to go with a bigger phone if you don’t want one simply to get the best features.

The camera system is made up of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera with a 123-degree field of view. I found the system as a whole to capture excellent photos. In well-lit environments, it produced detailed, vibrant shots. It was consistent, too, with the three cameras performing very well and offering similar color tuning.

It also performed very well in low-light environments. You can certainly push the camera to produce messy photos, but in most low-light settings, you should find that you can capture decently detailed shots. In fact, while the cameras are the same as the ones found on the Pixel 9 Pro from last year, I found the image processing on offer by the Tensor G5 to help make for better photos in low lighting overall.

Christian de Looper for BGR

Of course, as you would expect in 2025, there are tons of AI-based image editing features on offer by the Pixel 10 Pro XL. Exclusive to the Pro devices is the new Pro Res Zoom feature, which essentially uses generative AI to recreate images zoomed at up to 100x. This feature worked very well. You’ll have to grapple with the idea of the resulting image being made by generative AI rather than being what you actually shot, but regardless, I found the images that it created to be very good and obviously far better than what you’ll get from simply using digital zoom at those levels.

Other features include image editing tools built into the Photos app, like a new text-based editing tool that lets you tell the app what kind of edits you want. This also uses generative AI, and it worked quite well. I also like that it gives you a number of different options to choose from.

Because of its larger size, the Pixel 10 Pro XL has a larger battery than the standard Pixel 10 Pro. The battery sits in at 5,200mAh, and I found that it was large enough to get me through a full day of even relatively heavy use. To be clear, the battery isn’t incredible. I wouldn’t have been able to stretch it to two days, and while some very light users might have a different experience, this is still a phone that you’ll want to charge at night, or at least every day.

When you do go to charge it, you’ll find reasonably fast wired charging. You’ll get 45W wired charging, which is up from the 30W wired charging on offer by the Pixel 10 Pro. It’s still certainly not as fast as some other phones — there are plenty of phones from China that charge at over 100W, for example — but it’s a step in the right direction.

Perhaps even more interesting for the Pixel 10 series is the full support for Qi2. I’m glad to see that here — it’s a long time coming. Qi2 support means that you’ll get full 25W wireless charging. It also means you’ll also get support for magnetic accessories, like charging stands, wallets, and so on. Qi2 accessories and MagSafe accessories are interchangeable — so while not all MagSafe accessories will deliver 25W wireless charging speeds, you will still be able to use them to wirelessly charge your Pixel 10 Pro XL.

The software experience has always been excellent on Pixel phones, and that remains true on the Pixel 10 series. I really like how Android works on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. Everything is smooth and responsive, and you won’t find duplicate apps like you often see on third-party Android skins. I also really like features like the widgets that Google includes.

There are a number of AI-based features that are new for this generation of Pixel phones. One such feature is Daily Hub, which is basically Google’s version of Samsung’s Now Brief, giving you a rundown of things like the weather, calendar events, and more. It worked well, but it’s not perfect. It can make things a little confusing if you have shared calendars, and if you update things like your calendar or the weather changes through the day, you’ll need to remember to refresh the Daily Hub. Other AI-based features include Magic Cue, which is supposed to help offer information you might need in apps like Messages or Gmail, depending on the context. However, I wasn’t really able to get this to work. And there are new live translation features that use generative AI in the phone app, for example.

Many of these features you’ll need to explicitly want to use in order for them to be helpful, but at least you’ll get access to Google’s best AI features given the fact that the Pixel 10 Pro XL comes with a free year of Google’s AI Pro subscription. That means that you’ll get access to the latest Gemini models, and other new AI features.

Like the smaller Pixel 10 Pro, I absolutely love the Pixel 10 Pro XL. Its larger screen looks excellent, and the larger battery could come in handy for those who find themselves needing to charge before the end of the day on a regular basis. Alas, it’s still down to personal preference as to whether or not you should opt for the Pixel 10 Pro or the Pixel 10 Pro XL. The larger phone is $200 more expensive, and given the fact that everything else about the two phones is exactly the same, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether or not the extra screen real estate is worth that cash. Whether you choose the Pixel 10 Pro or Pixel 10 Pro XL, however, you’re getting what I consider to be the best Android phone you can buy right now.

The competition

The Pixel 10 Pro XL competes with the Galaxy S25 Ultra more than the standard Pixel 10 Pro does. Personally, I prefer the Pixel 10 Pro XL because of its software experience and camera. However, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is still an excellent phone. Some people love the S Pen, and the camera on the Galaxy S25 Ultra has an extra telephoto option with 3x zoom, which could come in handy. Whichever you land on, you’re still getting an incredible phone.

Should I buy the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL?

Yes. It may or may not be worth paying for the larger screen, but either way, it’s an excellent device.