Google, what are you so afraid of with the Pixel 10?

When I first set up my Pixel 10, I quickly realized Google doesn’t even want me to use the phone to its fullest. So many features were restricted by default that I genuinely wondered if I had upgraded at all, or if I was still on my old Pixel.

All the billboards, YouTube ads, and cheeky clips taking jabs at the iPhone scream about the fancy features Google packed into its latest phones. But when you actually start using one, you find many of those very features are disabled out of the box.

The biggest shocker came when I fired up the Pixel 10 for the first time. I was coming from a Pixel 6a, and moving to the new Pixel really didn’t feel like much of an upgrade. Sure, it had imported my wallpaper, theme color, and home screen layout to make them look similar, but something still felt off.

Playing around with the phone wasn’t smooth — it felt as jarring as the Pixel 6a. Then it clicked: the display was set to refresh at 60Hz, same as a three-year-old budget Pixel. Sure, you can bump it up to 120Hz with a toggle, but why even offer an inferior first impression? That low refresh rate made the phone feel cheap, and for a moment, I questioned whether it was even worth upgrading.

Even on Pro models, where the displays support higher resolution, the default is 1080p. This has been industry practice for years, but it still stings. And while Pro displays support higher refresh rates and even Pro-exclusive AOD wallpapers, those aren’t enabled by default either.

Seeing the phone default to 60Hz irked me the most. I felt like Google was forcing an inferior experience down my throat, despite paying for a flagship-grade device. That’s when I went digging for more disparities, and what I found made me even madder.

Another big annoyance was that charging was capped at 80% by default. I only noticed when the Pixel 10 refused to go past 80% even after hours on the charger. Digging through the settings confirmed it: Google had decided for me that my phone shouldn’t last a full day on its full capacity.

On top of that, Google’s battery health assistant — which limits maximum charging level after a set number of cycles — is now enabled by default across all Pixels, and it can’t be disabled. I spotted these quirks because I was looking for them. Most users don’t and won’t.

And that’s the problem. People like you and me stay up to date on Pixel quirks and know where to look for hidden options. But think about your parents upgrading their aging Galaxy S7 at a carrier store, or someone who doesn’t care about specs. Most people just use the phone as it comes. They’ll never know the experience they’re missing because of these defaults.

Google may have its reasons for these decisions, but it’s the secrecy and the lack of consent that are most worrying.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know Pixels — especially the A-series — have had serious battery degradation issues, with some even catching fire. That’s why Google had to roll out emergency patches, limiting charge and offering free battery replacements.

It’s also why Google has now enabled battery health assistant by default on all Pixels, not just the A-series. And that’s understandable — no one wants their phone catching fire on the nightstand. But because of that history, Google is being extra cautious. Look closely and you’ll notice that most of the default restrictions tie back to the battery.

The 80% charging limit improves longevity by reducing time spent at 100%, thereby reducing the everyday load on the battery unit. Lower resolution, lower refresh rate, and no AOD wallpapers all add up to squeeze out a bit more life between charges. And since Pixels have never been marathon runners in battery life, every bit helps.

But all of this points to one thing: Google’s inability to get respectable screen-on time from its batteries. Instead of solving the problem head-on, it resorts to restricting the features with high battery impact to maintain the artificial perception of Pixel 10 phones lasting hours. Unless Google has another explanation, I’m sticking with this very-plausible theory.

Battery issues are no excuse for limiting a flagship phone in ways most buyers won’t even notice — especially if it’s just to make the battery seem better. That feels like deception, and Google has work to do to change that ill image.

The solution isn’t rocket science. Ask for user consent during setup itself, so people aren’t blindsided when their phone stops at 80%. Or put those settings in the persistent post-setup notification so users at least know what trade-offs were made on their behalf.

And maybe, just maybe, fix the root problem: source better batteries. Talk to Tim Cook if you have to, since iPhones don’t seem plagued with battery meltdowns in recent memory. Or give your BFF Samsung a call and ask what lessons they learned from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco — the internet still hasn’t let them forget about it.

Just step up your phone game, Google, instead of expecting your users to settle for a phone that can’t be used to its fullest potential.