The most effective Android smartphone you should buy

Google’s Pixel collection is again with the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL. After spending a number of days utilizing the Pixel 10 Professional as my fundamental smartphone, it is clearly a really iterative, however strong step ahead for the Pixel line, particularly in comparison with final yr’s wonderful Pixel 9 Pro.

On the {hardware} aspect, there’s little or no distinction between the Pixel 10 Professional and its predecessor. The Pixel 10 Professional seems to be equivalent, full with the identical squared-off sides and substantial digicam bump Google launched with the Pixel 9 collection. I preferred this look final yr, so I am completely superb with it making a return. This time round, the important thing {hardware} upgrades embrace the transition to Google’s TSMC-made Tensor G5 chip and the introduction of PixelSnap instances and equipment, which lastly brings magnetic iPhone-like MagSafe charging and equipment to Android. I am an enormous fan of MagSafe and have discovered PixelSnap to be simply nearly as good, if not higher.

In fact, there’s additionally a slew of recent AI options, together with Magic Cue, AI Digital camera Coach, Digital camera Coach, and extra. As is the case with most AI performance, not all of the Pixel 10 collection’ additions are as helpful as Google goals for them to be, and in some instances, they do not even work — no less than not but.

Worth, availability, and specs

The Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional XL begin at $1,000 and $1,200, respectively, and launch on August twenty eighth. This yr, there isn’t any $1,099 128GB model of the Professional XL, with storage beginning at 256GB for the Pixel 10 Professional XL.

The Pixel 10 Professional encompasses a 6.3-inch 1,280 x 2,856 pixel decision (495ppi) OLED 1-120Hz Tremendous Actua display, and the Pixel 10 Professional XL features a 6.8-inch 1,344 x 2,992 pixel decision (486ppi) OLED 1-120Hz Tremendous Precise show (these are the very same screens as final yr). Nevertheless, peak brightness has been elevated to three,300 nits from 3,000 nits.

RAM is available in at 16GB throughout each smartphones, with storage for the Pixel 10 Professional measuring at 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. Then again, the Pixel 10 Professional XL affords 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage variants. On the digicam entrance, the shooters are equivalent to final yr’s, together with a f/1.6 50-megapixel fundamental, a f/1.7 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a f/2.8 48-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom. The selfie shooter can also be nonetheless f/2.2 42-megapixels.

Battery capability is available in at 4,700mAh (the identical because the Pixel 9 Professional) and 5,200mAh (up from 5,060mAh final yr), respectively. Lastly, the Pixel 10 Professional is able to 30W wi-fi charging, whereas the Pixel 10 Professional XL can deal with 45W. Each telephones can be found in obsidian, moonstone, porcelain, and jade.

• 	Google Pixel 10 Professional	Google Pixel 10 Professional XL
  Model	Google	Google
  SoC	Tensor G5	Tensor G5
  Show	6.3-inch Tremendous Actua show 1280 x 2856 pixel decision OLED (1-120Hz)	6.8-inch Tremendous Actua show 1344 x 2992 pixel decision OLED (1-120Hz)
  RAM	16GB	16GB
  Storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	256GB, 512GB, 1TB
  Battery	4,870mAh, 30+ hours of battery life	5,200mAh, 30+ hours of battery life
  Ports	USB-C	USB-C
  Working System	Android 16	Android 16
  Entrance digicam	42-megapixel f/2.2 selfie digicam	f/2.2 42-megapixel
  Rear digicam	50-megapixel f/1.68 vast digicam, 48-megapixel f/1.7 ultrawide digicam, 48-megapixel f/2.8, telephoto digicam with 5x optical zoom	Broad f/1.68 50-megapixel, ultrawide f/1.7 48-megapixel, telephoto f/2.8 48-megapixel
  Dimensions	6 x 2.8 x 0.3-inches (152.8 x 72 x 8.6mm)	6.4 x 3.0 x 0.3-inches (162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5mm)
  Weight	7.3oz (207g)	8.2oz (232g)
  Cost velocity	30+ hour battery life As much as 100-hour battery life with Excessive Battery Saver	Quick charging – as much as 70% in about 30 minutes7 – utilizing 45W USB-C, Pixelsnap wi-fi charging (Qi2.2-certified) as much as 25W

Pixel 10 Professional construct and design

In the event you’ve used the Pixel 9 Professional, you may know what to anticipate

When taking pictures footage of the Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional for this overview, I briefly received the telephones confused — they give the impression of being actually comparable. This is not essentially a foul factor for the reason that Pixel 9 Professional is a great-looking smartphone. I like its squared off-sides and sizable digicam bump. In an business filled with slab-shaped smartphones, the Pixel 10 Professional’s rear digicam island offers the telephone a much-needed dose of individuality that stands out. Initially, I did not just like the digicam bump final yr, however over the previous few months, it is grown on me significantly.

Final yr, I mentioned the Pixel 9 Professional borrowed just a few design cues from the iPhone 15 Professional after which put its personal spin on it. I’ve comparable emotions concerning the Pixel 10 Professional, but when latest rumors are correct, it seems to be like Apple is poised to borrow from Google with the iPhone 17 Pro’s look this coming September. It appears Google is onto one thing with its sizable horizontal-oriented digicam bump and has began a development.

Nonetheless, similar to final yr, I want the Pixel 10 Professional featured the identical coloured matte sides because the Pixel 10 as an alternative of the shiny, jewelry-like edges which are mud and smudge magnets. They give the impression of being fairly garish, particularly in direct daylight, and are removed from my vibe. On the plus aspect, the telephone options the identical great-feeling matte Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 again as final yr, which repels smudges and mud extra successfully than the Pixel 10’s shiny again. I all the time put my smartphones in instances, so this is not an enormous deal to me, but it surely’s nonetheless one in every of my key gripes with the Pixel 10 Professional’s design. The colours are somewhat low-key once more this yr, with jade (you may see the colour all through this overview) and moonstone being the standout choices.

It is price mentioning that within the US, the Pixel 10 Professional is eSIM solely, which might make switching to the smartphone simpler or tougher, relying in your service. The Canadian model of the smartphone nonetheless has a bodily SIM card slot.

Lastly, there’s PixelSnap, Google’s magnetic Qi2-powered line of instances and chargers. I have been ready for Qi2’s MagSafe-like tech to come back to Android for years, so it is nice to see Google lastly make it occur. The PixelSnap Charger ($40) sits firmly on the again of the Pixel 10 Professional, whether or not you have got a case on it or not, and the PixelSnap Charger with Stand ($69) looks like a high-quality dock on your smartphone.

Fortunately, all iPhone MagSafe equipment appear to work with the Pixel 10 Professional, together with my beloved MagSafe PopSocket and numerous MagSafe chargers. Which means that regardless of there solely being just a few official PixelSnap equipment accessible proper now, the Pixel 10 Professional will work with each MagSafe accent already on the market. PixelSnap is a long-overdue step in the fitting path for the Pixel line and one in every of Google’s newest flagship’s key promoting options.

Pixel 10 Professional show

Final yr’s spectacular display is again and brighter

The Pixel 10 Professional’s show seems to be nice and is simply rivaled by Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro. Colours are vibrant and movement is {smooth}, because of its variable 1-120Hz refresh charge. Actually, I am unable to ask rather more from a smartphone display — every little thing seems to be nice on it, whether or not I am watching the most recent season of King of the Hill on Disney+ or researching retro handhelds I need to stop buying on Reddit.

New this yr is the bounce to three,300 nits of peak brightness, up from the Pixel 9 Professional’s 3,000 nits. This may not look like a leap on paper, however once you’re wanting on the Pixel 10 Professional’s show in direct daylight, you may undoubtedly see the distinction. I’ve additionally discovered that I must decrease the show brightness at evening, as it may be blinding.

It might have been good to see Google scale back the Pixel 9 Professional’s show bezels a bit, as they seem considerably substantial in comparison with the Galaxy S25 Extremely, however it is a minor problem. Plus, the bezels form of disappear once you put the smartphone in a PixelSnap case, anyway.

Pixel 10 Professional digicam

Final yr’s cameras are again with an AI twist

On paper, the Pixel 10 Professional’s cameras are equivalent to final yr, together with a f/1.6 50-megapixel fundamental, f/1.7 48-megapixel ultrawide, and f/2.8 48-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom. The selfie shooter can also be nonetheless f/2.2 42-megapixels. As anticipated, I’ve discovered the pictures efficiency to be wonderful, providing true-to-life pictures that rival the perfect smartphone cameras accessible.

The Pixel has all the time provided a combination between Galaxy gadget’s extra ethereal type and the iPhone’s grounded method to pictures, and that continues to be true with the Pixel 10 Professional. Colours are shiny, pictures are clear, and the optical zoom is spectacular throughout the board.

This yr, the 50-megapixel fundamental digicam options improved picture stabilization, however I did not discover a notable distinction throughout my time with the telephone to date. The important thing digicam improve comes within the type of baked-in, AI-powered 100x Professional Res Zoom. This additionally brings up the query of what a photograph even is anymore if AI algorithms are altering pictures instantly in your digicam function as you are taking them. Nevertheless, reasonably than dive into that ethical conundrum, I am specializing in the characteristic’s generally spectacular efficiency.

Whenever you jack Professional Res Zoom as much as 50x-100x, pictures simply do not look good. Pictures are over-sharpened, textual content is unreadable, and customarily, these aren’t pictures I might need to share on social media and even save in my Pictures app. Then again, Professional Res Zoom seems to be respectable from about 30x-40x, relying on what you are taking pictures.

Within the 30x Tremendous Res Zoom pictures above, each the sailboat and the geese are considerably sharper, but additionally noisier. I discover that at 30x, Tremendous Res Zoom pictures look fairly good and considerably resemble the magical characteristic Google is positioning it as.

Whenever you flip Tremendous Res Zoom as much as 100x (or significantly much less generally), the artifacting is wild. The writing on the ship within the picture may be very odd, and so is the rear of the sailboat — it is virtually just like the water within the background melts into the boat. The identical may be mentioned concerning the symbols on the life ring’s signal. What are they even speculated to be? They are not there in actual life.

Total, Tremendous Res Zoom is spectacular, but it surely simply looks like a barely extra succesful model of Samsung’s 100x Area Zoom. It really works moderately nicely at nearer focal lengths, however at 50-100x, pictures are too processed and odd-looking for my style.

It is price noting that Tremendous Res Zoom has a number of limitations, together with that it does not work on individuals. I’ve additionally noticed that it will probably’t deal with textual content or shifting objects very nicely. In my expertise, it really works finest with stationary topics like a constructing or a panorama.

Pixel 10 Professional efficiency

Google’s Tensor G5 is not the quickest chip round, however that does not matter

There’s loads of chatter on the web concerning the Tensor G5 chip’s lackluster benchmarks. Smartphone chips have been overkill for years, whether or not it is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, Apple’s A16 Bionic, or, on this case, Google’s Tensor G5 chip. In accordance with Google, the G5 affords roughly 34% quicker efficiency in comparison with the G4. I am unsure if that is correct, however in my expertise, the Pixel 10 Professional and the Tensor G5 provide greater than sufficient energy. Every little thing I threw on the smartphone, together with photograph enhancing with Lightroom Traditional CC, listening to music on Spotify, doom-scrolling on TikTok, and taking part in a few video games all ran easily with no situations of lag.

When it comes to Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the Pixel 10 Professional achieves 2,294 for single-core and 6,163 for multi-core, putting it above smartphones that characteristic the Snapdragon 8 Gen like final yr’s Galaxy S24 Extremely, in single-core efficiency, however considerably behind it in multi-core. In the event you’re a specs nerd, this decrease rating in all probability bothers you, however in on a regular basis use, the Pixel 10 Professional affords buttery-smooth efficiency, no matter what you are doing.

When it comes to battery life, I discovered I skilled outcomes just like final yr’s Pixel 10 Professional. The battery lasted nicely into the night, so long as I saved my utilization reasonable all through the day, together with just a few hours of listening to music/podcasts, scrolling on social media, and taking part in the occasional sport. If I did something extra intensive, like watching a few episodes of a TV present, the battery drained extra shortly than I had anticipated.

Whereas not a serious problem, it is nonetheless price noting as a result of I did not encounter this downside with the Pixel 9 final yr. I am unsure if that is tied to the Tensor G5 drawing extra energy than the G4 with sure duties, however one thing like that appears to be taking place.

Pixel 10 Professional software program

Questionably helpful new AI options

Earlier than delving into the Pixel 10 Professional’s numerous AI options, I need to give Google credit score for attempting one thing totally different with Material 3 Expressive. It is shiny, colourful, and most significantly playful, giving the Pixel 10 collection a novel identification so far as UI is worried. There are a number of refined animations I’ve grown to understand, and I am an enormous fan of the brand new dynamic theming choices. I am wanting ahead to this general look coming to extra Google apps and third-party apps sooner or later, and I am hoping the ultimate model of Apple’s iOS 17 Liquid Glass evokes the same design.

On the AI aspect, there’s lots to unpack, together with Magic Cue, the largest disappointment on this yr’s Gemini-powered lineup. Throughout my 5 days with the smartphone to date, its contextual ideas have solely proven up a few occasions, and even then, just one was helpful (it concerned routinely slicing a portion of Preserve observe to Messages).

The frequency Magic Cue exhibits up might change over the following few weeks, however the truth that it solely makes use of knowledge from particular Google apps, together with Pixel Screenshots, Gmail, Messages, Preserve, Contacts, and Calendar, severely limits its usefulness. You might want to be firmly planted in Google’s app ecosystem for Magic Cue to make sense.

Google has additionally launched a brand new Each day Hub recap of related info. It is supposed to take a seat simply above your Uncover feed, which is accessible once you swipe proper on the house display. Sadly, I have never been capable of get the Each day Hub to point out up on my Pixel 10. I am going to proceed utilizing Magic Cue and Each day Hub over the following few weeks and replace this overview because the expertise evolves. Each of those options might doubtlessly be helpful for many Pixel 10 customers, supplied you are comfy sharing a big quantity of your knowledge with Google.

Digital camera Coach appears a bit foolish since I already perceive the fundamentals of pictures, however I can see it being genuinely helpful for many who aren’t conversant in the topic. It allows you to decide what you need within the photograph after which affords ideas, similar to rotating your telephone to portrait orientation or getting a bit nearer to what you are taking pictures — it is surprisingly cool and intuitive. Sticking with pictures, Ask Pictures, which lets you make picture edits by voice instructions, looks like a very helpful technique to make fast edits and, in a manner, the way forward for picture enhancing. Sadly, Google confirmed to me it is not accessible in Canada at launch, so I have never been capable of try it out but.

Options that we first noticed final yr on the Pixel 9 Professional, like Pixel Screenshots, Pixel Studio, and the surprisingly nice Add Me (it makes use of AI so as to add topics to group pictures), are again once more. The important thing problem with all of the Pixel 10’s most fascinating and doubtlessly helpful Gemini options is that they both flat out do not work or require extra time to assemble my private knowledge for them to truly be helpful.

Must you purchase the Pixel 10 Professional?

It depends upon what Pixel you are utilizing now

The Pixel 10 Professional is a powerful smartphone with strong video and pictures capabilities, but it surely’s not a big leap over the Pixel 9 Professional. That is in all probability essentially the most incremental smartphone replace Google has launched in its long-running Pixel line. With that in thoughts, when you’re a hardcore Pixel fan that already owns the Pixel 9 Professional, you may skip this yr with out worry of lacking something main.

Nevertheless, when you’re utilizing a Pixel 7, Pixel 8, or Pixel 9, now could be the time to improve. The one key draw back is that a lot of the Pixel 10 Professional’s new AI options, together with Magic Cue and Each day Hub, aren’t very helpful but. Will they get higher in just a few weeks as soon as Google pulls extra of my knowledge? Presumably, however I do not know for positive. There’s additionally the query of why Ask Pictures is not accessible in Canada but and when or if it can launch?

So far as Android gadgets go, the Pixel 10 Professional is by far my favourite that I’ve used this yr, partially as a result of I actually like Materials 3 Expressive — it is simply a lot extra enjoyable than the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s typically complicated One UI 8. In the event you’re firmly planted on the planet of Android and on the lookout for a brand new smartphone, you will not be disillusioned within the Pixel 10 Professional.

The Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional XL begin at $1,100 USD ($1,349 CAD) and $1,200 USD ($1,629), respectively, and launch on August twenty eighth.

This gadget was supplied to Pocket-lint by Google.

Model

Google

SoC

Tensor G5

Show

6.3-inch Tremendous Actua show 1280 x 2856 pixel decision OLED (1-120Hz)

RAM

16GB