ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Pixel 10 has formally launched with a beginning worth of $799.
- With a three-camera system, Google Tensor G5, and improved battery life, it is Google’s greatest base mannequin smartphone but.
- The primary and ultra-wide cameras have been downgraded with a view to match the brand new telephoto.
aug / 2025
Google’s entry-level flagship Pixel has confirmed to be a succesful smartphone, with simply the precise specs and options to please the lots. So after I converted to the newest mannequin, the Pixel 10, I wasn’t anticipating to be wowed. After every week of use, nonetheless, I stand corrected.
With the Pixel 10, Google stored its modern design, whereas including {hardware} upgrades that can enhance customers’ on a regular basis experiences in refined — however significant, Google hopes — methods. These embrace an improved battery, a brand new telephoto lens, and Pixelsnap: Android’s model of MagSafe.
Additionally: I tried every new AI feature on the Google Pixel 10 series – my thoughts as an AI expert
But, the Pixel 10’s suite of AI options, powered by the Google Tensor G5 chipset, is the center of what makes the smartphone stand out. Regardless of the upgrades, the Pixel 10 retails for a similar worth as its predecessor: $799.
I have been utilizing the Pixel 10 each day since Jimmy Fallon put it down on the Made by Google stage. Let’s decide if these upgrades are important sufficient to warrant an improve from the earlier fashions.
Specs that will not depart you wanting extra
I really like a Goldilocks analogy, and it is particularly related right here. When a product is completed nicely, it will not depart you eager for extra. Such is the case with the Pixel 10’s efficiency.
The shape issue is almost an identical to its predecessor, with rounded corners, aluminum sides, and a clean Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 again (additionally on the entrance). The digicam bar, 6.3-inch Actua show, and comparable weight (simply 0.2 ounces heavier than final 12 months) all resemble the Pixel 9, however this is not a criticism. If it ain’t broke, do not repair it.
Regardless of the floor similarities, extra time with the cellphone makes the upgrades extra evident. For instance, the show now helps 3000 nits of peak brightness, up from final 12 months’s 2700 nits. This, mixed with the 120Hz refresh fee, 2424×1080 decision, and OLED panel, makes for a brilliant, vivid show in all lighting circumstances.
A better have a look at the digicam bar additionally reveals a brand new third 5x telephoto lens, which makes it simpler to get crisper photographs of distant objects. Whereas I sometimes wait till a lot later in a evaluation to the touch on the digicam, I’ve to say the Tremendous Res zoom as much as 20x left me impressed. It did not sacrifice particulars when cropping intently in on a topic, partially as a result of digicam’s Imaging Sign Processor (ISP) enabled by the brand new Tensor G5 chipset.
The triple digicam array is comprised of a 48MP major digicam, a 13MP 120-degree ultrawide, and a brand new 10.8MP telephoto lens, with a ten.5MP selfie digicam on the entrance. In line with prior fashions, the digicam system is able to taking vibrant, detailed photographs with wealthy distinction. The expanded zoom capabilities make it extra on par with the Professional fashions, which have all the time had telephoto cameras.
Additionally: I’ve bought every flagship Google Pixel phone since the first – but 2025 has me reconsidering
One other improve, although not instantly seen, is the brand new Pixelsnap magnetic expertise, which works equally to MagSafe on iPhones. With the Pixelsnap, customers can connect magnetic equipment to the again of their telephones (together with MagSafe-compatible ones), resembling chargers, mounts, and docks.
This alone is a handy addition that you simply most likely will not recognize till you discover an adjunct you’re keen on. As an iPhone consumer, I can not think about life with out my MagSafe transportable chargers.
Beneath the hood, the cellphone acquired some upgrades, together with a barely larger battery that Google claims lasts as much as 30 hours, up from the 24 hours on the Pixel 9. Throughout my time testing, even after regular work actions, together with taking part in music practically all day as I write, doom scrolling on social media, and texting (solely throughout breaks, after all), I used to be in a position to not solely make it by a complete day, but additionally have some juice leftover the following morning.
Additionally: Why Google’s best Pixel 10 announcement was an iPhone feature – and I don’t mind
Lastly, the cellphone’s most notable improve is the Google Tensor G5 chipset, the corporate’s most superior processor. Not solely does it help an general higher efficiency out of your cellphone, together with sooner speeds, optimum battery efficiency, and higher images, however it additionally powers the entire superior AI options discovered on the Pixel 10.
The Tensor G5 was designed with Google DeepMind and, because of this, optimized for on-device AI workloads. For instance, the Tensor G5 runs Google’s Gemini Nano mannequin completely on-device, giving customers optimum speeds and the peace of thoughts that their knowledge is not leaving the gadget. This highly effective mannequin helps the in depth suite of AI options, which is what actually units the Pixel 10 aside.
Essentially the most baked AI options on a smartphone but
Within the period of AI, practically each cellphone launch additionally features a suite of automated, machine-learning-based options. Nonetheless, in my expertise, many of those options are straightforward to disregard. With the Pixel 10, Google struck a great steadiness, baking numerous instruments into most of the cellphone’s main features so that they are intuitive to make use of, whereas not being too overbearing.
A first-rate instance is Magic Cue, a brand new predictive characteristic that makes use of the context of what you are doing — mixed together with your exercise throughout Google’s apps — to generate recommendations in actual time for actions or info. For instance, if somebody asks me in a textual content what time our reservation is, Magic Cue “reads” it and surfaces the data in order that I simply must faucet on it to answer.
Additionally: The best Android phones to buy in 2025
Whereas I can affirm the characteristic works, as I examined the Pixel 10 in on a regular basis interactions, Magic Cue wasn’t intrusive, one of many considerations I had going into it. I consider it extra as one thing you may faucet into do you have to want it, to scale back the friction of getting to dig to seek out info.
One other AI-powered characteristic I loved is the brand new Day by day Hub characteristic discovered within the Uncover feed. Utilizing context from my Google Calendar and YouTube exercise, it curated a handy abstract of my day that I may very well be briefed on at a look as an alternative of getting to toggle between completely different apps.
The digicam app acquired the majority of the updates, with options resembling Digital camera Coach, the place the AI instructs you on learn how to enhance your shot, Add Me, which now works with much more individuals, and Auto Finest Take, which routinely finds the most effective image with all of your topics in what Google considers the best state.
Additionally: I compared the Pixel 10 Pro to every older Google flagship model – the biggest upgrades
There are additionally a plethora of different AI options, together with a real-time Name Translation characteristic, a Take a Message characteristic, which makes use of AI to offer transcripts for missed calls, Pixel Journal immediate recommendations, and even a NotebookLM integration in Pixel Screenshots.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
I’ve loved my expertise with the Pixel 10 and would advocate it to most customers searching for a comparatively accessible Android, particularly if the useful AI options resonate with you. In the end, it delivers on efficiency, digicam, battery life, and AI options, making it a robust competitor towards different flagship smartphones in the identical worth vary.
You may preorder yours now for a beginning worth of $799, with a number of cellphone carriers providing extra promotions and offers. The colours embrace Indigo, Frost, Lemongrass, and Obsidian, and storage sizes vary from 128GB to 256GB.
You may sustain with my newest tales and tech adventures on social media. Observe me on Twitter/X at @sabrinaa_ortiz and on Instagram at @sabrinaa.ortiz.
