The Pixel 9 Pro was arguably the phone of the year last year, as Google introduced a vast array of improvements designed to compete with the best phones.
Upgrades to the display, camera, processor, and battery resulted in one of the best phones I've ever used, and several welcome improvements in the software meant thePixel 9 Prowas also the first Google phone to convince me that Google can make great phones.
Fast forward a year, and Google just announced the new Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL. Instead of the major upgrades we saw with the Pixel 9 series — and this year's baseGoogle Pixel 10— Google's Pro models feature more modest upgrades.
Yet, the Pixel 10 Pro builds on an already-excellent smartphone, so are these modest upgrades enough for it to stake a claim as the best phone of 2025? Should you buy the Pixel 10 Pro or Pixel 10 Pro XL? I spent half an hour with them at Google’s.Pixel 10 launchin New York City today, and it turns out that modest upgrades to an excellent phone can make for an even better all-around phone. Here’s our first look at Google’s new Pro lineup.
The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL cameras are familiar yet different
The Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL both feature the same design as last year's devices, complete with the horizontal camera bar housing a triple camera setup. There are subtle changes to the OIS on the telephoto, but otherwise, the 50MP wide camera, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto (offering 5x optical zoom) all match the camera on the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Yet, despite the identical specifications on paper, both phones introduce several new Pixel camera features that set the Pixel 10 Pro series apart from last year's models.
First, there's a new Pro Res Zoom as Google uses the first-ever diffusion model and the largest ever model in the Pixel camera to deliver up to 100x zoom. Unlike the dual telephoto cameras on theGalaxy S25 Ultra, the surprising part about Pro Res Zoom is that Google achieves this zoom with just a single telephoto lens.
The company says the feature is best used for capturing photos of landscapes or landmarks, but also notes that when a person is spotted in the image, the algorithm applies special tuning to ensure that features appear accurate and lifelike and to prevent misrepresentation.
Then there's a new certification to help identify and track the source of any images, as well as determine which images were created with AI. The Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL cameras feature C2PA Content Credentials built into the camera itself — for the first time in a smartphone — which secures metadata within the image to ensure its entire journey can be documented.
Google already has one of the best smartphone cameras, and the improvements to the Pixel 10 Pro camera, as well as the Pro Res Zoom feature, ensure the Pixel 10 Pro series is likely to take up that mantle.
A new era for Pro performance
One of the more notable changes in the new Pixel 10 series is the Tensor G5 processor. This is a key moment in Google's smartphone journey as the company has switched from using Samsung Foundry as its chipmaker to the world's biggest smartphone chipmaker, TSMC.
Built upon the same 3nm process as rival chipsets like the Apple A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite in many smartphones — including theOnePlus 13,Galaxy S25 Edge, andGalaxy Z Fold 7— The Tensor G5 brings a significant improvement to the performance of all the Pixel 10 series smartphones.
It's the biggest upgrade since the first Tensor processor was launched five years ago and is designed for deeper customization and the latest advancements in on-device AI. The Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) - which is used to accelerate machine learning workloads and improve AI performance - is 60% more powerful, while the CPU is 34% faster than last year's Tensor G4. There's also an upgraded ISP for better photography, and overall improvements in performance and battery life.
Major changes to battery life and charging speeds
The other area where the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL offer significant improvements is in battery life and charging, but here the Pixel 10 Pro XL has a further advantage over its sibling.
Both phones feature larger batteries than last year, but neither is significantly larger. The Pixel 10 Pro has a 4,870 mAh battery — up from 4,700 mAh in the Pixel 9 Pro — while the Pixel 10 Pro XL has a 5,200 mAh battery, which is up from a 5,060 mAh battery in the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
The biggest improvements come in the form of charging speeds. The Pixel 10 Pro supports 30W charging, but the Pixel 10 Pro XL boosts this considerably to 45W. This means the Pixel 10 Pro should charge to 55% in around 30 minutes, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL will charge to 70% in the same period.
Yet, even this isn't the biggest improvement: the Pixel 10 series is the first Android phone to support Qi2 magnetic charging out of the box, without needing a separate accessory. Google is calling it PixelSnap, but it's the same as Qi2, and it means the Pixel 10 series can use the variety of MagSafe charging solutions available for the iPhone. The Pixel 10 Pro will charge at 15W when charging wirelessly, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL supports Qi2.2 and 25W wireless charging.
The Pixel 10 Pro series has excellent software again.
One of the hallmark features of the Pixel 10 Pro series, as with the past nine generations, is Google's excellent software features. The Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL runAndroid 16With Google's new Material 3 Expressive UI out of the box and come with seven years of software and security updates, meaning they'll be supported until at least Android 23.
Alongside the core Android 16 features, the Pixel 10 Pro series also gains some exclusive Gemini features to help it stand out from the competition. Key to the new series is the Magic Cue feature, a new set of helpful and proactive suggestions that leverage the Tensor G5 processor and Google’s Gemini Nano model to enable real-time contextual suggestions. Early use cases include adding events or previewing weather forecasts for upcoming travel, but the possibilities for this feature are vast.
Then there are the other software additions, including a Daily Hub digest similar to Samsung's Now Brief, improvements to Call screening, and a major update to voice translation: the Pixel 10 Pro series can translate phone calls in real-time, and the caller on the other end will hear the translation in their language using your voice. Google is known for excellent software, and the Pixel 10 Pro series continues this trend.
The Pixel 10 Pro proves that small upgrades can make a big difference
The Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL both prove that small upgrades can make a significant difference to the overall user experience. There are only a handful of updates compared to the Pixel 9 Pro, yet each of these makes the experience noticeably better.
I only spent half an hour with the Pixel 10 Pro series, but one thing is clear: whether it's the new Pro Res Zoom feature, Qi2.2 magnetic charging in the Pixel 10 Pro XL, the Tensor G5 processor, or the plethora of Gemini features, these are likely to continue from the Pixel 9 Pro series as some of the best phones you can buy.
However, there is one key thing to note: this year, Google has followed Apple's lead, and the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL are both eSIM-only in the US. This means there is no support for physical SIM cards, but the wide availability should mean that eSIMs should become easier to activate among the carriers.
Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL price and availability
The Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL are both available for pre-order today and will launch on August 28. Both are available in the same Obsidian and Porcelain colors as last year, but also new Moonstone and Jade shades.
The Pixel 10 Pro starts at $999 for 128GB of storage, while upgrades to higher storage options will cost a slight premium. The 256GB model costs $1,099, the 512GB model an additional $120, and the top-tier 1TB model costs $1,449.
Meanwhile, the Pixel 10 Pro XL starts at 256GB storage, and is also available with 512GB or 1TB of storage. Each option costs $100 more than the equivalent Pixel 10 Pro option.
Pixel 10 Pro
Pixel 10 Pro XL
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