The Google Pixel 10 refines everything that Google has built with the Pixel phones, improving on the most important elements, from the cameras, to the speed.
With that speed and the cameras, the Pixel 10 is the best entry level Android smartphone for all types of users, and I love that it’s the perfect size, with a premium finish that looks great.
While I have a few complaints with charging and the battery, and some photo quality concerns, I’ve been using the phone as my daily driver for weeks now, and it’s still easy to recommend.
Pricing
Pixel 10 starts at $1,099 in Canada and $799 in the U.S. for the 128 GB model, and the phone is available in Obsidian, Indigo, Frost, and Lemongrass.
Design and build quality
Google has gone through ups and downs with Pixel designs over the years, but the Pixel 9 set a standard, and Pixel 10 follows that, maintaining the excellent camera bump, and the overall design that feels perfect in your hand.
Starting with the satin-finish aluminum frame, the nicely curved corners, the glossy finish on the back–featuring Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2–and the beautifully flat display that also uses the same glass, the Pixel 10 feels like a more expensive phone.
Paired with one of Pixel’s sleek and well-designed cases, the phone still looks great, but I’ll be the first to admit that putting a case on the phone feels wrong, even if it’s the best idea. It just looks fantastic in Indigo, but you can get an Indigo case from Google at least.
The camera bump feels like a better engineered system than many other phones, mainly because it seems to protect the lenses better than most. And with the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the phone can take a decent amount of abuse without scratches or marks.
I wouldn’t change anything about the design. I think it’s an A+ overall.
Display and performance
The Pixel 10 features a 6.3″ Actua display that reaches up to 3000 Nits of peak brightness, and it looks fantastic. Text and images are clear and easy to read, even outdoors in the sun. The specs for the Pixel 10 are very similar to the Pixel 9, but the brightness is a big step up.
The variable refresh rate also works well, and obviously makes the biggest impact for gamers, but the real story with the Pixel 10 is the Tensor G5 chip.
Both the Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 have 12 GB of RAM, and you can buy the phone with 128 GB and 256 GB of storage, but the best improvement is the processing speed with the new chip.
Using the phone to edit videos, play games, and multi-task, everything was smoother and faster than the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. The Pixel 9 Pro is an excellent phone overall, but it doesn’t go head-to-head with competitors when it comes to processing power. The Pixel 10 is still not as powerful as I would like, but it’s an impressive step up.
My biggest complaint remains that I don’t think any phone in this price range should have less than 256 GB of storage.
Battery life and charging
On an average day the Pixel 10’s 4970 mAh battery lasts me a full 24 hours. Compared to most phones, that’s about as good as it gets, but I will say that shooting a lot of video and photos, and watching a lot of video will cut that down by a third or more, depending on usage.
While I would love to have a bit more battery life from the phone, I think the Pixel is balancing out battery life and performance. The one problem I still have is charging speeds.
Most phones don’t come with a charging brick any more, and that includes the Pixel, so charging the phone with the provided USB-C cable takes around 90 minutes, which feels a bit too long to me. If you want better charging speeds you’ll need to buy Google’s Pixel charger that’s a bit extra, but worth it for many people. You can also invest in one of the new Pixelsnap chargers that magnetically attaches to the back of the phone, making it easier to use, but charging speeds are not as fast as plugged-in.
Cameras, photography, and video
Google’s Pixel phones have offered some of the best cameras and photography features for a number of years, and I happily used the Pixel 9 Pro to capture a number of videos for my YouTube channel. I think there’s a lot of great things to say about Pixel photography, but how does the Pixel 10 stack up?
The biggest improvement is the new 5x telephoto lens that offers a solid 10x zoom, and up to 20x zoom, although it can get a bit pixelated at that point, depending on lighting conditions. This upgrade was a big deal to me, it makes portraits look amazing, and it’s a big deal since previously the base Pixel phone didn’t have a great zoom.
I’ve captured a lot of photos using the zoom, and many times the zoomed in photo at 5x looks better than other lenses and other phones.
The .5x and 1x cameras work well though, and most importantly, the wide angle views look realistic, without much distortion or weird angles that we’ve seen in the past from some cameras.
The main camera offers macro focus, with 48 MP, the ultrawide has a 120 degree FOV with 12 MP, and the telephoto lens has 10.8 MP.
For video, everything looks great, crisp, and colourful, and you can shoot in 10-bit HDR for richer tones, although keep in mind that it can be more challenging to edit in some software. That said, it hasn’t been a problem editing in apps on the phone.
Overall, I think there’s room for improvement with the photography on the Pixel 10, but I love the features, how well colours and contrast turn out, and being able to edit images right in Google Photos.
Sample Photos:
Final thoughts on the Pixel 10
The only flaw that I’ve seen with my Pixel 10 is the network connectivity, which has dropped out at times, primarily after I’m in the subway and don’t have service. Normally, services comes right back after being in areas like that, but the Pixel 10 struggles quite a bit with getting reconnected unless I check the internet connection.
I’m sure this will be addressed in an update, but it’s worth mentioning.
Considering of all the things that I loved about the phone though–including the battery life, cameras, and general processing power–there’s another big plus with the Pixel 10, and that’s the support. Google is offering 7 years of support for the Pixel phones, and that includes feature updates with Pixel Drops, OS updates, and security updates.
Pixel also has so many features that I couldn’t get to, but there are lots. Voice translate is a big one, the new Pixel Journal, screenshot management, and all the extras likes Astrophotography, Add Me, and even spam call and text protection.
If you’re looking for a solid, dependable phone with great photography features, I would definitely recommend the Pixel 10. It’s a good buy for the price, it looks amazing, and you will love the phone in a year or two, as much as you love it when you get it.
All photos by W. Andrew Powell/The GATE.
