Each year, the ‘Pro’ lineup of smartphones snag the best features and the limelight from the more affordable base variants. Well, times they are a changin’, with the Pixel 10 getting the big upgrades this time around, making it a far more compelling proposition than its predecessor and a legitimate Pixel Pro-lite in many ways.
Of course, you wouldn’t really be able to tell it apart from the Pixel 9 from last year, unless you’ve got one of the new colors – a vibrant Indigo and the refreshing Lemongrass caught my eye. The design is almost unchanged, with the flat aluminum edges sandwiched between sheets of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, along with the distinctive camera bar, but the aesthetics and build quality are both right up there with the best. The matte-finish edges give the Pixel 10 a good grip in the hand, and there’s IP68 water and dust resistance for the worst-case scenarios.
Retaining the same dimensions means you get the same 6.3-inch display size as last year, and while the Pixel 10’s 1080 screen gets plenty bright at 3000nits, the refresh rate only goes from 60–120 Hz, and not all the way down to 1Hz (as the Pros do to save power). Everywhere else, it’s an excellent display, with a snappy ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, tight and precise haptics, and reasonably loud stereo speakers. The biggest change is something you can’t see – the Pixel 10 series are among the first Android devices to fully support the Qi2 charging standard - Apple MagSafe-style magnets and all - allowing you to use chargers, mounts, wallets and MagSafe-friendly accessories, alongside Google’s own "Pixelsnap" range of accessories. Particularly useful to tempt folks coming over from an older iPhone…
Powering the device is the same Tensor G5 chip as this year’s Pros, with a single 12GB memory/256GB storage variant available for sale in India. The chip is a big leap forward from last year’s G4 chip, which ensures that the Pixel is snappy in everyday use and handles most everyday tasks with ease. That said, this is no Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that powers the vast majority of this year’s flagships, and gamers will likely more processing power elsewhere. The chip is frugal, and it lasts well past a day of regular use, and you’ll need about an hour to fully top it up.
Where the chip excels is at running Google’s AI quicker and handling more complex systems on-device, reinforcing the Pixel as a perfect showcase for Google’s AI prowess. Running Android 16, the Pixel 10 has all the regular AI features like writing, dictation and image-editing tools, but the feature with the most promise is something that will take time to fully experience and appreciate – Magic Cue. Intended as an AI assistant running in the background, Magic Cue combines information from your Google apps to pop up relevant suggestions during interactions. Calling a friend about a dinner reservation? Or calling an airline helpline for a flight booking? Right on cue, Magic Cue should recognize your intent and pop up the details on the phone for your reference. In reality, it has yet to meaningfully work when one needed it and doesn’t support third-party apps like WhatsApp, but it’s a step in the right direction, one where AI forgoes flashy gimmicks and instead assumes the role of a time saver, working in the background and always ready to help.
On cameras, the big upgrade is undoubtedly the inclusion of a dedicated 10.8MP 5X telephoto alongside the 48MP primary and 13MP ultrawide, plus the 10.5MP selfie shooter. The main and ultrawide produce excellent images, excelling in high contrast scenes or dim indoor lighting, and the new telephoto does well to punch into shots and produce usable shots at up to 20x digital zoom. If you need help, the new Camera Coach feature uses Gemini AI to help you compose and frame a shot for a better picture. Neat!
Viewed as a whole, the Pixel 10 is a well-rounded smartphone with solid emphasis on AI, software and hardware refinement and camera, even as it falls behind on pure performance.
Rating: 8/10
Price: Rs. 79,999 (12/256 GB)