Building upon the solid foundations of last year's Google Pixel 9 is the Google Pixel 10. While it doesn't change much in terms of design, it's the first basic Pixel to come with a periscope lens that offers up to 10x optical zoom and up to 20x digital zoom, which is a far cry from the 2x optical zoom and 7x digital zoom on its predecessor.
New features not only include a triple rear camera with the aforementioned 10.8MP periscope lens, but there's also a new Tensor G5 chipset, magnetic PixelSnap back, many new AI features like Camera Coach, Magic Cue and more. Is the RM3999 release price finally right for this? Check it out in our full review of the Google Pixel 10 below.
Design - Looks almost the same
The Google Pixel 10 uses a 6.3-inch Actua display with up to 3000 nits brightness
While the measurements may be slightly different, the Pixel 10 still looks very much like a Pixel
Physically, the Pixel 10 looks like a carbon copy of the Pixel 9. This includes the smooth metal sides, rounded corners, flat 6.3-inch Actua display, and a raised pill-shaped rear camera hump on the back. If you take a closer look at this camera hump, you'll notice the 10.8MP extra camera as well, but everything else looks almost exactly the same.
However, if you have a PixelSnap or MagSafe accessory, you'll notice that it can now snap onto the back of the Pixel 10. The Pixel 10 is also slightly thicker at 8.6mm and heavier at 204g compared to the 8.5mm thin and 198g Pixel 9.
USB Type-C port and the speaker vents
Power button and volume rocker on the side
The SIM card tray is on the top
As before, there's a power button and volume rocker on the right side, while on the bottom, there's a USB Type C port, and 2 speaker vents. The SIM card tray is on the top. Our review unit came in frost (white with shades of light purple), but there's also obsidian (black), indigo (blue) and lemongrass (light yellow).
In short, the Pixel 10 looks just like many other Pixels, despite there actually being a number of differences, such as the increased measurements. As such, if you were hoping to recycle your older Pixel casing or accessories, it might not fit exactly. Thankfully, the phone does fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.
The silicone case doesn't feel so slippery now
Thankfully, Google Malaysia were kind enough to share the Pixel 10 case to go with it. We found that while it's still made from silicone, it's not as slippery and seems to protect your fingers from a toasty glass Pixel backside better than before.
Tech specs and Features - Refreshed internals
Here is a full list of the Google Pixel 10 tech specs and features:
- Google Tensor G5 chipset (Titan M2 security coprocessor)
- 12 GB RAM + 128 GB / 256 GB storage
- 6.3-inch OLED Actua display (1080 x 2424 pixel resolution, Smooth Display 60-120Hz, Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2 cover glass, HDR support, up to 2000 nits HDR and up to 3000 nits peak brightness, >2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, Full 24-bit depth for 16 million colors)
- Triple rear camera: 48 MP Quad PD wide camera (ƒ/1.70 aperture, 82° field of view, 1/2" image sensor size, with Macro Focus) + 13 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera (ƒ/2.2 aperture, 120° field of view, 1/3.1" image sensor size) + 10.8 MP Dual PD telephoto camera (with optical image stabilization, ƒ/3.1 aperture, 23° field of view, 5x optical zoom, 1/3.2" image sensor size)
- 10.5 MP Dual PD selfie camera (with autofocus, ƒ/2.2 aperture, 95° ultrawide field of view)
- Measurements: 152.8 mm (height) x 72 mm (width) x 8.6 mm (depth) | 204.1g
- 4970mAh battery (Extreme Battery Saver, 30W fast charge wired, 15W Pixelsnap wireless charging (Qi2-certified))
- Android 16
- features VPN by Google, End-to-end security designed by Google, Multi-layer hardware security, Anti-malware and anti-phishing protection, Spam and scam protection, 7 years of OS, security, and Pixel Drop updates, Fingerprint Unlock, Face Unlock, Pattern, PIN, password
- supports Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth® v6, NFC, Google Cast, Dual eSIM (two active eSIMs; stores 8 or more eSIMs), 1x USB Type-C® 3.2
- Gemini Nano, Gemini (built-in AI assistant), Gemini Live, Gemini apps, Pixel Screenshots, Magic Cue, Circle to Search], Live Translate, Call Assist
- Available in Indigo, Frost, Lemongrass, Obsidian
Android 16 looks good
Standout features for the Pixel 10 begin with Google's new Tensor G5 chipset, which has been optimised for better on-device AI. However, the 6.3-inch Actua OLED panel remains the same. With a variable refresh rate of 60Hz to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 3000 nits, it's easy to see the screen even in bright sunlight.
The phone also supports Qi2 wireless charging with magnets, which Google calls Pixelsnap, allowing for magnetic charging and compatibility with a wide range of accessories. Other features are mostly AI, such as Magic Cue, which you can now learn about in their My Pixel app.
You can now check out all the new features in the My Pixel app
Pixel Studio lets you generate humans now
Gemini Live, Zoom Enhance and Pixel Journal are just some of the various new features you can try out on the Pixel 10
All the previous AI features, like Pixel Studio and Gemini, are still there. Moreover, Google still guarantees up to 7 years of updates, but we have to say that we're seeing quite a few similarities with Samsung's flagships. This includes Auto Best Take, Gemini Live, Writing Tools in GBoard and so forth.
While Magic Cue is supposed to be the AI service that surfaces stuff that you need when you need it, it's rather hard to notice it in action. On the other hand, we did like the new Camera Coach in that you can now use it to scan any scene and receive photography tips.
Using Camera Coach you can get suggestions when you scan the scene
However, while there's tips, it's still up to you on whether or not you can get a good shot or not
It doesn't really guarantee that you will get good reflection shots, but at least you will know that you can take such shots in certain situations. It's still up to you on getting the shot in the end, but at least there are smart suggestions for composition this time around.
Performance - More versatile cameraphone
In terms of benchmarks, the new Tensor G5 delivers performance on par with flagships about 2 generations or so ago. This isn't a bad thing, since it does manage to deliver lag-free 60 fps performance on demanding games like Genshin Impact. This does result in the Pixel 10 getting rather toasty, but you won't notice this much if you have the silicone casing attached.
Geekbench 6 shows that the Tensor G5 is at least previous generation flagship level
3DMark scores are not bad
Battery life is somewhat improved, but only by a few hours or so. If the previous Pixel 9 could last about one and a half days, the Pixel 10 can now last about 1 day and 17 hours or so on normal usage. As usual, Android 16 is clean and bloatware-free, but you'll have to install your social media apps on your own.
Thanks to the additional periscope camera, the Pixel 10 is a significantly more versatile cameraphone. Whereas with the Pixel 9, any zoom shots were rather basic, you can now get decent wildlife shots from a distance. The Super Res Zoom does help a bit when you max out the zoom to 20x, but it still results in slightly oversharpened details sometimes.
Camera Coach does help point out possibilities, but good reflection shots on the Pixel 10 are still your responsibility
The Pixel 10 is still awesome at macro shots
However, if you zoom in up to 20x and use the Super Res Zoom...
... results can sometimes seem a bit oversharpened
Nonetheless, the improved zoom now lets you take better shots of wildlife on the Pixel 10
20x zoom, Super Res Zoom enhanced
Long exposure shots are still relatively easy to pull off
With a little creativity you can also get shots like this using the Action Pan feature
Thanks to the additional camera, macro photography is now even easier with the Pixel 10, and close-up shots are still stunning. Magic Editor and other editing features can be pretty useful for post-image editing. However, we have to question when you'd use features like Create Music in Recorder.
We have to say that productivity features are still rather lacking. While Gemini in the Gboard and Gmail apps does offer a little writing help and NotebookLM provides localised Gen AI with fewer hallucinations, with no automatic Desktop mode like Samsung DeX, you still can't replace your desktop with a Pixel phone just yet.
For productivity, Writing Tools have been baked into GBoard directly
The Magic Eraser still works great
Conclusion - A significant upgrade
Overall, the Google Pixel 10 makes for a much better option over the Pixel 9, especially if you're thinking of upgrading from an older Pixel like the Pixel 8 series and below. However, considering that many of the AI features will eventually trickle down to the Pixel 9, if you already own a Pixel 9, it's a bit hard to recommend, unless you're into embracing the PixelSnap accessories or making a move over from a MagSafe iPhone.
Due to the lack of Magic Cue not really surfacing much, we can't really say that the Pixel 10 series is now the de facto AI smartphone. However, it does offer plenty of Gen AI and Gemini features if you're into that sort of thing. In addition, thanks to Pixel Drops, you can also get a 1-year automatic Google One Pro subscription with each purchase of a Pixel 10, so you can try out Veo 3 and text-to-video as well (but you can also get this with the Pixel 9, fyi).
We have to say that the RM3999 price tag is a bit steep for just the basic Pixel 10, but it is better than the Pixel 9 in a number of other ways. If you want the improved zoom, then there's always the Pixel 10 Pro or Pixel 10 Pro XL. But there's also the Samsung Galaxy S25 series if you're looking for other Gen AI-enabled smartphone alternatives.
What do you think? Would you buy the Google Pixel 9 or Google Pixel 10? Have you been wanting easier wireless charging with PixelSnap? Share your thoughts in the comments below and as always, stay tuned to TechNave.com.
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