Google Pixel 10 Review: 6 Months Later

We may earn compensation from reviewed products. Learn about our editorial policies.

100%

100%

Pixelsnap and a 5x telephoto lens to elevates an already excellent phone to new heights, although the small-ish, non-silicon-carbide battery does date it slightly.

The Good

1. Stylish design
2. Pleasing camera system with 5x telephoto lens
3. Super clean operating system
4. Pixelsnap is a smart move

The Not So Good

1. Camera zoom beyond 5x is a bit ropey
2. No silicon-carbide battery

• User Ratings (1144 Votes)
  4.3

Need-To-Knows

• 5x telephoto zoom remains the big winner
• Operating System is lovely to live with
• Battery life is good, but lags behind newer silicon-carbide tech
• Pretty similar to the Pixel 9 when all is said and done

---

It’s been about six months since I last wrote about the Google Pixel 10 and, if I’m honest, my opinions haven’t changed that much. That’s because I liked the Pixel 10 a lot from the moment I started using it, and it hasn’t given me any reason to think differently since.

To be fair, it wasn’t too much of a task for the Pixel 10 to impress me, seeing as I originally switched to it from my iPhone 16e. And that’s the main reason why I’m giving you some updated thoughts. Was I just blinded by how mediocre the 16e was, or is the Pixel 10 actually worthy of the oh-so-coveted five stars?

And, more importantly, has the subsequent release of the iPhone 17 changed my overall buying advice? Let’s see where we’re at now!

How I reviewed the Pixel 10

I haven’t been using the Pixel 10 as my main phone for the last six months. It would be impossible for me to do that given the sheer number of devices I have to review. But I’ve picked it up again for the past few weeks to see how it stacks up against some of its more recently released competitors.

At A Glance

Feature	Pixel 10	Pixel 10 Pro	Pixel 10 Pro XL	Pixel 10 Pro Fold
Display	6.2″, Actua, 3000 nits	6.7″, Super Actua, 3300 nits	6.9″, Super Actua, 3300 nits	Inner: 7.8″, 3000 nits
RAM	12GB	16GB	16GB	16GB
Cameras	10.8MP 5x Telephoto	50MP main, 48MP telephoto, 42MP selfie	Same as Pro	48MP main, 5x/10x telephoto
Zoom	20x Super Res	100x Pro Res	100x Pro Res	20x Super Res
Chip	Tensor G5	Tensor G5	Tensor G5	Tensor G5
Battery Life	30+ hrs	30+ hrs	30+ hrs	30+ hrs
Charging	Fast charging	70% in 30 min (XL)	70% in 30 min (XL)	50% in 30 min
Storage	Up to 512GB	Up to 512GB	1TB (XL)	Up to 1TB
OS Updates	7 years	7 years	7 years	7 years
Qi2 & Pixel Snap	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Launch Date	28 Aug 2025	28 Aug 2025	28 Aug 2025	9 Oct 2025

Key Specs and Pricing

This is definitely an iterative upgrade for the Pixel. On the face of it, the Pixel 10 looks nigh-on identical to its predecessor and the specs are nothing more than a ‘bump’. But, look closer, and you’ll find that Google has made some very smart changes.

In terms of the specs that matter, we have a new Tensor G5 chip, which promises a 34% faster CPU and a 60% faster TPU for better AI performance (GPU upgrades haven’t been noted by Google). The G5 chip is teamed with 12GB of RAM, and there are two storage options to choose from: 128GB and 256GB.

The display has received a brightness boost – the 6.3-inch Actua panel now boasts 3,000 nits of peak brightness, and has a 60-120Hz variable refresh rate.

Google is, once again, promising “over 24 hours” of battery life, and a 55% charge in 30 minutes if you plug the Pixel 10 into a 45W USB-C charger. It’s also Qi2 certified, which provides support for 20W wireless charging.

Google has also introduced something called Pixelsnap. Which I’ll get to later.

The Pixel 10 comes in four colours (I was sent the blue ‘Indigo’ colour, which is a nod to the original Pixel) and will receive seven years of OS, security, and Pixel Drops updates.

Price-wise, you’ll pay £799/$799 for the 128GB model and £899/$899 if you want 256GB.

It’s still a great looker

When I first unboxed the Pixel 10, I thought it was one of the best-looking phones on the market. And that still stands, although many have come out since to match it, such as the iPhone 17 and Oppo Find X9 Pro.

I’ve always thought that Pixel phones stand out as being unique without shouting about it, and that opinion stands.

The Pixel 10 offers the most minor of visual tweaks over the Pixel 9 (the now-triple lens camera housing is slightly fuller), but there are a bunch of rather lovely colour options to make it feel as new as possible. These include the classic Indigo a stunning Lemongrass, which is best appreciated in person.

Sony’s latest: Xperia 1 VII review

The display is superb too, and excellent to live with. That 6.3-inch OLED Actua screen is vibrant, incredibly bright, and of course features the 120Hz refresh rate, which, at the time of writing, Apple still refuses to add to its base model devices.

Pixelsnap is a genuinely useful addition

The other design change Google made last year is the biggest difference over the Pixel 9, and one that brings it up to speed with the iPhone. The impact of Pixelsnap is significant.

If you’ve been living under a rock, I should confirm that Pixelsnap is, basically, Google’s version of MagSafe. Although it isn’t MagSafe, of course, because that’s Apple’s thing. Pixelsnap is, therefore, a configuration of magnets buried into the rear of the Pixel 10 series that enables various accessories to be attached to the back of the phone.

Those who use MagSafe on their iPhone will know that this is extremely useful for things like small wallets and wireless charging, but there are many other weird and wonderful applications out there that have been dreamt up by accessory manufacturers.

Crucially, Pixelsnap is compatible with MagSafe accessories. So, if you’ve got a wallet or charger that you’ve become used to attaching to the back of your iPhone, it’ll work on the Pixel 10, too.

The best budget phone? Google Pixel 9a review

This might not sound like a big deal, but it is – particularly when you try it for the first time. I’ve attached MagSafe stuff to the back of non-iPhones before, but it’s only ever been possible with a MagSafe-equipped case. The ability to attach my leather Nomad wallet to the back of the Pixel 10 without such assistance was a genuine “woah” moment back when I first reviewed it and it remains a very handy addition to this day.

More importantly for Google, it’s yet another excuse for not being able to switch from the iPhone to the Pixel completely demolished. I can confirm this addition wasn’t a gimmick.

Long-term battery

The Pixel 10 doesn’t feature a Silicon Cryptonite battery, and that doesn’t really matter when you only use this phone and nothing else. I regularly get two full days out of it with what I would call ‘normal’ use and a day with ‘heavy’ use.

But what I will say is that once you’ve used one of these newer silicon-carbide batteries, it does make these ‘normal’ phones seem dated already. When the OnePlus 15 can offer you three days of battery without breaking a sweat, the stock ~5000mAh capacities you get on this generation of phones feels puny.

Check out my Pixel 9 Pro XL review

But as I said, it doesn’t really matter in practice. The battery is great on the Pixel 10, the stand-by time is typically Android bonkers, and the addition of Qi2 charging support is a huge bonus. The iPhone 17 also doesn’t have silicon-carbide yet so there’s no FOMO there.

A brilliant everyday camera

The base model Pixel sports a three-lens rear camera system. The 48MP main camera and ultrawide are largely unchanged, but there’s now a telephoto with a 5x optical zoom. Which is simply excellent.

Just like smartphone design, camera performance is very subjective, but I’ve never been backwards in coming forward with my love for Pixel photography. I still think it’s the best on the market and still think so after a few months of use, at least at this price point. If you’re not familiar with it, the Pixel favours a contrasty, dramatic look which is pleasing without any tweaks. It also deals with challenging dynamic range situations very well.

There are better shooters out there obviously, if you go up in price, such as the Oppo Find X9 Pro, but the difference in day-to-day photos is barely noticeable.

Related: Pixel 9 Pro Fold review

The Pixel 10, just like its predecessor, is a fast snapper, too. I was able to capture plenty of photos of my two toughest subjects – a three-year-old kid and a 16-week-old puppy – with just a few mishaps (arguably fewer than any other phone I’ve tested recently, in fact). It has no trouble keeping up with being whipped out of the pocket at short notice.

Zoom-wise, the Pixel 10 extends to 20x, digitally, via Google’s Super Res Zoom. It does the job – in the right conditions (just like every AI-infused zoom range I’ve tested recently). I doubt you’ll use it that much, though, which is why the presence of a 5x optical zoom is so welcome. In fact, it’s more than welcome, it’s a big plus over the iPhone 17 which only has 2x optical zoom, which is fast becoming a thing of the past in entry-level smartphones.

OS and AI

There are many flavours of Android out there, but if you want the purest experience, you should opt for either a Google Pixel or a Nothing phone, in my humble opinion. Arguably, the former will feel ‘safer’ for a lot of people, despite Nothing continuing to make some of the best devices on the market.

The Pixel 10 runs Android 16, which is superb. There’s no bloatware (unless you count all of Google’s apps as that – which would be unfair), and the Material 3 Expressive design language is utterly lovely. If you’re wondering what that brings to Android 16, Google tells us there’s increased personalisation, smoother interactions, richer colours, and visual enhancements such as ‘a modernised notification shade’.

It just looks really nice and, in my opinion, continues to date iOS, especially after the disastrous Liquid Glass redesign. Google’s take on Android is just so pure and clean, it’s a dream to live with long term, especially when you’ve got yourself bedded in with all of Google’s services.

When it comes to performance, I’m not sure what more I can say from a regular user’s perspective. Just like every other mid-range-to-flagship phone I’ve tested over the last couple of years, the Pixel 10 is extremely smooth, responsive, and fast.

It should also come as no surprise that it’s an absolute corker in terms of AI performance. Google Gemini remains the best digital assistant on the planet, so much so that pretty much everyone else, including Apple, is using it, and you get all of its capabilities baked deeply into the Pixel 10.

A competitor? OnePlus Nord 5 review

There’s so much AI stuff in the Pixel 10 that it deserves its own review. I’m not a heavy AI user at all, but some new features have caught my attention. Magic Cue is designed to proactively surface the next step for you by guiding you towards apps based on whatever you’re doing at the time. Camera Coach uses Gemini models to offer real-time suggestions for improving photo composition, and the ability to ask Photos to make edits to your images without tapping on the screen sounds wonderful.

There’s no doubting that Google remains at the top of its game in terms of AI, whether you care about it enough is another question, though.

The only other things of note are, of course, the design tweaks (the 10 Pro’s edges are made from polished spacecraft-grade aluminium), and the fact that the more expensive Pixel comes with a one-year subscription to Google AI Pro.

Is it better than the iPhone 17?

The bigger question I have about the Pixel 10 is why on earth you’d stick with, or opt for, the iPhone.

When I first wrote this review, the iPhone 17 didn’t exist yet. And when compared to the iPhone 16, the Pixel 10 looked a far better deal. But since then, the iPhone 17 has arrived and it made strides to place the iPhone back into the top-tier of entry-level phones.

That makes choosing between the two very difficult. So difficult in fact that I can’t make a recommendation because they are both as good as each other. This decision comes down entirely to your personal preferences.

Are you totally locked into Apple’s ecosystem? Is iOS just too comfortable to leave behind? Then the iPhone 17 is just a no brainer.

Check out my list of the best smartwatches here!

However. If you have even a slight, tiny desire to switch to Android this year, I think the Pixel 10 is the most obvious candidate for doing so. It looks better than the iPhone (in my opinion), takes better photos (in my opinion), and is several years ahead in terms of offering a modern AI-infused operating system. The fact that you can now transfer your MagSafe accessories directly to the Pixel 10 is another reason the transition is likely to be more seamless – and enjoyable – than it was previously.

Conclusion

After six months, I can safely say that the Google Pixel 10 is still a brilliant phone. Sure, it isn’t a seismic upgrade over the Pixel 9, but it was never going to be – nor did it need to be.

Google has made some incredibly smart choices with the Pixel 10 that make it very hard to look past if you want to switch from an iPhone. That being said, there are now some truly phenomenal Android phones around. The OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 series, to name just two. So if you’re looking to go Android, you shouldn’t stop your search here.