Once upon a time, the Android world was the wild west of phones. Apple had its walled garden, Microsoft was still fumbling, and everyone else was throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck. Samsung had its flavour, HTC had another, LG swivelled its screens, and the rest were busy cooking up strange mutations of Android. What was missing was a “pure” Android phone until Google stepped in with the Nexus. 

The Nexus line sold at mid-range prices but carried the aura of a premium device. It became a developer’s playground, fuelling the ROMs, widgets, and custom features that would later define Android itself. Then the landscape shifted. Microsoft quit, Google smelled opportunity, and the Nexus gave way to the Pixel. This time, it was not about community tinkering. It was Google showing the world what Android looked like at its best. 

Now in its tenth iteration, Google no longer wants to be an option you consider. It wants to be the option. The question is, has it earned it? After a few weeks with the Pixel 10 and 10 Pro XL, the answer is not simple. 

The Slabification 

Both the Google Pixel 10 (6.3”) and Pixel 10 Pro XL (6.8”) remind me of my old Nexus 4 in a good way. They look like they are carved from a single block of glass, broken only by the giant camera bar. They are sleek, they shine, but they also slip. You will need a case. The aluminium frame adds some heft but not enough to punish your wrist during long shoots. 

If you liked the Pixel 9’s design, you will like the Pixel 10, because it is essentially the same thing. Aluminium, Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and polished edges on the Pro models look sharp but attract fingerprints. The camera bump has grown slightly, which keeps the phone steady on a table but kills compatibility with last year’s cases. Then again, every major flagship now feels like a remix of itself, so Google is far from alone here. 

The real design upgrade is invisible. The Pixel 10 supports full Qi2 charging, magnets included, so it plays nicely with MagSafe gear and Google’s new PixelSnap accessories. Not groundbreaking but useful in daily life. 

The display surprised me. Google’s Super Actua and Actua panel is gorgeous. Bright, fluid, and tuned for natural colours rather than the cartoonish punch or glassy weirdness you see elsewhere. The smaller 6.3-inch Pixel 10 model is is sharper, though you will not notice unless you are squinting at pixels. Max resolution is off by default, but turn it on with a 120 Hz refresh rate and the screen glides like a hot knife through butter. 

Google claims the Pro peaks at 3,300 nits, up from last year’s 3,000. The difference is noticeable, especially in bright sunlight.  

What the AI? 

Hardware has never been Google’s strong suit. What it has always nailed is software. And in 2025, the only marketing pitch that matters for a smartphone is AI. That is where things get messy. 

First off, Gemini is brilliant. It is the closest thing I have seen to a Jarvis-type assistant, if your idea of Iron Man is checking the weather, pulling up movie reviews, and reminding you to pack a raincoat for a work trip. Would I trust it to book me a dinner table? Not yet. 

The bigger flex is Magic Cue, Google’s headline AI party trick. On stage, it looks slick: someone texts “where are we drinking?” and your phone spits out a reservation and a map pin. The problem? Nobody actually uses Google Messages enough for this to matter. Until it sneaks into WhatsApp, Instagram, or even Gboard, it is still in the box of “cool demo, not very useful in practice yet.” 

Same goes for live translation. Western reviewers love showing off an English to Spanish conversation, but India is not the West. Here, the real test is Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, often in the same thread. If Google ever cracks that mess of scripts, dialects and code-switching, this feature could be revolutionary. Right now, it is still a promise. 

And then there is audio emoji, which lets you play different sounds during live phone calls. Yes, this includes fart noises. Yes, it has been extensively tested. And yes, it actually works, leaving the spam caller questioning ‘What…is happening?’ 

It’s Not About What’s Inside 

If you buy cars, bikes or phones by staring at spec sheets, the Pixel 10 series is not for you. The Tensor G5 chip will not outgun the latest Snapdragon in benchmarks, but that is a pointless metric. Nobody hands out medals for topping Geekbench, and you would have to be a hardcore Android nerd to notice the difference in everyday use. 

In practice, the Tensor G5 is smooth. Apps load fast, games run fine, and everything just works. The catch is longevity. Google promises seven years of updates, but I am not convinced this chip will age gracefully over that stretch. It is flying now, but ask me again in year five. Fingers crossed. 

Speaking of making things last, the Pixel 10 series gets small battery bumps across the board. The XL has gone from 5,060 mAh to 5,200 mAh, while the 10 gets 4970 mAh. On paper, solid. In real life, though, the phones still feel a bit hungry, probably thanks to all that background AI chewing through power. You will get through a day, but it will not be a confident day if the red zone makes you twitch. If you are the kind of person who laughs at battery anxiety, quick charging plus the battery will be fine. 

Speaking of quick charging, the Pixel 10 and 10 Pro top out at 30 W with a USB-C PPS charger, hitting 50 percent in about half an hour. The Pro XL goes up to around 45 W, reaching 70 percent in roughly the same time. Not blistering speeds, but fast enough that you won’t be chained to an outlet. 

The Crème de la Crème 

If Samsung has displays and Apple has its ecosystem, the Pixel’s trump card has always been cameras. No hyperbole here. The Pixel 10 Pro cameras are objectively great. Both the 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL pack a triple system: 50MP wide, 48MP ultra-wide with Macro Focus, and a 48MP 5x telephoto with Pro Res zoom that stretches to a frankly absurd 100x. 

These are some of the best cameras Google has ever put on a phone, which makes them some of the best you can buy. Shots are consistently sharp, detailed and natural, often looking better than what other flagships manage. At night, the Pixel just embarrasses the competition with more detail, more colour and more focus. Low-light is its playground. 

The 5x telephoto is excellent, and yes, you can push it to 100x if you want to test the limits of your handshake. The AI does heavy lifting at that point, generating details it cannot actually see. The results are surprisingly usable for objects, but try reading a distant signboard and you are more likely to get gibberish than text. It is a neat trick, but it raises a bit of a Ship of Theseus question about whether you are still looking at a photo or something the Pixel invented. 

Google also slipped in a new Camera Coach feature, which analyses your shot and offers tips. Nice idea, but in practice it lags, the advice shows up awkwardly late and you end up swiping prompts instead of taking the photo. Baked straight into the viewfinder, it could be brilliant. Right now, it is more of a clunky micro-manager tapping your shoulder mid-shot. 

Should You Get One? 

If you are switching from Apple, the Pixel 10 is a strong choice, provided video is not your priority. If you are moving from another Android brand and cannot live with bloat, it is worth considering, though a few disappointments remain. If you own a Pixel 9, waiting a year or two might be wise. The Pixel 10 series is Google’s most polished lineup yet, but it is still not the definitive Android it wants to be. 

Pricing: 

Google Pixel 10: Starts at Rs 79,999 

Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Starts at Rs 1,24,999