The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is a flagship grade smartphone that’s had an incremental improvement over last year’s model and a boost in Gemini’s power and reach.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL – and the other models in the range – are ideally not meant for someone who invested in the Pixel 9 but for someone with a much older device.
Design-wise there has been hardly any change but it still maintains its solid build quality and an assured in-hand feel.
Part of that solidness is the fact the device is heavy – it’s 232g. In comparison the iPhone 16 Pro Max is 227g so you know you’re playing in the big leagues.
Google is very much staying in the lane that its devoted customers love with pure Android onboard and no other UI layer.
The 6.8-inch display has a 120Hz variable refresh rate and is sharp and bright and easy to read in all conditions – even in direct sunlight.
Under the hood is the Google Tensor G5 chip which offers decent performance and which also does the heavy lifting when Gemini needs to do its thing with AI.
There is 16GB RAM onboard so you’ll never need to worry about performance.
Magic Cue is the big new feature which uses a new level of personalised AI that can reach across all the apps in your digital life to anticipate your needs and provide relevant information and actions based on the context on your phone.
Sounds good right? We’re sorry to say it’s not fully cooked yet.
The idea here is to surface the right information when you need it.
We gave Magic Cue all the permissions to see our Gmail and our calendar and our contacts.
So when someone asks for a contact’s information or if you’re talking about an upcoming flight.
The best we got was being told to consult the calendar app.
We’re sure Magic Cue will improve over time via software updates to deliver on the promise of what it is supposed to offer.
One area of the Pixel that has always been superior is the camera and the Pixel 10 has offered improvement here as well.
There a 50-megapixel wide, 48-megapixel ultra-wide and a 48-megapixel telephoto lens.
But the big change here is the 5x telephoto lens and the 100x ProRes Zoom for some amazing closeups.
There is a bit of trickery involved here with the camera using generative AI to upscale and enhance the zoomed image.
We tried this in the Sydney CBD aiming at the stars at the top of the Crown building.
What we saw through the lens lining up the shot looked rough but the final result after being polished up with AI looked pretty impressive.
But how does this sit with a passionate photographer?
Usually what they capture is what they capture and they go after improving things with editing.
The good news is when viewing these AI-enhanced images you can also see the original and keep that image and do your own editing.
But when comparing the original images to the enhanced images – it makes you appreciate just how remarkable the generative AI is.
One big improvement is Pixel Snap – Google’s version of Apple’s MagSafe – which is Qi2 compatible for 25W wireless charging.
On the battery side, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL easily powered through day and still had enough juice left to get into the start of the next day.
But we found it easier to charge the device overnight so we always started the day at 100 per cent.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL – like we said at the top – is just an incremental improvement that relied on its AI enhancements to provide most of the new razzle dazzle.
And while not all of them landed – that’s not to say they won’t thanks to seven years of software and security upgrades.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is slightly more expensive this year because it has a new higher minimum memory capacity at 256GB which is priced at $1,999.
The 512GB model is priced at $2,199 and the 1TB version is $2,549.
VERDICT
The Google Pixel XL Pro is an impressive device with a stunning camera, impressive and improving AI features and a rock solid Android platform.
