The base Pixel 10 doesn’t look or feel all that different from last year’s Pixel 9 from afar, but it packs a few notable upgrades on the spec sheet. The big one is a new 10.8MP telephoto camera with a 5x optical zoom, which should make the phone much more adept for portraits and shots of faraway objects. Previously, you had to buy a Pro model if you wanted a Pixel with a dedicated zoom lens.
The catch is that the other two shooters in the triple-camera setup appear to be downgrades from the Pixel 9, at least on paper. The main camera is now 48MP instead of 50MP, while the ultrawide cam is down to 13MP instead of 48MP and has a smaller sensor. We’ll have to see how noticeable these changes are in practice.
There’s still a 6.3-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, but Google says it can now get a bit brighter, reaching a peak of 3,000 nits. The battery is also slightly larger at 4,970mAh, up from 4,700mAh. And like every other Pixel 10 phone, the device runs on a new Tensor G5 chip. Google promises improved CPU and TPU (for AI) performance there, though it’s had something of a spotty track record with custom-made silicon in the past, so we’ll have to put the chip through its paces to see how well it holds up against Qualcomm’s better Snapdragon SoCs.
Elsewhere, all of the Pixel 10 phones support magnetic Qi2 charging, which here is branded “Pixelsnap.” This is essentially Google’s take on Apple’s MagSafe, and the company is selling accessories like a snap-on charging puck and ring stand alongside the handsets. However, only the Pixel 10 Pro XL supports the fastest 25W wireless charging speeds; with the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro you’re limited to 15W. Wired charging, meanwhile, now tops out at 30W for the base model instead of 27W.
Unsurprisingly, Google is pushing a bunch of AI features with all of the Pixel 10 devices. The most interesting is probably “Magic Cue,” which promises to proactively surface contextually relevant information within apps. If you call an airline, for instance, Google says this could pull up your flight details as you dial. Per usual, how accurate AI tricks like this will actually be remains to be seen. Either way, Google will still provide seven years of OS and security updates for each new phone.
The Pixel 10 starts at $799. Pre-orders are live today at the Google Store, Amazon and Best Buy, with general availability starting on August 28. The standard Pixel 10 still comes with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, though another configuration with 256GB of space is also available for $899. The device will come in four colors: Obsidian, Indigo, Frost and Lemongrass.
As for pre-order perks, Amazon and Best Buy are bundling the phone with a $100 gift card. At Google’s online store, you can get a $100 store credit if you order by September 4, though you need to use a Google account and Google Pay profile to receive that.
