Pixel 10 Pro XL Review: Incrementally improved, with big AI aspirations

Google announced the Pixel 10 series last week with four devices, powered by the Tensor G5 processor, offering a range of new AI-powered features. 

The Pixel 10 series includes the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL which launch today, as well as the foldable Pixel 10 Pro Fold arriving in October. 

Scott has taken a look at the Pixel 10 which picks up a telephoto sensor and will also be taking a look at the more compact Pixel 10 Pro in a review next week. I got to check out the 10 Pro XL – an update to my Pixel 9 Pro XL I’ve been using since it launched.

The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL offer more than the Pixel 10 with higher-end materials, as well as including Pro level camera features like Pro Res Zoom . Between the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL, the specs are similar, with the Pixel 10 Pro’s more compact form-factor using a smaller display and battery, as well as the slower Qi2 wireless charging.

So with a new hardware spec, and a new slew of features to check out. I’ve had less than a week with the Pixel 10 Pro XL using it as my main phone, and here’s how it went.

Design

The Pixel 10 Pro XL doesn’t look too different from its predecessor; in fact out of the case, you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart. 

This is due to a conscious choice by Google, with Google’s Chief Design Officer, Ivy Ross, telling Bloomberg in an interview that ‘“Every two to three years we look to try and do something with a new design language’. Given that stance, we may see a new design next year, or wait until 2027. 

There are some minor tweaks to the design – and it’s about 20 grams heavier. The SIM tray is now on top of the phone, allowing Google to use upgraded bottom speakers on the Pixel 10 Pro XL (and Pro) with double mesh-covered speakers on either side of the USB-C port for a more symmetrical look. 

The bezels surrounding the glass on the camera bar are also slightly thinner for a more streamlined look, though the camera stack inside hasn’t changed.

The camera bar on the back of the Pixel, which Google describes as a ‘fan favourite’ feature, is certainly iconic and makes my phone spotting hobby quite easy – though challenging to differ between generations now. It’s also still a magnet for dust accumulating around it.

The materials on the Pixel 10 Pro XL are premium, with the same craftsmanship that really elevated last year’s Pixel 9 to a new level. The Pixel 10 Pro XL has the same silky matte glass back with polished finish metal frame surrounding it, with the nicely ‘clicky’ volume rocker and power button on the right. 

While it looks the same, Google says it’s more durable now – at least more durable than the Pixel 8 anyway, able to handle everyday bumps, scratches, spills and dust – and with an IP68 rating, it certainly survived a rinse off.

If you opt to use one of the new Pixelsnap cases you won’t see a lot of your new phones body, and while I love the look and feel of the naked Pixel 10, it’s impractical given my butter fingers, so the Pixel Snap case is on. The case offers a lot of protection, while still supporting the magnetically aligned Qi2 wireless charging of the Pixel Snap accessories.

There’s some nostalgia for the Pixel fabric cases, but given how filthy they got after a year of me failing to clean them, these new silicon cases are great. They fit well, and I can’t wait to explore the new Pixel Snap charging – when I can get hands-on with them. 

Google sent over an Obsidian coloured Pixel 10 Pro XL which of course looks great, there is also Porcelain (White), Jade or Moonstone to choose from, and given a choice that Jade would be in my pocket.

If you want a new look for your Pixel 10 Pro XL, then the new Pixel Snap cases come in all the colours, including the gorgeous Indigo from the standard Pixel 10 is available.

Performance and Connectivity

In terms of specs, the Pixel 10 Pro XL has it all. A new Tensor G5 processor with 16GB RAM and starts with 256GB of storage – and ranges up to 1TB if you want it. It comes with 5G connectivity (Sub 6 GHz) which includes Satellite SOS SMS, as well as Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v6 and UltraWide-Band (UWB) making it a pretty versatile device.

The heart of the Pixel 10 Pro XL is of course the new Tensor G5 processor, which Google describes as their most significant chip advancement since the launch of the first Tensor processor 5 years ago.

It’s the first of the Tensor processors out of the TSMC foundry and is produced on their 3nm process, with the Tensor G5 offering 34% performance improvements over the Tensor G4.

The incremental update of the Tensor processors has felt better year over year, and the Tensor G5 is no different. In terms of feel, the Tensor G5 feels faster than the Tensor G4 from the Pixel 9 Pro XL, however there’s no way to test it with benchmarking apps again blocked in Google Play.

I’ve previously found the Tensor G4 gets quite hot when playing some games, and the Tensor G5 seems to be handling these games a little better – though a longer-term look will tell. 

On the connectivity side, the 5G radio appears strong though your mileage may vary depending on your network and location.

I was able to happily connect to my new Wi-Fi-7  network with no issues, however I don’t yet have any Bluetooth 6 devices to connect to the phone. 

You get a full suite of location services including GPS, Baidou, GLONASS and more so you shouldn’t get lost, and the Pixel 10 series also supports Satellite SOS SMS so you can contact emergency services if you are out of range of Wi-Fi or cellular service.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL also includes an Ultra-WideBand (UWB) chip for accurate ranging and spatial orientation. I’ve used this for more accurate tracking on the motorola Moto Tag, and hoping that BYD will roll out UWB support to the Dolphin soon.

Google has also brought back the temperature sensor on the Pixel 10 Pro/10 Pro XL and it’s seen a few updates for accuracy since it launched on the Pixel 8. Google has registered the temp sensor with the US FDA to measure skin temperature, however unfortunately we’ve yet to see the sensor appear certified on the Australian Register of Theraputic Goods (ARTG), and Google Australia has nothing to announce as yet – so we’ll have to keep waiting.

For smart home enthusiasts Google has also included a Thread radio. Thread is used for smart homes as a more reliable connection, enabling a low-power mesh network amongst the growing network of Matter enabled devices.  

Display and Audio

On the display and audio, Google has improved the speakers on the Pixel 10 Pro XL, notably with a dual speaker grille on the base, while on the display side, there’s only one real change with Google increasing the peak brightness to an eye-blasting 3,300 nits.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL still comes with a gorgeous 6.8-inch (171 mm) Super Actua LTPO OLED display capable of 1-120Hz refresh rate using what Google calls Smooth Display. It basically means that you get smooth scrolling and it looks great to my eyes. 

The new super-bright 3,300 nits Super Actua display is just as bright as advertised, making it easy to see in even bright sunlight. 

The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is back and is just as fast as last year, though with Face Unlock working so securely and quickly I rarely have to rely on the fingerprint sensor.

For audio, I’m going to keep banging on about how great the new symmetrical look is on the base with the dual speaker holes. 

Symmetry is great and all, but Google has also backed it up with improved audio on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. I did some blind tests with the Wife and Boy and both picked the Pixel 10 Pro XL each time. I’m not going to be recommending blasting out music on your phone, but it’s not bad if you have to in a pinch.

Camera

There’s very little changing in the camera hardware on the Pixel 10 Pro XL from last year, though there are a couple of changes in the camera bar on the rear. 

. We see the same triple camera array in the camera bar which includes the 50MP main sensor, 48MP ultrawide with 123° field of view that also offers macro focus, and the 48MP telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom. On the front Google has also kept the 42MP selfie camera that includes a decent 103° field of view.

The 50MP main sensor now includes improved OIS with double the range of motion, and also makes for improved stabilisation with Video Boost. As usual the Pixel takes lovely shots in both good and low-light conditions. 

The 48MP telephoto sensor has a good 5x optical zoom which captures great shots, but it also now includes ‘Pro Res Zoom’, a new feature that combines hardware, software and AI to deliver a 100x zoom shot.

In practice, it’s actually pretty good and you can see the difference in your Google photos with both shots available. 

The 48MP ultrawide still has 123° field of view letting you capture that little bit extra without sacrificing quality. 

The Google camera app is now infused with Google AI, including the new Camera Coach app which will step you through improving your shot. You can activate it by tapping the icon at the top of the screen, and then choose the style of photo you want, then follow the prompts to get your final shot. 

I’m not a great photographer, and wasn’t hugely impressed with the prompts, even after stepping through it a few times. It’s something to try out though to see if improvements come. 

I was unable to trigger a new feature in the camera/Photos app: Auto Best Take, though I could get Best Take to work in editing. 

In theory, Auto Best Take will take the manual work out of editing in the best look from a sequence of group photos to offer a shot with everyone smiling and looking at the camera. I’ve used Best Take quite a lot through the past year with great results and can’t wait for this automated feature to kick in.

Battery and Charging

Likely accounting for that 20 grams of additional weight, the Pixel 10 Pro XL now includes a 5200mAh Li-Ion battery, a jump from the 5,060mAh on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. It also is the first (and only) Pixel to support the new Qi2 25W wireless charging standard. 

I’ve had three full days of use out of the Pixel 10 Pro after a couple of days setting it up. Starting around 6am and ending around 10-11pm with around 20% left. Google says you can get 24+ hours on the Google Store specs, but a full day like that is good for me.

The larger battery charges just as fast as last year, with Google spruiking 70% charge in 30 minutes using their 45W USB-C charger.  You’ll have to buy the charger separately separately as you only receive a USB-C cable in the box (ok, and a SIM tool). I confirmed this super fast charging which saw the battery fully charged in just over an hour.

Unfortunately the new, faster Qi2 25W charging I’ve been unable to test. I can say it works well with the Anker MagGo Qi2 Power Bank I reviewed last year, however it tops out at 15W. The new Belkin Qi2 chargers just announced are arriving for review, and we’ll be nabbing one of the recently announced Pixel Snap chargers to test out this fast new wireless charging – so stay tuned. 

Android

The Pixel 10 Pro XL launches with Android 16 and comes with seven years of OS, Pixel Drops, and security updates delivered over-the-air to your phone. 

Being a Pixel device, it came out of the box with the August 5th update and you’ll see the next update arriving in September. 

The Pixel includes all the new features announced back in May like the updated Material Expressive 3 design language. This new design brings natural, springy animations to make it feel like you’re interacting with things on the screen – or as Google describes it brings ‘a moment of delight to everyday routine’.

It’s the Material Expressive 3 update that drives the new Always-on Display: Full Screen Wallpaper, as well as live effects on the Lock Screen, which can separate out a person from an image to focus on them – though unfortunately you can’t specify which person in the photo. 

A large number of the Google apps including Recorder, Camera, Clock, Google Photos (Editing), Calculator, Fitbit and Phone have been updated to the new look Material 3 Expressive and it looks good, modern and I like the effects.

Magic Cue

A large part of the Pixel 10 launch is the features, and a key new feature is Magic Cue. 

The theory is that Magic Cue is proactively suggesting information and helpful actions while you’re chatting, calling or searching. This includes surfacing information like reservations, addresses, photos and more from your Gmail, Calendar, Messages, Keep notes, Screenshots and Contacts. Here’s Jimmy Fallon showing it off at the launch:

The disappointing thing is that try as I might, I can’t get Magic Cue to suggest anything. 

I don’t have a particularly high-flying lifestyle as the demos shown off by Google. I don’t tend to have hotel and flight reservations that often, and dinner and movie reservations, as well as a weekly game of basketball, failed to attract the notice of Magic Cue, with no relevant suggestions popping up while talking on the phone, texting or searching. 

The promise of Magic Cue is akin to something I WANT AI to do. I want it to tell me what I didn’t know I needed, or give me information faster than I can search for and find it – but if it doesn’t work, it’s not going to add much utility for me. 

Gemini

The Gemini Assistant is back on the Pixel 10 series, with the 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL receiving a year of access to the Google One ‘AI Pro’ plan worth $329 AUD. 

If you aren’t particularly enthused by AI, the plan also includes 2TB of storage which is VERY nice! If however you do like to use Google’s arsenal of AI tools, they’re all available, with access to new features  including the new VEO3 video generation tool is also available and produces some…interesting results.

Gemini Live is back, so you can talk with it on the fly and also share your camera and screen so you can input more data and context into your conversations.

Final Thoughts

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is the cream of the crop for the Pixel 10 series offering Pro Design, Pro Camera, Pro Performance and Connectivity, Pro Battery and Charging and that gorgeous Pro Super Actua Display. 

The design is gorgeous, and the display is bright enough to read anywhere. The Pixel 10 Pro XL camera takes great shots, and has all-day battery life with fast charging.

The Tensor G5 feels faster and more thermally efficient than its predecessor, and the phone has the buttery smoothness of a Google tuned phone. 

Google’s AI is as usual great in the camera, with excellent processing, however the Camera Coach didn’t quite add to my experience, and Auto Best Take just didn’t seem to register either. Unfortunately, despite the utility promised by Magic Cue it too is too hard to enable in its current form. 

While normally I don’t recommend devices based on nebulous updates, Google has enough invested in these keystone AI features to warrant further development – and I am very interested to see how Magic Cue especially develops.

As far as hardware goes, the Pixel 10 Pro XL retains the great design and build quality, offering refinements including improved audio, brighter display, improved connectivity and a faster processor, all of which make for a good update. 

At $1,999, waiting for updates to come may be a bridge to far, but with 7 years of support coming it’s always worth seeing what features Google has, and the Pixel is the first to see these updates. 

You can grab the Pixel 10 Pro XL from today through the Google Store, or through your favourite retailers or telco including Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Telstra, Vodafone and Optus.