Google’s AI ambitions for the Pixel 10 Pro XL are very clear, but the execution of those ambitions is patchy at best.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Magic Cue has immense potential for making smartphones smarter… | … if Magic Cue ever chooses to work, that is. |
| Pro Res zoom works fantastically well on still objects | Pro Res zoom makes an utter mess of human faces |
| Proper 25W Qi2 charging – at last! | Tensor G5 isn’t as fast as premium competitors – and Google tries its best to hide this fact. |
Score: 3.5/5
 |
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In this review
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Specifications
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Design
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Camera
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Performance
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Battery
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Conclusion
Ethical disclaimer: The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL used in this review was sent my way by Google Australia, and they typically don’t ask for hardware to be returned.
This has zero impact on my review, aside from letting it be done in the first place; Google has no editorial oversight into my reviews, the same as any other brand.
I know ethical disclosure isn’t what you’re here for, but I do feel that this kind of disclosure is all too sadly lacking in many reviews, and I’d rather be honest and upfront with my readers. For more on ART’s ethical policy, read here.
Design
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is Google’s 10th generation Pixel, which means that it’s been a decade since it dropped the Nexus branding for its own brand handsets in favour of the more premium Pixel style… and also perhaps that I’ve been doing this phone reviewing thing for too darned long.
Also read:
Google Pixel 10 Review: Stuck in the Middle (with AI)
A decade is a long time in phone styles, but of late Google has settled on a design style for its flagship devices, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL really doesn’t diverge from that style in any significant ways.
The iconic camera bar for its rear snappers is still present, ensuring that while the phone will never sit flat on a table, it’s at least got a ledge to stop it rocking back and forth if you do so.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is built around what is essentially the same display found in the Pixel 9 Pro XL; we’re talking a 6.8 inch 1344×2992 pixel LTPO OLED 1-120Hz display with a 20:9 ratio and a centrally mounted hole punch camera notch.
The one big upgrade here is that the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s screen boasts a brighter display at up to 3,300 nits compared to 3,000 on last year’s model, though for most use cases you’d need to see them side by side for that to have all that much impact.
Controls remain in Google’s own style, with volume buttons sitting below the power/assistant button on the right hand side. If you’re coming from a Samsung phone, it’s the exact opposite to what the South Korean firm does, which might involve a little bit of muscle memory work before it all settles into your brain.
At the bottom of the Pixel 10 Pro XL you’ll find USB-C for power and data, as well as stereo speakers that deliver a decent enough sound, and as per Google, the best on any Pixel model to date, even comparing other Pixel 10 variants.
It’s fine for what it is, but if you use the superior speakers on the Pixel 10 Pro XL on public transport (or any other public setting, really) with the speakers enabled, you’re an inconsiderate git, and I will both judge you and/or sing along badly to your music choices, because if I have to listen to your music with no choice, I’m at least going to have my own fun with it. Headphones are cheap, buy some… but I digress.
If you want fancy bright colours in the Pixel 10 Pro XL… you can’t have them, because like its competitors, Google’s opted for a more professional, subtle look in the colours that its flagship phones ship in, leaving the more fun colours to the lower cost Pixel 10 series.
If you’ll indulge me in an aside for a second…
Dear Phone Manufacturers: Just because a phone has a “Pro” suffix does not mean that it can only look like it just came out of an executive meeting in a five star hotel lobby. In 2026, why not have some damned FUN with the colours on your Pro phones?
We now return to your review.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL ships in Obsidian, Porcelain, Moonstone, Jade. For those who prefer real colour names, that’s Black, Light Green, White or Blue-ish grey, with Google sending me the Moonstone version for review.
For all my complaining about the lack of punchy colours – or in other words I don’t get why they don’t offer the Limoncello or Indigo hues you can get the Pixel 10 in for the pricier phones – Moonstone is a nice hue as far as my sensibilities are concerned. Naturally I’m going to advocate for a case for the Pixel 10 Pro XL, because it’s not cheap, and once you do that it can be just about any you’d care to name.
One small colour oddity to note here, at least at the time of writing; while the Pixel 10 Pro XL ships in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities, if you want the truly high-end, $2,549 model, it appears that Google only offers that in the Obsidian finish. I suspect if you can afford to drop $2,549 on a phone, spending a little more on a coloured case probably won’t be an issue for you.
Camera
The Pixel 10 Pro XL doesn’t substantially change the hardware recipe for its triple rear or front camera array relative to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, working from a primary 50MP wide, 48MP 5x Optical zoom telephoto and 48MP ultrawide 123˚ at the back and a 42MP camera at the front for your selfie needs. Google’s contention here is that the magic really happens again through AI and some image optimisations that occur within the phone’s Tensor G5 processor.
The reality for Google’s Pixel Pro phones has long been that they’ve been strong contenders in the premium space, but equally you can get decent photos out of even mid-range and some budget phones in easy daylight conditions.
Give the Pixel 10 Pro XL an easy shot to take, and it’ll do a good job of it – but that’s not what you pay the premium money for.
Where premium phones need to excel is in harder shot conditions, such as low light. So how does the Pixel 10 Pro XL compare? I went out shooting one night with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, Pixel 10, Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to give a comparative picture in quite tough conditions:
The other area where you typically want better than mid-range performance out of a phone at this price is in telephoto zoom. Where the Pixel 9 Pro XL topped out at 30x zoom with AI smoothing – a feature Google called Super Res Zoom, the Pixel 10 Pro goes a lot further, pushing its hybrid zoom up to 100x, or in Google-speak, “Pro Res Zoom”.
Rather like the Oppo Find X8 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, what this actually entails is a mix of digital cropping and AI sharpening at those extreme zoom lengths.
Take a long zoom shot and if you duck into the Photos app you’ll see an animation effect play while the AI works its supposed magic – or at least that’s what Google claims.
But how well does it work? To test this out, I headed down to Sydney’s Circular Quay with the Pixel 10 Pro XL and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in my pocket to put them head to head, because both support 100x zoom features.
Here’s a regular shot of from where I was standing. Just about any phone could take this shot in these conditions (this one’s from the Pixel 10 Pro XL, just to be clear).
But what if I wanted to get really close to snap the top of those iconic sails? With 100x zoom that’s feasible, if a little tricky from a handheld phone.
Here’s how the Galaxy S25 Ultra took that shot:
You get the idea of what the sail looks like, but is this a nice looking photo? No, it is not.
Here’s the original (no Pro Res Zoom) shot taken by the Pixel 10 Pro XL:
This is also bad, but in a different way to the Samsung S25 Ultra’s take.
And finally here’s the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s “Pro Res Zoom” version:
It’s an impressive improvement for sure, though it’s not exactly a perfect shot, and Google’s AI approach can still lead to some pretty awful pictures, especially if it has to deal with actual people.
I don’t much like creeping on people, but in such a public space, I tested out 100x zoom on some far-away faces to see how it would cope.
The answer is: It doesn’t cope, but I do feel like I’m still preserving this person’s privacy, because IS THAT EVEN A HUMAN BEING?
The other feature that the Pixel 10 Pro XL has on board is Camera Coach, an AI-led system that’s meant to teach you how to use the features of your phone’s camera. Conceptually I love this idea, because behind just about any smartphone camera there’s a wealth of visual features that nearly never get used, or used to their full extent.
Camera Coach uses AI to analyse what the camera’s pointed at before coming up with suggested framing and positioning options that might lead to a more pleasing picture, guiding you through how to take that shot so that (in theory) you learn more about your phone’s features and how to take better photos in the future.
Camera Coach guides you through taking better photos, or gives you new ideas on shots to take.
All well and good in theory, but there are some problems here. Camera Coach is slow, which is somewhat understandable given it’s got to run its AI model against the image in front of it every single time, but this means it’s useless for anything moving in the moment, and even still subjects need patience while it works out its options.
Its tutorial steps are logical enough, and they could improve your photography if you pay attention to them, but they pay no attention to what you’re actually doing; you can easily miss that you have to tap to step through each suggested alteration to your shot before it’ll move on and take a mediocre shot anyway.
It’s also the one AI feature that gives me pause for thought about Google’s AI feature set, because honestly, while the AI processing might be slower on an older Pixel phone, Google’s been using image AI processing ever since the first Pixel phone; I kind of feel like this is a software feature that Google could probably bring to at least the Pixel 9 generation of phones with minimal extra lag, but it’s a software exclusive for this generation of Pixel phones – at least for now.
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Sample Photos
It’s rare that I test out a camera without taking cat photos. It’s what smartphone cameras are for, right?
Well, that and taking arty photos of your food. I suddenly have a craving for chocolate — just me?
I could use AI to generate a fake photo of flowers — or take a photo of fake flowers. I chose the latter.
Neko is hoping I will give him a treat in return for taking his photo with the Pixel 10 Pro XL
Selfies are handled pretty well.
Last cat photo, I promise.
Clearly, I lied.
Low light shots can turn out decently, though Google’s still outshot by Apple and Samsung in this respect.
Basic zoom shots work nicely.
As do cat photos. Last one, I promise (for real, this time)
A turtle is not a cat by any definition. And this isn’t even a real turtle!
Performance
Testing the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s performance really is a story of two approaches; the hardware and then the overarching focus on AI. Let’s tackle the hardware first.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is built around Google’s new Tensor 5 processor with 16GB of onboard storage and 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of onboard storage.
That does mean that there’s no 128GB version, though Google has kept to the same price points as last year’s model for the higher storage tiers it is offering. Technically you could argue that’s a price rise because the lowest tier no longer exists, but then plenty of Google’s competitors have raised prices even on existing price tiers, so I’m more inclined to cut Google some slack here. Not much — but some.
Testing the Pixel 10 Pro XL, I hit a very predictable and ultimately very stupid wall when comparing the performance of the Tensor G5, because Google very deliberately blocks the installation of common benchmarks on its Pixels for the first couple of weeks of their on-sale and pre-sale period.
I’m confident in saying that it’s not a question of incompatibility with new hardware, because otherwise a slew of apps would also fail to install; it’s quite deliberate muddying of the waters.
What that leaves me with – at least for now, because Google’s reportedly looking to block this avenue in the future entirely – is sideloading these apps to give me a rough performance picture.
So how does the Pixel 10 Pro XL compare? Let’s take a look at Geekbench 6’s CPU test first:
This isn’t surprising, really, and it does show why Google tries to hide Tensor performance for this kind of review purpose, because it’s certainly not flattering to the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
I’ve noted those figures as tentative sideloaded figures and will try to return to them once Google removes its block on benchmarks, which (in my experience) will probably happen in a couple of weeks time.
While it’s good to see that the Tensor G5 does outpace the Tensor chips found in older Pixels, it’s still well behind the premium performance pace here.
What about on the GPU performance front? Here I sideloaded (sigh) 3DMark to get an idea of how the Pixel 10 Pro XL performs:
Again, the Pixel 10 Pro XL does not impress on a raw numbers basis.
Naturally, benchmarks aren’t the be-all and end-all of performance, and it’s been the case for a while that for regular everyday use even the processors found in more mid-range phones are enough for most people, but if you did want the Pixel 10 Pro XL because you were going to throw some of the more CPU and GPU intensive Android apps at it, you’d be left at least a little wanting.
Speaking of being left wanting, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL does continue Google’s admirable support cycle of 7 years of OS upgrades, security updates and Pixel feature drops, it also (at least for the Australian model) drops support for mmWave 5G, which means that there’s now no new mmWave capable smartphones sold in Australia at all.
Boo. Hiss. For Shame, Google. Do better, not worse. Remember when “Don’t Be Evil” was part of your motto? Why yes, I have been doing this a long, long time to remember that, but once again I digress…
While mmWave implementation isn’t widespread, absolutely nowhere near the population coverage of sub-6Ghz 5G, it’s annoying that we’re even denied the access use of those networks in Australia, especially as it’s not like the Pixel 10 Pro XL isn’t mmWave capable in other markets.
Google used to lead the way here, but it’s given up the chase and fallen into the same technological mediocrity that the likes of Samsung and Apple wallow in. Yes, this annoys me probably more than it should. Now, back (once again!) to the rest of the review.
Google’s contention around the performance of the Pixel 10 Pro XL is that Tensor is finely tuned towards AI-specific features that its competition will not be able to match, and that’s its unique selling point. It’s not involved in a speeds arms race, because it’s instead racing towards a glorious AI future with its smartphones.
This starts with Gemini AI, and it is worth noting that you do get a year’s worth of Google AI Pro with the Pixel 10 Pro phones (but not the regular Pixel 10 devices), which at Google’s current pricing is worth $395.88. Google AI Pro unlocks a host of AI features, including Veo and Flow, Google’s AI-led video features and a more capable and powerful server-side AI model to process your queries.
Not a bad freebie if you’re already heavily in the AI space, especially as it comes with 2TB of Google Drive storage as part of the deal, but if you do get hooked in there, the flipside is that after that 12 month period, it’ll cost you $32.99 a month for Google AI Pro.
Over the rest of the six years of upgrades the phone will see, that’ll run you an additional $2,375.28, presuming Google doesn’t jack up the prices in the meantime.
I’m on the record as an AI skeptic – mostly because of what it’s doing to human creative work generally – but Google at least has some ambitions around what the Pixel 10 Pro XL does with AI that are interesting, and where I can see the scope for some genuinely useful functions.
The big highlight feature here is Magic Cue, which gathers up your phone usage – in theory – to give you contextual information based around your current activity if it relates to something you’ve already done.
Let’s say you’ve booked some plane tickets and those got delivered to your Gmail address, and you’re chatting via Messages to someone else on the same trip. Magic Cue could, in theory, surface those flight details so you don’t have to remember precisely when the flight takes off, or when it lands and so on.
There’s an obvious privacy concern angle here, and you can indeed switch Magic Cue off entirely if it’s not for you. It appears at this stage to only work with Google’s own applications in terms of data harvesting and surfacing, which does potentially also limit its scope, at least for now.
While I’m a private individual and my own sensitivities would lean towards not sharing my entire life with any digital megacorp, I ploughed ahead, letting Magic Cue into my life to work its magic.
The only problem for me is that in a week’s testing, I can count the number of times that Magic Cue has surfaced contextual information on the fingers of no hands at all. Not once has it perked up with its apparently shiny AI-led answers in anything I’ve done at all.
It’s kind of tough to assess a feature that doesn’t actually feel like it’s there, so I broke one of my own reviewing rules to find out a little more.
I never look at other reviews of products I’m testing out (though sometimes headlines are unavoidable) until I’m done with them, but Magic Cue just didn’t seem to be doing anything at all for me.
I wanted to see if other Australian reviewers whose testing regimes and opinions I trust encountered similar issues of underwhelming Magic Cue performance.
As per Leigh Stark at Pickr:
“In our time reviewing the Pixel 10 Pro XL, Magic Cue never worked the way it was supposed to. It just doesn’t feel finished, and still needs time back at Google HQ to be better or, you know, work.”
Read Leigh’s full Pixel 10 Pro XL review here
Or from Alex Choros’ review over at WhistleOut:
“You can see how a feature like Magic Cue can be really promising, but it suffers from the same reliability issues as other LLM-powered products. Even if a Magic Cue suggestion might be convenient, there’s no guarantee it’s accurate.”
Read Alex’s full Pixel 10 Pro XL review here
The bigger challenge – and the reason why I suffixed this review as being on the precipice of potential AI greatness – is that AI is an evolving space.
I can see (for those who want it) services like Magic Cue or the Live Translation feature that changes your voice into a highly weird translated variant of yourself in semi-real time as being useful features once they’re polished and ready for prime time.
Right now, it seems like they’re not that keen to do much more than peek out from behind the curtain when it suits them, which doesn’t feel like enough of a reason to rush towards the Pixel 10 Pro XL, even though it may emerge over its lifecycle to be a significantly more capable AI-centric phone.
Battery
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is built around a 5,200 mAh battery, a nice bump up in capacity from the 5060 mAh power pack found in the Pixel 9 Pro XL, though not the highest you can get in a smartphone right now. As always, having a nice big number won’t mean much if you can’t get decent battery performance out of a phone.
First stop; my standard YouTube battery test (read more about it here) to see how it stacks up against its premium competition:
Hitting 96% in that first hour does point to a phone that should be good for most users over a day, but I can’t ignore that its overall performance falls just a little short of its competition in this space.
More anecdotally over slightly more than a week’s testing of the Pixel 10 Pro XL, I’ve had few issues keeping it going over a day, and I could see lighter usage giving it real two day functionality.
On the recharging front, the Pixel 10 Pro XL supports 45W wired charging over USB-C, though as is the case with most phones these days there’s no included charger in the box.
Where the Pixel 10 Pro XL does get me more excited is the fact that it’s the first premium Android phone to properly support Qi2.
Not the first Android phone, because that was the HMD Skyline, and not via the same “Qi2 Ready” weaker definition that Samsung applies to phones like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which means that phones can charge via Qi2, but only if you buy a magnetically aligning phone case.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL once again also gets the best of breed Qi2 here, because it’s the only member of the Pixel 10 family to support full 25W Qi2 charging where the other Qi2 compatible Pixel 10 phones get 15W instead.
That’s not a huge shock relative to the cheaper Pixel 10 phones perhaps, but it’s a touch annoying if you wanted the smaller Pixel 10 Pro or the pricier Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
Where HMD beat Google to the Qi2 punch in terms of releasing a phone, Google does outdo the Finnish manufacturer because its magnets are suitably strong, working with every Qi2 and Qi charger I’ve tested it with so far. Google is releasing its own “PixelSnap” chargers for Pixel 10 series phones with Qi2 charging, but I’ve not been able to test those out just yet.
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Alex’s Verdict
The Pixel 10 Pro XL’s hardware is really rather nice on the whole, though Google is still trailing its competition both within the Android space and on the Apple side of the fence when it comes to premium power. It does benefit from being the in-house phone, however, because like Apple, Google really can set up a complete ecosystem around its hardware specifically to benefit those devices.
Still, in hardware terms, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is largely your classic iterative update. It’s better than the Pixel 9 Pro XL, because of course it is, but I wouldn’t suggest anyone using anything newer than, say, a Pixel 7 Pro be rushing towards an update because of the new hardware alone.
That leaves the Pixel 10 Pro XL leaning heavily on its AI potential… and that’s precisely the problem here, because it’s AI potential that, while nicely stated in terms of what features like Magic Cue are meant to do, just isn’t realised yet on this particular phone.
It is part and parcel of the way that these AI models are built on and improved on over time that they should get better, and I can totally see what Google’s going for here.
It doesn’t personally fill me with thrills because I do honestly weigh it against my own desires for privacy and control of my own data, but I do realise that there’s plenty of phone users who do not have the same qualms.
Even if that does describe you neatly, the Pixel 10 Pro XL still feels like it’s a touch underdeveloped.
It could be that in six months time, Google’s ironed out the quirks in its AI implementation in a way that makes it a really compelling phone.
Right now, it’s just some decent hardware with AI promises it can’t quite fulfill.
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Google Pixel 10 Pro XL: Pricing and availability
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL retails in Australia for $1,999 (256GB), $2,199 (512GB) or $2,549 (1TB)
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