Gemini Hops Into the Driver's Seat as Hardware Takes a Backseat

Google’s messaging with its Pixel 10 family—the Pixel 10, 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold—is simple: the physical designs of the phones are taking a backseat this year, and Gemini and AI are doing the driving and navigating. That’s why, other than some new colors, the whole Pixel 10 lineup looks so similar compared to the Pixel 9 series.

To be fair, there are hardware upgrades to the Pixel 10, but most of them are under-the-hood improvements for stuff like performance and battery life—it’s a spec bump year for Google. So let’s start there.

What’s New on Pixel 10

The first thing that caught my eye about the Pixel 10 was the “Indigo” blue color, and that was intentional by Google, I’m told. Since these are the 10th-generation Pixels, Google said it wanted to give a nod to the original “Really Blue” Pixel. I like the color a lot, though I didn’t have the new “Blue Shadow” Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 on hand to compare the shade of blue. Either way, blue is definitely in this year—unless you’re Apple, orange will apparently be the iPhone 17 Pro’s new special color. The Pixel 10 also comes in “Frost” (pastel purple), “Lemongrass” (yellow), and “Obsidian” (black).

In my hand, the Pixel 10 feels almost identical to the Pixel 9. It’s still a matte aluminum frame with a glass screen and glossy glass back. But, wait, what’s that inside the pill-shaped camera bar? Yes, that’s a third camera lens—a 10.8-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom. It’s the first time that a regular Pixel has three cameras. But there’s a small catch—the main and ultrawide cameras are getting small downgrades. The main camera has 48 megapixels (down from 50 megapixels on the Pixel 9), and the ultrawide is only 13 megapixels (down from 48 megapixels). The image sensors are also smaller, which may mean worse low-light performance. However, it’s possible that improved software and AI processing can make up for the hardware downgrades.

The 6.3-inch LTPO OLED display is the same size as before, but it is brighter (up to 2,000 nits for HDR and up to 3,000 nits for peak brightness), so visibility outdoors should be better. Additionally, Google increased the battery life to “up to 30+ hours” and “up to 100-hour battery life” when the “Extreme Battery Saver” mode is turned on. On the topic of the battery, the Pixel 10 supports Qi2 wireless charging. Google is also introducing a new MagSafe-like magnetic charging puck called Pixelsnap. This works exactly like MagSafe charging pucks for iPhone, with the magnets attaching to the Pixel 10 securely. There will be a few Pixelsnap accessories, including a stand and cases.

To nobody’s surprise, there’s a new Tensor G5 chip, with a 35% faster CPU, powering everything. The Pixel 10 comes with 12GB of RAM standard and two storage options (128GB and 256GB). And for the first time on any Pixel phone, there’s built-in Satellite SOS, which works more or less the same as it does on newer iPhones.

What’s New on Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL

The Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL are similarly internal hardware upgrades compared to the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. You can spot the difference between the Pixel 10 Pro/10 Pro XL and the regular Pixel 10 by their polished aluminum frames (read: fingerprint magnets) and matte glass back. The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL also have their own special colors. There’s a gray “Moonstone” color that has shades of purple under specific lighting, and the “Jade” is a lime-ish colored green-yellow. Of course, if you’re boring, you can always get “Porcelain” (white) and “Obsidian” (black). It’s a bummer there’s no “Indigo” blue for the Pixel 10 Pros.

Both phones have the same 6.3-inch and 6.8-inch LTPO OLED screens, but they’re even brighter than the Pixel 10 (up to 2,200 nits for HDR and up to 3,300 nits for peak brightness). Aside from that, the Pixel 10 Pros have pretty much the same upgrades as the Pixel 10, including longer battery life with Pixelsnap support, the Tensor G5 chip,  and Satellite SOS. These are “Pro” phones, so you do get more RAM (16GB) and additional storage capacities to choose from (128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB). The potential game-changers are in the AI and Gemini features, which I’ll get to in a minute.

What’s New on Pixel 10 Pro Fold

Last in the Pixel 10 family is the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Google’s third-gen book-style foldable. There’s not much to say about the foldable except that it isn’t a threat to the thinner and lighter Galaxy Z Fold 7. Google has polished up the rough edges (i.e., there’s a new gearless hinge that Google says is twice as durable as the one on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold), and the cover screen is a teensy bit larger at 6.4 inches, which also means the 8-inch foldable screen is also a smidge larger. Just like the screens on the other Pixel 10 phones, both the cover and folding displays on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold are brighter. The cover screen can reach up to 2,000 nits for HDR and up to 3,000 nits for peak brightness, and the folding display maxes out at 1,800 nits for HDR content and 3,000 nits for peak brightness.

Google also says the folding screen is more durable. How durable? Well, first, it’s finally IP68 rated for dust and water resistance, which makes it as durable as non-folding flagship phones. And apparently, it can handle 10 years of folding with the new gearless hinge. Also, with two layers of “anti-impact film,” the Pixel 10 Pro Fold should be more protected if dropped. Of course, I wasn’t able to test out this improved durability, but I appreciate that Google has bolstered the design cause foldables are fragile as hell.

Again, the upgrades to the Pixel 10 and 10 Pro/10 Pro XL were also applied to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. There’s a larger 5,015mAh battery (up from 4,650mAh) with Qi2 wireless charging and Pixelsnap compatibility, a faster Tensor G5 chip, and Satellite SOS. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold comes with 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage, and you can get it in two colors (Moonstone or Jade).

AI and Gemini Features Lead the Charge

If you’ve been paying attention to the world of consumer tech, you’ll already know that phone hardware has matured to the point where it’s now all about what kind of AI features tech companies can shove in there to make new phones worth buying. Everybody’s trying to figure this out, not just Google.

On the Pixel 10 family of phones, Google is going all-in on AI and Gemini. All Pixel 10 Pro phones (10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold) come with a free year of Google AI Pro—a $250/month subscription that gets you the best of what Google’s AI has to offer, including access to Veo 3, the video generator that’s taken the world by storm since its debut at I/O.

As you can tell from the mild hardware refresh, the Pixel 10 phones are just vehicles for Gemini, and some of the new AI features that Google has come up with seem genuinely useful. “Magic Cue” is on-device “personalized intelligence” that helps you surface relevant information within apps and then suggests quick actions to take. For example, say you’re calling up a restaurant to make a reservation; Magic Cue could show relevant info like directions to the place or opening and closing hours. The idea is to use AI to anticipate what you may want to do or know. Magic Cue feels like the start of agentic and ambient computing, where we spend less time interacting nonstop inside of apps, and AI gives us a helping hand.

I also demoed a new Gemini-powered version for Google Translate, which uses on-device language processing to essentially deepfake your voice into another language. It worked fast, and hearing myself speaking in German with what sounded like my intonations was both impressive and eerie. This felt like the breakthrough that Google Translate has been working toward to make real-time translation even more frictionless with a phone between two people.

Other AI and Gemini features that I saw were located within the Pixel 10’s camera app. “Camera Coach” uses Gemini models to show a row of thumbnails with suggestions on how to improve a shot you’ve taken. It offers up basic suggestions like using the rule of thirds by reframing certain subjects to the left or right and foreground or background, telling you to switch cameras or modes—basically, it’s photography for dummies. I won’t get much out of it, but I could see it being helpful to regular people who want to take more interesting photos. There’s also a new “Auto Best Take” that automatically merges similar photos into one “best” photo and an enhanced “Add Me” feature that ‘photoshops’ the photographer into a group shot using pseudo augmented reality.

The one Gemini-powered camera feature that I’m most interested in trying in depth is “Pro Res Zoom” for the Pixel 10 Pros. The Pixel 10 (and older Pixel phones) has regular Super Res Zoom, which uses machine learning to sharpen and enhance detail for zoomed-in photos. Pro Res Zoom uses AI and Gemini models to basically generate new detail. In one demo, the difference in detail between Pro Res Zoom on a Pixel 10 Pro and Super Res Zoom on a Pixel 10 was night and day, especially at even higher magnifications like 100x zoom for the Pixel 10 Pros. But how much detail is real and how much is fake during generation? In my limited demo, we zoomed in on a water tower, and Pro Res Zoom generated wood textures for its exterior. But on text, like signs, it’s clear AI still has a way to go. Text did look clearer and more legible, but still a little garbled, like an alien language at times. That being said, Pro Res Zoom does create sharper photos compared to Super Res Zoom. The question of what a photo really is anymore is only going to get muddier.

Pixel 10 Pricing and Pre-order and Release Dates

I’m a realist, and as much as I want foldable phones to be cheaper, I know it’ll be a long road to that day, or it may never even come. I also know that regular bar-style smartphones only have so much room for improvement, and so transplanting AI into them and eking out small improvements to the displays, battery life, and the cameras is just how things are gonna be for the foreseeable future. I’ll need to spend real time with the Pixel 10 phones once I get review units to try, but for now, the hardware is fine. The real test will be how useful the AI and Gemini features are.

Preorders for the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, and 10 Pro XL start today, Aug. 20, with devices available on Aug. 28. Preorders for the 10 Pro Fold start Aug. 20, and availability on Oct. 9.

The Pixel 10 starts at $799 with 128GB of storage. The Pixel 10 Pro starts at $999 for 128GB of storage, and the Pixel 10 Pro starts at $1,199 with 256GB of storage (the new base instead of 128GB). The Pixel 10 Pro Fold starts at $1,799 for 256GB of storage.