Primarily based on the leaks we have seen thus far, Google’s upcoming Pixel 10 telephones symbolize an unusually restrained improve from Google. On the again of 9 consecutive generations of Pixel telephones that every regarded and felt notably completely different from the final, it looks like Google’s breaking its personal precedent with a set of iterative updates that might make Samsung blush.
Two or three years in the past, Google doubling down and releasing a brand new cellphone that is a spec-sheet refresh of the model it launched the yr earlier than would’ve been an issue. However the Pixel 9 represented a brand new excessive water mark for Google’s premium smartphones — they’re operating out of main enhancements to make. I do not assume a direct sequel is such a nasty factor for the Pixel 10 to be.
Pixel 10? Extra like Pixel 9.5
Supply: Mystic Leaks on Telegram (proper)
The previous few months have been a treasure trove of Pixel 10 leaks. The primary renders of the Pixel 10 collection surfaced in March, exhibiting a Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Professional, and Pixel 10 Professional XL which can be all almost an identical to Google’s 2024 Pixel 9 lineup. Subsequent leaks have additionally didn’t floor any must-have year-over-year enhancements.
We all know the Pixel 10 collection will ship with Google’s new Tensor G5, reportedly the primary chipset in a Pixel cellphone to be manufactured on a 3nm course of, a technical leap over the 5nm-process Tensor G4. In idea, that’ll permit for higher energy effectivity — undoubtedly a constructive. However I am not anticipating a dramatic distinction in battery life.
Samsung and Apple are already utilizing 3nm chips. Apple’s first was the A17 Professional that powered 2023’s iPhone 15 Professional. That cellphone supplied related battery life to the earlier yr’s iPhone 14 Professional, which ran on the 5nm A16 Bionic chipset. Some checks even discovered the 15 Professional’s battery life was marginally shorter than what the 14 Professional supplied. The transition could possibly be extra significant for Google, certain, however Apple’s exhibiting is lots to mood my expectations.
We’re anticipating the base-model Pixel 10 to ship with a devoted telephoto digicam, a luxurious that is been reserved for Google’s Professional telephones for years. However in accordance with an April report, the sensor in that telephoto digicam would be the similar one the Pixel 10 makes use of for its selfie digicam, and to accommodate the change, the cellphone’s normal and ultrawide cameras are getting a downgrade. They’re going to reportedly use the identical sensors because the midrange Pixel 9a.
To me, probably the most thrilling rumor in regards to the upcoming Pixel 10 telephones is that Google is engaged on a variety of Qi 2.2 magnetic charging equipment to go together with them. Nevertheless it’s additionally been reported that these equipment would require a Qi 2.2-compatible case — and that Google’s first-party instances will embody magnets this yr. That is so much much less thrilling a prospect than the Pixel 10 collection having magnetic charging inbuilt.
Except there’s one thing main early that leaks and rumors have missed, the Pixel 10 collection is shaping as much as be a really low-key improve over the Pixel 9 — extra so than Google’s earlier generational smartphone updates. That is not terribly thrilling from the attitude of an trade observer, however it appears like a form of milestone for the Pixel collection.
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The Pixel 10 will not be Google’s iPhone X second and I am completely OK with that
A distinct sort of nice
Catching as much as shopper habits
Shopper Affairs’ cellular phone statistics report for 2025 says that whereas almost 12 % of Individuals do improve their telephones every year, the bulk purchase a brand new cellphone each two to 3 years. That checks out: service financing for telephones is usually on 24- or 36-month phrases.
Google opponents Apple and Samsung have settled right into a sample of minor updates that, over the course of two or three successive generations, add as much as a cellphone that’ll be interesting to somebody who final purchased a cellphone two or three years in the past. The Galaxy S25 is barely an improve in any respect coming from the S24, however if you happen to’re on an S22, Samsung’s newest will really feel like an actual step up in a couple of methods.
Comparatively talking, Google’s reinvented the wheel every year because it’s tried to get an actual foothold within the smartphone area. Significantly relating to {hardware} design: there’s been extra consistency for the reason that Pixel 6, however no different smartphone producers’ merchandise have gone by means of as many distinct design sensibilities because the Pixel collection has over the previous decade.
However the Pixel 10 collection trying like an unabashed rerun of the Pixel 9 playbook indicators to me that Google’s landed on an aesthetic and a portfolio it is assured in. We at AP appreciated the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional fairly a bit — and given the Pixel 9 apparently offered fairly nicely, with Google delivery its most telephones ever in a single quarter final yr, it could be proper to double down this yr.