Today at Made By Google’s event, the company unveiled all of the official details for its Pixel 10 line of smartphones. Google maintained its signature design and camera visor from the Pixel 9, along with its aluminum build, satin finish, IP68 dust and water-resistant shell, fingerprint and face unlock, and and ship running the latest version of Android OS (Android 16 to be exact) with 7 years of security, OS, & Pixel Drop software updates.
Starting things off with the base model Pixel 10, it, along with every other new Pixel 10 (save for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold), is switching from a physical to an eSIM. So similar to what Apple did in 2022 with the iPhone 14 models, no more physical SIM trays. It also has a 6.3-inch OLED screen with 2424 x 1080 resolution, a variable 60-120 Hz refresh rate, and up to 3,000 nits of maximum outdoor brightness—an increase from the Pixel 9’s 2,700 nits. It retains the 12 GB of RAM, the choice of 128 GB or 256 GB of storage, and the faster Tensor G5 CPU to handle more on-device AI tasks.
It also has a 4,970 mAh battery capable of fast charging up to 55% in about 30 minutes with a 30 W charger, which Google quotes as having over 30 hours of battery life and can stretch up to 100-hours with Extreme Battery Saver turned on. Google introduced a version of MagSafe wireless charging with the Pixel 10 phones called PixelSnap, and it doesn’t require special cases to use like the Samsung S25 series of phones.
Instead of having two cameras on the base model, the Pixel 10 now adds a third telephoto sensor. Its rear-facing, triple-camera system consists of an f/1.7 48 MP wide with Macro Focus, an f/2.2 13 MP ultrawide lens, and an f/3.1 10.8 MP 5x telephoto lens capable of up to 10x optical and up to 20x Super Res Zoom. While Google gave the base model cameras more versatility, it’s a downgrade in quality, as the Pixel 9 was equipped with an f/1.6 50MP wide and an f/1.7 48MP ultrawide. The Pixel 10 shooters sound more aligned with the Pixel Pro Fold’s camera quality, which is good but a step down in quality from flagship Pixel phones with not as crisp photos due to the lower megapixel count.
On the front, the Pixel 10 has an f/2.2 10.5MP selfie camera. Both front and rear cameras are capable of recording video in 4K up to 60 fps, while the rear shooters can capture 10-bit HDR video and slow-motion up to 240 fps.
On the software side, the new Pixel 10 models add a few, potentially helpful, AI features to their already vast options. Magic Cue uses AI to suggest relevant information for pasting or sharing, like flight or hotel details. Daily Hub acts as a summary of your day with weather for the day, reminders, calendar events, and recommended playlists. Camera Coach uses AI to suggest ways to capture better photos. Pixel Journal is similar to Apple’s version, as it’s a private app to jot down notes, thoughts, drawings, bookmarks, etc. The Take a Message feature within Call Screen can provide transcripts for missed or rejected calls in real-time. The Recorder app adds a music option, which allows you to capture vocals over pre-loaded music. Auto Best Take automatically grabs multiple pics for the best faces from your subjects. Edit with Ask Photos allows Gemini to edit select photos for you. And Voice Translate, which translates to or from English with Spanish, German, Japanese, French, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, and Indonesian.
The Google Pixel 10 will arrive in Obsidian, Indigo, Frost, and Lemongrass color options. No price increases this year, as the Pixel 10 starts at $800 for the 128GB and $900 for the 256GB model—the same as the Pixel 9. Pre-orders begin today and go on sale on August 28th.
