Google Pixel 10

The Pixel 10 is Google's 2025 standard phone, and it is the model in the family that changed the most compared with its own predecessor. It keeps the flat-sided body introduced a year earlier, but it adds a third rear camera for the first time on a non-Pro Pixel, swaps the chip manufacturer, and builds a magnet ring into the back for accessories. This guide explains each of those changes, what the phone contains, and where its limits are.

Announcement and availability

Google announced the Pixel 10 on 20 August 2025 at its Made by Google keynote in Brooklyn, New York, together with the Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL and the foldable Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The event was hosted by the comedian Jimmy Fallon, and the launch was joined by the Pixel Watch 4 and the Pixel Buds 2a. Pre-orders started the same day and the phone went on sale in the United States on 28 August 2025. It was the second year in a row in which Google presented its flagship phones in August rather than waiting for September. The phone succeeds the Pixel 9, and by August 2026 it was no longer sold new, as its own successors arrived.

Design

From the front and the side the Pixel 10 looks very close to the Pixel 9: flat sides, rounded corners and an oval camera bar. The visible difference is on the back, where the bar now holds three lenses instead of two. The body measures 152.8 x 72 x 8.6 mm and weighs 204 g, and it shares its exact dimensions with the Pro model of the same generation, with an evenly framed 6.3-inch display. Front and back glass are Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the frame carries an IP68 rating, and there are four colours: Obsidian, Frost, Lemongrass and Indigo. The Indigo shade was inspired by the deep blue of the very first Pixel. In the United States the phone is sold with dual eSIM, while other markets get a Nano SIM slot alongside an eSIM.

Display

The screen is a 6.3-inch OLED panel that Google brands Actua Display. Its resolution is 2424 x 1080 pixels at 422 pixels per inch, HDR is supported, and the refresh rate adapts between 60 and 120 Hz. The resolution and size are the same as on the previous standard Pixel; the change is peak brightness, which Google raised to 3,000 nits, useful when reading the screen in strong daylight.

The new camera set

The headline hardware change is the telephoto lens. The Pixel 10 carries a 48 MP main camera (f/1.7, 82 degree view, half-inch class sensor), a 13 MP ultrawide (f/2.2, 120 degree view) and a 10.8 MP telephoto (f/3.1, 23 degree view) with 5x optical zoom. Buyers should read this carefully: to make room for the telephoto, the two other sensors were changed. The main sensor is smaller than the 50 MP unit of the previous generation and matches the one used in the cheaper Pixel 9a, and the ultrawide drops from 48 MP to 13 MP. In other words, the phone gains reach at the cost of some resolution on the wide lenses. The front camera is unchanged at 10.5 MP, f/2.2, with a 95 degree view. Video runs at up to 4K at 24, 30 or 60 frames per second on both sides.

Software adds to the camera. Auto Best Take merges several group shots so that everyone shows their best expression, Auto Unblur sharpens shots that came out soft, and Camera Coach uses Gemini to give step-by-step guidance on framing, lighting and composition. Camera Coach is not run on the device, so it needs an internet connection.

Tensor G5 and the move to TSMC

The processor is the Google Tensor G5. Until this generation Google had used Samsung to fabricate its chips, but the G5 is made by TSMC on a 3 nm process. The layout is still eight cores: one Cortex-X4 at 3.78 GHz, five Cortex-A725 at 3.05 GHz and two Cortex-A520 at 2.25 GHz, with a PowerVR graphics unit. Google presented it as a major step, and reviewers agreed that heat and efficiency improved noticeably compared with older Pixels, with CPU and GPU performance up by roughly a quarter or more. They were less enthusiastic about sustained speed: one lab test measured the base model falling to about 28 percent of its peak under prolonged load. The modem is still the Samsung Exynos 5400, so satellite emergency messaging continues to work. Memory is 12 GB of LPDDR5X, and storage is 128 GB (UFS 3.1) or 256 GB (UFS 4.0).

Battery, charging and Pixelsnap

The battery is 4,970 mAh, wired charging goes up to 29 W, and wireless charging up to 15 W. The novelty is Pixelsnap: a ring of magnets in the back that aligns cases, wallets, stands, mounts and charging pucks. It is built on the Qi2 wireless charging standard, and it makes the Pixel 10 one of the few phones sold in Western markets with magnets built in from the factory. Google sells its own Pixelsnap charger, and Qi2-compatible chargers from other makers work at the same 15 W ceiling.

One behaviour to know about: the battery health protection that gradually lowers charging speed and capacity as the cell ages cannot be turned off on the Pixel 10. Reports indicate it begins adjusting voltage after about 200 charge cycles and continues up to 1,000 cycles. That protects the cell in the long run, but it means charging on an older unit will not be as quick as on a new one.

Software and Gemini features

The phone launched with Android 16 and Google's new Material 3 Expressive look, which uses larger, more animated elements and richer vibration feedback, and it overhauls the notification shade and Quick Settings. Google promises seven years of updates, as with the two previous generations, and the hardware is eligible for Android 17. Exclusive features include Magic Cue, which uses on-device machine learning to surface relevant details from your emails, messages and calendar while you type or talk; Voice Translate, which translates a call in real time using a synthetic version of your own voice; and an upgraded Pixel Studio built on Imagen 4, which can now render people and text inside images. Magic Cue currently works only with Google's own services.

Verdict for buyers

Early reviews were mixed to positive. Testers found the software friendly, praised the telephoto lens and Pixelsnap, and described the AI extras as useful but inconsistent. If you want the longest software support and a real telephoto in a compact body, the Pixel 10 makes sense. If raw performance under sustained load is your priority, the chip results are worth weighing. To see the differences in numbers, open Pixel 9 vs Pixel 10, or browse the full phones category. Our news section covers software updates for these devices, and the FAQ explains how we handle specifications.