The Pixel 10 is here, and after a month with the device, it’s clear Google has delivered the most polished, complete, and confidently smart phone in the series’ history. For years, the story of the base Pixel has been: “Great camera, amazing software, but the chip and battery are just okay.”
With the Pixel 10, that compromise is essentially gone. This is a true flagship experience, finally untethered by the performance bottlenecks of the past.
Here is our complete breakdown of the new King of the Standard Flagship category.
Quick Specs Summary
| Feature | Detail |
| Processor | Google Tensor G5 (TSMC 3nm) |
| Display | 6.3-inch Actua OLED, 1080p, 120Hz, 3,000 nits peak |
| RAM/Storage | 12GB RAM, 128GB/256GB Storage |
| Rear Cameras | 48MP Wide (OIS) + 13MP Ultrawide + 10.8MP Telephoto (5x Optical Zoom) |
| Battery | 4,970 mAh (Up from 4,700 mAh on Pixel 8) |
| Charging | 30W Wired, 15W Qi2 Wireless (Magnetic) |
| Software Support | 7 Years of OS, Security, and Feature Updates |
| Price | $799 (Base) |
The G5 Tensor Chip: Performance Parity
The biggest story this year is the Tensor G5, Google’s first chip manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm process. The move has been long-awaited, and the results are immediately felt:
- CPU Performance: The G5’s single-core CPU performance finally rivals the competition, showing a 34% increase over the Tensor G4. Apps launch instantly, and Android 16 is butter-smooth.
- Thermal Stability: Crucially, the G5 handles sustained workloads much better. While it still lags behind its rivals in raw gaming GPU benchmarks, performance is far more stable, meaning less thermal throttling and smoother, longer gaming sessions than previous Pixels.
- AI Power: Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) is up to 60% more powerful for on-device AI tasks, fueling the new software experiences that define this phone.
The Camera System: Telephoto for Everyone
Google has fixed a long-standing grievance: the base model finally gets a dedicated telephoto lens.
- Triple Camera Array: The Pixel 10 now boasts a full triple-camera setup, adding a 10.8MP 5x optical zoom telephoto lens. This instantly makes the camera system far more versatile for portraits, distant subjects, and travel.
- The AI Revolution: The real magic is in the software, powered by the G5’s TPU. New features like Magic Cue (an on-device AI that proactively pulls up relevant info like flight numbers or calendar events within apps) and Camera Coach (which offers real-time framing and composition suggestions) truly set the Pixel apart.
- Downgrade Note: The main sensor has moved from a 50MP to a 48MP sensor, and the ultrawide is now 13MP (down from 48MP on the Pixel 9). However, Google’s processing is so strong that in real-world use, images are arguably better than ever, especially with the added zoom capability.
Battery and Design: The Practical Upgrades
Google didn’t just focus on the silicon; they nailed the fundamentals:
- Enduring Power: The battery size jumped to a nearly 5,000mAh cell (4,970 mAh, to be exact). In our testing, this translates to roughly 33 hours of heavy use, pushing the phone easily into a full two days of light-to-moderate use. This is the first base Pixel that completely eliminates battery anxiety.
- Magnetic Charging: A massive, practical addition is the inclusion of the Qi2 wireless charging standard, which enables magnetic alignment (similar to MagSafe). This ensures a perfect charging connection every time and opens the door to a host of new magnetic accessories.
- Brighter Display: The 6.3-inch Actua OLED screen is stunning. While the size and resolution are familiar, the peak brightness has been bumped to an incredible 3,000 nits, making it perfectly readable even under harsh Florida sun.
The Verdict: The Standard Flagship to Beat
The Pixel 10 is more than just an iterative update; it’s a course correction that makes the base model a true flagship in its own right. It takes the familiar Pixel strengths—industry-leading software, seven years of guaranteed updates, and a camera system built on computational genius—and pairs them with the hardware it always needed: a fast, efficient chip, a full telephoto lens, and phenomenal battery life.
- Should you upgrade? If you are on a Pixel 7 or older, this is a monumental upgrade and an instant recommendation. If you own a Pixel 9, the jump to the G5, the telephoto lens, and the bigger battery make a compelling case, especially if you felt held back by last year’s battery life.
- The Pixel 10 is the best standard flagship phone of the year, period.