The new Pixel 10 is undoubtedly the highlight of Google’s latest Pixel 10 lineup this year, owing to its major improvements in performance, battery, charging, and camera.
The new 5x telephoto lens marks the first of its kind for the base Pixel, and it means that an $800 Google phone ostensibly delivers the same great Pixel experience as the flagship Pixel 10 Pro series. Yet, this overlooks just how good Google’s Pro lineup is.
The Pixel 10 Pro builds on the Pixel 9 Pro, which is one of the best phones you can buy. Meanwhile, the Pixel 10 Pro XL sees Google split its two Pro devices and give the XL a partial identity of its own.
With just days until all three phones are available, you may be wondering why you should buy the Pixel 10 Pro XL over the competition. Here are two key advantages that Google’s new flagship has over its rival competition in the US.
A bigger battery
The Pixel 10 Pro XL features a 5,200 mAh battery, which is the largest in a regular Pixel phone, taking the top crown from the 5,100 mAh battery in the affordable Pixel 9a.
Meanwhile, its chief rivals have smaller batteries; the Galaxy S25 Ultra measures 5,000 mAh, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 4,685 mAh battery, although Apple’s software optimizations ensure the actual battery life belies its hardware capacity.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL battery marks a small increase over the 5,060 mAh battery in the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which already delivered top-of-the-class battery life, so there’s little reason to expect this year’s flagship Pixel to be any different. The new Tensor G5 processor could yet yield better efficiency than the Tensor G4, although it is likely to draw more power like its rivals, the Snapdragon 8 Elite that powers most Android phones.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL battery is now second only to the OnePlus 13, which has a much larger battery at 6,000 mAh, and easily outlasts the competition in an endurance test. It’s also the fastest charging smartphone in the US, although the Pixel 10 Pro XL makes considerable strides to catch up.
Better and faster charging
The Pixel 9 Pro XL features 37W wired charging and 23W wireless charging, but the Pixel 10 Pro XL steps it up in both areas with 45W wired charging and 25W wireless charging. Both are welcome improvements that set the Pixel 10 Pro XL apart from some of the competition, although, as always, there’s a lot of nuance in that statement.
The wired charging now matches the maximum published speed of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the Pixel 10 Pro XL is expected to charge five percent more in 30 minutes (at 70 percent). It’s a big improvement that should yield maximum charge times as fast, or faster than, the best Samsung phones, which already surpasses the iPhone 16 Pro series.
Where the Pixel 10 Pro XL stands out is in wireless charging, as it’s the first Android phone to support the next generation of magnetic Qi charging with magnets built into the phone. However, while the rest of the Pixel 10 lineup features Qi2 wireless charging at 15W, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is the first to feature Qi2.2 with 25W magnetic wireless charging, just like the latest iteration of MagSafe charging on the iPhone 16 Pro series.
It’s worth noting that OnePlus still leads the pack with 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging support on the OnePlus 13, but the latter doesn’t have magnets and requires a special SuperVOOC wireless charger. Meanwhile, the Pixel 10 Pro XL can draw 25W speeds from any Qi2 wireless charger and is compatible with the plethora of iPhone accessories that support the MagSafe standard.
The rest of the Pixel 10 Pro XL experience
These two improvements help the Pixel 10 Pro XL stand out not just against the competition, but also against the Pixel 10 Pro. Coupled with the larger screen, these few key differences give the Pixel 10 Pro XL areas that it can differentiate against the Pixel 10 Pro, which has hitherto been a small version of the same phone.
Both phones feature the new Tensor G5 processor, which is built upon the same 3nm process as the processors inside its key rivals, and it’s the first to be built through a new partnership between TSMC and Google. We’ve seen the Snapdragon 8 Elite and A18 Pro processors deliver incredible performance at 3nm, and I can’t wait to test how the Pixel 10 Pro XL compares.
There are fewer changes throughout the rest of the phone, as Google has stuck to the same winning formula. There’s the same triple camera setup as the Pixel 9 Pro XL, including a 50MP main camera, a 48MP ultrawide camera, and a 48MP telephoto lens that allows up to 5x optical zoom. There’s also the same 42MP selfie camera as last year, which should capture equally great selfies.
The Pixel 10 Pro series is the first Google phone to match the 100x zoom feature from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, we haven’t tested it yet, so we can’t comment on how it compares. It also features 8K video recording at 30fps, although this requires an internet connection. Android 16 and Material 3 Expressive UI deliver a host of improvements and flourishes, including several new Gemini features such as Magic Cue for contextual smart replies.
There are also slight improvements to peak screen brightness (at 3,300 nits), a higher starting storage at 256GB, but also an increased starting price of $1m199 that matches the pricing for the Pixel 9 Pro XL with the same storage.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is the most complete Google phone ever made, and I can’t wait to test further how it compares against the best from Samsung and Apple. There’s every chance it’ll be one of the best phones and best camera phones you can buy.
