With ambitious AI features, this phone wants to lead

Does the best of what Google has to offer flip well-worn expectations about the typical Android smartphone?

- Tushar Kanwar

Buying a Pixel has for long been about preferring the subtle touches Google gets so right—clean software, an almost-magical camera experience with seemingly commodity hardware courtesy computational photography, and of late, a healthy dose of the latest AI features, some of which will trickle down into Android smartphones in the months to come. It's also about a tacit acceptance of what Google doesn't get right, from lacunae in performance, battery life woes and flagship-territory pricing levels, where consumers aren't as forgiving of these flaws. Ten generations down, does the best of what Google has to offer—the Pixel 10 Pro XL (1,24,999)—flip well-worn expectations?

If you've seen a Pixel 9 Pro XL, you've seen a Pixel 10 Pro XL. Google has carried over last year's design, lock, stock and barrel, including the distinctive pill-shaped camera module. No complaints really, it feels premium in the hand, the matte glass back is impervious to fingerprints, and even at 232g (that's heavier than the Samsung Z Fold 7 and the iPhone 16 Pro Max), it's comfortable to hold for a phone with a 6.8-inch screen.

The biggest design change isn't visible—the Pixel 10 series are the first major Android phones with support for Qi2 magnetic wireless charging, with the Pro XL supporting faster 25W Qi2.2 wireless charging versus the regular 15W Qi2. If the whole thing sounds like MagSafe on the iPhone, it is—right down to compatibility with MagSafe chargers, power banks and other accessories (Google has its own "Pixelsnap" accessories too).