Roundup of Google Pixel 10 reviews: Does a smooth AI experience make it an AI phone?
The Google Pixel is truly a very unique phone in today's market.
Currently, Google is the only company in the world that has both a top - tier large AI model and an operating system, self - develops an AI mobile processor for edge devices, and has a large user base. Naturally, the Google Pixel has become a model for AI phones.
Last year's Pixel 9 reached a new peak in both the product capabilities of the phone itself and its AI capabilities. As the tenth - anniversary model, people can't help but look forward to how the successor, the Pixel 10, will make breakthroughs.
Major foreign media and bloggers have got their hands on this phone and conducted detailed reviews. Generally speaking, the Pixel 10 is not a huge leap - forward update but an iteration based on the Pixel 9. It is a good phone equipped with practical AI functions.
However, it is not yet an "AI phone".
Finally, there are practical AI functions
Compared with the fancy features in imaging, the brand - new "Magic Cue" function is more practical. The Verge's evaluation is very accurate:
It truly transforms AI from a party trick into a functional feature on mobile devices.
Magic Cue is a bit like the "automatic verification code extraction" function we often use now, but its scope and capabilities are stronger. It will automatically collect data information from the user's apps, emails, text messages, screenshots, schedules, etc., and then actively provide it when the user needs it.
For example, when a friend asks about the address for dinner tonight, the text - messaging app will automatically prompt relevant information, and the user just needs to click.
There is also a more advanced intention - recognition ability: when you see several restaurant recommendations on a food - review website and open the search box on Google Maps, the keyboard will automatically suggest the names of the restaurants.
However, the media has found that this function is not always very stable. It requires long - term use of the phone to process all the information in the apps, and it is difficult to get prompts for some long - past reservation arrangements.
Magic Cue is not always useful, and sometimes it gives no prompts at all. Image source: Engadget
Compared with Apple's AI Siri, which has a similar effect but requires the user to actively ask, Google's Magic Cue is more practical. After all, our expectation for AI is that it can more actively push results to us and reduce its own presence.
The Pixel 10 also brings an AI personal summary function called "Daily Hub", similar to Samsung's "Instant Briefing". It quickly summarizes and prompts the user's daily schedule and pushes some content that the user may be interested in.
The Verge
Since YouTube is also part of Google services, sometimes the YouTube videos or music recommended by Daily Hub can accurately predict the user's preferences.
However, The Verge found that this content - pushing feature is not always useful. Just because the user checked the schedule of a waste - recycling company, the phone pushed a lot of knowledge about waste recycling to her.
Real - time AI translation is Google's forte. This time, the Pixel 10 takes it a step further by integrating this function into calls: you can chat directly across languages, and the AI will translate what you say into the other person's language according to your voice.
Image source: 9to5Google
It seems ideal, but in The Wired's actual test, it can only translate in real - time for a while. Soon, you can't even hear your friend's voice, and it doesn't work properly when the speaking speed is very fast.
This function is more like a "show of strength" rather than being designed from the perspective of daily use. After all, most people rarely have the opportunity to make calls with foreigners. Even in such a scenario, the other person is probably a stranger, and there is not much need to restore your own voice.
There are many such functions on the Pixel 10 that seem high - tech at first glance but actually have little practical use. For example, the "Camera Coach", which has been criticized from its release to the actual test - the AI analyzes the viewfinder in real - time and generates detailed steps to help you take good photos.
This function can indeed take good photos, but the process becomes very cumbersome and requires the user to make many attempts. Isn't the reason we use AI to skip these cumbersome steps and directly get a good result?
The new Pro Res Zoom function may be the kind of AI we like: it uses the 5x telephoto lens of the Pixel 10 Pro to take a 100x photo and then uses AI to enhance the details.
The actual test result is much better than expected. Although it cannot be applied to human faces, the quality of the photos is relatively stable. However, since the photo details rely on the AI to fill in and redraw, the photos may look a bit strange sometimes. It is more suitable for scenarios with sufficient light and predictable shooting objects.
Zoomed in 100 times for shooting. Left: Pro Res Zoom not enabled; Right: Pro Res Zoom enabled
"Instruction - based photo editing" is also a relatively practical scenario: directly tell the AI how you want to edit the photo, such as adding or removing objects, and the AI will adjust and redraw the photo according to your instructions.
Many media have given positive reviews to this function, as it allows beginners who don't understand parameters like color levels and curves to edit good photos in seconds. Of course, it also has limitations, such as being unable to straighten tilted shooting objects and having difficulty in fine - tuning a single shooting object.
Regarding this function, Wired has an interesting view: it well reflects the "AI phone" attribute of the Pixel 10, allowing users to know that their phone can complete some complex interactions with natural language.
Let Gemini edit a beautiful photo for me with two words. Image source: Android Central
Generally speaking, foreign media believe that although the AI functions on the "AI phone" Pixel 10 are numerous and diverse, many of them are highly practical, while others seem a bit forced.
Of course, the AI functions of the Pixel 10 also have the problems of hallucination and misunderstanding the user's intention. When an editor from The Verge was using the new "Diary" app, she wrote that her daughter was in a bad mood because it was her friend's last day at school. The AI immediately comforted the editor by saying "I'm sorry for your loss", when in fact the friend was just transferring to another school.
It's a good phone beyond AI
Beyond AI, what the outside world is most concerned about regarding the Pixel 10 is the actual performance of the brand - new Tensor G5 processor.
Google's self - developed Tensor processors have been criticized for poor performance and high energy consumption for four consecutive generations because they previously used Samsung's backward - process technology. The G5 uses TSMC's 3nm process, the same as Apple's, so the expectations are quite high.
Although in terms of benchmark scores, the G5 is still one generation behind Qualcomm and Apple, in terms of user experience, there is still a significant improvement compared with the previous Pixel 9.
The most obvious perception: the Pixel no longer heats up for no reason during daily use, and you can even play games on it.
Android Central launched "Genshin Impact" and "Minecraft" on the Pixel 10 Pro, and it can run at a frame rate of 60FPS, while the previous - generation Pixel 9 Pro struggled to reach 40FPS.
Image source: Android Central
The Wired tried a more extreme scenario. When running "Honkai: Star Rail" at the highest settings for more than an hour, the Pixel 10 Pro will experience some stuttering, and the Pixel 10 without a vapor - chamber configuration will stutter more and get hotter. The overall experience is good, but it is still not as good as the iPhone 16 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Android Authority found that the GPU of the G5 has a new architecture, which brings some potential compatibility issues and more obvious heating problems than the previous generation. As a result, after long - term use, the GPU performance of the Pixel 10 series is quite close to that of the previous generation.
Image source: Android Authority
Compared with performance benchmark scores, Google actually pays more attention to the ability of the Tensor to run large local AI models.
Another advantage of the TSMC - manufactured Tensor G5 is its better energy - consumption performance. Even though the battery capacity of the three models has not increased much, the battery life of the phones has still improved significantly.
Whether it is the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, or Pixel 10 Pro XL, they can all last for a full day. In particular, the XL's battery life has increased by a full 90 minutes compared with the previous generation and can stay on - screen for about 7 hours.
Although the charging power has not increased much, the new Qi2 wireless magnetic charging of the Pixel 10 series has still received many positive reviews. However, there is a downgrade: it no longer supports the reverse - charging function of previous models and can no longer charge other devices wirelessly.
Image source: The Wired
Although there are not many hardware changes in imaging, Google's strength lies in tuning and algorithms.
The portrait mode on the Pixel 10 has received unanimous praise. It supports portrait shooting at full resolution and can capture higher - level details.
Image source: CNET
However, Engadget found that this puts more processing pressure on the phone. After taking three consecutive photos