It’s Google’s 10th generation for the Pixel lineup – and here is the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL! There are quite a lot of upgrades under the hood. There are also some other upgrades that – I think – make a huge difference compared to the Pixel 9.
Performance
And I want to start by talking about the performance. Powered by the new Tensor G5 chipset that is fabricated by TSMC’s 3nm process node, has a rather funky CPU core configuration, and also a GPU that I have personally never heard before. It’s designed by Imagination Technologies and they have worked together with Apple before for many years.
Now, with the switch over to TSMC, how much did it improve? Does it actually matter? Well, kind of, but not really. You see, the Tensor G5 is indeed more powerful than before – and that is to be expected given that it’s using a new generation of hardware. Aslo do remember that the Pixel phones are never meant for gaming – and we’re doing this for fun and due to my own curiosity.
However, the power consumption is quite crazy. We tested Genshin Impact at the highest graphical settings and while it did run at around 40fps at first, it was drawing around 10W of power. 10W is crazy for a mobile device – and we can get 60fps at around 50% of the power consumption on other flagship chipsets.
Since it is consuming 10W of power, it definitely did thermal throttle and the frame rate tanks down to around 25fps, with the power draw at around 5W. I mean, the frame rate gradually drops, so that’s better than having one big dip like some other devices that we’ve tried – but the efficiency is just not that good for gaming.
For Zenless Zone Zero, we decided to go for the Deadly Assault this time and it had some shader caching issues that slowed the game down to a standstill for a few seconds before working again. So, we decided to do the same Deadly Assault for a second time and it was a whole lot smoother.
It is mostly around 30fps, and that is actually quite good. It didn’t have any major frame rate fluctuations – barring the shader caching issue – and I can complete the Deadly Assault challenge without issues except for my own skill issue.
As for Wuthering Waves, I personally will say that it’s unplayable at this point in time. It stutters badly and it had a lot of misfired inputs. I’m not sure if it is indeed shader caching or not as sometimes I can redo the same action and it was smooth, but some other time – it’s stuttery. One thing I can tell for sure though – for an open-world game like this, it’s impossible to cache all of the shaders.
Overall, I’d say that the Tensor G5 has indeed improved over the previous generation, but in terms of raw performance – it still has a lot of catching up to do. Partly it’s due to the way it consumes way too much power and thermal throttles within minutes. Remember, TSMC isn’t some magic that can solve all the issues.
Battery life
But, how’s the battery life when we’re not gaming then? Surprisingly, it’s quite good and on-par with other flagship chipsets of the current generation. With its 5,200mAh battery, it can reach nearly 16 hours in our standardized battery life test. It can comfortably last you throughout a full day’s usage.
Charging speed
Another point of contention is the charging speed – which I think is perfectly fine as well. On paper, the Pixel 10 Pro XL can take in 45W via USB-PD PPS, and it takes around 73 minutes to charge from 15% to completion.
Google is actually very conservative here as the thermal limit for the battery is only at 40°C and that’s why the charging speed is only at around 33W maximum even though it supports up to 45W.
We also have Pixel Snap – which is basically Google’s way of saying that it supports Qi2.2 wireless chargers with the magnets to quickly align the device and hold it in place. More details about this UGREEN Qi2.2 wireless charger coming soon, by the way.
Screen
We also have a large 6.8-inch Super Actua display – which is an OLED panel – and a resolution of 2992×1344 pixels. There are two modes actually, we can go for either 1080p or the native resolution, and up to 120Hz refresh rate.
When we did our test, the Pixel 10 Pro XL can reach up to 1900 nits in auto brightness mode, and I think this is one of, if not the brightest display we’ve seen so far.
The color accuracy though, is a bit weird. There are no separate color profiles to choose from – so at most, what we can achieve is 98% sRGB and around 78% of DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. Again, not the best – but I really do believe that we can push the color gamut coverage up higher through software tuning.
Software
Now, the Pixel experience is all about the software and the features. It’s running on Android 16 now with supremely smooth to use and navigate around. Again, if you’re not gaming – then the Tensor G5 is not an issue. I mean, it’s not an issue for me either.
And there are lots of new features in the Google Pixel 10 series. First, we can tell it to do stuff with other Google apps and it has some deep level of integration too. For example, we can tell it to add a calendar entry for a trip and add a note to convert some cash beforehand.
One of the best new feature is Gemini Live. It’s not activated through Circle To Search, but it’s activated by holding the power button. It has a very similar interface, by the way. Tapping on the wave button, we can activate Gemini Live and start talking to it.
We can also press the camera button and ask it stuff like “may I know what’s this?” and it will start describing what it sees. It’s crazy good – and it’s already available in other phones as well, by the way.
Camera
With that said, let’s now talk about the cameras. Of course, the cameras is a big part of the Pixel experience, and we have some high resolution sensors here alongside PDAF and OIS for all lenses.
One thing that I like about the Pixel cameras is how easy it is. It’s literally just a point and shoot experience and 99% of the time, the image turns out good. Seriously, before I show you any images – look at this first. The pictures change a lot when the post-processing is done.
To have a look at all the images took with the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL alongside its quirks, then watch our video at the top of this review.
Design
All of these hardware and features are packed into this design of a phone. I find it super clean and premium to look and feel, but the glossy frame is not really something that I personally like. Also, the power button is placed above the volume rocker. No thanks.
Honestly, it looks basically the same as the previous Pixel 9 series but the color options are amazing. This new Jade color is relaxing to look at, and the Moonstone color is also stunning.
The camera bump might look like it’s problematic – but it’s purposely made this way to get out of the way for the Pixel Snap accessories to work. Yes, Pixel Snap is compatible with Qi2.2, and all of the MagSafe accessories are also compatible with this phone. That’s great, honestly.
A few more things to mention
And a few more things to mention here – the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is using a USB 3 port at the bottom of the phone, and it also supports display mirroring too.
It also has a single SIM card slot, and also rather for IP68 dust and water resistance.
Should you buy the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL?
The question then becomes – should you buy the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL? I think it depnds on you. Again, anyone looking to get this phone is not a heavy mobile gamer – and it’s going to be the perfect phone for you.
The way Google made this phone is to make it so simple to the point that even a toddler can shoot some beautiful pics with it since it’s just a point and click camera. The battery life is actually on par with the others in the market right now, and it also has Google’s best features built-in.
At the price of RM5,999 though – it’s still an amazing phone despite the high price tag.
Where to buy? (Affiliate links)
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