Google has been working on the road for many years with its Pixel smartphones. The new Pixel 10 smartphones promise a lot in terms of specifications, read in this review how good the Pixel 10 Pro XL is and whether it is worth its price.
Rob Coenraads
Earlier you could read about the Google Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL and about new handy functions for all Google Pixel 10 smartphones. In this article you can read the review of the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL with the most important (new) specifications, how good this smartphone is and whether it is worth the money.
Design
The rounded corners and thin edge (Bezel) ensure that the Pixel 10 Pro XL looks stylish. The housing is made of aluminum and glass and with the IP68 classification it is dust and waterproof. Thanks to the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 you don’t have to worry that the screen is bursting quickly: I accidentally dropped this pixel 10 Pro XL from a stone staircase, but luckily no scratch. It is therefore twice as resistant as the Pixel 8 Pro.
With its weight of 232 grams (partly due to the large battery of no less than 5200 mAh), it is not very light, but in practice you don’t really notice that. Although it is the largest Pixel 10 smartphone (I don’t count the Pixel 10 fold for a while), it is nice in the hand. I am a lover of large smartphones and with his dimensions of 7.66 x 16.28 x 0.85 cm he is about the same size as my current Galaxy S24 Ultra. Thanks to the curved edges, I think the Pixel 10 Pro XL looks nicer, but that is a matter of taste.
Pixel’s beautiful screen 10 Pro XL
Screen
What certainly looks nice is the Super Actua screen mentioned by Google. This OLED screen is 6.8 inches (the 10 Pro has a 6.3 inch screen) and the colors and brightness splashes off from this screen due to the resolution of 2992 x 1344 pixels that therefore ensures an impressive 482 ppi (pixels per inch). According to Google, this is the brightest screen ever on a pixel smartphone with a peak clearance of 3300 Nits. For comparison: my current S24 Ultra (and the S25 Ultra) have 2600 nits. Partly due to the refresh rate of 120 Hz you see great and flowing images and colors when watching films, series and games, just like with your photos and videos (in HDR). Furthermore, the contrast is excellent, because images in dark environments are also displayed well.
Fast chipset, enough work and storage memory
It is striking that this Pixel 10 Pro XL with the new Google Tensor G5 has the same chipset on board as the other smartphones from the Pixel 10 series. He is doing his job well: I have not experienced any problems in recent days while sometimes I have many apps open and a lot of multitask. It also makes a difference that this smartphone has 16 GB of memory, just like the ‘normal 10 Pro’ by the way. Just like with more Premium smartphones, you can choose from 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB in terms of storage memory (ROM).
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL camera island
Cameras
The cameras are one of the main reasons for a purchase decision for a smartphone. And Google (also) really did its best for that. It is equipped with a triple camera system and a new image signal processor (ISP) on the Tensor G5. For example, the 50MP wide-angle camera and the improved optical stabilization ensures beautiful photos and stable videos, also partly through Videoboost. Add to that the night vision video, high-resolution video zoom and 8K video and your videos look like they were made by a real professional. It is also great that Google has tackled the 5x telephoto lens: with the up to 100x zoom you can make beautiful close-ups. Last but not least, the 42MP camera (with auto focus) yields the right selfies at the front that you can look at more than satisfied.
The new Pixel 10 series also has all kinds of handy AI-controlled functions and also handy processing tools of the Pixel camera. For example, the new camera coach, made possible by Gemini models that are built into the camera, can determine the setting, make suggestions and help you find the best corner and lighting. He can also even make suggestions for the best camera stations you can use.
In the coming period you can read more about these functions on Pcactive.nl, otherwise this review would be too long (and it is a deadline week for the magazine: Friday, August 29, PC-Active 344 will go to the printer).
Many useful functions for taking photos
Battery and pixelsnap
Not only does the XL version of the Pixel 10 Pro have a larger screen than the regular 10 Pro, the battery is also larger. For example, he does not have 4900 mAh, but 5200 mAh and that is a good plus. You can charge it quickly with a maximum of 45 watts. The battery life is good: I am an intensive smartphone user and with me the Pixel 10 Pro XL will effortlessly last a day.
Wireless charging is also possible and for this, Google has provided the Pixel 10 series with Pixelsnap. With this new magnetic technology you can easily click wireless chargers, standards, handles and thousands of other accessories to your pixel, even when you use a Google Pixelsnap cover. If you connect your pixel to the new Pixelsnap charger, you can charge wirelessly with Qi2 with speeds of up to 25 watts.
Software and updates
I can fill 15 pages workshop in the paper version of PC-Active on all the new features of the AI software. What applies to the new functions of the cameras also apply to the software: in the coming period you can read more about these functions on Pcactive.nl.
It is important to know of course how long Google continues to support the Pixel 10 Pro XL with Android and security updates. It will not surprise you that this is 7 years old, assuming that Google releases an Android update every year (they are 7 Android updates). That means that you can safely use this Pixel smartphone until the summer of 2032. Not only nice for yourself, but also if you may want to resell it once (which you regularly see with iPhones).
Conclusion
With the Pixel 10 Pro XL, Google is very successful. It has a nice design, an excellent screen, works smoothly, good battery life, bursting with handy software and is also supported for another 7 years with Android and security updates. And then also great cameras. The price of smartphones in the Premium segment is always swallowing. But with so much quality and 7 years of support you will soon end up with a rating of 4.5 stars …
Pixel 10 Pro XL (256GB storage)
Suggested retail prices:
€ 1,299 (256GB storage)
€ 1,429 (512 GB)
€ 1,689 (1 TB)
+ Great screen
+ good software
+ excellent cameras
+ 7 years Android and security updates
+ good battery (expensive)
– price