I ran a 100x camera zoom test with the Pixel 10 Pro and Samsung S25 Ultra – and there’s a clear winner

Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The newest Pixel flagships are priced the identical as final 12 months, however get significant upgrades throughout the board.
• The Professional XL mannequin, with its base storage of 256GB and quicker wired and wi-fi charging, is one of the best Pixel cellphone proper now.
• You may simply need to settle for a similar design and digicam {hardware} as final 12 months.

extra shopping for selections

aug / 2025

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It is arduous to imagine that we’re formally at 12 months 10 for the Google Pixel, however even only a look again on the previous three generations of the search large’s cellphone lineup paints a transparent image of its maturity and the place issues are headed.

Working example, the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, consisting of the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL, is, at first look, a protected improve. Their designs look almost an identical to final 12 months’s fashions, you may battle to identify the variations in specs between the tenth and ninth generations, and so they’re priced squarely within the threshold of modern flagships.

Additionally: I compared the Pixel 10 Pro to every older Google flagship model – the biggest upgrades

However in addition they have a software suite that really advances the best way we work together with our smartphones — or no less than, that was my takeaway after utilizing the telephones for the previous week. With the Pixel 10 sequence (normal mannequin included), I’ve by no means been extra satisfied that AI on telephones is right here to remain. It would not need to be pressured, intrusive, or extreme; it simply must be clever sufficient to know its place.

Earlier than I dive into all of the AI insanity, there is a essential subject that deserves simply as a lot consideration: eSIM. It is the primary hurdle each new Pixel 10 proprietor (within the US) will encounter — whether or not they’re switching from an older Pixel or leaping ship from an iPhone — and fortunately, it is one Google has made surprisingly painless.

To match the setup processes, I ported my bodily SIM from T-Cellular onto the Pixel 10 Professional XL and my secondary eSIM from Mint Cellular onto the Pixel 10 Professional. Each strategies took lower than 5 minutes and have been only some QR code scans away from working mobile connections. 

Additionally: Google made a bold move with the Pixel 10, even if it’s not obvious yet. Here’s why

I might by no means had a extra burdenless interplay at my native provider store, however one thing did catch me off guard. At one level, the T-Cellular affiliate congratulated me on switching to a Google Pixel 9 Professional XL. That is not a typo. With the Pixel 10 Professional sequence, the year-over-year distinction in {hardware} design is at an all-time low, and I do not blame Google for that — or the affiliate for mixing up the fashions.

The contoured edges nonetheless greet your fingers with a heat embrace, the polished aluminum body exudes premium, and the digicam bar consistently reminds you ways significantly Google takes its cellular optics.

Enable me to chase my geekery with one of many few downsides of this 12 months’s Pixel design: the load. At 232 grams, the Pixel 10 Professional XL is likely one of the heaviest telephones available on the market, beating my earlier day by day driver, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely (218 grams), and iPhone 16 Professional Max (227 grams). The cellphone is not essentially prime or bottom-heavy, both, that means you may really feel the sluggish build-up of wrist pressure irrespective of the way you maintain the gadget up.

 Additionally: Google Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: I tested both Androids, and it’s pretty darn close

Google tells me there are a number of the reason why its telephones weigh extra this 12 months, which I can solely nod in approval to. First, the Pixel 10 Professional sequence options upgraded prime and backside audio system, producing a change in loudness that I observed nearly instantly when enjoying my traditional recipe movies by J. Kenji López-Alt within the kitchen. 

The Pixel 10 Professional and Professional XL even have bigger 4,870 and 5,200mAh batteries, respectively, up from final 12 months’s 4,700 and 5,070mAh capacities. All through the weekend, I used to be ending my days with roughly 35% of battery remaining on the XL mannequin, a minor however nonetheless appreciated enchancment over its predecessor. The quicker 45W wired charging, unique to the XL, was one other welcome contact.

Maybe the most important new function, and the one that could be simplest in convincing iPhone customers to modify over, is Pixelsnap, a system of in-body magnets that may pull in wi-fi energy on the Qi2 normal. Assume MagSafe for Android. This allows the telephones to snap onto the hundreds of magnet-based equipment available on the market, from tripod stands to pockets instances to charging docks.

Additionally: The best Google Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro cases of 2025

Google has totally embraced the expertise by providing a slew of display screen savers that seem while you’re charging its Pixel 10 phones. These embrace a full-scale climate show, a Google Pictures slideshow, sensible house controls, and a clock. As somebody who usually units their cellphone on a wi-fi charging stand bedside and on the workplace desk, the ambient function is simple to understand.

The choice to proc the display screen saver when the Pixel 10 Professional is charging or charging and set upright is a pleasant contact. You can even limit the function to when the gadget is in wi-fi charging solely, as it might in any other case seem with even a wired connection.

Nevertheless, the display screen savers aren’t excellent. For one, the climate panel, particularly after I noticed it demoed on the Pixel 10 Professional Fold on the Made by Google occasion, can seem too conspicuous and show an extreme quantity of data for what is going to probably be one thing I take a look at each half an hour. And whereas the clock display screen saver may show the temperature, it would not present incoming notifications, making it really feel extra like a downgraded always-on show.

Additionally: I’m a longtime iPhone user, but Google just sold me on the Pixel 10 with these features

One of many looming questions going into my Pixel 10 Professional testing was how important an improve the brand new Tensor G5 chipset brings. Since Google took the matter of processing energy and silicon into its personal fingers, the model has at all times performed second fiddle to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon fashions. Based mostly on benchmarks, that also holds true, with the Tensor G5 performing worse than the Snapdragon 8 Elite discovered on competing flagship phones.

However from a extra sensible outlook, I’ve discovered the Tensor G5 nonetheless succesful sufficient to function below intense workloads, from enhancing HDR, 60fps movies to gaming to operating Android Auto navigation whereas on a name. The in-house processor, which encompasses a modified structure that dynamically shifts between full and sub fashions, is actually realized within the varied new AI options on the Pixel 10 Professional sequence.

I am speaking quicker compute occasions throughout Pixel Screenshots, Recorder transcriptions and translations, and different native AI duties that may sometimes take seconds longer. That saved time provides up, of us.

Additionally: 7 AI features I’d like to see the iPhone 17 embrace from Google, OpenAI, and others

A standout AI function for me is Magic Cue, which, when it really works most frequently, sifts by means of your Gmail, Calendar, and different Google companies to populate related info and context when and the place it is sensible. I lately booked the flawed return flight for a piece journey, and through my name with United, Magic Cue displayed my flight and account info on the cellphone app display screen, decreasing the friction of me parsing by means of my Gmail and the varied affirmation messages that sometimes include reserving flights.

It is this seamless, intuitive integration of AI that retains catching me off guard – in the easiest way. That carries by means of to the cameras, a well-recognized meeting of 50MP huge, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto sensors. Probably the most notable change with the Pixel 10 Professional digicam is the Tensor G5 chip’s enhanced picture sign processing (ISP) and the slew of AI methods that it handles.

I took a whole bunch of photographs over the previous week with the Pixel 10 Professional XL, 9 Professional XL, and Galaxy S25 Ultra, and I discovered the previous to ship the perfect mixture of colours, shadows, and highlights. The improved picture stabilization on the principle lens additionally helps protect element with fast-moving topics and low-lit pictures.

Additionally: Pixel just zoomed ahead of iPhone in the camera photography race

The place the Pixel 10 Professional digicam really shines this 12 months is in far-distance capturing, because of a brand new Professional Res Zoom that makes use of generative AI to right noise and distortion. It is a sensitive topic, I do know, however the output, even at 100X zoom, is what clients who favor idealism over realism and comfort over labor have been ready for. The distinction between the Pixel Professional Res Zoom and Samsung’s Area Zoom leans closely in Google’s favor.

The AI-enhanced zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional sequence is not flawless — at occasions, it overcorrects and makes folks appear like sci-fi characters. However when it really works, which is at a 95% success charge for me, it is genuinely spectacular.

Camera Coach is the opposite large new AI function inside the digicam app, and I discovered the on-screen directions simple to observe, clear to grasp, and versatile sufficient to seize varied photographs of the identical topic. The place it falls quick is in capturing shifting objects like impatient youngsters or dashing automobiles, as going by means of the ideas and methods requires time and fixed focus. As long as you are leaving the digicam app with one useful takeaway every time you utilize the function, I might take into account {that a} win for Google.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

There’s nonetheless loads to unpack with the Pixel 10 Pro series, however my first week with the units has proven me what dwelling with AI superphones seems like. For longtime Pixel customers eyeing an improve, each fashions are a no brainer — showcasing Google’s finest {hardware} so far and an Android 16 expertise that feels tastefully acquainted, delightfully playful, and genuinely helpful.

The Pixel 10 Pro is the best way to go for customers preferring a extra ergonomic and cozy cellular expertise. If cellular leisure and quick charging are excessive in your precedence record, take into account the Pixel 10 Pro XL. The bigger mannequin prices $100 greater than final 12 months, however it additionally begins with 256GB of storage (versus 128GB), so the $1,199 could also be simpler to justify.

As at all times, take into account the varied trade-in offers and promotions out of your carriers and big-box retailers. There is a good probability you may rating a few hundred {dollars} off with minimal effort.