{"id":102781,"date":"2025-08-28T08:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T08:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/102781\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T08:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T08:01:14","slug":"google-delivers-the-ai-phone-that-apple-promised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/102781\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Delivers the AI Phone That Apple Promised"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you just look at the Pixel 10\u2019s<\/a> physical design, you\u2019re going to be disappointed. Google\u2019s new $800 Android smartphone looks almost identical to last year\u2019s Pixel 9<\/a>, save for an additional 5x telephoto camera lens and some new colors, including the makes-me-smile Indigo blue. But like most new phones, there are a bunch of small upgrades internally that add up to a better daily experience, even if they\u2019re not revolutionary. All of that stuff is good and necessary for a new phone\u2014though, there are some features that are a downgrade\u2014but the real star of the Pixel 10 is AI. Google has injected a heavy dose of AI and Gemini into Android to make the Pixel 10 feel genuinely more personalized and helpful.<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10 is still fundamentally the touchscreen phone experience that Apple pioneered with the original iPhone. Android 16, with the new Material 3 Expressive<\/a> design language, is still a home screen of app icons and widgets that you tap and swipe through. More than before, AI and Gemini are integrated in more places. There\u2019s a lot of AI to take in and learn, and it\u2019ll take more than the one week I\u2019ve been testing the Pixel 10 to rewire my brain to not only use the phone\u2019s many AI features but also remember that they exist. However, I can already see where Google thinks phones are headed\u2014the intersection of phones and AI is inevitable, whether you like it or not.<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 10<\/p>\n

Google’s Pixel 10 is less about the tech specs and more about the AI and Gemini features that help you do things faster or easier.<\/p>\n

Pros<\/p>\n

Many useful AI features<\/p>\n

Great screen<\/p>\n

Indigo color rules<\/p>\n

All-day battery life<\/p>\n

Qi2 and Pixelsnap wireless charging<\/p>\n

Cons<\/p>\n

Camera downgrades<\/p>\n

Some useless AI features<\/p>\n

No more reverse wireless charging<\/p>\n

Tensor G5 performance still lags behind rivals<\/p>\n

Hardware upgrades and downgrades
\n\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll get to the AI part in a moment because even though the Pixel 10 looks similar to the Pixel 9, Google did make some small, but notable improvements. Those include a 6.3-inch 120Hz OLED display that can reach a higher 3,000 nits of peak brightness, a more powerful Tensor G5 chip, a larger 4,970mAh battery, slightly better-sounding speakers, and a 10.8-megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. The Pixel 10 also supports faster Qi2 wireless charging and the new Pixelsnap magnetic wireless charging puck, which is Google\u2019s own version of Apple\u2019s MagSafe for iPhones. I\u2019m happy to report that the Pixelsnap puck attached to the Pixel 10 with a satisfying snap, and it\u2019s quite strong. There\u2019s nothing groundbreaking about any of these upgrades, but I appreciate them all the same, especially the longer battery life and Pixelsnap.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10, from a hardware standpoint, may look less appealing when you dig deeper into some of the other specs. While finally having a telephoto lens is great, the main and ultrawide cameras are actually smaller image sensors with less resolution compared to the same cameras in the Pixel 9. The main camera got knocked down from a 50-megapixel main camera to a 48-megapixel one, and the 48-megapixel ultrawide down to a 13-megapixel shooter. If those camera modules sound familiar, that\u2019s because they\u2019re the same ones found in the $500 Pixel 9a<\/a>. The selfie camera is the same 10.5-megapixel shooter from the Pixel 9.<\/p>\n

See Pixel 10 at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

They\u2019re not bad cameras by any means\u2014Google\u2019s own image processing still does a lot of the heavy lifting to tweak photos so that they look decent\u2014but sticking the same cameras from a $500 phone into an $800 one is not going to go over well with nerds. Photos from the Pixel 10 are good enough for posting on Instagram, but if you really zoom in on the details, you\u2019ll find less vibrant colors, soft and muddied details, and just an overall lack of sharpness even outdoors. The 5x telephoto is making use of an updated version of Super Res Zoom, which enhances the sharpness of photos at 5x zoom and above. It works, but I wasn\u2019t blown away by zoomed-in photos. If you want better photos on a Pixel, it\u2019s clear to me that you\u2019ll need to step up to the Pixel 10 Pro or 10 Pro XL. I\u2019m still a little shocked that Google\u2019s camera stack has fallen so behind as it prioritizes AI camera features like Auto Best Shot, which combines several similar images into one \u201cbest\u201d shot. It\u2019s time for Google to go back to basics and focus on image quality again.<\/p>\n

\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

Other unforgivables that may upset people include the removal of reverse wireless charging, an LTPS instead of LTPO screen, no vapor chamber for better cooling, and the loss of the SIM card slot for U.S. Pixel 10 models. The one that bugs me the least is the display technology. Like I said in my Nothing Phone 3 review<\/a>, the real-life gains of an LTPO display that can drop down to a lower refresh rate versus an LTPS screen that can\u2019t go as low are negligible. Losing reverse wireless charging, which was useful for juicing up Pixel Buds on the go, inconvenienced me the most. Google\u2019s official reason is that the magnets for Pixelsnap interfered with the reverse wireless charging coils; fair enough, but I suspect Google justified the reason because few people used it. And while eSIM is more widely used nowadays, I still prefer a physical SIM card that I can easily move between devices. I\u2019m no hardcore mobile gamer, but the lack of any vapor chamber is going to have gamers looking at other phones to get their entertainment fix.<\/p>\n

AI and Gemini everywhere
\n\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

Now, on to the main event\u2014AI and Gemini. It\u2019s no secret that there\u2019s an all-out AI race currently happening. Like every tech company, Google is throwing AI at the wall and seeing what sticks. The rules are being written and rewritten at a speed we\u2019ve not seen in technology. Even nearly three years after ChatGPT\u2019s breakout moment, we\u2019re still figuring out what AI is, what it can be, and how it can fit into our lives. The Pixel 10 is a vessel for Google\u2019s experiments, and mastering the many AI and Gemini features will require changing a decade-plus of smartphone muscle memory.<\/p>\n

See Pixel 10 at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

With the Pixel 10, Google\u2019s asking you to rethink how you interact with your phone using AI. There\u2019s so much AI and Gemini sprinkled into Android 16 that it can be overwhelming\u2014it was for me, and it\u2019s my job and passion to mess around with new technology. That\u2019s really the big challenge of injecting AI into the existing touchscreen phone experience. How much AI is too much AI? Samsung and Apple have taken a more reserved approach<\/a> to adding AI features into their phones, choosing to introduce a few new applications in small doses every year or so. That has the benefit of not breaking with familiarity\u2014consumers hate changes to their stuff that force them to relearn everything. The downside to these slow-and-steady AI drops is that they may not go far enough. The same way people asked more of Siri and then gave up on the assistant when it couldn\u2019t do what they requested, if Gemini can\u2019t do what Pixel owners ask it to do, then it leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Unconvinced people are going to be less likely to give it another shot when things improve.<\/p>\n

\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

Having tried most AI features in the latest crop of flagship phones, I\u2019ve noticed a trend, which is thoughtful AI. Google has put a lot of thought into coming up with helpful AI features that should either make doing phone stuff faster or easier. Many stick the landing; some do not. For example, Magic Cue is very well done when it works. The opt-in AI feature suggests relevant information or actions within certain apps, like the Phone, Messages, and Google Maps apps. Instead of manually having to find something like a hotel reservation or flight booking details from within an email, Magic Cue can simply surface it when the AI detects you may be talking about it. You\u2019ll know something is a Magic Cue suggestion because it\u2019s labeled as such or there\u2019s a little rainbow outline around it. Magic Cue is limited right now\u2014I really liked looking up restaurant reviews in Chrome and then seeing the business suggested as an option in Google Maps\u2014but I see the potential. This is just the start of proactive intelligence on phones to help triage all the information we have stored in our apps. Rightfully so, this convenience of letting AI \u201cconnect the dots\u201d of all your data from across your apps does mean you have to consider the privacy of it all. While Google has repeatedly said that privacy is core to the Pixels and Google service, and some AI features are processed on devices, only you can decide whether you\u2019re comfortable letting any company have what\u2019s essentially a map of your digital life.<\/p>\n

\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

The rest of the AI and Gemini features on the Pixel 10 really comes down to a matter of personal preference. Maybe there are people who will use all of the AI features in the Pixel 10, but most likely, you\u2019ll only use the ones that suit you. If you\u2019re clueless about editing photos or just want to do a quick edit, the \u201cHelp me edit\u201d feature can be clutch. Instead of manually moving sliders around or circling things to erase from a photo, you can simply describe how you want a photo to be edited, and Gemini will do it all for you. Results are mostly good, but as with all generative AI, sometimes you\u2019ll get some bad or even comical edits. I was surprised by how Gemini nailed \u201cremove shadows from faces.\u201d And don\u2019t worry, \u201cHelp me edit\u201d works on all photos in your Google Photos library, not just ones you take with the Pixel 10.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Screenshot by Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Google<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Screenshot by Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

Voice Translate<\/a> during phone calls is a potential game-changer. The AI features essentially deepfakes your voice into another language in near real time. In my testing, it was generally fast and accurate with the translations (so I was told by my friends). It still freaks me out to hear my voice speak French or Spanish. At the time of testing, the feature only supports translation for languages to and from English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. I\u2019ve been learning Mandarin Chinese for over a year, and I\u2019m surprised that a language spoken by about 1 billion people isn\u2019t supported at launch but Swedish, which is spoken by around 10 million people is.<\/p>\n

I also found AI features like Writing Tools in Gboard (basically a spellcheck or style rephraser), the improved Pixel Screenshots (lets you turn screenshots into helpful and searchable notebooks with NotebookLM), and Take a Message (real-time transcriptions for missed or declined calls) useful, though you may never use them at all.<\/p>\n

\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

A week is simply not enough time to fully immerse myself in all of the Pixel 10\u2019s AI features and get a good understanding of how it\u2019ll change my phone workflow long-term, but I already know some of the duds I won\u2019t be revisiting. There\u2019s a feature that lets you turn voice recordings in the Recorder app into music (you choose a vibe such as \u201cchill beats\u201d or \u201cdancy party\u201d and the AI will generate a song); Pixel Studio, which is a better version of Apple\u2019s cheesy Image Playground, and uses Imagen 4 to generate images for whatever you might need some media for; Camera Coach lets you point your Pixel 10 camera at a scene and Gemini will suggest a few ways to improve the shot like focusing on certain objects or switching to a different lens or tilting up or down (it\u2019s basically photography for dummies).<\/p>\n

Again, there\u2019s a lot of AI and Gemini inside the Pixel 10, and while most of it is easy to understand, it will take longer to sink in. My first instinct was to just do everything on the Pixel 10 the same way I\u2019ve always been doing it\u2014bounce between apps and tap, tap, tap, swipe, swipe, swipe\u2014but once you let some of the AI do the driving (i.e. Magic Cue surfacing info from within Google apps), the whole AI \u201cvision\u201d clicks into place. AI is a better way to make sense of all your data. Google has basically done what Apple promised with its botched Apple Intelligence and AI-powered Siri for iPhone.<\/p>\n

Just the beginning of \u201cAI phones\u201d
\n\"Google\u00a9 Adriano Contreras \/ Gizmodo<\/p>\n

In a table of tech specs comparing the Pixel 10 to other phones starting at $800, like the iPhone 16<\/a> or Nothing Phone 3, Google\u2019s 10th-generation phone is going to seem like a lesser deal. Sure, the build quality is tops and the cameras are solid (though not the best anymore), but the performance of the Tensor G5 chip lags behind the competition, especially for gaming. But, if you look at the Pixel 10 through the lens of an \u201cAI phone,\u201d it leads the pack. Apple has yet to get its botched Apple Intelligence<\/a> act together, and as I already said, Samsung and others are integrating AI with a slower pace, so as not to upset consumers with the unfamiliar.<\/p>\n

Google has put together the most comprehensive \u201cAI phone\u201d that I\u2019ve seen. The Pixel 10 is certainly more AI-centric than the Copilot-powered \u201cAI PCs<\/a>\u201d that Microsoft has been pushing unsuccessfully over the past few years. Practical AI that you actually want to use and that actually helps you do things faster and easier is finally here. It\u2019s not perfect by any means, but the Pixel 10 shows that AI is the future for phones. This is the way.<\/p>\n

See Pixel 10 at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you just look at the Pixel 10\u2019s physical design, you\u2019re going to be disappointed. Google\u2019s new $800…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,1121,276,277,49,48,192,14602,209,1124,61],"class_list":["post-102781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-android","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-google","tag-google-pixel-10","tag-reviews","tag-smartphones","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}