Google Pixel 10 Pro XL Review_ 1 Week Later - Camera Magic!
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00:00The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is here. And at a first glance, you would be forgiven for not
00:05knowing which one is the Pixel 10 Pro XL and which one is the 9 Pro XL. Hence, the 10 is the one on
00:11the right. You see, this phone is mostly about internal tricks. And there are some really nice
00:17features here. So let's get all the familiar details out of the way first. It's hard to
00:22ignore the similarities here. The fact that the color is the main difference between the 10 and
00:27the 9 says a lot. This new Moonstone is a really nice steel blue shade that feels sophisticated.
00:34The new two-tone Jade is subtle, but its golden accents really pop. Sadly, the glossy sides are
00:41still scratch and fingerprint magnets. I feel like textured sides, like most other smartphones have,
00:47even the regular Pixel 10 would be really nice to see here. The bezels are the same,
00:52the camera cutout remains the same. And also, the really hard-to-clean earpiece remains the same
00:58as well. So what's changed? Well, first, the speakers have been significantly upgraded.
01:03Not just visually, but sound quality-wise too.
01:06As you can hopefully hear, it's a major jump, with a deeper sound. I'm actually surprised by how bad
01:25the 9 Pro XL is. Then, this millimeter-wave 5G cutout is also gone at the top for a cleaner frame.
01:32And remember that, in the US, it is eSIM-only now, just like the iPhones.
01:37But really, the big addition this year is Pixel Snap, which I'm so glad to see on Android.
01:42You already know this from the iPhone, essentially built-in magnets that allow for the Pixel 10 Pro
01:47XL to grip stands and accessories and chargers, with perfect alignment, all without a MagSafe case.
01:55Also, any products designed for Apple's MagSafe will actually work here. So,
01:59if you've ever picked up a MagSafe stand, it will work right away. I would like to think that
02:04Samsung will get the stupid S26 models, but regardless, Google has it first, outside of
02:10Apple. Now, before I talk about the camera changes, I should mention the display changes first. The most
02:15meaningful one is the now 300-nit brighter outdoor brightness. It is slight, but still noticeable.
02:22And it also seems to sustain it better than the Pixel 9 Pro XL did, which did dim quite quickly.
02:27Another new feature is the new Always-On mode that now features a wallpaper. But Google's
02:33integration is a bit dark and actually blurs the subject. So, combined with Google's
02:39narrow brightness and thinner text, this Always-On is actually quite hard to see at an angle.
02:44So now, let's talk about a camera upgrade starting with its new AI camera features.
02:48A camera coach will suggest things that you can do to give your photos a bit more style.
02:53You can point it at your scene and then press this awkwardly placed button at the top,
02:58wait longer than I would like, and then Google's AI will take a look at a scene and recommend a few
03:04choices and options that you can do. And to be honest, it's just way too many steps and it is
03:09quite slow. The recommendations also feel equally uninteresting. And I think it would have been much
03:13better if this was all shown in the viewfinder through some arrows and pointers as opposed to text.
03:20There is also the new Help Me Edit feature in Google Photos, although it seems like we may
03:24not get this in the UK, as it's not available on our unit. It is, however, a really cool idea,
03:30as apparently you can just request changes to your photos by typing those changes or telling Gemini
03:36to do those changes via voice. And Gemini will do all of that for you. So, I do hope that this
03:41does come to the UK one day, as it seems to be such a cool feature that also seems to work so well.
03:47And to keep the new Pixel 10 series protected, we have our sponsor Spigen to thank for their
03:52awesome range of Pixel accessories. All these cases here also feature MAGFIT,
03:57to make Pixel Snap even stronger. This ultra-hybrid MAGFIT case is super stylish,
04:02with a frosted back and black bezels for extra grip and protection. Taking that further,
04:08their Tough Armor AI MAGFIT case designed with AI-powered drop simulations is built to last.
04:13And then for a sleeker two-tone design, this NanoPop MAGFIT fits the Pixel perfectly. And you can even
04:20pair it with Spigen's NanoPop MAGFIT ring too. Keeping that low profile, there's also the Liquid
04:26Air MAGFIT style, with this really nice tactile texture pattern. And on top of that, Spigen also
04:32has a ton of various accessories, from chargers to cables to their easy-fit screen protectors. So,
04:38yeah, check Spigen out by using the links below. So, AI aside, let's see if the Tensor G5 inside
04:44makes any difference to the photos taken on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. And that's because they do have
04:50the exact same camera hardware. Well, in daytime photos, they're as good as identical. The audience
04:55here, the central one, looks a tiny bit sharper on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. But then the pairs on this tree,
05:02they do look sharper on the 9. Ultimately, they're both excellent, with the same accurate colors
05:07and brilliant depth from that huge sensor. The ultrawide results are also the same. They are
05:12pretty good, with no clear improvements. Same goes for the macro shots from the ultrawide.
05:17Now, there are some big upgrades when it comes to the zoom, even though it is still the same module.
05:21I'm going to cover those in a separate zoom section. But before that, I want to talk about
05:26the night shots. Regular night shots do look sharper on the 10, but not necessarily in a good way.
05:30They're often over-sharpened and grainy, so I do actually prefer the 9 here. But in this example,
05:35there's some extra detail on the birdbath, so it can actually be really good at times.
05:40The night ultrawide is another mixed bag. Here, the sky has less noise on the 10,
05:44which helps on the other eyes blurry shot. But then here, the house is sharper on the 9,
05:49and the 10 is a bit blurred and soft. So yeah, none of these are Xiaomi level,
05:54Oppo level, or Vivo level. The front camera remains the same hardware-wise, and as you would expect,
05:59it does also give the same output too, with some great sharpness and an overall pleasing image on
06:06both. Even the video quality looks very similar on both, and both support video boost for enhanced
06:11HDR and also night side video. So what about that zoom? Well, this is really where Google has
06:18promised some massive improvements. At 10x, they are very similar. If anything, a little better on
06:23the 9, but they are close. Oddly, it's the same story at 20x. The Pixel 9 Pro XL is a bit better
06:30here. Quite clearly, in the case of the brickwork, although I do think that this is more down to how
06:35steady you hold your hand when taking the shot than the image quality and processing itself.
06:40But then, at 30x is where the special work begins, as we now get to use ProRes Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro
06:47XL, which is a new feature that regenerates your photo using AI to bring in sharper edges and material
06:53details. You can see that the 10 Pro XL is benefiting from extra detail in the brickwork here. There's
06:58sharper lines and less blurred detail that tends to occur at the zoom level. However, the major
07:05improvement is beyond 30x. At 50x, the whole image on the 10 Pro XL is a major step-up. The leaves have
07:12extra details, and the fake flower itself just looks way more correct. It's honestly hard to believe
07:18that this is at 50x magnification. And then, if we move on to 75x, it's literally night and day now.
07:25I mean, it's still a bit hazy and clay-like, but keep in mind, this is 75x. And all the way to 100x,
07:32this is, I know, way too zoomed in for most of my usage. But if you take a look at the results,
07:38with the right subject, you can actually get some remarkable results. You cannot do photos,
07:43but if you do landscapes and buildings, it will look amazing. Like, so much of the detail
07:48looks correct to me. The metal, the brick textures, everything is very convincing. And keep in mind,
07:54this is at 100x magnification. I've never seen any phone be able to do this before. ProRes Zoom is
07:59easily the Pixel 10 Pro XL's biggest camera upgrade. Now, it can get it wrong at times, such as this wall
08:05growing some fur. Or, in this case, the hedgehog ornament in the garden grew some hair too,
08:11when it was actually made out of plastic. The text will predictably become very AI as well,
08:16but simple logos can be very well regenerated. So, compared to the S25 Ultra, Samsung does also
08:22do their own refinement, but I mean, Google's approach is just years ahead, with significantly
08:26more detail and also extra texture added in. And compared to the iPhone, there's literally
08:31no comparison. The iPhone cannot even zoom past 25x, and the iPhone also doesn't do any AI
08:37processing. So, yeah, just huge difference within the two. And you can actually toggle ProRes on and
08:42off, and you can see the before and after. And as you can see here, it does so, so much for the
08:49photo. It brings in so much detail and clarity, so I think that this is a great feature. Now,
08:53apparently, there's also an improved portrait mode, although the usual 12MP portraits show little
08:58improvement. They do remain fairly sharp, with nice natural colors and mostly good edge detection.
09:04But the new 50MP portraits, that's where the improvements are. Especially when it comes to
09:08textures and hair, this is just so much sharper in the 50MP portrait shots. Also, if you set it to
09:1550MP once, it will actually default to 50MP every single time. So, if you take a lot of portrait mode
09:21shots, you will actually love this feature quite a lot. Neither Apple nor Samsung support higher
09:26megapixel portrait shots, so this is such a nice part to have on the Pixel. But unlike Apple or
09:31Samsung that do support 5X portrait mode, the Pixel still doesn't. Which is so weird, because
09:37that's how you can get that really nice extra depth of field, if you use the 5X module.
09:42Now, a quick note on the battery. The capacity has increased this year, although not by a lot,
09:46only by 140 million parts. Which, combined with the newer Tensor G5 chip, the endurance is indeed
09:52improved compared to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, although not by a significant amount. There's even slightly
09:57faster charging, but only by an extra 8W. So, just as with the battery, this is only a small step
10:03in the right direction. Although the 25W wireless charging is a very large leap, from the previous
10:0812W. Unless you use the Pixel stand, which previously would boost it to 23. And you can use all of your
10:15MaxiF battery packs too, which are really useful when traveling. This is still a pretty thick and heavy
10:20phone. But its battery and charging, I would say, are perfectly adequate considering. You should
10:25be getting easily at least a day, if not even two, with medium to light usage out of the Pixel 10 Pro
10:31XL. I did also have one bug with the battery, where the camera app used 24% battery in just 15
10:37minutes of screen on time, but this only happened once and it was quite random. So, yeah, there are
10:41some bugs. Hopefully Google will fix these soon. But other than that, battery life has been really,
10:46really good. And lastly, there are a couple of small details and some more AI features that I
10:51would say make Pixels even better this year. Magic Q is, by far, the best one. It's designed to
10:57suggest you the information you need the moment you're asked about it, which is a great idea in
11:02theory. But there's one huge issue, and that's the fact that it only works in Google's own apps.
11:08So, for me, someone who uses Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Slack for everything, I just haven't
11:14really had a single cue in my time with it. I cannot comment on this feature at all because I've
11:19simply not really experienced it properly. Although, in theory, it is really cool. So, I do hope that
11:24in the future, Google can build this into Gboard, but then it would need access to all the messages
11:31from all the apps, which would obviously be a major private and security nightmare. So, just like with
11:37Camera Coach, it's a nice idea, but it does feel like lost potential. Moving on, Android's new look is
11:43great. It brings in a lot more color to the UI and also some transparency. And there's also plenty
11:48of lovely animations too. Which, of course, combined with the super fluid UI, is just a joy to use.
11:55I also think the new UI looks even better when paired with the right wallpaper, which you can get
12:00for free in our app Wallpapers. Link down below. Other than that, one touch to wake is also quite nice,
12:06just like with the iPhone. And the haptics are once again 10 out of 10. Like, this one has the best
12:12haptics out of any phone that I've used. Although, performance-wise, the benchmark numbers are
12:16still far behind the Apple A18 Pro chip that Apple uses inside a 16 Pro Max. Although, it is far
12:22smoother than my iPhone 16 Pro Max, which just has been filled with bugs and glitches. I would,
12:27however, love to see Google's own version of Samsung's good luck, as I think customization does
12:32feel a bit lacking on the Pixel coming from, you know, my Z Fold 7 that I've been using up until now.
12:37So, all in all, I think the Pixel 10 Pro XL is way better than ever. It's one of the best phones
12:42you can buy right now, especially if you care about AI. The camera remains superb, the battery
12:47life is fantastic, and the display is amazing outdoors. Plus, ProRes Zoom is by far the biggest
12:52addition this year. Although, Magic Q does seem a bit redundant. It's a great idea, but at least
12:58for me, when it comes to third-party apps, and especially here in the UK, it doesn't really
13:03work just yet. If you're coming from an older Pixel or even an iPhone, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is
13:08such a great phone to upgrade to, and you can even keep your Max-Safe accessories. And funnily
13:13enough, if you already got used to using an eSIM and not being able to use a standard SIM at all,
13:18well, that's going to be the case now too with the Pixel 10 Pro XL. But what do you guys think?
13:24Will you be upgrading to the Pixel 10 series? And if so, which phone will you be upgrading from?
13:30Check out our app, Wallpapers, for some awesome designs for not just the Pixel, but your iPhone,
13:35your iPad, and even your Mac. And stay tuned for more videos covering the Pixel 10 Pro XL,
13:41camera comparisons, and way more. I'm Daniel, this means enough tech, and I'll see you guys
13:45in the next one. It's enough tech, signing out. Cheers.
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