Paul’s Pixel 10 Diaries: All the Small Things ⭐

Two weeks into my Pixel 10 series experience, I’m moving from the Pixel 10 Pro XL to the base model Pixel 10.

This will be… interesting.

? Size matters

For the most part, I’ve stuck to the largest possible model of any given smartphone over the years. This is mostly pragmatic in that it’s easier on my middle-aged (or older) eyes and my large hands. But I’ve also been swayed by unique features, usually camera-related, that are often only available in the largest models.

There were exceptions, of course. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S25+ earlier this year rather than the usual Ultra model in part to experience a device that wasn’t quite top of the line. I had seriously considered the iPhone 16 Plus last year, for that same reason, though it has a larger display and has now been replaced by an iPhone 17 Air with a sort of in-between display, size-wise. But most small phones are, for me, too small. For example, the Pixel 4a, with its tiny 5.8-inch display was delightful, but just not for me, and I felt more comfortable with the 6.2-inch Google Pixel 4a 5G that year.

(“That year” being five years ago now. Where does the time go?)

The last “small” phone I bought for myself, I believe, was the iPhone 13 Pro, in 2022. It was a terrific smartphone for the day, but I found its 6.1-inch display to be problematic (eyes/hands). Ditto for the Pixel 6a, also from 2022, and also with a 6.2-inch display.

All my other phones in the years since, iPhone and Pixel, have all been the largest (and more premium) choice each year. On the Pixel side, that’s been the Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL.

I have no regrets per se. In keeping with my “optimize for the every day” mantra, I find it odd when people choose a smaller phone specifically because it fits better in their pants pockets or whatever. That’s when you’re not using it. On the other hand, I would love to carry something smaller around in the same way I occasionally wish I was a foot shorter so I could fit better into a coach airplane seat. I guess I see both sides.

? A Pixel-to-Pixel (to Pixel) comparison

With the Pixel 9 and 10 series phones, Google has offered two Pro models, one a standard Pro with a 6.3-inch display and the other a Pro XL with a 6.8-inch display. And they have done this right, in my mind, meaning that the two Pro phones are just about functionally identical and differ from each other mostly by display and battery size. The only notable exception this year is in charging functionality: Where the Pixel 10 Pro supports up to 30-watt wired and 15-watt Pixelsnap (wireless) charging, the Pixel 10 Pro ups both, to 45-watts and 25-watts, respectively. (You can also configure a Pixel 10 Pro with just 128 GB of storage, where the Pixel 10 Pro XL starts at 256 GB.)

The base Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro likewise share many attributes, though there are major differences, too. And that’s relevant to any buying decision because the Pixel 10 starts at just $799, where the Pro costs $200 more, at $999 and up.

Physically, the two phones are identical in size—6 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches—and nearly identical in weight (7.2 ounces vs. 7.2 ounces), though I can’t tell the difference in my hands. But here, it’s the insides that count. And the main differences between each are:

Display. The base Pixel 10 has a 6.3-inch Actua (OLED) panel at 1080 x 2424 with a peak brightness of 3000 nits and a 60 to 120 Hz dynamic refresh rate. The Pixel 10 Pro has a 6-3-inch Super Actua (LTPO OLED) panel at 1280 x 2856 with a peak brightness of 3000 nits and a 1 to 120 Hz dynamic refresh rate.

Battery. Oddly, the base Pixel 10 has a slightly bigger battery (4970 mAh) than the Pro (4870 mAh). It’s not clear if there are any real-world battery life differences, given the display differences. But this isn’t a reason to choose one over the other.

RAM. The Pixel 10 has 12 GB of RAM, compared to 16 GB in the Pro.

Storage. Both phones support 128 or 256 GB of storage, but the Pro can also be configured with 512 GB or 1 TB of storage, and those configurations use Zoned UFS storage, which allegedly offers performance and efficiency advantages. I’ve finally reached the point where I believe that 128 GB of storage is too little for a smartphone. And so that’s something to think about, as the 256 GB upgrade adds $100 per phone to the respective costs.

Camera system. This is the big one, to me. The Pixel 10 is the first base Pixel to ship with three lenses, a feature that was previously unique to the Pro line. The main lenses are comparable, but the ultrawide and telephoto lenses are a downgrade compared to the Pro. And that’s fine: You get what you pay for, etc., and Pixel has always offered superior photography capabilities, and my early experiences with Pixel 10 are all positive. More on this below, including a quick overview of what you lose on the software side.

Colors. The base Pixels have usually come in fun colors compared to the Pros, and that’s true this year. The standout if the deep blue Indigo, but you can also get the Pixel 10 in Frost, Lemongrass, and Obsidian, which is the color of the review unit that Google lent me. (The Pro comes in Moonstone, Jade, Porcelain, and Obsidian.)

? More camera thoughts

I’ve already done several side-by-side camera tests, indoor and outdoor, and night and day. But I need more time to develop educated opinions on the relative camera quality of the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro/Pro XL. And as a kind of high-level overview of where my head is at right now, I can say that the Pixel 10 is a terrific camera phone. I’ve owned almost every Pixel ever made, and this is very reminiscent of the days in which Google didn’t advance the camera hardware much but still managed to deliver some of the best photos in the industry. “Doing more with less” is a bit of a stretch, but I guess that’s the theme.

I wrote a lengthy article about the Pixel 10 series camera systems last week while we were in Berlin. Since then, I’ve taken more side-by-side shots here in Pennsylvania, and the Pixel 10 succeeds in one important area that no iPhone ever has: Like other Pixels, it takes consistently good shots in just about any lighting condition, whereas the iPhone can do so, but it often requires multiple shots of the same scenes and some vigilance in the form of viewing the results immediately so you don’t inadvertently walk away with a blurry (out of focus) or misfocused shot.

This is almost certainly the Pixel 10’s single greatest attribute in my view. I value photography more than other smartphone features, but I value consistency and reliability above all else, generally speaking, in all things. Pixel nails this.

On a walk the other morning, I took alternating shots on the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro XL, often at various zoom levels, as part of my ongoing camera tests. Combined with my previous experiences, my key takeaways so far include:

The main lens is exceptional. The main lens on the Pixel 10 is nearly identical to that on the Pros, and that’s important because it’s the lens most will use most of the time. This is a 48 MP Quad PD wide lens with an f/1.7 aperture, an 82-degree field of view, and optical image stabilization (OIS). The photos are gorgeous and they land in that perfect (to my eyes) Pixel-style, with just a hint of contrasty HDR pop. Love it.

The ultrawide lens is fine. The ultrawide lens has a bit more of that stretched look on its left and right sides, a common issue with this type of lens, than do the Pros. But it’s only noticeably different if you’re looking for it and can see both side-by-side. And it’s quite different hardware: The Pixel 10 Quad PD ultrawide lens provides 13 MP of resolution, an f/2.2 aperture, and a 120-degree field of view, compared to 48 MP, f/1.7, and 123 degrees for the Pros. But remember that the Pros pixel-bin by default, so the resulting photos are closer in the real-world than those numbers suggest. That said, the Pro offers an auto-focus feature the base Pixel 10 lacks.

Telephoto is terrific. The base Pixel 10 doesn’t just provide a telephoto lens for the first time, it has the same 5x optical zoom as the Pros too. That’s better than expected, even though the hardware is quite different. The Pixel 10 has a 10.8 MP Dual PD telephoto lens with an f/3.1 aperture, a 23 degree field of view, and OIS, compared to 48 MP Quad PD, f/2.8, 22 degrees, and OIS on the Pros. The same pixel-binning note applies here, of course. But the most significant difference is the hybrid zoom: You can go up to 20x Super Res Zoom on the base Pixel 10 and up to 100x Pro Res Zoom on the Pros, and that’s a significant difference. Granted, it’s one that is rarely needed. On the base Pixel 10, using 20x is a mixed bag, but more often than not they come out better than I expected.

Pro controls. If photography is one of the top decision points on a phone purchase, you’re going to want a Pro. Not because the base Pixel 10 is lacking in any meaningful way for day-to-day shots. But because it lacks the Pro controls in the Camera app, among them the option to shoot high resolution photos at up to 50 MP instead of 12 MP. To be clear, this is a feature I experiment with occasionally, and I always go back to the default. But it’s just not available on the Pixel 10. This is true on the selfie camera as well: The base Pixel 10 has a 10.5 MP dual PD selfie lens with an f/2.2 aperture, a 95 degree FOV, and auto-focus, compared to 42 MP dual DP, f/2.2, 103 degrees, and auto-focus on the Pros, but the Pro selfie lens can also shoot high resolution shots if you need to see every pore in your face for some reason.

Only a few other missing features. Tied to the above limitation, the base Pixel 10 lacks Video Boost and Night Sight Video, which I can’t imagine will matter to most, and it’s limited to 1080p video recording (at 24, 30, or 60 FPS) and digital zoom to 20x. The Pros can record video at up to 4K, and they offer Super Res Zoom Video up to 20x. I keep my video recording at 1080p, so there’s nothing in there that would impact me. And, I think, most others.

What you do get is staggering. The list of missing features above is short and largely unimportant. But the list of photography-related features that do work on the base Pixel 10 is impressive: Camera Coach, Add Me, Macro Focus, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Face Unblur, Auto Unblur, Long Exposure, Action Pan, Real Tone, Panorama, Auto Best Take, Top Shot, Frequent Faces, Edit with Ask Photos, Pixel Studio, Auto Frame, Sky Styles, Resize and Move Objects, Magic Eraser, Best Take, Photo Unblur, Zoom Enhance, Portrait Light, Audio Magic Eraser, Macro Focus Video, 10-bit HDR Video, Cinematic Blur, Cinematic Pan, Astrophotography Timelapse, and Speech Enhancement are all available on the base Pixel 10 and each works identically as on the Pros. Much of this has to do with it having the same Tensor G5 processor, I bet.

✔️ Full circle

Making the switch to the smaller Pixel 10 will require some adjustments on my part. I’ve already moved over my Google Fi e-sim, of course, and though I had previously configured each of the apps I typically use, I had to sign-in with my phone number on a few apps, like Uber and WhatsApp, that require that.

The bigger issue, for me, is really two issues. The smaller size, for the reasons noted up top. And the lack of a case. I prefer the thinnest, lightest, and most low profile case I can find, for the most part, but no case is a bit extreme. Not helping matters, the Pixel 10, like any smartphone, is as slippery as a bar of wet soap. Combined with my general clumsiness, I am worried that I’m going to destroy this thing, or at least crack the display, in a spasm of comical klutziness. I’ll do my best.

But this brings up a related point. As I keep pointing out, this is the first time Google has given me multiple phones to review at the same time. And in addition to requiring a slightly different approach to reviewing these devices, I’ve noticed something.

You’ve all experienced this type of thing. You’re researching a new car, perhaps, or maybe you just bought one. And suddenly, you see that type of car everywhere when you’re out in the world. It’s something you’d never noticed before.

My recent version of this is that when I went to Berlin last week for IFA, I was around many other people like me, people who were clearly reviewing one or more of the new Pixel phones, or had already written those reviews (kids these days) and were simply continuing to use the one they liked the most. Whatever.

What I noticed wasn’t just an unusually large number of people with new Pixels. It was an unusually large number of people with new Pixels, almost none of which were in a case. Now, I’m willing to admit to a few things here. That tech reviewers would be more inclined to own Pixels because they’re more educated about which phones are actually best, perhaps. And that this audience may be more inclined to use a phone, no matter the expense, without a case. It’s possible this was all around me in the past and I just didn’t notice it before.

Maybe. But the thing is, I pay attention to this kind of thing. When I’m out in the world, traveling or whatever, and I see phones, PCs, and other devices, I look. I register what people are doing and using. And I add it to an anecdotal database of observations that I’ve been expanding on for many, many years. And I gotta say, I don’t normally see many people out in the world using case-less phones. They do exist. But it’s not the norm.

So my conclusion, deserved or not, has more to do with those people than it does with the phones. I believe that some number of years of getting these phones for free, sometimes multiple models, and even when they need to be given back after some evaluation period, has created a meaningful gap in their perception of how expensive these things are. That is, when I buy a phone, as I do two or three times every year, and at great expense, I innately understand its value and I actively protect it every single time I use it. And protecting it always involves using a case of some kind. Always.

I do this knowing that I will be obscuring the very thing that makes these shiny baubles so attractive and desirable. And I do this knowing that each will be heavier and thicker than before. But I do this because I paid for these things, with real money, and because protecting them will help retain that value, a value I will very much need in one year when I trade it in and go through this horrible process yet again. In being a real consumer, really spending my money, I feel that I have a truer, realer connection with the people who may read what I write and then decide to really spend their own money on that thing.

Now, I do get dozens of review laptops each year, as I do some other hardware, and I could avail myself of even more if I had more time, more inclination, and, I don’t know, less of a need to get these write-ups done to a level of quality that I feel comfortable with. But I also buy an astonishing array of hardware each year, just as I pay for all kinds of software and services each year. And I think there’s a certain groundedness that comes with that.

Don’t get me wrong: Everyone loves getting something for free, and that’s certainly a game changer of its own kind. But looking at these guys, and it was almost always guys, walking around with their case-less Pixels, I just kept having the same thought. They’ve checked out. They don’t really understand the value of each of these devices. They’re disconnected from the people who read their reviews, and they’re so sure of their experiences writing them that they can spend a cursory amount of time with each before weighing in on what I’m sure they think is a fairly authoritative opinion.

That must be nice. Is what I will leave that with. Well, that and I maybe I’m wrong. There’s always that, too.

Regardless, I may just buy a case for the Pixel 10 with my own money. Even though I have to give it back when this is done, I can’t bear to let anything happen to it. In part because I know that should mistakes be made, they would almost certainly be my fault. And that just doesn’t sit right with me.

More soon.