Google talked about the Pixel 10’s brighter display, faster and more efficient Tensor G5 chip, and camera improvements during its August 20th Made by Google event.
Beyond the headline features, the Pixel 10 packs several subtle improvements that didn’t receive nearly as much attention — upgrades that quietly make the phone smarter, sleeker, and more useful in daily life.
There are more of these upgrades than you’d expect, making the Pixel 10 far better than it seems at first glance.
10
Bluetooth 6.0
Next-gen connectivity
Google’s Pixel 10 is the first phone to launch in the US with Bluetooth 6.0 support.
Among other improvements, it brings Channel Sounding, which makes Bluetooth location tracking more useful by measuring the time it takes for the signal to bounce between devices to provide centimeter-level accurate data.
Sadly, since this feature only works with other Bluetooth 6.0 devices, Pixel 10 owners can’t make use of it immediately.
Other highlights of Bluetooth 6.0 include better latency handling, faster scanning, and more reliable LE audio streaming.
9
Better speakers
Richer sound
While not mentioned in the specifications sheet, the speakers on the Pixel 10 should sound better than previous models. The company says they are now louder than before, with the bass also getting a noticeable boost.
The improvement comes from Google redesigning the speakers for better sound quality.
On the Pixel 10, only the top speaker gets the upgrade, while on other models, both the top and bottom speakers have been improved.
8
50MP portrait shots
Full resolution, no compromises
Even with a 50MP main camera, Pixel phones have until now been capped at 12.5MP for portrait shots.
The Pixel 10 Pro finally changes that, letting you capture portraits in full 50MP resolution. That’s a 4x jump in resolution, which should come in handy if you ever decide to crop a portrait picture or want to print it.
The new Tensor G5 chip and its faster ISP must have made this improvement possible.
However, there are still a few downsides to Google’s implementation. You still cannot use the portrait mode in the Pixel Camera app with the 5x telephoto shooter.
The longer focal length would have provided a more natural and better bokeh effect. Although Google still limits the portrait mode to the primary 50MP camera, it allows users to switch between 1.5x and 2x zoom options.
This 50MP portrait mode improvement is only available on the Pixel 10 Pro and its XL sibling.
7
Built-in Thread radio
Smarter smart home control
Taking a cue from Apple’s Pro iPhones, Google has also integrated a Thread radio on the Pixel 10. This will allow them to act as a router for your Thread-compatible smart home devices.
If you have heavily invested in a smart home, this improvement can significantly improve your experience.
6
Panorama gets a telephoto upgrade
Sharper panoramas with 5x zoom
Google gave the panorama mode a big upgrade with the Pixel 9 lineup in 2024.
It enabled capturing panoramic images at considerably higher resolutions of up to 24MP. However, you were still limited to shooting panoramas using the primary camera.
The Pixel 10 changes that by letting you use the 5x telephoto shooter in panorama mode, with shots of up to 100MP.
With this addition, Google’s latest phone supports shooting panoramas at three zoom levels: 1x, 2x, and 5x. However, there’s still no way to shoot panoramic images using the ultrawide camera.
The Pixel 10 also provides greater control over the final panorama image by letting you adjust shadows, exposure, white balance, and even set the focus manually with focus peaking support.
5
Pixel Screenshots and Recorder gain NotebookLM integration
Google’s top AI app gets even better
NotebookLM is one of Google’s best AI apps. It makes researching a breeze: just dump all your notes and sources into a notebook and then ask NotebookLM to make sense of it.
With the Pixel 10, Google is bringing NotebookLM integration to two of Pixel’s most impressive apps: Pixel Screenshots and Pixel Recorder.
If Pixel Screenshots finds something noteworthy, it’ll prompt you to save the screenshot to NotebookLM. Likewise, you can add transcripts of recordings from the Recorder app directly to NotebookLM.
Both these additions might seem small. However, if you heavily use NotebookLM, Pixel Recorder, and Pixel Screenshots, this deep integration on the Pixel 10 will supercharge your note-taking and research workflow.
4
Faster UFS 4.0 storage
Zoned UFS is the bigger deal
It took Google years, but it has finally switched to faster UFS 4.0 storage. The speed increase should be visible when installing or opening heavy apps or games. It should also make wired file transfers considerably faster.
Almost all flagship Android phones switched to UFS 4.0 storage in 2023. Even apart from all this, the faster storage should make navigating around the UI feel smoother, especially with several apps in the background.
Along with higher transfer speeds, UFS 4.0 NAND brings better power efficiency, which, though minor, can help boost battery life.
Google is also using Zoned UFS on 512GB and higher storage variants of the Pixel 10. This is a bigger deal than you might think. Besides extending the NAND’s lifespan, it also significantly boosts performance.
3
100x zoom
Google finally catches up to Samsung
The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL use the same 48MP 5x telephoto shooter as the Pixel 9 Pro.
However, thanks to the Tensor G5’s faster ISP and other under-the-hood improvements, the Pixel 10 Pro can get more out of this sensor.
Using AI and ML, the phones support up to 100x Pro Res Zoom. Previous Pixel phones topped out at 30x AI-powered digital zoom.
Samsung, Xiaomi, and other Chinese Android phone makers have offered 100x zoom on their phones for years now. So, Google is finally catching up to them with the Pixel 10 Pro.
2
Smarter voice typing on Gboard
Typing by voice, but smarter
Voice typing on Pixel phones is already miles ahead of other Android devices. They’re the only ones with on-device processing, turning speech into text almost instantly — all without an internet connection.
The Pixel 10 takes things up a notch by letting you access Writing Tools directly from your voice.
Writing Tools is a new Gboard feature that goes beyond spellcheck, checking for grammatical errors, typos, and punctuation mistakes. It can also rewrite your text into a specific style or tone.
You can access Writing Tools by tapping the pencil icon from the suggestions bar. If you heavily rely on voice typing, you can access Writing Tools with voice commands.
If you have used a Pixel 6 or later, you already know how good the voice typing experience on the phone is. The ability to use Writing Tools and edit text with your voice makes the experience even better.
1
Make WhatsApp calls over a satellite network
Connect to your loved ones even without a network
Like the Pixel 9 before it, Google’s Pixel 10 family supports satellite connectivity. This can come in handy when you are in the wilderness, without a network connection, and face an emergency.
With satellite connectivity, you can reach out to your loved ones or emergency services for help.
Expanding its satellite features, the Pixel 10 adds support for WhatsApp voice and video calls, ensuring you can reach people even without mobile data or Wi-Fi.
It’s unclear if the company will keep this feature exclusive to the Pixel 10 lineup or bring it to the Pixel 9 family as well. Google’s newest Pixels are the first phones in the world to offer such functionality.
The Pixel 10 hides more upgrades than you think
At first glance, the Pixel 10 might not seem like a radically big upgrade. Even the outer design is almost the same.
However, Google has improved almost every aspect of the device, from adding Qi2 magnetic wireless charging to Thread radio support to faster UFS storage.
All of these combined make the Pixel 10 a bigger upgrade than you might think. And when you start using the phone, you’ll realize it is these quiet upgrades that make the biggest difference in daily use.
- SoC
-
Google Tensor G5
- RAM
-
16GB
- Storage
-
128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB with Zoned UFS / 1 TB with Zoned UFS
- Battery
-
5200mAh
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is Google’s best Pixel yet, packing a super-efficient Tensor G5 chip, 16GB RAM, up to 1TB of storage with Zoned UFS, 100x Pro Res Zoom, and more.
