Unboxing the Pixel 10 Pro felt a little like déjà vu. Peel back the wrapping and—yep—it’s basically staring at a Pixel 9 Pro in a different outfit. The design? Nearly identical. Buttons, antenna bands, camera bar… all in the same spots. Even the weight difference is barely noticeable: 202g for the Pixel 9 Pro and 207g for the Pixel 10 Pro. That extra 5g? Likely the slightly larger battery tucked inside. Not exactly the “wow” moment you’d expect for a 10th-generation flagship.
The real kicker here is the trade-in math. Google offered me $550 for my Pixel 9 Pro, leaving me another $550 out of pocket for a phone that looks—and feels—almost the same. It begs the question: do you really want to spend over five hundred bucks just to keep pace with Google’s naming convention? Especially when Samsung is still tossing around $900–$1000 trade-ins for older Fold models?
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are some differences. The Pixel 10 Pro runs on the new Tensor G5 chip, and early benchmarks show it outpacing the Tensor G4 in both single-core and multi-core scores. Is it blazing fast compared to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or Apple’s A17 Pro? Not really. But it’s a respectable bump for Pixel owners who push their phones hard. The brighter screen is another subtle win—you’ll notice it outdoors, even though reflections are still an issue on both models. You’ll want an anti-reflective screen protector if you’re outside often.
Where things actually get exciting is with Google’s new ProRes Zoom. This software trick lets the Pixel 10 Pro use AI to clean up high-zoom photos, and it works surprisingly well. I tried it on a backyard turtle (yes, my test subject was a turtle), snapping shots at 50x zoom. The before-and-after was impressive—the AI polished edges, boosted colors, and delivered results you’d never expect from such a crazy crop. For casual shooters, it’s like having a pocket telescope that doesn’t completely butcher your photos. Checkout the Photo Gallery to see all the images.
But here’s the frustration: this feels like a software feature Google could have brought to the Pixel 9 Pro. They promised “enhanced zoom” last year and never delivered. Now they’re dangling it behind the Pixel 10 Pro’s paywall. If the hardware’s basically the same, why lock features away? That stings for anyone who dropped top dollar on a Pixel 9 Pro just twelve months ago.
So where do I land? Honestly, I’m torn. The Pixel 10 Pro is a good phone—it’s just not the milestone device the “10th anniversary” Pixel should have been. If you own a Pixel 9 Pro, the upgrade barely makes sense unless you’re desperate for the new zoom tricks or need to compare it head-to-head with Apple’s latest iPhones. If you’re on an older Pixel or want Google’s clean Android experience with some genuinely useful AI perks, the 10 Pro is the better buy.
But if you’re like me—watching Google charge $550 just to repackage last year’s design while other brands push hardware leaps—it might feel more like a hold-off year than a “must-upgrade.”