Find exactly what you're looking for with our specialized content categories
Well-researched expert reviews with straightforward pros, cons, and a bottom line
Curated recommendations in popular categories, expertly researched and selected
Expertly researched answers to specific questions about products and features
Data-driven seasonal shopping guides based on actual price and deal history
If you're tired of spam calls and scammers, the Pixel 10 Pro XL has some of the best call protection features of any phone. Here's what you actually get.
This is the feature that made me switch to Pixel years ago. When an unknown number calls, you tap 'Screen call' and Google Assistant answers for you. You see a live transcript of what they're saying, and you can:
For spam callers, it's beautiful—they either hang up or get confused talking to an AI. For real callers, you can jump in once you see it's someone you want to talk to.
Even better: you can set it to automatically screen suspected spam. These calls never even ring—the phone handles them silently. You only get notified if the caller says something that sounds legitimate.
When a suspected spam number calls, you'll see a big red 'Suspected spam' warning before you answer. Google maintains a massive database of reported spam numbers, so it catches most of the obvious ones.
On the flip side, when a legitimate business calls, you might see their logo and the reason for calling (like 'Appointment reminder'). It's nice knowing a call is real before you answer.
Miss a call? AI reads the voicemail and suggests responses. Instead of listening to a rambling message, you see a transcript and can tap a suggested reply. It's surprisingly useful.
Ever call a company and get stuck in an endless phone tree? 'Direct My Call' transcribes the options so you can read them and tap your choice instead of waiting for the robot to finish talking.
Put on hold? Google Assistant waits for you and alerts you when a human picks up. Go do something else instead of listening to elevator music.
All of this runs on the Pixel 10 Pro XL itself—no data sent to the cloud—so it's fast and private.
This is genuinely a tough choice—both the Pixel 10 Pro XL and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are excellent phones that approach the flagship category differently. Let me break it down honestly.
Let's address this upfront: the S25 Ultra is faster. The Snapdragon 8 Elite beats the Tensor G5 by about 28% in single-core tests and 37% in multi-core. If benchmark numbers matter to you, Samsung wins.
But here's the thing—most people won't notice in daily use. The difference shows up in sustained gaming, heavy video editing, and other demanding tasks.
The Pixel has a 50MP main camera and focuses on computational photography—making every shot look great through software magic. The S25 Ultra has a massive 200MP sensor and superior zoom hardware.
In practice? The Pixel produces more consistently good photos with less effort. The Samsung can capture more detail and better extreme zoom shots, but requires more work to get optimal results.
I'd call this a tie depending on your style.
This might be the biggest difference. The Pixel runs pure Android with Gemini AI deeply integrated. Updates come fast and the experience is simple. The S25 Ultra runs One UI 7, which adds lots of features and customization but feels busier.
If you like tweaking settings and having options, go Samsung. If you want things to just work with minimal fuss, go Pixel.
Only on Pixel:
Only on Samsung:
Neither is wrong. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is better for photographers who want great shots without thinking, AI enthusiasts, and people who prefer simple software. The Samsung S25 Ultra is better for power users, gamers, note-takers, and customization lovers.
Pick based on what you actually do with your phone, not specs.
Short answer: yes, you probably want a new charger for the Pixel 10 Pro XL. But it's a bit more complicated than the marketing suggests. Let me explain what actually happens.
Here's what different chargers will give you:
Here's what nobody in marketing mentions: that 25W speed only lasts a few minutes. Once the phone heats up, the charger drops to 15W, then 10W, then even lower. It's protecting your battery, which is good, but it means 25W isn't as fast as it sounds.
Real charging times:
So yes, 25W wireless is faster than 15W wireless, but it's still much slower than just plugging in.
Yes and no. They'll physically snap on thanks to the magnets (Google calls this Pixelsnap, but it's basically the same magnet arrangement). MagSafe chargers will charge your phone at 15W—not 25W—because the standards aren't quite identical. Cases, wallets, and car mounts should work fine.
If you want wireless charging to be practical:
If you just want convenient overnight charging, honestly, any Qi2 charger is fine—the speed difference won't matter while you're sleeping.
Beyond speed, the real benefit of Qi2 is the magnets. Your phone snaps into place perfectly every time. No more waking up to a dead phone because it was slightly off-center. That convenience alone might be worth upgrading your charger for the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Gemini on the Pixel 10 Pro XL isn't just a rebranded Google Assistant—it's a genuinely useful AI that can actually do things for you. Here's what makes it different.
The Tensor G5 chip runs Gemini Nano locally, which matters for two reasons: speed and privacy. When you ask it to summarize a webpage or analyze a document, it happens instantly on your device. Your data doesn't get uploaded anywhere. That's a real advantage over cloud-only AI assistants.
This is the game-changer. Gemini can now handle routine tasks without you touching the apps:
It runs in the background while you approve or modify what it's doing. Free users get about 5 of these requests per day; Gemini Ultra subscribers get up to 120.
Gemini Live lets you have natural conversations hands-free. Even better, it now connects to your actual Google stuff:
Photography on the Pixel has always been good, but Gemini makes it more intuitive:
The last two features are Pixel 10 exclusives—they need the Tensor G5's processing power.
Honestly? Yes. The automation features alone make daily tasks noticeably easier on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. And having AI that doesn't need to phone home for everything is a genuine improvement.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL has a solid zoom system, but let's set realistic expectations upfront: 100x zoom exists, but you probably won't use it much. Here's what actually matters.
This is where the magic happens. At 5x, you're getting true optical zoom from the dedicated 48MP telephoto lens—no digital trickery, just genuine magnification. Photos come out sharp enough to print, with accurate colors and real detail. For most zoom shots, this is all you need.
Hit the 10x button and you're still in solid territory. Yes, there's some digital enhancement happening, but in good lighting, you'd be hard-pressed to tell. The photos are detailed, colors look right, and they're perfectly shareable. Low light gets a bit noisier, but still usable.
Here's where things get honest:
Think of 100x zoom like the moon setting on a camera—it's there, it kind of works, but it's more of a party trick than a practical feature.
Previous Pixels couldn't zoom well in low light. This one can. The 5x telephoto delivers clean shots even when it's dark, and 10x produces usable images with manageable noise. It's genuinely useful now, not just technically possible.
Here's something cool—the 5x telephoto can now take macro shots. So if you're into close-up photography of flowers, insects, or product details, you've got two ways to do it now (the ultrawide has macro too).
For real-world photography—concerts, sports, wildlife, street photography—the Pixel 10 Pro XL zoom system handles it well. Just don't expect miracles at 100x. The marketing shots at that range? They probably took 50 attempts and perfect lighting.
Let's be honest upfront: if you're looking at pure benchmark scores, the Snapdragon 8 Elite beats the Tensor G5. It's not even close in some tests. But that doesn't tell the whole story.
The Tensor G5 in the Pixel 10 Pro XL scores around 2,285 single-core and 6,191 multi-core on Geekbench 6. The Snapdragon 8 Elite in the Galaxy S25 Ultra? It beats that by about 28% in single-core and 37% in multi-core tests.
On GPU performance, things get even more interesting—or concerning, depending on your perspective. Google switched to a PowerVR GPU, and it actually benchmarks about 20% slower than the previous Pixel's Mali GPU. Not exactly progress on paper.
Because Google didn't build the Tensor G5 to win benchmark races. They built it to be really, really good at specific things:
AI that actually runs on your phone: All those Gemini features, real-time translations, and on-device processing? The Tensor G5 handles them without sending your data to the cloud.
Photography processing: Night Sight, Video Boost, all the computational photography magic that makes Pixel photos look so good—this is what the chip is optimized for.
It stays cool: Previous Tensor chips ran hot. The G5, built on TSMC's 3nm process, runs noticeably cooler during normal use. Gaming will still warm it up, but it's a big improvement.
Most people using their phone normally—scrolling social media, taking photos, using apps—won't notice any performance gap. The Tensor G5 handles everyday tasks just fine.
Where you WILL notice is:
If gaming and raw performance are your priorities, a Snapdragon phone makes more sense. If AI features, camera quality, and the Google software experience matter more, the Pixel 10 Pro XL does exactly what it's supposed to do.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL isn't just a great camera phone—it's a seriously capable video camera too. Whether you're shooting family moments or creating content, here's what you can actually do with it.
Let's start with the basics. The rear cameras can shoot:
The selfie camera shoots 4K with autofocus too, which is a genuine upgrade for video calls and vlogging.
This is where the Pixel really shines. After you record video, you can send it to Google's cloud for processing, and it comes back looking noticeably better. DXOMARK—who tests cameras for a living—rated it as the best video processing they've measured.
The catch? You have to upload your video and wait for processing. For quick social media posts, that might be annoying. For important videos you want to look great, it's worth it.
Low-light video has always been the weak spot for smartphone cameras. The Pixel 10 Pro XL has mostly fixed that. Night Sight Video is now good enough that I'd recommend turning it on as soon as lighting gets a bit dim—don't wait until it's totally dark.
The stabilization here is excellent. Walking while recording? Smooth. Filming from a moving car? Manageable. It combines optical and electronic stabilization to keep footage watchable without needing a gimbal.
If video matters to you, the Pixel 10 Pro XL delivers. It's not quite at dedicated camera level, but for a phone, it's genuinely impressive.
Good news if you tend to be a bit rough with your phone: the Pixel 10 Pro XL is built tough. Professional durability testers have put it through the wringer, and the results are genuinely impressive.
The display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which is pretty much the standard for flagship phones right now. In practical terms, this means your keys and coins bouncing around in your pocket won't scratch it. You'd need something harder—like sand or ceramic—to leave marks. It's not invincible, but it handles normal daily abuse well.
Remember the Pixel 7 Pro bending under pressure? Google clearly learned from that. The Pixel 10 Pro XL showed zero flex, no cracks, and no creaks in professional bend tests. The aluminum frame and glass combination holds firm even under stress. This is a solid, well-constructed phone.
In case you're wondering how it handles extreme heat—durability testers actually held a lighter flame to the screen for 20 seconds. The display kept working perfectly. Only the fingerprint-resistant coating showed damage. And get this: even after they scratched up the area over the fingerprint sensor, it still unlocked the phone every time.
Here's where you still need to be careful. All that glass and premium materials won't save you from gravity:
The surface matters too—wood floors are forgiving, concrete is not.
Honestly? Yes. The phone is built to last seven years with software support, but that only matters if the hardware survives too. A good case adds cheap insurance for an expensive phone. At least protect those glass surfaces.
Looking for protection? Check out our Pixel 10 Pro XL cases to find options at the best prices.
If you love snapping photos after sunset, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is going to impress you. Google's Night Sight mode has been the gold standard for phone photography in the dark, and this generation keeps that reputation intact.
Honestly, the night photos from this phone often look better than what your eyes actually saw. That might sound like marketing speak, but it's genuinely true—the Pixel 10 Pro XL can pull detail and light out of scenes that looked nearly black in person. Colors stay accurate (no weird orange tints), and there's a nice punchy contrast that makes night shots look dramatic rather than flat.
Even compared to phones with those massive 1-inch sensors, the Pixel holds its own remarkably well.
Remember having to hold completely still for several seconds while Night Sight did its thing? Those days are mostly over. The Tensor G5 chip processes night shots so quickly now that you often don't need to wait at all. It makes grabbing spontaneous night shots actually practical instead of a careful, planned process.
Here's where things get really interesting: Night Sight Video is now genuinely good. Video in low light has always been the weak point for every phone, but the Pixel 10 Pro XL's Video Boost mode handles it impressively. DXOMARK testing called it the best low-light video performance they've measured.
Tip: Start using Night Sight Video as soon as it gets slightly dim—don't wait until it's completely dark.
The telephoto actually works at night, which wasn't always the case with older phones. At 5x and 10x zoom, you'll get usable shots even in low light. Push it to 50x and results are still surprisingly decent. Just keep expectations realistic—there will be some noise and AI processing visible, but the photos are definitely usable.
There's a reason reviewers keep calling Night Sight 'the best nighttime camera on any phone.' The Pixel 10 Pro XL doesn't just match its reputation—it builds on it with faster processing and better video.
The JSAUX Battery Pack for Oculus Quest 3 and Quest 2 is a *must-have* for users who want to extend their VR playtime and improve hand-tracking performance through its shoulder-mounted infrared feature. Its design smartly reduces neck strain and boosts in-game tracking accuracy, especially in low light. However, be prepared for a slight learning curve due to limited instructions and some mild warming during charging. If you want longer sessions without sacrificing comfort or tracking, this accessory hits the sweet spot between functionality and value. If you're looking for alternatives with potentially more detailed instructions or a different form factor, you might consider other VR battery solutions, but few match this pack’s combination of IR tracking enhancement and fast charging performance.
Download ShopSavvy AppCompare prices for anything in real-time, set price alerts, watch for deals by keyword, and much more
Install ShopSavvy Browser ExtensionCompare and track prices automatically while you shop online at thousands of websites.
Get the latest news, and updates on ShopSavvy. You'll be glad you did!
