Pixel 10 Pro after 100 days — just get the Pixel 10

Google’s Pixel 10 Pro is a great phone. I’ve been using one for 100 days now, and it’s been solid the whole time. Not perfect, but really good. The thing is, most people are probably better off saving some money and buying the Pixel 10 instead.

On paper, the Pixel 10 and 10 Pro have a few notable differences and a ton of similarities. The phones are the same size, nearly the same weight (the 10 Pro is three grams heavier), have the same Tensor G5 chip, and both are glass with metal sides and have a huge, pill-shaped camera bump on the back.

The displays are slightly different, with the 10 Pro being slightly better — 1280×2856 pixels instead of 1080×2424, 1-120Hz refresh rate instead of 60-120Hz, and up to 3,300 nits peak brightness instead of 3,000 nits. Having used both phones extensively, these differences aren’t noticeable the vast majority of the time.

Other differences include that the Pixel 10 has a slightly larger battery than the 10 Pro (4,970mAh to 4,870mAh), less RAM (12GB vs 16GB), and fewer storage options, maxing out at 256GB, while the 10 Pro can do 512GB or 1TB. Again, none of these make that much of a difference, with the RAM potentially impacting AI performance if you care about that (I do not).

That leaves the camera hardware as the only other part of the device with significant differences. I’ve listed all the cameras below and highlighted the notable differences, with all other stats being the same (or close enough as to not matter):

• Main camera: 48-megapixel on the Pixel 10 vs 50-megapixel on 10 Pro.
• Ultrawide: 13-megapixel f/2.2 vs 48-megapixel f/1.7
• x Telephoto: 10.8-megapixel f/3.1 vs 48-megapixel f/2.8
• Selfie: 10.5-megapixel 95-degree FOV vs 42-megapixel 103-degree FOV

In my experience, the Pixel 10 Pro camera definitely has an edge over the Pixel 10 thanks to the better hardware. However, that difference is most notable in specific scenarios, like lowlight photography and zoom shots — most of the time, the Pixel 10 can produce great results that are very comparable to the 10 Pro. (And as evidence, I’ll point to my Pixel 10 review where I included some head-to-head comparison shots).

Having used the Pixel 10 Pro for 100 days now, I can say with certainty that the only reason to fork out the extra money for it over the Pixel 10 is for the niche camera performance. In other words, unless you regularly use your phone for photography at a high level (such as professionally), the Pixel 10 will cover your bases.

Again, the Pixel 10 Pro isn’t a bad phone. Honestly, there’s a lot I like about it. I’m a big fan of this year’s ‘Jade’ colourway and the soft-touch back panel is great, although not meaningfully different from the 9 Pro. The battery life has been solid for me, easily making it through most days and sometimes even stretching well into a second. There isn’t enough difference between the Pro and the regular 10 to justify the extra cost.

Typically, the Pixel 10 Pro retails for $1,349 and the Pixel 10 clocks in at $1,099. But at the time of writing, both devices were on sale for $1,099 and $849, respectively. So right now, you could get the Pixel 10 Pro for the price of the Pixel 10, which is pretty solid. Still, I think most people would be better off saving the money and grabbing the Pixel 10 on sale.