Google Pixel 10 Pro vs Pixel 9 Pro: Early expectations

Google made quite a drastic design shift with the Pixel 9 series last year, and as we’re approaching the summer of 2025, it’s time for another turn of the smartphone wheel. The Pixel 10 series is poised to launch sometime in August (actually, a leaked invitation from Google hits toward an early Pixel 10 release in June), and it will be interesting to see what changes this new lineup will bring.The Pixel 10 Pro is especially interesting, because last year Google shrunk the flagship to make space for the Pro XL model, and now we have a compact and powerful Pixel, something many people asked for. How does the upcoming Pixel 10 Pro stack up against its predecessor, the Pixel 9 Pro? Today we’re going to find out.

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Google made a bit of an overhaul with the design of the last generation Pixels and abandoned the curved sides and back and the signature Camera Bar. The Pixel 9 Pro also grew smaller to make room for the Pro XL variant.

It seems that Google won’t be making any big changes with the Pixel 10 Pro in that regard. We have some leaked renders, and most of them show a phone that’s very similar to its predecessor.

In terms of size and weight, we expect the Pixel 10 Pro to be very similar to the Pixel 9 Pro, the differences will most likely be just a millimeter or two here and there or a gram up or down on the scales.

*rumored

Color-wise, Google is keeping things tidy with the usual hues, including classics like Porcelain and Obsidian, as well as the hip Rose and Quartz color options. Even though it’s early days, there are some rumors that the company will keep the palette more or less unchanged. 

In a smartphone age where even midrange phones have super-bright and fast screens, it is difficult for flagships. The Pixels, on the other hand, still managed to top our brightness test, landing at 2655 nits for the Pixel 9 Pro, one of the best results we ever had.

In terms of screen size and technology, there is nothing revolutionary compared to the previous model. We’re talking about a 6.3-inch OLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 2856 pixels, which translates to around 495 PPI pixel density. The screen uses LTPO and can do a 1-120 Hz display refresh rate with everything in between.

*rumored

To say that the Pixel 10 Pro screen will be identical might not tell the whole story, but that’s what the early information points toward. We might get a brightness bump, but in terms of size, LPTO tech, resolution, and pixel density, everything seems identical between the two phones.This will require some proper lab testing, and we will add all display test results once we get the Pixel 10 Pro, so stay tuned for that.

The Pixel 10 Pro is expected to get the next-generation Tensor G5 processor. Google’s in-house chipset switched “parents” and will be made by TSMC on a different node and using a different architecture. This might bring some performance and efficiency gains, but we have to test it in the lab.

The Pixel 9 Pro uses the Tensor G4, the fourth iteration of that in-house platform that uses Exynos-based architecture and is made in Samsung’s factories. There have been some problems with efficiency, thermals, and overall performance with the Tensor family, so let’s see what the new factory will bring to the table.

*rumored

The RAM situation is iidentical;the new Pixel 10 Pro is expected with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, the same as what the Pixel 9 Pro has on board. 16GB is pplenty,and we don’t see a need for more at the moment, but the trend of carrying over hardware from the Pixel 9 Pro continues.

The software situation is not surprising as well. Being Google phones, these two Pixels receive new Android versions first. The difference is that the Pixel 9 Pro is effectively one year older and will be supported a year shorter. The Pixel 10 Pro is expected to launch with Android 16 out of the box, as the next big Android OS release is slated for July.

*rumored

The Pixel 9 Pro managed an overall score of 151 (the current best is 158), so a pretty good result. We expect the Pixel 10 Pro to be able to at least match that (given the identical hardware), but Google might also add new AI magic and polish the post-processing algorithms further.

As always, we need to snap side-by-side samples and also test the Pixel 10 Pro in the lab to produce an objective, data-driven comparison score.

The Google Pixel 10 Pro is expected to have a battery capacity of 4,700 mAh, which is decent considering the size of the phone. Sadly, the overall battery score of the Pixel 9 Pro wasn’t that impressive—the phone ranked #66 among devices tested in the past two years.

Now, with the new Tensor G5 being made on a 3nm node by TSMC, we might see a difference in the final score.

The charging situation might change as well, as there are some rumors of 45W fast charging support for the Pixel 10 Pro. Worst-case scenario, the phone will retain the same 27W wired charging support of its predecessor, which, in a world where other manufacturers offer triple-digit charging speeds, isn’t great.

Let’s wait and see how this one plays out, but overall, no big changes in the final charging times are expected. The Pixel 9 Pro charges from 0 to 100 in 1h 21min.

Things are looking pretty uninspiring at the moment, with the Google Pixel 10 Pro using the lazy copy-paste scheme. The differences with the previous generation are so minuscule that you probably won’t be able to tell these two phones apart.

That said, we’re still in the preliminary phase, and things could change. But as of now, the new Pixel 10 Pro comes with just a new silicon on board, with everything else pretty much the same. Stay tuned as we will update this comparison when the Pixel 10 Pro launches.