Google Pixel 10 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: Main differences to expect

Intro

While rumors are still fairly light on the potential specs and features of the Pixel 10 Pro XL (which is honestly surprising for a Google-made device where leaks are running rampant for months beforehand), we still seem to know surprisingly much about the device in question.

Design and Size

Consistency is key

Still, some changes are expected. The rumor mill says we should expect a tiny 0.1mm shorter Pixel 10 Pro XL, which wouldn’t be noticeable at all, but might render some of your Pixel 9 Pro XL cases incompatible with the newer device…

The Galaxy S25 Ultra still features a built-in S Pen stylus, and while rumors claim we might eventually see this essential accessory decoupled from the phone itself in a potential future generation, the current Samsung flagship employs the essential feature.

In terms of size, we expect the two phones to be very similar in size, with a slight advantage for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which might be slightly thinner at 8.2mm and a bit lighter.

Both phones will share the IP68 water and dust resistance, now standard among flagships and many mid-rangers alike.

While both phones will employ a standard and pretty similar button layout, the two are inverted: the Galaxy S25 Ultra has the power button below the volume rocker, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL has the volume rocker below the power button. It’s a matter of getting used to.

Display Differences

The Pixel 10 Pro XL will most certainly arrive with a 6.8-inch OLED Super Actua screen, with super-high brightness of at least 3,000 nits of peak brightness, smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate, uniform bezels all-around, and a lovely color representation. 

One rumor circulating around is that Google might further improve the biometrics by using an even faster and more accurate fingerprint scanner embedded inside the display. 

On the other hand, the Galaxy S25 Ultra arrives with a large 6.9-inch display, with around 2,600 nits of peak brightness. However, the display might actually appear to be brighter than the Pixel 10 Pro XL. That’s because the Galaxy S25 Ultra arrives with an anti-reflective display coating, which greatly boosts the legibility of the screen.

Other than that, the display itself is a Dynamic OLED 2X one, with a super-smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate, and the signature exceptional color and gamma properties of a flagship Samsung screen. 

Performance and Software

Tensor finally playing in the 3nm league, but would that be enough?

After years of its Tensor chips built around Samsung’s Exynos architecture, Google can finally make its Tensor chip from scratch. That’s right, the Tensor G5 will be using a custom AP (application processor) and will be built by TSMC on its 3nm manufacturing process. 

That’s an exciting development, which could potentially finally elevate the Tensor chip to the performance levels of the latest Snapdragons and Apple’s own mobile chips. 

The Pixel 10 Pro XL will also come with 16GB of memory for extra headroom for AI, as well as storage versions ranging from 128GB to 1TB. 

At the same time, the Galaxy S25 Ultra comes along with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, a custom and slightly overclocked version of Qualcomm’s flagship chipset. It’s a proper powerhouse that routinely dwells at the top of the performance charts at the moment. 

The Galaxy S25 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM, as well as 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions. 

Both devices will be supported for seven years, including software updates, security patches, and feature drops. 

Camera

Capable performers

Rumors say the Pixel 10 Pro XL won’t feature any major hardware changes for the camera. This means we’ll get the same 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide, a 48MP telephoto with 5X optical zoom, and a large 42MP selfie camera that we saw on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. 

That’s alright. The camera hardware on the latest Pixel is already super-capable, and we know for a fact that Google can fine-tune the camera software and the image-processing to squeeze out much better image quality out of the same hardware, so we are fairly optimistic. 

On another hand, the Pixel 9 Pro XL already fared very well in terms of image quality and did well in our custom camera test, so we are moderately excited about the upcoming Pixel.

How does the Galaxy S25 Ultra compare?

Samsung’s flagship comes with a quad-camera setup at the back, helmed by a high-res 200MP wide-angle camera, a 50MP telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto with 3X optical zoom. At the front, we have a standard 12MP camera. 

Battery Life and Charging

Few changes expected

Right now, we don’t really expect any major developments with the battery situation on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. 

At the same time, Samsung also continues to rely on a 5,000mAh battery, which has been the case with many of the latest Galaxy S Ultra phones. 

Charging-wise, we expect no changes: at least 37W wired charging for the Pixel 10 Pro XL. The Galaxy S25 Ultra comes with 45W wired fast-charging. 

Specs Comparison

Here’s how the Pixel 10 Pro XL and the Galaxy S25 Ultra specs might compare. 

Summary

One thing is for certain, the battle between these two Android devices will be legendary!