Google Pixel 10: News, leaks, rumored price, release window, and more

Summer’s nearly here, and that means we’re coming up fast on Pixel season. While Pixel phones have historically been released in the fall, the Pixel 9 series hit store shelves in August last year, a shift that helped Google’s latest flagships net some extra sales before the iPhone 16 was released in September. We’re expecting a similar timeline this year.

We’ve seen quite a few major Pixel 10 leaks over the past few months, from details about camera hardware and colorways to what seem like hands-on photos of the Pixel 10 Pro. It’s unlikely Google will make any official Pixel 10 announcements until August, so to tide you over, here’s everything we know about the upcoming Pixel 10 series so far.

Google Pixel 10: Design and specs

Google landed on a divisive design with 2024’s Pixel 9 series, with a pill-shaped camera bar and squared side rails that match Samsung and Apple’s flagships. Personally, I’m a fan. If you don’t agree, bad news: based on the leaks we’ve seen so far, the Pixel 10 series will look nearly identical to last year’s lineup.

In March, OnLeaks and Android Headlines published renders of the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL. The renders show phones that are hard to tell from the Pixel 9 series at a glance. The most apparent difference year over year is that the base-model Pixel 10 will evidently come with a telephoto camera in addition to the expected wide and ultrawide shooters (more on that below). Additionally, on all three devices, the SIM card tray is on the top edge rather than the bottom, where the tray is located on Pixel 9.

In early June, Mystic Leaks on Telegram published images sourced from Chinese social network coolapk that reportedly show a design validation test model of the upcoming Pixel 10 Pro. You can see those images compared to the existing Pixel 9 Pro below.

Nothing in these first live photos is surprising: the device on display looks almost exactly like the Pixel 9 Pro, which lines up with what we saw in those earlier renders. The 10 Pro looks like it may be a darker shade of gray than our Pixel 9 Pro, but without knowing about the lighting conditions for the 10 Pro photos, it’s hard to say.

One visual update you can count on: new colorways. Android Headlines has reported that the Pixel 10 series will be available in some new colors, with names like Ultra Blue, Limoncello, and Smoky Green. Here’s a breakdown of what Android Headlines has heard:

Sterling Gray may be the color we see on the Pixel 10 Pro unit pictured above. That’s the only color we’ve seen a Pixel 10 phone pictured in live photographs so far, but we have some idea of what the others will look like. Limoncello is a greenish yellow shade previously featured on devices like the first-generation Pixel Buds Pro; Iris is a cool purple as seen on Pixel 9a. Light Porcelain sounds like an off-white, while Midnight will likely be a dark gray. I’m not quite sure what Smoky Green could be, but I’m hoping it’s similar to the gray shade Google has incorporated in past devices’ Hazel colorway. Finally, Ultra Blue could be a callback to the first-generation Pixel’s vibrant Really Blue colorway.

We don’t know all that much about the Pixel 10 series’ internals yet. A leak from March indicates that the Tensor G5 chipset that’ll power the Pixel 10 series will be manufactured by TSMC rather than Samsung and, unlike previous Tensor chips, won’t contain any Samsung-made components. A more recent leak suggests that the Pixel 10 will stick with a Samsung modem, though: the same Exynos 5400 as last year’s Pixel 9 phones.

Google Pixel 10: Software

We haven’t seen much in the way of specific Pixel 10 software leaks. The phones will launch with Android 16, and will presumably come with early stable access to features like Google’s Material 3 Expressive redesign, which is currently exclusive to the Android 16 QPR1 beta. It’s also possible that in-development features discovered inside the QPR1 beta, features like always-on display wallpaper functionality, will officially debut on Pixel 10.

Google Pixel 10: Cameras

Courtesy of credible leaker Kamila Wojciechowska and Android Authority, in April, we got what appears to be a very complete picture of the Pixel 10 series’ camera hardware.

You can see a breakdown of the Pixel 10’s camera hardware versus the Pixel 9’s and 9a’s below. Compared to the base Pixel 9, the Pixel 10’s primary and ultrawide cameras may actually see slight downgrades. For its primary camera, the Pixel 10 will reportedly use the same Samsung GN8 camera sensor as the midrange Pixel 9a. Compared to the Pixel 9’s 1/1.31″ Samsung GNV sensor, the GN8 is a bit smaller at 1/1.95″. The 10 will also reportedly use the same ultrawide sensor as the 9a, which, again, is smaller than the equivalent sensor in the Pixel 9. Smaller camera sensors collect less light, so Google swapping to smaller sensors could mean it’s putting even more emphasis on computational photography this year.

Android Authority reports that the standard Pixel 10’s telephoto camera will use a Samsung SJ1 sensor. Interestingly, that’s the same sensor the Pixel 9 uses for its front-facing camera. It’s also the sensor we’re expecting to see the Pixel 10 use in its selfie shooter. The report doesn’t mention the magnification factor for the standard Pixel 10’s telephoto; the Pixel 9 Pro features a 5x telephoto lens.

The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, meanwhile, will reportedly utilize the same sensor layout as the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. According to Android Authority, the Pro models’ primary, ultrawide, telephoto, and selfie camera sensors will all go unchanged generation to generation.

Meanwhile, the 10 Pro Fold’s primary camera will use the same Samsung GN8 sensor as the Pixel 9a and base Pixel 10. It’ll reportedly use the Samsung 3J1 for its ultrawide and telephoto cameras. That’s the same telephoto as last year, but it looks like an ultrawide downgrade; the 9 Pro Fold’s Sony IMX787 sensor was both higher resolution and significantly larger than the 3J1. The 10 Pro Fold will use the Samsung 3K1 sensor for its inner and outer selfie cameras, same as last year.

More recently, Android Headlines reported that the entire Pixel 10 series will benefit from improved, software-assisted video stabilization that uses data from multiple camera sensors. The publication compared the resulting footage to what you’d get if you were to record video on a phone attached to a gimbal like the DJI Osmo Mobile 6.

Google Pixel 10: Price and release date

In early June, it was reported by multiple sources that the Pixel 10 series was meant to be revealed on August 13, the same date Google launched the Pixel 9 series in 2024. According to Android Headlines, preorders would have opened that day, with devices shipping a week later.

Days later, Android Headlines released another report saying Google had delayed the launch by a week, to August 20, with preorders reportedly shipping on August 28.

No leaks have touched on pricing yet, but given the Pixel 10 series seems like a very modest upgrade compared to Google’s 2024 lineup, we’d expect similar pricing this year. The Pixel 9 costs $799; the 9 Pro is $999; 9 Pro XL costs $1,099; and 9 Pro Fold goes for $1,799 at full price. Ideally, this year’s phones will launch at those same price points. It remains to be seen how political and economic conditions will affect the Pixel 10 series launch, however.

Pixel 9, part 2?

Based on the leaks we’ve seen so far, the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, and 10 Pro XL will all be very similar to last year’s Pixel 9 series. That’s not all bad; we really liked Google’s 2024 lineup. And it’s still possible Google could wow us with official info about aspects we haven’t seen in leaks, like software or battery life. Details about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold are still largely unknown, too, so we may yet be in for surprises there.

In any case, we’re expecting to hear more about the Pixel 10 series on August 20.