Pixel 10 Pro XL vs Pixel 8 Pro: Similar but different
Should you upgrade if you already have the Pixel 8 Pro ? Is the new Pixel 10 Pro XL better in every way? Is there a case to be made for getting the Pixel 8 Pro ? We're going to answer these questions in the next paragraphs.
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL vs Google Pixel 8 Pro expected differences: *rumored
Table of Contents:
Design
Display
Performance
Camera
Battery
Specs
Summary The Pixel 8 series marks the last generation of curved Pixels with the Camera Bar design on the back. The Pixel 8 Pro in particular was the big boy in the family before Google decided to shrink the regular Pro and give us an XL model in the following year.
Well, now we're two generations into this new design, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL is flat and boxy, with a camera housing that doesn't span side-to-side, unlike the one on the Pixel 8 Pro . It's a different beast, and design-wise things are pretty subjective, so we won't be passing a judgement on that.
In terms of size and weight, these two phones are pretty close. We're talking about fractions of a millimeter here and there and a couple of grams of weight difference. In the hand, though, the Pixel 8 Pro feels more comfortable thanks to its slightly curved back. *rumored
The building blocks of a modern smartphone have been largely the same in the past couple of years, and these two Pixels are no exception. We have the same glass and metal sandwich, consisting of an aluminum frame and tempered glass on the front and back.
*rumored
According to the latest info, the protection on the Pixel 10 Pro XL will be the same as the one found on the 8 Pro: Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and an IP68 water and dust rating. In terms of colors, Google is offering some new shades with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, but the usual Black and White color options are also there, albeit under different names. Display Differences Bigger, brighter
After companies stopped trying to cram more and more pixels into smartphone screens, now we have another arms race—brightness. The Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel phones in general have always been at the top of the brightness charts, but there's a generational gap here.
The Pixel 8 Pro offers 2400 nits of peak brightness on paper (we measured 1449 at 100% APL), while the successor promises to be much brighter. The screen size on the Pixel 8 Pro lands at 6.7 inches, and the resolution is 1344 x 2992, resulting in 489 PPI pixel density.
*rumored
The Pixel 10 Pro XL, on the other hand, is expected to get a slightly bigger, 6.8-inch OLED. Along with the size difference, there's a potential difference in peak brightness. The cited brightness for the new Pixel 10 Pro XL is 3200 nits, but we have to test this in our lab to give you some hard, real-life numbers. A big hardware shift is coming with the Pixel 10 series. The next-generation in-house developed Tensor G5 chip will be manufactured by TSMC. Google has decided to switch the maker and the architecture, hoping for significant gains in performance and efficiency.
The Pixel 8 Pro , on the other hand, relies on the Tensor G3, a chip made in Samsung's foundries and based on the Exynos architecture. It's not the fastest out there, nor the most energy efficient (1720 and 4268 points in Geekbench 6's single- and multi-core tests, respectively), so the Pixel 10 Pro XL should have an advantage here.
In terms of RAM, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is expected to get 16GB of LPDDR5 and start at 256GB of onboard storage. The Pixel 8 Pro , on the other hand, comes with 12GB of RAM, and the base storage option is 128GB. No microSD card slot on either of those two. We know that AI and other post-processing algorithms do most of the heavy lifting in modern smartphone photography, and that's why we're not concerned about the camera situation of the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
On paper, the hardware looks identical to the one used two generations back, but first, we still don't know the exact specs, such as the sensor size, pixel size, aperture, etc. And second, Google is making big gains with the said AI features, especially in photography. *rumored
So, even though the hardware might look the same, we expect a significant difference in photo and video quality in favor of the Pixel 10 Pro XL. Of course, we will include side-by-side comparison samples here, once we lay our hands on the new Pixel devices.
Even though the size and weight are very similar on both phones, we expect an upgrade in battery capacity on the Pixel 10 Pro XL. The two-generation old Pixel 8 Pro features a 5,000 mAh battery, and it managed to score 7h 3m in our battery test, ranking 66th among phones tested in the past 2 years.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL is expected to get a 5,200 mAh cell, which, coupled with the new efficient Tensor G5, should result in better battery life compared to the Pixel 8 Pro . The same goes for the charging—the Pixel 10 Pro XL might offer faster wired and wireless charging; the rumors point toward 39W wired charging, 23W wireless with the proprietary Pixel Stand, and support for the Qi2 wireless standard, which tops out at 15W of power.
The Pixel 8 Pro relies on 30W wired charging, and the wireless can do 23W with the Pixel Stand, but there's no Qi2 support. The difference isn't huge, and given the bigger battery expected on the Pixel 10 Pro XL, charging times should be close.
We have to test both of these to give you a detailed breakdown, so stay tuned for that.
Also read:
*rumored specs Things look quite clear even at this early stage. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is shaping up to be a pretty decent upgrade, especially compared to the two-generation-old Pixel 8 Pro . The upcoming flagship will get a bigger and brighter screen, more RAM, a better chipset, and also a bigger battery with faster charging.
There's a case to be made for keeping the Pixel 8 Pro if you already own one. The differences, albeit there, aren't that huge, and with Google supporting the Pixel 8 Pro for seven long years, there's a lot of life left in this model.
Stay tuned for benchmarks, tests, and camera samples, as well as our final verdict, once we finish the review of the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
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