I’m cautiously optimistic about the upcomingGoogle Pixel 10 series. Although leaks suggest it will closely resemble thePixel 9in design, I hope Google is making meaningful under-the-hood upgrades to improve its Pixel lineup this year.
While the Pixel 9 series is a solid lineup, compared to theiPhone 16and otherAndroid flagship devices, it still lacks a few key features that I would like to see in Google’s next flagship.
Rumors suggest that the Pixel 10 may be announced at a Made by Google event on August 20, with a release on August 28 – just two months away – so the wait for Google’s next flagship is almost over. If the Pixel 10 includes these four features, I’ll be one of the first in line to get my hands on it this summer.
Google Pixel 9
Pixel 9 features a 6.3-inch display and a familiar design. It supports the addition of a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens to its rear camera array alongside Google Gemini and AI features.
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1Qi2 magnetic charging
Please Google, put magnets in the Pixel 10 series
Since Apple introducedMagSafeon the iPhone back in 2020, I’ve been a huge fan of it. It’s convenient for charging my phone at night, as I can quickly attach it to the charging stand before bed, and I know that when I wake up in the morning, it will be fully charged. While some of the latest flagship Android phones support Qi2 charging, like the Galaxy S25 series and the OnePlus 13, none of them have magnetic charging support (besides theHMD Skyline), which makes them less convenient to charge wirelessly since they don’t automatically lock onto a magnetic charger without the help of a case.
It’s rumored that the Pixel 10 series will haveQi2 magnetic charging support, but it’s unclear whether the phone itself will contain a magnet. Leaks suggest Google will launch its own set of “Pixelsnap” accessories with the Pixel 10 series, which will use magnets to attach the phone to different charging accessories. However, it’s possible the magnet may be in Pixelsnap cases, not in the Pixel 10 itself, which would be a huge disappointment. If the Google Pixel 10 series has built-in magnets for wireless charging, just like MagSafe, I would be much more inclined to pick up the phone.
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2Tele-macro support
Taking close-up shots would be so much easier
One of the leaks that made me very excited about the Pixel 10 series recently was the potential that the phones might includetele-macro support. This feature would allow the telephoto lens to capture extremely close-up macro images. Using a telephoto sensor for macrophotography has the benefit of a longer focus distance compared to ultra-wide lenses, making it easier to shoot close-up pictures from a greater distance.
The base Pixel 10 is rumored to get a telephoto lens for the first time, so I’m hopeful this leak about tele-macro support might actually happen. I take many macro shots daily, whether it’s outdoor pictures or shots of the latest tech, so if the Pixel 10 has tele-macro support (which the iPhone lacks), it would be a huge selling point for me.
If this Pixel 10 camera leak is true, I might be sold
Taking macro shots might be easier than ever on the Pixel 10 series.
3An Action Button
Google, please give me my own customizable button
While the design of the iPhone has stayed quite similar over the past few years, one of my favorite additions to the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 16 series is the inclusion of anAction Button. This button replaces the alert slider, is located on the left side of the phone above the volume controls, and is fully customizable. This means you can program the Action Button to do anything you want, like open the camera, turn on your flashlight, or launch a shortcut you’ve created – such as one forordering Starbucks. The Action Button can also be used to launch Visual Intelligence, which lets iPhone users learn about objects and places around them using AI and their camera.
Currently, not many Android phones have an Action Button. The Galaxy S25 series was launched without one, and the OnePlus 13 didn’t have one either. However, OnePlus recently fixed this by adding its version of the Action Button to theOnePlus 13s, called the Plus Key. If the Google Pixel 10 series adopts an Action Button, it would be the first major flagship Android phone in the US to do so, making the experience of using the phone much more personal, as it gives users the ability to customize a physical button to perform any function they want. If the Google Pixel 10 gets an Action Button, I would hit the ‘Add to Cart’ button much faster.
How I use the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action Button to simplify my life
The unique, highly customizable button is a dream for content capture and quickly accessing apps.
4Better battery life
I dream of a Pixel with a silicon-carbon battery
My final hope for the Pixel 10 is that it has a larger, more efficient battery. Google recently launched thePixel 9a, a mid-range phone with a 5,100mAh battery – the biggest on a Pixel device so far. This surpasses the standard Pixel 9, which has a 4,700mAh battery. Since Google has already included its largest battery yet in a mid-range device, I hope the Pixel 10 series will offer even longer battery life.
Additionally, leaks indicate that the Pixel 10 will be powered by Google’s Tensor G5 chipset, built on a new 3nm process from TSMC. This suggests the G5 could be more powerful and efficient, likely improving battery performance even without larger batteries. It would also be exciting if Google used silicon-carbon batteries in the Pixel 10 series, as these replace graphite with silicon-carbon, resulting in higher energy density, a longer lifespan, and faster charging. While I don’t think Google will significantly upgrade its batteries this year, I hope I’m wrong, and I would love to see the Pixel 10 series have some of the best batteries ever in a phone.
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