Google Pixel 10 vs Pixel 9: What’s New and What’s Not

Google has launched the Pixel 10 series in India with the new Tensor G5 chipset and Android 16. The Pixel 10 replaces the Pixel 9 from last year to become the company’s most budget-friendly flagship. But how much has changed? Let’s take a look.

Display and Brightness

Both Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 have a 6.3-inch OLED Actua display with FHD+ resolution.
Same display as before, with refresh rates between 60Hz to 120Hz to help with smooth scrolling or gaming.

Google has kept the durability of its models by continuing to use Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection.
The major difference is in brightness, Pixel 10 sees peak brightness of 3000 nits and 2000 nits in HBM mode.
Compared with Pixel 9 which had peak brightness of 2700 nits, and 1800 nits in HBM mode.

Battery and Charging

Google has done a good job in improving the battery capacity on Pixel 10. A larger capacity battery of 4970mAh on Pixel 10, compared to the 4700mAh on Pixel 9.
Charging speeds have improved slightly, with Pixel 10 allowing for 30W wired charging as compared to the 27W wired charging on Pixel 9.
Both Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 can achieve wired charging up to 15W wireless charging.
Pixel 10 has Qi2 wireless charging, which ensures better efficiency using compatible Qi2 devices.

Camera Upgrades

The Pixel 10 offers a mixed bag of camera changes. It’s packed with a 48MP primary sensor and a 13MP ultra-wide sensor. The Pixel 9 had a 50MP primary camera and a 48MP ultra-wide camera. The front camera and video camera on both is 10.5MP with Auto focus for selfie and video call. The advantage to the Pixel 10 is the new 10.8MP telephoto camera and 5x optical zoom. This telephoto sensor is comparable to the telephoto camera used in the Pixel 10 Pro.

Performance and Software

The Pixel 10 is powered by Google’s new Tensor G5 chipset. This new processor is not as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Elite or the Apple A18 but still boasts decent performance. Google has claimed the G5 delivers 34% more CPU performance and 60% more TPU performance than the Tensor G4.

The Pixel 9 used the older Tensor G4 chip. The software side is better on the Pixel 10 because the Pixel 9 launched with Android 14 and the Pixel 10 launched with Android 16. Both devices offer seven years of OS and Security updates.