Google’s Pixel 10 Pushes Smartphones Into the AI-First Era. Can Apple Catch Up?

Google’s Pixel 10 offers the clearest glimpse yet of what the AI-first generation of devices could look like.

Launched at a live-streamed Made by Google event, the company unveiled four new devices — the standard Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, XL and a new foldable model — each packed with Gemini-powered capabilities. Features like Magic Cue, Circle to Search and Camera Coach position the Pixel as less of a phone and more of an intelligence collaborator. And PixelSnap, its new magnetic wireless charger, worked surprisingly well with Apple’s MagSafe ecosystem. The event had plenty of flash — including late night talkshow host Jimmy Fallon yelling “tensor chip” every five minutes — but beneath the spectacle was a clear message: The smartphone is entering a new era.

And the timing couldn’t be more significant. With the iPhone 17 set to debut next week, we’re all wondering how Apple will respond. The competition is no longer about who has the best camera or the fastest charging time, it’s about who can weave artificial intelligence best into the devices we use every day. 

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What To Know About the Pixel 10

The Pixel 10 is Google’s first smartphone built entirely around artificial intelligence. Instead of treating AI as a background tool or software upgrade, it runs Gemini, the company’s large language model, directly on the phone. This makes its AI-driven features feel less like an add-on and more like a core part of daily use. Users can hold natural, spoken conversations with Gemini Live, perform instant visual searches by tracing objects on-screen and receive context-aware suggestions across messaging, email and apps.

These are some of its key AI features:

• Gemini Live with visual overlays: Uses your camera to provide real-time guidance and context, showing helpful information directly on what you’re looking at.
• Magic Cue: Systemwide AI integration that offers proactive suggestions and shortcuts across apps.
• Circle to Search: Lets users draw a circle on the screen to instantly search for objects, text or images with Google AI.
• Camera AI tools: Features like Camera Coach, Auto Best Take and Face Unblur that use AI to enhance photos and video automatically.
• Voice Translate: Lets you speak naturally in one language while the other person on the receiving end hears an immediate, spoken translation in their language during live, multilingual conversations.
• Pixel Journal: An AI-powered personal record that summarizes on-device — including calls, messages, emails and app usage — as a daily activity log.
• Pixel Screenshots: Automatically annotates saved screenshots, making them searchable by text, date or content.
   

At the heart of the Pixel 10 is the new Tensor G5 processor, a chip custom-built to handle AI workloads efficiently while improving speed and security. That hardware supports a familiar but polished design: a slim, 6.3-inch OLED display wrapped in a lightweight aluminum band and durable, scratch-resistant glass. The camera system continues Google’s tradition of computational photography, offering a 48MP main sensor, a 13MP ultrawide lens and a 5x telephoto zoom that works in tandem with Google’s AI-powered editing suite.

The Pixel 10’s battery life is rated at over 24 hours under standard use, with an “extreme battery saver” mode that’s capable of stretching usage up to 100 hours. Charging is faster too, with its 30W USB-C charger that can restore half life in about 30 minutes. 

Priced at a hefty $799, the Pixel 10 is more than a yearly spec bump — it’s Google’s clearest attempt to define what a smartphone built for the AI era should look like. The company is also positioning it as a long-term device, promising seven years of Android updates and security patches. This signals a shift where software intelligence, not just hardware, defines the user experience.

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Pixel 10 vs. iPhone 16

Here’s a closer look at how Google’s Pixel 10 and Apple’s iPhone 16 go head-to-head across hardware chips, performance, camera optics, ecosystem integration and user experience. 

Tensor G5 vs. A18 Pro

The Pixel 10 and iPhone 16 each have a chip that defines how AI works on the device, but they take very different approaches. Google’s Tensor G5 is designed to run AI throughout the phone without constantly relying on the cloud. Apple’s A18 Pro also handles AI quickly, but its intelligence is mostly confined to individual apps rather than shaping the system as a whole.

Both chips have neural engines for accelerating machine learning, but Google emphasizes deep integration across the operating system, while Apple balances AI with speed, graphics and general performance. The Tensor G5 focuses on energy efficiency during heavy AI tasks, whereas the A18 Pro prioritizes fast and smooth multitasking alongside AI features. 

In practice, all of this means the Pixel 10’s intelligence feels like it’s everywhere, guiding interactions and suggestions across apps, while the iPhone 16 delivers AI in more targeted ways, enhancing specific tasks and media experiences. 

Performance Benchmarks

Benchmark tests indicate that Apple's A18 Pro chip outperforms Google’s Tensor G5 in terms of raw performance. 

Looking at overall performance, the A18 Pro scored 1,790,331 points in AnTuTu benchmarks conducted by Beebom, surpassing the Tensor G5’s 1,291,252 points by approximately 38 percent. Similarly, in Geekbench 6 tests, which measure CPU and GPU performance, the A18 Pro scored nearly one and a half times higher than the Tensor G5 in both single-core and multi-core processing. But raw processing power doesn’t necessarily mean “better” or more useful AI, given its integrative nature.

Camera

The Pixel 10 and iPhone 16 both use AI to enhance photos, but in fundamentally different ways. 

The Pixel 10 treats AI as the driving force behind every shot. Its rectangular camera module powers features like Camera Coach, Face Unblur and Auto Best Take, which automatically captures multiple shots and selects the clearest, best-composed image of the set. These tools automatically adjust for lighting, composition and motion in real time, making AI an integral part of the photo-taking process. 

With its triangular camera array of wide, ultrawide and telephoto lenses, the iPhone 16 takes a different approach. Its Photonic Engine processes raw sensor data early, improving low-light performance, color accuracy and detail. So instead of constant AI intervention, Apple leans on traditional photography principles, subtly enhancing images with Smart HDR, editing tools and predictive adjustments programmed to favor colors and textures true to life.

Ecosystem Integration

The Pixel 10 leans heavily on Google’s ecosystem — Gmail, Workspace, Google Photos and newly introduced AI features like Pixel Journal and Voice Translate — creating a seamless experience across. Conversely, the iPhone 16 emphasizes continuity across all Apple products, automatically linking a user’s iOS, macOS, iPadOS and Vision Pro devices. While Apple’s AI is tightly controlled and integrated, it is designed to enhance familiar workflows rather than redefine them.

User Experience

The Pixel 10 has only been out for a few days, but it has already racked up several positive reviews. Ultimately, the comparison between it and the iPhone 16 comes down to philosophy.  

Google positions the Pixel 10 as a forward-thinking device, where AI defines daily interactions at nearly every touchpoint — texting, taking photos, writing emails, navigating. Apple, on the other hand, focuses on applying AI to specific tasks without making the AI itself the centerpiece of the experience. 

From a user perspective, the Pixel 10 provides a more AI-native experience that’s indicative of where smartphones are likely going, whereas the iPhone 16 is more familiar, with only subtle  enhancements with AI running in the background. While Apple’s intention is to prioritize reliability, privacy and continuity, it can also feel a bit underwhelming or even outdated. After all, the iPhone 16 came out a year ago — basically a lifetime in the fast-moving AI world — and it remains to be seen whether Apple will take a bolder leap into the AI era with the iPhone 17.

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The AI Question: Is Apple Falling Behind?

So far, Apple has taken a relatively cautious approach to artificial intelligence — and some say that’s  the right call. While competitors like Google and Meta have aggressively charged ahead, embedding AI into every product, Apple has moved more deliberately, focusing on reliability, privacy and integration within its existing ecosystem. Its goal seems to be to dominate the market on its own terms, rather than just being first. Apple is also 

But recent announcements suggest that Apple may be looking to outsource its AI development — a move that could be read as a concession, at least at this stage. The company is reportedly  in talks with Google to potentially use its Gemini models in a major Siri redesign, which could launch as early as next year. It is also considering partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT), sidelining the development of its own AI model to accelerate its overall AI strategy.

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