New year, new gear! And although we’re kickstarting this year with CES in Vegas, why not indulge in some wishful thinking to imagine what tech later this year might look like? From folding iPhones to Samsung VR headsets, we’ve got our rumors and leaks locked and loaded, but adding to that is this new Pixel 10 Pro concept from 4RMD. With an absolutely new vertical bar design, the Pixel 10 Pro looks different but still well-rooted within Google’s product family. It has a bigger screen, smaller bezels, a better camera, and the new Tensor G5 chip.
Up until this time last year, I was an Android diehard. I loved Google’s phones, but after a major flip-flop on tech and them abandoning some promising products like the Chromebook and Stadia, I decided to take the iPhone route. However, the Nexus 5 and Pixel 2 were easily my favorite daily drivers. The Pixel, some would say, didn’t come into its own until the Pixel 6. That horizontal camera bar, the Tensor chip, these are what defined Google’s Pixel lineup – something that’s due for a change after all these years.
Designer: 4RMD
Just outwardly, there’s one very visible change that dominates the Pixel 10 Pro – that camera layout. Google pioneered the horizontal camera belt with the original Nexus 6P, and then the Pixel series starting with the Pixel 6. Personally, I like this vertical layout objectively (it reminds me of the OnePlus 8 Pro I used before switching to the iPhone) but just as a design evolution, I don’t think it’s necessarily better than the horizontal camera bar.
The vertical camera layout presents two distinct problems – aside from the camera wobble when kept flat on a table, the long camera bar also very clearly cuts into the phone’s wireless charging zone, interfering with not just charging but also the ability to attach Qi2 accessories – which I’m sure Google will try to implement with the Pixel 10 Pro. However, given that leaks show the iPhone 17 moving to a horizontal camera bar, this design refresh may be an opportune moment for Google.
Overall, the phone is slick, comes with larger 6.9″ and 6.4″ displays (matching the iPhone 16), and is available across multiple color variants. The bezels are thinner, the hole-punch camera smaller, and the display boasts 4000 nits of brightness while being covered by a GorillaGlass Victus 2 protective glass panel.
The camera layout sees some major upgrades – the concept comes equipped with three powerful 64MP shooters. A wide-angle, an ultrawide, and a telephoto all combine to help you master computational photography while the Tensor G5 chip works hard to make every photo look great. The Pro line also has that temperature sensor beside the flash – something that Pixel 9 Pro users still haven’t really explored to its full potential.
Other features include a larger 5,300mAh battery (outshining even the Pixel Fold 2’s 5,000mAh battery). Paired with the Tensor chip’s battery optimization skills, you could possibly pull nearly 2 days of moderate use on a full charge – something that not many flagship phones can boast of. The USB-C port provides 45W of fast charging, going beyond the 37W limit on the Pixel 9 Pro.
We’re still months away from Google dropping the Pixel 10 series, so a lot of this is pure conjecture at this point. The Pixel 9a is slated to debut in mid-March, while the series 10 usually drops in September, a month after Google’s I/O event. Let’s see what Google has in store for this year. Hopefully, the company makes some meaningful design upgrades to their phones beyond the run-of-the-mill AI integration that often promises the world but usually doesn’t deliver.
