The Pixel 10 Pro XL is a fantastic phone, it just wasn’t made for me

After the unboxing and the initial excitement of a new flagship Pixel 10 review period, I’ve now spent about a week with the Pixel 10 Pro XL as my primary device. And in that time, I’ve come to a strange and unexpected conclusion: I don’t think these phones from Google are made for people like me at all.

Let me be clear: this isn’t because the Pixel 10 Pro XL is a bad phone. In fact, in many ways, it’s absolutely fantastic. The hardware is gorgeous and well-built, the new Android 16 UI is lively and fun to use, and the camera is, as always, effortlessly impressive. But after a week, I’ve found myself carrying two phones, and a return to my nearly two-year-old Galaxy Z Fold 5 feels inevitable at this point. The reason is simple: the things the Pixel is now built to excel at are no longer the things I prioritize most in a phone.

Where the disconnect starts

My main point of contention, and the issue that has driven me to carry a second device around the past few days, comes down to the disappointing GPU performance in the new Tensor G5 and lack of a true gaming mode in Google’s version of Android. For my daily workflow, I’m not a heavy, hours-long gamer, but I do hop into a few games a few times each day.

Games I play regularly, like PUBG Mobile and Fortnite, flat-out struggle at times on this brand-new flagship. In Call of Duty: Mobile, the phone forces me to turn down the graphics settings, while my 2+ year old Galaxy Z Fold 5 can still max everything out with ease. On top of the raw performance issues, simple quality-of-life features are missing, like the game mode’s inability to simply keep my screen brightness up while I’m playing. For a device in this price range, it’s a bit frustrating.

A different set of priorities: AI vs. Performance

This all ties back to the bigger picture we saw at the launch event. Google is all-in on AI. The celebrity-filled launch event was clearly aimed towards general phone users and the magic of on-device Gemini. And while that’s an exciting direction, it’s not how I primarily rely on my phone day-to-day at this point.

When I want to interact with an AI, I tend to go directly to the source with the Gemini app or the Gemini web interface. The in-flow, ambient AI features that Google is so excited about just aren’t yet a major part of my routine. The features that Google is prioritizing most are the ones I personally find the least value in, while the area I care about—raw gaming and CPU/GPU performance—has clearly taken a back seat.

The general feeling I’m left with is that Pixel phones are now very blatantly being made for the majority, and that’s probably a smart business move. They are for people who want an amazing point-and-shoot camera and a helpful AI assistant to do general phone stuff with. But for tech-savvy users like myself (and perhaps those of you reading this), who still tend towards wanting superior processing and GPU power out of their devices, it feels like we are very clearly no longer the target audience.