Google Pixel 10 series review

Disclaimer: opinions are my own.

I'm using the Pixel Fold at the moment, and it's the best phone I've used to date. It's something I didn't know I want until I have it.

Quick review:

- The phone construction feels good on hand and in the pocket. The screen is beautiful.

- When folded, functionality-wise it's like previous Pixel (beside looking better with the metal edge). I spent about 75% of my phone time in this mode. Also no notch!

- When unfolded, you have access to much more screen real estate. I didn't realize how this dramatically improve reading documents / browsing the web. Things that were unusable (like opening Google Sheet) is now much more comfortable. You can also do split screen, where you keep 2 apps on at the same time (todo list + message)

- The weight feels solid. The fold mechanism is solid. Battery ~50% per day with no battery saving. Camera is good as usual.

Software:

- I've mentioned before on HN, the Spam Screening feature singlehanded keeps me in the Pixel ecosystem. No spam call at all.

- Android Auto is solid

- Gemini is a gentle surprise, especially with how it's easy to interact with the "current phone screen".

Review caveats:

- I don't game on the phone or any CPU intensive tasks. It's plenty fast for me so far.

- I don't use the speaker (only use bluetooth headphones)

What’s special about spam screening on Pixel? I don’t get any spam calls or texts on my iPhone.

Depending on the information Google knows about the incoming phone call:

- If Google is confident the source is spam (e.g. known spam center). The call is blocked outright. It still has a log that a call from this has been blocked.

- If it only suspects spam, Google will answer the call using AI bot, something like "Hi, I'm Google Assistant on behalf of XYZ, what's the call for?". The phone shows that it's screening a phone call, but doesn't ring. Only after the caller gives the reason, and it passes the spam check, then it rings the phone. You can always pick up the call early if you recognize what they talks about (from the transcript)

- If it's known good source (contact list, doctors,...), then it rings directly.

So far, the rate of spam I got is 0, and it screens about 20 calls a month.

Just for those reading, Nomo Max on iOS replicates this feature.

This feature is a part of iOS 26 by default. No third-party app needed and it uses Apple’s rich data set on the backend.

Settings -> Apps -> Phone -> Screen unknown callers