The Google Pixel 10 Pro May Have the Best Cellphone Show for Gaming

Google launched its newest Pixel 10 sequence, together with the usual mannequin and the extra highly effective Pixel 10 Pro, again in September, providing iterative {hardware} upgrades and new AI options. But for these of us who like to burn by means of our battery life enjoying video games on premium telephones, there’s one other concern: How is gaming on the Pixel 10 Pro?

As a flagship telephone with essentially the most highly effective specs Google has ever put right into a (nonfolding) telephone, the Pixel 10 Pro exceeds the baseline expectations for a $999 telephone. (As I write this, you’ll be able to buy a Pixel 10 Pro for $799 — $200 off.) It has a pointy OLED show and high-performance specs, so it has little bother enjoying the newest video games. 

But a few of Google’s {hardware} decisions make the Pixel 10 Pro restricted in ways in which the OnePlus 15 and iPhone 17 Pro should not — specifically, in storage and charging. Google’s telephone additionally has lots to stay as much as with its gaming capabilities, as earlier Pixel telephones have not been identified for his or her processing energy and graphics rendering, often scoring decrease on efficiency benchmarks than Apple’s and OnePlus’ flagship telephones, which pack a number of the strongest processors out there at the moment. Ultimately, the Pixel 10 Pro is not fairly the very best decide for gaming among the many finest telephones you should purchase at the moment. 

Yet there are a couple of methods the telephone shines as shiny as — if not actually brighter — than the perfect Android telephones and that iPhones. Its gaming aptitude provides worth to an already highly effective telephone with standout picture and AI capabilities.

How it feels to play video games on the Pixel 10 Pro

On a primary degree, the Pixel 10 Pro is nice for firing up video games and enjoying to your coronary heart’s content material. Its design is simple to carry, with flat metallic sides and curved corners that match my fingers properly once I rotate the telephone horizontally to play most video games. When I need extra analog management with buttons and triggers, the handset slides in securely to my Backbone One exterior controller. 

Games on the Pixel 10 Pro are a sight to behold. Its 6.3-inch OLED show exhibits sharp particulars with its 2,856×1,280-pixel decision, and colours are vivid with its HDR10 Plus assist. Action is easy with the display screen’s 120Hz refresh price, whether or not in slower platformers or fast-moving first-person shooters like Call of Duty: Mobile. 

Best of all, its 3,300-nit most brightness makes the display screen simply seen in full daylight and practically lights up a room in full darkness. This makes hues actually pop in vibrant video games like Dead Cells — it is a true leg up over different smartphones with screens that do not get as shiny. The newest premium telephones have gotten equally shiny (the iPhone 17 Pro Max tops out at 3,000 nits), however even telephones a 12 months or two older are considerably dimmer, with my private iPhone 15 Pro Max reaching as much as 2,000 nits brightness. 

The Pixel 10 Pro’s Tensor G5 chip could not have topped our charts in benchmark checks, falling extra in keeping with efficiency from 2024’s flagships, but it surely’s a lot highly effective sufficient to run the video games I examined on it. The telephone’s 16GB of RAM contributes to that smoothness: I cranked Genshin Impact as much as its most graphics settings, and regardless of a warning that my telephone would possibly overheat (I did not discover it get that a lot hotter), it dealt with 60 frames per second gameplay simply positive. 

The telephone’s different capabilities have been positive for gaming, together with serviceable audio system and a decent battery life. The latter shocked me, as older Pixel telephones appeared much less environment friendly and drained quicker than competing premium handsets — and certainly, the Pixel 10 Pro ranks beneath the highest 10 telephones with the perfect battery life launched final 12 months, in response to our prolonged battery checks of 2025 telephones. While enjoying video games, the battery did not drain notably rapidly, shedding round 2% for every 4-5 minute match in Call of Duty: Mobile.

The Pixel 10 Pro’s gaming challenges, and the place it sits for us

The Pixel 10 Pro’s greatest gaming flaw is its storage. It’s fairly stunning to see it begin at $1,000 but solely pack 128GB, whereas most different premium telephones have bumped their beginning storage as much as 256GB for the very same beginning worth. 

When some cell video games will be 50GB or extra, it is a paltry quantity, which shrinks rapidly for individuals who take quite a lot of pictures and movies at excessive resolutions. As I used to be loading up video games on my Pixel 10 Pro, I used to be shocked that I had run out of house to obtain graphical extras in Call of Duty: Mobile and needed to go delete some movies I’d taken.

A lesser subject lies in preserving the telephone charged up. The Pixel 10 Pro’s battery will get first rate however not spectacular life, with a 4,870-mAh capability that is surpassed by lots of its premium rivals, particularly the 7,300-mAh OnePlus 15. 

But topping off Google’s flagship telephone takes time, because it has a most 30-watt wired charging pace or 15-watt wi-fi charging. That seemingly means it will take over an hour to get it again to full from 0%, which takes lots longer than a number of the faster-charging telephones on the market, just like the OnePlus 15, which went from 1% to 73% in half an hour because of its 80-watt wired cost price. Compare that to the Pixel 10 Pro, which added 44% in the identical period of time.

Read extra: The OnePlus 15 Is One of the Best Mainstream Phones for Gamers

Unlike another premium telephones, the Pixel 10 Pro does have its personal MagSafe-like magnets aligned in a circle on its rear cowl, known as Pixelsnap, which is handy for wi-fi charging, even when it is sluggish. Google telephone followers can get quicker charging with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which helps 45-watt wired and 25-watt wi-fi charging, although they will need to pay extra for the larger telephone. 

Neither of those points are big setbacks that impede the Pixel 10 Pro’s gaming functionality — there’s simply nothing in its options that make it stand out above different premium telephones, apart from its shiny and vivid show. That’s not stunning, as Google’s telephone excels in nongaming facets, together with AI picture options like Auto Best Take and Camera Coach. 

If you are a Pixel fan who additionally performs video games, you may get pleasure from firing them up on the Pixel 10 Pro, which is an efficient all-around machine. For those that need a telephone with options which can be particularly higher for gaming, there are different handsets that’ll fulfill, just like the OnePlus 15.