I thought I’d hate these Pixel 10 features, but Google proved me wrong

If I’m trustworthy, Google made me somewhat nervous when it launched the Pixel 10 sequence. Not as a result of I assumed it was about to wreck the issues I really like about its flagships, however as a result of it appeared like Google was beginning to run out of concepts for intelligent software program options. All the things it hung its hat on, from Magic Cue to the Each day Hub, appeared like a cautious copy of another person’s thought, and it took a number of the wind out of my sails.

I ought to have identified higher. Sure, the Pixel 10 sequence does have a well-known function or two from a few of its closest Android rivals, however they’re hardly low-cost clones. At this price, I feel Google copying options from Samsung, OnePlus, and Motorola ought to put everybody else on discover.

Google’s copying options ought to make everybody else nervous as a result of Google will take the most effective that different corporations have and do it higher. It’s so simple as that. I didn’t suppose it could — I figured OnePlus’s Open Canvas would nonetheless be the most effective of its sort, and Motorola’s Subsequent Transfer would keep essentially the most dependable AI information — however I used to be improper. Google has already closed the hole on each options, and I can solely anticipate upcoming Pixel Drops to clean issues out additional.

Nicely, Magic Cue isn’t exactly the identical as Subsequent Transfer, however I might argue that it takes the identical thought and improves on it. Motorola developed its function to information you into the AI options you may want, like making a playlist or producing a picture. Magic Cue, alternatively, makes use of Gemini to select the data you may want at a given time, like the situation for a dinner reservation or the arrival time of a flight. It’s nonetheless utilizing AI to make life simpler, however not in a manner that it desires to push an Amazon Music playlist on you.

Granted, we’ve had somewhat hassle getting Magic Cue to set off in our earliest days with the Pixel 10 sequence. We’ll undergo spells the place it appears to know precisely what info to counsel, adopted by a day or two the place Magic Cue is about as attentive as a buddy who’s half listening.

I’d put Google’s 100x Professional Res Zoom in that very same class of midway higher proper now, too. Google was very open about making use of a distinct AI mannequin to pictures of individuals while you punch all the best way in, which is a well mannered option to say they appear terrible. And but, when it handles larger shapes like buildings, boats, and the heavy equipment that dots Baltimore’s harbor, the ultimate photographs are sometimes higher than Samsung’s long-range processing.

On that very same Samsung-based thread, I actually wasn’t positive how I’d really feel about Google’s Each day Hub at first. I imply, it appears and feels lots like Samsung’s Now Transient, which… underwhelmed to say the least. I by no means felt like I received nice suggestions for information articles or playlists from Samsung, so I didn’t anticipate a lot from Google. For essentially the most half, I feel my warning was justified. I feel the Each day Hub does higher with upcoming appointments, climate, and issues I would need to analysis with Gemini, however its really useful YouTube movies are somewhat too unpredictable.

After all, I used to be apprehensive about Google’s copying and satisfied myself it was an issue as a result of it appeared like Google is perhaps working out of concepts. I’ve spent a number of years anticipating Google to be the chief relating to intelligent software program options, so I began to bias myself towards the concept of repurposing options from Samsung, Motorola, and others. I nonetheless suppose I’m not less than partly appropriate — there aren’t as many brand-new Pixel exclusives this 12 months — however I’ve actually come round to love the wrinkles Google has provide you with.

To start with, I like to consider myself as a reasonably respectable photographer. I’m extra comfy with a mirrorless digital camera, however I do know my manner round a smartphone setup, too. Google’s Digicam Coach, nonetheless, makes me really feel like I’ve fairly a bit to study. It’s easy sufficient to faucet into, but it provides me a number of strategies for framing a picture and utilizing a number of the Pixel 10’s extra superior digital camera options. I’ve began pondering of it as a photographic cookbook, giving me digital camera recipes that I can simply replicate in my day by day life.

Then, there’s the Pixel Journal — a brand new Pixel function that I’m possibly rather less bought on. I want my day by day ideas written someplace secure, like on paper, the place they don’t should be backed up, however I like what Google goes for. I recognize that it’s utilizing Gemini to assist customers create prompts that they’ll flesh out with their ideas, and I like that the interface is clear and free from distractions.

That stated, I don’t know if I really like the considered feeding Gemini my most private ideas. I do know Google says Pixel Journal is all about privateness, and I need to consider it, however I nonetheless don’t suppose I really like the concept of Gemini being inside my head — particularly if Pixel Journal finally ends up being a short-lived function. There’s all the time the possibility that Google places it on the scrap heap, wherein case I’ll have given my deepest ideas to an AI mannequin that now not wants them.

However that’s a stage of hypothesis I don’t want proper now, as a result of I’m far too wrapped up in the remainder of what the Pixel 10 has to supply. If I’ve to reside with one or two misses from Google surrounded by hits impressed by its closest rivals, I feel I can handle that. In any case, I determine that Google will repair a few of its quirks lengthy earlier than I get a Galaxy S26 in my hand.