News Weekly
News Weekly is our column where we highlight and summarize some of the week’s top stories so you can catch up on the latest tech news.
This is Android Central’s News Weekly, your go-to source for a concise roundup of the week’s most significant tech stories. This is where we delve into the top headlines that provide the latest developments and innovations contributing to the digital landscape.
This week, we’re heavily focusing on Made by Google and its aftermath with Google launching its new flagship Pixel 10 series, the tech giant solving a major OLED display issue, we break down why only the Pixel 10 Pro XL supports 25 W charging, Google sneakily shows off its next smart speaker, and folks aren’t having it with Google Photos‘ new UI. Let’s get into it.
Here comes the Pixel 10 series
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The Pixel 10 series maintains a familiar design with a distinctive camera bar, but introduces significant upgrades under the hood. All three models—the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL—are powered by the new Tensor G5 processor and Titan M2 security coprocessor.
They finally include native Qi2 wireless charging, and boast a battery life of over 30 hours, with up to 100 hours in Extreme Battery Saver mode. On the software side, they launch with Android 16 and will receive seven years of updates, while on-device AI is enhanced by Gemini Nano, which powers new features like “Camera Coach” and “Night Sight” to assist users with photography and more.
Pixel 10:
Google finally added a third lens to the base Pixel 10’s rear camera array, on par with the rest of the lineup.
The base model Pixel 10 gets the same 6.3-inch display, which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and a polished rear panel with a satin finish, also made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The frame of the device is made from spacecraft-grade aluminum.
As for the battery, the phone sees a larger 4,970 mAh battery with faster charging. Pixel 10 gets a new metallic-looking Indigo color, as well as Frost, Lemongrass, and Obsidian, and gets a price tag starting at $799.
Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL:
The Pixel 10 Pro features a 6.3-inch display, while the larger Pixel 10 Pro XL gets a 6.8-inch display, both of which are brighter. They also feature larger batteries and new AI features powered by the Tensor G5.
The rear camera pill on both phones consists of the same 50 MP wide, 48 MP ultrawide, and another 48 MP 5x telephoto lens, complete with a 42MP front camera for your selfies and video calls, similar to its predecessors.
There’s not much difference between these two phones aside from one being larger and featuring a bigger battery.
Both the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL are available for pre-orders starting today (Aug 20) for $999 and $1,199, respectively.
Pixel 10 Pro Fold:
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold arrives as the world’s first IP68 dust and water-resistant foldable phone, thanks to its more durable “gearless” hinge. Plus, it’s the first foldable to pack Qi2 charging!
Speaking of the display, the fold gets a large 8-inch Super ActuaFlex inner display and a 6.4-inch cover display with much thinner bezels compared to its predecessor.
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold features a squared triple camera array on its rear panel, with a 48MP primary (wide) camera, a 10.5MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10.8MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and Super Res Zoom up to 20x. The cover display’s camera is 10MP, the same as the inner display’s lens.
Also, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, unlike the rest of the lineup, gets a physical SIM slot. Google states users still have its physical SIM, as well as an eSIM option. The device shows up in two new colorways: Moonstone and Jade, and is priced at $1,799.
Google finally tackles a major OLED display issue
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Google seems to have finally begun to address the OLED display’s biggest problem, aka PWM dimming. Lower frequency dimming (like the 240Hz on the base Pixel 10 and previous models) is more noticeable to people with sensitive eyes and can cause mild to severe discomfort, leading to headaches.
This year, the tech giant has taken matters into its hands and added a new accessibility setting called “Adjust brightness for sensitive eyes” on Google Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL devices. AC’s Senior Editor Nick Sutrich got to check out this feature in action during his content capture at Google.
It is important to note that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold also features the setting only for the inner display, since its outer display is just like the base Pixel 10, which doesn’t support the new “sensitive eyes” feature.
Google snuck its upcoming smart speaker during Made by Google
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and hereBlink, and you missed it! The bit during Google’s Pixel launch yesterday when we got to see a quick sneak at an unannounced mysterious smart speaker that showed up in the Gemini Home demo.
During Lando Norris’ cameo, a smaller speaker-like object was placed on the table next to him, which looked almost like a squished sphere with a bright Gemini ring light beneath it, which illuminates blue and purple when the AI is speaking.
While we were thinking this might be an early iteration of Google’s Nest Mini, a new leak spills a little more information about Google’s smart home device.
The speaker will allegedly feature Gemini Live so that users can have intuitive conversations with it and will also be able to sense unusual activity in your home, like “the sound of glass breaking during a break in or your smoke alarm going off, and it can send an alert to your phone or tablet to let you know.”
Pixel 10 Pro XL’s charging advantage explained
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Google seems to be playing favorites when it comes to granting charging speeds for its models. Only the Pixel 10 Pro XL supports up to 25W faster wireless charging (Qi2.2), while its smaller siblings, the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro, support only up to 15W wireless charging (Qi2), and there’s a good reason why.
During the Pixel 10 series showcase, a Google spokesperson explained that Google took this decision due to several factors. “One of the biggest challenges with wireless charging is managing heat. Wireless charging can heat devices significantly, which can in turn harm the battery, wearing it down faster (or in rare cases even catching fire).
Some Pixel 6a models have also been catching fire while charging, which could explain Google taking an extra cautious approach.
Google Photo’s new editing UI woes
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Google has rolled out a new photo editing UI, and it seems like not many users are happy about it. One of them took to the Google Pixel subreddit to post an in-depth review of the latest Photos app editor UI changes.
They claim the new photo editor is “unusable” and even “less functional” when compared to the app’s previous design. Some of the other complaints were that the “display image” during photo editing was considerably smaller, and made the UI look “cluttered.”
Furthermore, the community pointed out that they lost some of the features that they really felt were useful, like the “Pop and Sharpen” sliders (which are now applied as actions), quickly toggling a slider on and off, and most notably, the perspective correction tool, which was a favorite for straightening photos.
More stories this week
Those are some of the biggest stories from this week. Meanwhile, here are some other stories that are worth catching up on:
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