New flagship Android phones from Samsung and OnePlus may land next month, but Google typically updates its handsets in the fall. In other words, we’re likely a good ten months away from the Pixel 10 being shown off, but that hasn’t stopped the YouTube design channel 4RMD from developing a radical concept video for the Pro version of the handset.
With the channel’s usual high production values, the video has the look and feel of a big smartphone reveal, but it has a radically different design element that almost certainly won’t happen.
Rather than the iconic horizontal camera visor that has adorned the top of Google handsets since the Pixel 6, 4RMD imagines the company making it vertical: a thick spine covering the phone's top half.
While it’s fun to imagine, and even kind of stylish, you don’t have to think too critically to work out why this would be an impractical design in practice.
Not only would a vertical camera bar dig into the palm in use, but the handset would have a hard time remaining still when placed down on a flat surface. And that’s before you get into what a nightmare it would be for wireless charging.
In fact, one of the few Pixel 10 leaks we’ve seen so far is a purported case for the phone via the leaker Sonny Dickson, which clearly shows the camera bar in the same place and with the same orientation as ever.
First case for Google Pixel 10 pic.twitter.com/JURQjVbukgDecember 9, 2024
Beyond the questionable camera bar placement, 4RMD imagines Google increasing the screen size considerably, with 6.4-inch and 6.9-inch models available (up 0.1 inches on the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL respectively), with thinner bezels, a smaller punch-hole camera and a larger 5,300 mAh battery (though it’s not specified for which model).
The designer imagines a trio of 64MP camera lenses (up from 50/48/48MP on the current models) with “low-light improvements” and up to 50x zoom. And this being a Google phone, Gemini AI enhancements are hinted at — and shown seamlessly, increasing the smile on a photography subject in real-time, too.
While all of these features are on the speculative end, one thing that the video almost certainly gets right is the Tensor G5 processor. It’s flagged as made to the 3nm fabrication process, and that’s something that’s been predicted before.
In truth, it’s a little too early for Pixel 10 rumors to have gotten into full swing just yet, but we have a couple of things we’d very much like to see. The main one is down to speed: while the Pixel series often features in our list of the best phones you can buy, its Tensor processors lag behind Qualcomm and Apple chips regarding raw performance, and we’d like to see Google catch up in 2025.
More importantly, however, after three years of $100 price hikes, we’d like Google to maintain the current MSRP range in 2025 — $799 for the regular Pixel, $999 for the Pro and $1,099 for the Pro XL. But with prices rising on everything and talk of incoming tariffs, that may prove to be wishful thinking.
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