5 new AI features on Pixel 10 that feel like magic

5 days ago 4

ZDNET's key takeaways

Google's new Pixel 10 lineup comes with a slew of new AI features.
AI features include photo editing with speech, language translation using your voice, and smarter prediction of users' needs.
The Pixel 10 Series also includes a one-year subscription to the Google AI Pro plan.

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The explosion of generative AI means that nearly every phone launch in the past year has been accompanied by a suite of AI features. Google's launch of its Pixel 10 Series is no different, but the company unveiled some unique features that make it stand out from competitors.

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At its Made by Google event, Google unveiled its Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and Pixel 10, as well as the Pixel Watch 4 and Pixel Buds 2a. Beyond fun new phone colors, better camera systems, and other hardware upgrades, AI is at the core, fueled by the all-new Google Tensor G5.

The chipset, co-designed with Google DeepMind, can run Gemini Nano on the device, which powers all these new AI experiences. Here's a full round-up of the new AI features and my personal hands-on experiences with each of them.

1. Magic Cue

While AI tools like chatbots can be helpful, they require you to context-switch to other tabs, ask your question, go back to whichever window you were originally working out of, and paste it in. In order to upgrade that experience and level up the assistance, AI needs to predict your needs -- which is exactly what Magic Cue aims to do.

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The Magic Cue feature suggests relevant information and actions based on what you're doing. For example, in the demo featured in the image above, the user was calling an airline, so Magic Cue automatically surfaced the flight details to prevent scrambling to find them while on the call.

In another demo, the user got a text asking where the reservation was. Instead of the demoer having to find the details, Magic Cue surfaced the reservation information based on what was in the user's inbox. Then, all the user had to do was tap and send it. Since the feature leverages the Google Tensor G5 chip, information is processed locally on the device.

2. Daily Hub

Sticking with the trend of making information as accessible as possible, the new Daily Hub feature found in your Discover feed puts all of the information you need in one place. It also includes an integration with Magic Cue, which gathers insights from your apps.

As seen in the image, it can remind you of actions from your Google Keep and Gmail, including dinner plans, reservations, and flight details. In practice, it is very similar to Samsung's At a Glance feature, just native to the Google experience powering Pixel.

3. Voice Translate

One use case where generative AI really excels is language translation. Because LLMs have a deep grasp of language and how people speak -- including conversational and non-linear speech -- speech translation has gotten a lot more accurate. As a result, many smartphone manufacturers, like Apple, are incorporating AI translation in their own products, and Google unveiled its own.

With Voice Translation, you can hear a translation in real time while on a phone call. The most noteworthy part is that it copies the sound of the speaker's voice, making the new audio sound as free-flowing and natural as possible. There is also a really helpful transcript you can follow to help keep track of the dialogue even further.

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When I demoed the feature, I was pleasantly surprised at how quick it was, and most importantly, at how well it copied my voice to make me sound like I was actually speaking German. At rollout, Voice Translate works when translating to or from English with Spanish, German, Japanese, French, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, and Indonesian.

4. Camera Coach

A good chunk of the new AI features are focused on elevating your photo-taking and editing experience. The new Camera Coach feature aims to take the guesswork out of taking a photo, using Gemini's multimodal capabilities to help you snap the perfect shot by suggesting angles, lighting, and camera modes.

Beyond step-by-step instructions, Gemini will even generate a sample image of what you should aim for in the final product. For example, in a demo, the user was trying to take a photo of a plant leaf but had the angle off-center. Gemini generated the image of the leaf positioned correctly, so then all the demoer had to do was match the visual by adjusting his position.

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One of the features I was most impressed by was Camera Coach's ability to recognize what was being shown in the display, down to the specific location. For example, in the image above, the Camera Coach asked the demoer what they wanted to be shown in the photo by identifying that it was a waterfront view, and that it was Chelsea Piers in New York, alongside the Hudson River.

5. Edit with Ask Photos

Producing a good photo is equal parts capturing the right shot and post-production editing to optimize it. However, photo editing can often be tricky (especially if you're inexperienced), as there are so many little tools often used in combination. This new feature allows you to describe the change you want using natural language and have the AI make the changes instantaneously.

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For example, the image at the top of the article was very nicely framed, but it had a distracting glare. Instead of having to find the right tools, you can just say that you'd like to remove the glare, and in a couple of seconds, it's done. Other, more general applications include asking it to "make it better" resulted in actions like straightening it out and improving the lighting.

6. Improved the Add Me feature and Auto Best Take

While the Add Me and Auto Best Take features are not new, Google upgraded them to make them even more helpful. The Add Me feature, which lets people add the photographer to the photo, now works with photos with an even bigger group of people.

Meanwhile, Auto Best Take automatically finds the best picture in which everyone looks great, where previously you would have had to manually select which ones you wanted to combine.

Bonus: Google AI Pro plan one-year subscription

Google's AI Pro Plan costs $20 per month and packages all of Google's best AI offerings. These include the best models in Gemini and standalone tools, including expanded access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, NotebookLM, Deep Research, Veo 3, and Jules.

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