Please, Google, give me Pixel 10 colors for the Pixel 10 Pro

Android Authority

4 days ago

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas — that's still (thankfully) months away — but Pixel leaks season. Yes, it's that special time of summer when we find out almost everything there is to know about Google's upcoming crop of flagships, from camera sensors to chipsets to, most importantly, colors.
This year, though, I have a particular bone to pick with the maker of Android. I think Google nailed the colors of the upcoming Pixel 10, embracing just enough nostalgia to evoke images of the Pixel 3, but it whiffed on the finishes for the much more premium Pixel 10 Pro. The four leaked colors are business-like rather than bubbly, and I am begging for Google to bring some fun back to its Pro lineup.
Which leaked colors look better: Pixel 10 or Pixel 10 Pro?
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I'll take every Pixel in this color, thank you
Back in the day, Google had one set of colors for its entire Pixel lineup. The Pixel 1 and Pixel 1 XL came in the same mix of Really Blue, Very Silver, and Quite Black, and that tradition carried all the way to the Pixel 4 series and standalone Pixel 5. It was great — matching colors across different models meant that I could fall in love with a shade like Not Pink or Really Blue and still have my choice of size.
So, when the Pixel 10 leaked in an Indigo shade that looks almost exactly like the Pixel 1's Really Blue and a Frost hue that screams Kinda Blue from the Pixel 2, it got my hopes up. The colors felt like a sign that Google was ready to embrace a little bit of nostalgia from Pixels of the past, turning its tenth year into a celebration now that the base Pixel 10 is set to move closer to its Pro-grade siblings by adding a telephoto sensor.
I love the Pixel 10's nostalgia factor, but why did Google limit it to just one device?
At this point, Google finally seems mostly settled on the rest of its design language. The camera bar has become a camera island, the Pixel 10's frame looks almost identical to the Pixel 9 before it — which is a very good thing — and the seldom-used temperature sensor remains reserved for the Pro models (thank goodness). So, the best thing it could do to brighten up its entire family would be to give me every Pixel ever made in the brand-new Indigo shade. Either that, or let me settle for some mix of Frost and Limoncello rather than limiting them to the base model.
Then again, maybe a small part of me always knew that the Pixel 10's colors would shake out this way. Ever since Google began to separate its lineups with the Pixel 6 series, the base model has picked up the better color hands down. Its Sorta Seafoam (light green and yellowish) was better than the Pixel 6 Pro's Sorta Sunny (yellow and gold), and the Pixel 7's Lemongrass is just a little more vibrant than the Pixel 7 Pro's Hazel. Maybe the Pixel 8 Pro's Bay finish is the exception, offering way more fun than the Pixel 8's Rose, but Google has been pretty consistent otherwise.
Who says Pro-grade phones have to look buttoned-up?
After the thrill of Google's colorful Pixel 10 leak, you can only imagine my disappointment when its Pixel 10 Pro colors followed closely behind. The lineup above is about as dull as possible, with three business-ready options flanked by one brilliant Jade finish. Of course, that makes my color choice pretty simple — Jade is the only way to go — but I feel myself itching for a Pro-level Pixel that doesn't come in green.
That might be dramatic — Google's last few Hazel-colored devices have been great. I still think the Pixel 7 Pro might be its best-looking flagship behind my beloved Pixel 5, and it all came down to how the colorful glass paired with the gold-colored frame. However, it's still a pretty muted hue when put up against the colors that everything else in the family gets. Even the Pixel 9a got in on the brightly colored fun with its Iris and Peony finishes, both of which I'd love to see on a top-end device.
Google has given us fun Pixel Pros before, but they're few and far between.
But, as we know, that doesn't seem to be in the cards right now. For whatever reason, Google is determined to keep its base models fun and its Pro models buttoned up. It's decided that to be a Pro, you have to look ready to step onto a film set or into a boardroom, probably using some mix of Tensor-powered camera tricks or Gemini-powered AI features along the way. I don't think it needs to be that way — I've never worn a suit in my working life, nor have I heard of a film set where there wasn't at least a little bit of fun between takes — but Google does.
All I'm saying is that my favorite Pixels, feature-wise, have always been the Pro models, but I simply can't argue with the fact that the base model and the Pixel A series always get the best colors. So please, Google, give some of us Pros the pop of color that the rest of Pixel UI and Material 3 Expressive already have.