Downshift

I'm a Google fanboy and pixel enjoyer. I upgraded from a Pixel 4 XL only because I got the system error where battery charge doesn't show, or doesn't charge at all. I truly thought I'd run the 4 XL for another decade. I was delighted at the thought of upgrading to a phone 6 years later. I am equally disappointed with the phone as the OP. I don't game, and get the most out of my phone from the camera, chatting, web browsing, watching videos, and using the Google ecosystem. It's not a noticeable improvement in performance on any of those things. It's not even a noticeable improvement on the camera quality. Side by side with the pixel 4xl, photos look identical, and unfortunately the 10 Pro adds a AI veneer on its standard JPEG photos that just looks awful when zoomed in. Luckily RAW removes that feature. Android 12 is the limit in version for the OS on the 4xl, and feels nearly identical to 16 albeit some little tweaks. The 10 is stunning to look at, feels good in the hand, and has some new bells and whistles like Qi2, Telephoto lens, higher brightness, better dynamic range, etc. But somehow I was hoping for more advancement on the hardware side of phone devices, and not so much on the software side, as much as I appreciate the software. Maybe the 10 is a stepping stone for the next series of phones, but I definitely have buyers remorse on this years version. But I like Google, and need a new phone, so... Here I am pouting about it. Hope it does get good updates soon.