Can’t redeem your Pixel 10 Gemini Pro trial? You’re not alone — this might be why

Yesterday was Pixel 10 delivery day, with shiny new phones being handed over thresholds around the world. However, some brand new Pixel owners are finding an unwelcome surprise: they’re not able to redeem the advertised 12 months of free access to the Gemini Pro AI service.

If I’ve just described you, then you’re not alone, and there may be a few reasons why you can’t redeem the offer.

Gemini Pro offer has some stringent restrictions

Gemini is remarkably picky

The Google Pixel 10 range has been largely built on the back of AI, with new AI tricks like Magic Cue being headline features for the new smartphones. So, getting free access to Google’s Gemini Pro service is a bit of a big deal. Unfortunately, for some users, that offer doesn’t seem to be on the table.

It’s simple to redeem the offer of 12 months free access to Gemini Pro: just open the Gemini app and you’ll be prompted to activate the free subscription. Or, open your Google One app and check for it under your Benefits tab. This offer is only open to those who bought the Pixel 10 Pro or Pixel 10 Pro XL from Google, and those with the Pixel 10 can instead get a free 2TB Google One subscription for a year instead.

However, it’s not that simple for some. A number of Reddit users have complained that they’re not able to redeem the offer for a year’s worth of Gemini Pro. Interestingly, they all seem to be based in the UK, which brings up whether there’s a location restriction on this offer or not.

According to Google’s help page for the subject, there shouldn’t be, as the Pixel 10 Pro offer is open to everyone, except for Japan, which only gets 6 months of free access. Everyone else should be free to redeem the offer. Only, that’s clearly not the case.

Digging into that same page may provide an answer. Google’s eligibility criteria are fairly stringent, with the offer only being open to those who’re new to Google One, or using Google One without an AI Pro plan, or Google One users who haven’t previously paid for or tried AI Pro on a previous free trial.

You’d think that would be clear enough, but, er, it isn’t. Because there are even more reasons why the offer might not trigger. Confusingly, those paying for a Google One with 5TB of storage aren’t eligible, and neither are those on a family plan. Most upsettingly, if you use both Google One and YouTube Premium, then you also can’t get the offer.

And just to make matters even more confusing, some Pixel 10 owners from outside of the UK have reported being able to claim the offer, despite having previously done so with the Pixel 9 Pro too.

I’m personally affected by this, having been seemingly barred from getting free access to Gemini Pro. Like many of you, I haven’t redeemed an offer like this before, but I do have an active Google One subscription with a YouTube Premium subscription too. It seems unfair that Google would penalize its more loyal customers in this way, and I’ve reached out to Google in order for clarity on the subject. Hopefully it’s just an oversight due to issues with canceling Pixel 10 pre-orders also canceling existing Google One subscriptions, but if you, like me, were looking forward to your Gemini Pro subscription with your new Pixel 10 Pro, well, you may be plum out of luck.