ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Google Pixel 10’s new Professional Res Zoom makes use of AI to make 100X zoom pictures much more useable.
- Early comparability photographs with the Galaxy S25 Extremely have the Google telephone forward.
- The ball is in Apple’s court docket to ship a long-distance zoom on the iPhone 17 Professional that is simply as aggressive.
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I really like zoom pictures, and I am thrilled to see Google utilizing AI to raise zoom pictures on smartphones within the new Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL.
I take a ton of pictures on smartphones — over 100,000 photographs on iPhone and Android — and through the years, numerous them have grow to be tough to inform other than the skilled pictures I shoot on Sony mirrorless cameras. However the telephone photographs that also do not fairly measure up — and the place I nonetheless normally need to take out an enormous digital camera — are the long-distance zoom photographs.
With the brand new Pixel 10 Professional and Pixel 10 Professional XL, Google is upgrading its Professional Res Zoom to seize a lot higher element through the use of a mixture of the brand new Tensor G5 chip and what Google calls its “largest AI mannequin ever used on a Pixel Digital camera.”
Additionally: Everything announced at Made by Google 2025: Pixel 10 Pro, Fold, Watch 4, and more
That is an excellent use of generative AI. Google characterizes it as an “all-new generative imaging mannequin to intelligently get well and refine intricate particulars” and claims that it may possibly fill in numerous particulars in zoom photographs as much as 100x.
If this works, it could be an awesome step ahead for zoom captures on telephones. And the early indications are that it is fairly good. ZDNET’s Kerry Wan has already had the prospect to test the Pixel 10 Pro a little bit bit, and beneath is a comparison he did of the brand new Pixel 10 Professional zoom versus the Samsung Galaxy 25 Extremely zoom on the identical distance. The Pixel model is rather more usable and does not look grainy and pixelated.
100X zoom pictures captured by the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL (left) and Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely (proper).
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
I have been testing Samsung’s model of its 100x “Area Zoom” because the Galaxy S20 Extremely, and I at present use the S24 Extremely’s zoom regularly because it’s my Android day by day driver and my enterprise telephone. Nonetheless, I solely use the 5x and 10x zoom lenses on the S24 Extremely — and I solely use the 5x zoom lens on iPhone 16 Professional Max. When you transcend these focal lengths, the photographs on each telephones get very pixelated and unusable — no less than for the sort of crisp, professional-looking pictures that I am making an attempt to create.
The photograph beneath reveals a comparability of the zoom high quality of the S24 Extremely versus the iPhone 16 Professional Max that I took throughout a night in New York.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely (left) and iPhone 16 Professional Max (proper).
Jason Hiner/ZDNET
For the photographers on the market, the 5x zoom on the iPhone 16 Professional Max is the equal of a couple of 120mm focal size on a full-frame digital camera, and the 10x zoom on the Samsung S24 Extremely is the equal of a couple of 200 mm focal size on a full-frame digital camera.
Additionally: I went hands-on with every Google Pixel 10 model – and was surprised by the one I loved most
So the 100x zoom that Google is speaking about for the Professional Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional fashions is an extended distance than any present commonplace lens that exists for knowledgeable full-frame digital camera. So if Google could make these pictures usable — in contrast to the present most digital zooms on Samsung, iPhone, and different smartphones — then it will likely be giving its telephone a functionality that not solely different telephones haven’t got, however skilled cameras cannot match both.
This is the instance that Google confirmed of the 100x zoom in motion in the course of the launch occasion for the brand new Pixel {hardware}.
That is fairly spectacular, and finally fairly usable — probably with a little bit little bit of post-processing. Let’s needless to say that is clearly a daytime shot with some good cloud cowl. I would prefer to see how properly the Pixel’s new Professional Res Zoom holds up in low gentle and imperfect lighting circumstances. And I am going to get my likelihood quickly as a result of I will be testing it and reporting again the outcomes right here on ZDNET and on my Instagram.
Additionally: Google’s new AI tool makes photo editing as easy as asking – and Pixel 10 gets it first
Even when Google’s Professional Res Zoom is not excellent at 100x, if it may possibly successfully use generative AI to make digital zoom pictures a extra viable choice for taking high-quality pictures, then it will likely be an enormous win.
It additionally makes me excited to see if Apple is engaged on one thing related in AI for its zoom pictures when it proclaims the iPhone 17 Professional fashions in September — as a result of the one firm that may at present compete with Google on computational pictures is Apple.
