Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I spent a good couple of years complaining that the 30x Super Res Zoom on Google’s premium Pixel lineup wasn’t good enough. I mean, with Samsung offering 100x Space Zoom as far back as the Galaxy S20 Ultra, could you blame me? Honestly, I just wanted my favorite smartphone to provide the best possible camera experience, and I didn’t mind what it would take to achieve that. And then, Google introduced AI-powered 100x Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro lineup — and I still wasn’t happy.
Instead, I decried the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL for leaning too heavily on AI processing. I complained that they wouldn’t treat photos of humans simply because Google wanted to avoid inaccuracies, but it had no problem using a little too much imagination while recreating signs, animals, and buildings. Overall, I dismissed the whole idea as nothing more than a gimmick meant to push AI forward.
Now, though, I think I was wrong. The point of 100x zoom isn’t to max it out all the time; the point is to get much better results at slightly shorter focal lengths. Here’s what I mean.
Just because you can go to 100 doesn’t mean you need to
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Think about it — how often do you actually max something out? Unless you’re using your phone’s speakers to play music while you shower, probably not very frequently. I doubt you’re cranking your TV as loud as it can go, just like you’re probably not driving your car at top speeds (maybe because it’s not legal). I’m starting to think of Google’s Pro Res Zoom in much the same way — just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Instead, much like a car or a speaker, I think the sweet spot is just a little shy of that maximum. It’s the same reason that the Pixel 10 Pro XL offers haptic feedback as you zoom in to 30x and 50x, ensuring you know when to stop. And yes, you can think of me saying this as simply making excuses for Google. Maybe I’m doing precisely that — if only a little bit.
However, like all things, I prefer to back up my assertions with at least some data, so I put Google’s long-range zoom up against its current closest rival, the iPhone 17 Pro. I walked down the street from my apartment, found a spooky little scene (some ghosts suspended from a tree), and zoomed in from across the road. Only, I didn’t zoom to Google’s default lengths, I zoomed to Apple’s. I bumped into 20x and then 40x zoom to see how the Pixel 10 Pro XL fared at its rivals’ limitations.
iPhone 17 Pro - 20x zoom Pixel 10 Pro XL - 20x zoom iPhone 17 Pro - 40x zoom Pixel 10 Pro XL - 40x zoom
First up, we have our friendly neighborhood ghost at 20x zoom, and I’m not sure which result I prefer. See, the Pixel 10 Pro XL makes it much easier to pick out details both in the ghost itself and the house behind it, but it does so while brightening and oversharpening the green door and red bricks in the background. To Google’s credit, it’s easier to find the creases and shadows in the sheet itself, and you can just about make out the word Ring on the doorbell.
At 40x zoom, though, there’s no question that Google has the advantage. Apple’s maxed-out details are softer, there’s a little ghosting (no pun intended) where the sun hits the white on the left side, and there’s noticeable grain in the image despite it being bright daylight. Google’s ghost, on the other hand, is perfectly sharp through its face and around the edges of the sheet, with easily identifiable edges on the leaves at the very top. Where Google oversharpened the 20x sample, the details now appear accurately.
iPhone 17 Pro - 20x zoom Pixel 10 Pro XL - 20x zoom iPhone 17 Pro - 40x zoom Pixel 10 Pro XL - 40x zoom
Of course, a soft, flowing ghost is only one example of where smartphone cameras can struggle — especially if there’s a breeze. So, I continued my walk down to the harbor, where I found a small green ship docked in front of a much larger white one. I snapped quick shots of the name of the smaller ship with both the Pixel 10 Pro XL and iPhone 17 Pro and found that the same strengths still apply, only this time, Google’s edge is much bigger.
Not only did the iPhone 17 Pro give everything a slightly green tint — both the white ship and the tan ropes — but it also fails to capture key textures that the Pixel nails. Apple would have you believe that the white paint of the hull in the background is perfectly smooth, whereas Google accurately captured its slight roughness, along with the texture of the ropes, at both 20x and 40x zoom. The lettering in both Pixel samples is also far sharper than that of the iPhone 17 Pro, and we’re barely halfway to Google’s maximum zoom.
Maybe Pro Res Zoom isn’t a gimmick, but it’s not an all-in-one solution, either
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
So, there you go — Google has created a more powerful Pixel zoom that doesn’t feel like a gimmick. I’m still not sure that I’d use it at full tilt very often, but it’s there. However, I’m not ignoring Pro Res Zoom at 100x because I don’t like it or because I don’t think it works. I do like it as an upgrade, and I do think it delivers decent results if you stick within the boundaries of what Google will process. The problem is that Google and its powerful Tensor G5 chipset will occasionally put their foot down and say no.
To see what I mean, look no further than an image featuring a person. We’ve captured several during our first month or so with the Pixel 10 series, and we’ve included them in sample galleries from the very first day we were allowed to do so. While Google has no problem processing the backgrounds of images featuring humans, and can usually pull out some pretty incredible results, it draws the line at people of any kind. It leaves them with their original details, letting them stand out like sore thumbs in otherwise smooth images — almost as if they’ve become stickers.
If Google's Pro Res Zoom won't process people, it's only doing half the job.
And, when you can only trust your zoom camera to do half the job, can you really trust it at all? I have similar issues with the way Google handles small animals, such as birds, when it can’t identify them, and it’s challenging to snap a photo of a faraway sign to make it more legible. If the Pixel 10 Pro can’t figure it out right away, you’ll get a series of replacement characters that leave you just as confused as you were in the first place.
But, if you need a medium-range zoom camera, one that can zoom across the street or down the block, the Pixel 10 Pro series has you covered. It can bring out the best in small details and soft edges, and it’s all because you don’t have to push every photo to 11.
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