I don’t mind the Jonas Brothers. I grew up when they starred in movies like Camp Rock and watched them make a few appearances at Penn State over the four years I was there. Honestly, their music is decent — even if I don’t make the biggest effort to seek it out. So, I was happy to go into the debut of their “I Can’t Lose” music video with an open mind, mainly since it was shot on the Pixel 10 Pro that I’m so eager to review.
But now that I’ve replayed it a few times, I’m not sure the partnership was a great idea. The song is fine, but the music video shows off just as many weaknesses of the Pixel 10 Pro as it does strengths. Here’s why I think not every phone needs a big campaign to showcase its video features.
Alright, there are a few good shots here…
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Before I get all doom and gloom on the JoBros’ efforts, know that the “I Can’t Lose” music video isn’t entirely a waste. There are things that the Pixel 10 Pro and Tensor G5 handle well, they’re just, well, very specific. It’s the same limitation as if the Jonas Brothers had shot the entire video on a camera with a fixed lens, but they did it on a triple-camera flagship Pixel instead.
Anyway, the things the video gets right. We can start with the opening sequence of shots, mostly those centered around Joe Jonas sitting in a restaurant. I thought this was a sign that Google had elevated its video chops for the Pixel 10 Pro, with the phone nicely softening the croissant and glass of water in the foreground while keeping Joe sharp and well-lit by the window without blowing out the sunny details outside. If it were a still photo, I would be pleased with the finished result, even if there’s some loss of detail in the man’s hair off to the left side.
Cinematic Blur works pretty well... as long as you give it a distinct subject.
Google’s updated Cinematic Blur is also usually decent, at least when it’s used for medium close-up shots — those that highlight one of the brothers from about the chest up. I was particularly impressed by the shot of Kevin walking down the street in New York’s Meatpacking District, in which the Pixel 10 Pro perfectly separated him from the cars, people, and storefronts in the background without blanketing everything in too much artificial bokeh. It’s not quite as effective when there’s more than one brother in a shot, but we’re not onto the flaws just yet.
I also generally like how Google and the Jonas Brothers handled their ultrawide shots — but that’s probably more because I like the 123-degree field of view than the quality of the footage itself. It fits just enough extra detail into the footage without adding too much distortion, even though whoever edited the video cropped off the top and bottom parts of the footage.
Unfortunately, that’s about it, as far as the positives I took from the video are concerned.
Man, you can tell this was shot on a phone
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Now, for the areas where the Pixel 10 Pro struggled to live up to its “I Can’t Lose” billing. We already gave Joe his kudos for the first shot, so let’s start as close to the beginning as we can with the full-body clips of Kevin on the same street in New York City. Although Cinematic Blur did a great job of separating him from the background, the Pixel 10 Pro’s standard video settings, well, don’t. Everything looks pretty flat, from the textures in his shirt to the shadows on the walls to the couple walking down the right side of the shot.
In fact, flatness is the most significant area where the Pixel 10 Pro struggles throughout the entire music video. The dynamic range is nonexistent while shooting in shaded daylight scenes, and the happy couple walking about 30 seconds into the video barely feel separate from the gray wall behind them. I’d say the same for the trio of friends hugging about 50 seconds in. They’re clearly the subject of their shot, but there’s not much separation from the busy New York streets.
Google's dedication to visibility means dynamic range just doesn't exist.
Also, while cute, the shot of a grandma dancing shows some real-time lag in the processing of Cinematic Blur. There’s essentially no artificial bokeh in the clip until she does a little spin, after which the trees behind her soften. The same thing happens once or twice in wider shots, almost like there are too many subjects for the Tensor G5 to apply blur at first.
And then, there’s everything that happens at night. It’s, unfortunately, pretty much all bad. The shots on top of a double-decker bus are fine, but that’s mainly because the Jonas Brothers are lit by passing streetlights. Once they arrive at the anniversary party they’re crashing, the clips become a mix of slightly too sharp subjects with crushed details as soon as the lights aren’t at their brightest. The harsh lighting on stage brings too much attention to the lines in various faces, while the partygoers just become limbs waving around in a crowd. It’s not exactly what I had in mind when Google hyped up its new Pixel ISP.
If you want to beat Apple, you have to play like Apple
Paul Jones / Android Authority
At the end of the day, I think the Jonas Brothers’ “I Can’t Lose” music video falls flat (pun intended) because it’s trying to out-Apple the iPhone. We’ve all seen just what Apple can do with its Shot on iPhone campaigns, and they always land because the finished product is, well, shot on iPhone. It’s not edited there, lit there, or staged there — just shot and exported for editing in Final Cut Pro.
So, for Google to decide it wanted to do everything on the Pixel 10 Pro feels like tying a hand behind its back. Sure, the final result of “I Can’t Lose” would probably be impressive as a video shot by a couple of friends in a backyard, but it loses something when it has the full backing of Republic Records and still comes out as something so clearly shot on a phone. At the very least, the creative minds behind this one could have taken a closer look at Apple’s process and given the clips a bit of post-processing love, 10-bit HDR and all.
And no, maybe the music video wasn’t the worst or weirdest part of Made by Google this year, but it might have been the one to kill some of my excitement the fastest. I’ll still record a clip or two on my Pixel 10 Pro XL as part of my review process — and hopefully out-shoot the JoBros — but I hope Google leaves the video flexing to Apple from now on.
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