Video Boost has been a staple of the Pixel’s camera experience for two years now, helping us shoot clearer, more stable, better zoomed videos in challenging situations. For me, though, the feature hasn’t always been part of my go-to tricks. I used it a lot when it first launched on the Pixel 8 Pro, then sort of forgot about it, then started using it again last summer.
I fell in love with Video Boost again when I used it to catch a few videos during concerts. But for all that I’ve enjoyed about it, I’m just as annoyed by all of its limitations and slowness. I’d love to use Video Boost more on my Pixel 10 Pro XL, but it’s clear that Google is gatekeeping the feature and stopping it from reaching its full potential.
What do you think about the Pixel's Video Boost feature? 3 votes Excellent feature, I use it all the time. 0 % It's good, but I always forget to enable it. 0 % Good idea, but it needs many improvements. 67 % Pixels needs better video capture, before any AI enhancements. 33 % I don't care about video. 0 %
I have to remember to manually enable Video Boost each time
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
When Video Boost first launched, everyone complained about the fact that we had to remember to manually turn it on in the Pixel Camera app each time we opened it. Unlike other settings, like flash, shooting resolution, FPS, and HDR, Video Boost’s choice didn’t “stick” or survive app closing and re-launching. There were a few brief weeks in early 2025 when the setting stayed on after you quit Pixel Camera, and we applauded it as a leap forward, but that privilege went away a few weeks later and never returned. Now, we’re back to having to manually turn on Video Boost each time we launch the Camera.
As someone who shoots a lot, I find this very frustrating. I know what Video Boost is, and I understand the implications of using it, so why can’t I just keep it on? Having to manually enable it each time means I forget it about 50% of the time and miss out on capturing a better video. This alone makes Video Boost such an unreliable feature. It’s more of a bonus than an addition to my camera’s capabilities — good if I remember it, useless if I don’t.
I can’t force Video Boost on an existing video
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
This manual trigger is compounded by Video Boost’s second problem: I can’t send an existing video to boost. So any video I fail to capture with the feature, say, if I forget to turn it on, for example, is forever bound to be unboosted.
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