Google showed off a ton of new hardware at Made by Google 2025, from the new Pixel Watch 4 to the Pixel Buds 2a. But among the biggest announcements of the day were the new cameras on Google’s upcoming Pixel 10 series. The new photography features coming to the Pixel 10 line are something of a mixed bag—for some users the new cameras will be worse than the previous generation—but there are plenty of new features here that might pique your interest, provided you like AI.
Pro Res Zoom
All Pixel 10 phones now come with a 5x telephoto lens, and the base-model Pixel 10 can take advantage of digital 20x “Super Res Zoom,” but the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL have something extra: Pro Res Zoom, a feature that extends the zoom range up to 100x (kind of). Going from the last generation’s 30x times zoom to 100x is a big jump, but you may be thinking “everything looks terrible when zoomed in that much.” Google has an answer: The new tech works by analyzing more than 200 images to get as accurate, unpixelated images of distant objects as possible. What can’t be improved that way is filled in by generative AI. Google says Pro Res Zoom is tuned to minimize hallucinations and prevent inaccurate representations, which I’ll believe when I see.
Camera Coach
Camera Coach, powered by Google’s Gemini AI, analyses the shot you’re framing in real-time and makes suggestions though visual prompts and instructions for improving composition, lighting, and more. Your phone will say things like: “Move closer,” “put the subject in the middle of the frame,” “don’t forget the rule of thirds,” and more. It can also offers AI-generated example pictures that you could get, then will walk you through what you need to make them happen. The end result is not just better photograph, but learning more about how good photographs are taken, which has potential.
Auto Best Take
At least one person has their eyes closed in every group photo I have ever taken. Auto Best Take aims to solve this problem through, what else, AI! Turn this on, and artificial intelligence will start taking a bunch of photos of your friend group, and then analyze up to 150 frames in seconds to find one where everyone is looking fly. If it doesn’t find a single image that worked out, it will blend different photos together to get one great group picture; provided you have the same idea of what a “great” picture means as the AI. How will Auto Best Take deal with photos where everyone looks miserable on purpose? It remains to be seen.
Prompt-based photo editing
If you want to make your photos better without learning how to edit, you can just tell Google Photos what you want changed. You can type something like “make me look skinnier” or “fix the lighting” and Gemini will do its level best to follow your wishes. You can also use it for bigger editing lifts, like “remove that guy on the left” or “make it look like we’re standing on the moon.” That said, Google’s manual photo editing features will remain in place if you want to do things the old fashioned way.
Pixelsnap
While not specifically a camera feature, Pixelsnap is camera-adjacent. Google’s magnetic ecosystem for accessories will allow budding Wee Gees and Diane Arbuses to instantly snap on lights, stands, and other camera accessories on Pixel 10 phones.
Guided Frame
I’m pretty sour on most aspects of artificial intelligence, but when it’s used to make things easier and better for people with disabilities, it’s hard to be passionate about hating it. Guided Frame is aimed at helping people with visual impairments take better photos, through audio cues, high-contrast animations, and haptic feedback to help folks frame their shots.
Instant View
This feature, exclusively for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, allows users to view recently captured photos and videos alongside the viewfinder when the phone is unfolded. That way you can compare photos in real time to improve the next pic you snap.
Lifehacker will have a much more detailed look at these camera features and more when associate tech editor Michelle Ehrhardt has a chance to put them through their paces, so stay tuned for more details down the road.
