Kerry Wan/ZDNET
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Google Pixel 10’s new Pro Res Zoom uses AI to make 100X zoom photos a lot more useable.
- Early comparison shots with the Galaxy S25 Ultra have the Google phone ahead.
- The ball is in Apple’s court to deliver a long-distance zoom on the iPhone 17 Pro that’s just as competitive.
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I love zoom photography, and I’m thrilled to see Google using AI to elevate zoom photography on smartphones in the new Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL.
I take a ton of photos on smartphones — over 100,000 shots on iPhone and Android — and over the years, a lot of them have become difficult to tell apart from the professional photos I shoot on Sony mirrorless cameras. But the phone shots that still don’t quite measure up — and where I still usually have to take out a big camera — are the long-distance zoom shots.
With the new Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL, Google is upgrading its Pro Res Zoom to capture much greater detail by using a combination of the new Tensor G5 chip and what Google calls its “largest AI model ever used on a Pixel Camera.”
Also: Everything announced at Made by Google 2025: Pixel 10 Pro, Fold, Watch 4, and more
This is an outstanding use of generative AI. Google characterizes it as an “all-new generative imaging model to intelligently recover and refine intricate details” and claims that it can fill in a lot of details in zoom shots up to 100x.
If this works, it would be a great step forward for zoom captures on phones. And the early indications are that it’s pretty good. ZDNET’s Kerry Wan has already had the chance to test the Pixel 10 Pro a little bit, and below is a comparison he did of the new Pixel 10 Pro zoom versus the Samsung Galaxy 25 Ultra zoom at the same distance. The Pixel version is much more usable and doesn’t look grainy and pixelated.
100X zoom photos captured by the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL (left) and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (right).
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
I’ve been testing Samsung’s version of its 100x “Space Zoom” since the Galaxy S20 Ultra, and I currently use the S24 Ultra’s zoom on a regular basis since it’s my Android daily driver and my business phone. However, I only use the 5x and 10x zoom lenses on the S24 Ultra — and I only use the 5x zoom lens on iPhone 16 Pro Max. Once you go beyond those focal lengths, the images on both phones get very pixelated and unusable — at least for the kind of crisp, professional-looking photos that I’m trying to create.
The photo below shows a comparison of the zoom quality of the S24 Ultra versus the iPhone 16 Pro Max that I took during an evening in New York.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (left) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (right).
Jason Hiner/ZDNET
For the photographers out there, the 5x zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the equivalent of about a 120mm focal length on a full-frame camera, and the 10x zoom on the Samsung S24 Ultra is the equivalent of about a 200 mm focal length on a full-frame camera.
Also: 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 talking about for the Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro models is a longer distance than any current standard lens that exists for a professional full-frame camera. So if Google can make those photos usable — unlike the current maximum digital zooms on Samsung, iPhone, and other smartphones — then it will be giving its phone a capability that not only other phones don’t have, but professional cameras can’t match either.
Here’s the example that Google showed of the 100x zoom in action during the launch event for the new Pixel hardware.
That’s pretty impressive, and ultimately pretty usable — potentially with a little bit of post-processing. Let’s keep in mind that this is clearly a daytime shot with some nice cloud cover. I’d like to see how well the Pixel’s new Pro Res Zoom holds up in low light and imperfect lighting conditions. And I’ll get my chance soon because I’m going to be testing it and reporting back the results here on ZDNET and on my Instagram.
Also: Google’s new AI tool makes photo editing as easy as asking – and Pixel 10 gets it first
Even if Google’s Pro Res Zoom isn’t perfect at 100x, if it can effectively use generative AI to make digital zoom photography a more viable option for taking high-quality photos, then it will be a huge win.
It also makes me excited to see if Apple is working on something similar in AI for its zoom photography when it announces the iPhone 17 Pro models in September — because the only company that can currently compete with Google on computational photography is Apple.
