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Google caused a stir in 2016 with its original Pixel, not necessarily in terms of sales, but in terms of showing off what a smartphone camera might actually be capable of. The company has maintained its camera prowess since then, but some areas have lagged behind the competition. Zooming is perhaps the biggest area the Pixel 5 lags behind, and that’s why I’m so excited to get my hands on a Pixel 6 Pro.
If you’ve been paying attention to smartphones for a year or two, you’re probably familiar with a lot of devices that adopt what’s called a “periscope” lens. This allows for zooming well beyond the typical 2x or 3x seen in devices like the iPhone.
Since the original Pixel, Google has been pretty optimistic about the additional goals. With the Pixel 2 and 3 series, the company made a big deal on how its phone could do more with a single lens than its competition could with 2 or 3. It was a stretch, even at the era. A year later, Google finally added a second sensor with a 2x telephoto lens on the Pixel 4. It performed admirably and, with the help of nifty software, placed it well against the rest. However, the company’s slight mockery of the “fun” ultra-wide lens where telephoto was more useful rubbed a lot of it the wrong way, which essentially led Google to ditch the telephoto lens and embrace the ultra. -large instead.
And that’s where we are today. The Pixel 5 only has two lenses, a 12 MP main camera and a 16 MP ultra-wide shooter. While they’re both solid and remain in the top 5 smartphone cameras, it’s clear that this setup won’t work anymore.
Giving up the telephoto lens was a misstep, and I have the photos to prove it.
Looking back on a single generation of the Pixel 4 series, zooming in even 2x led to a major gain in the look of the zooms. Pushing it further, both phones obviously start to degrade under the laws of digital photography, but the Pixel 5 loses detail much faster, and that’s something a ‘fun’ ultra-wide camera doesn’t. just can not compensate.
Things get worse when you start comparing yourself to your competition. In New York, I took a OnePlus 9 Pro to compare its performance with the Pixel 5, and I think it only takes one subject to show how even a competitor who sits in the middle of the pack when it comes to performance camera can beat Google in this area. Of course, that’s only when it comes to the details. Google still takes the crown when it comes to colors and the overall look of the shot.
Finally, just for good measure, I also compared the Pixel 5’s zoom shots to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the ‘touch to everything’, if you will, in the current smartphone camera race. Here, it’s not even a competition. While a 1x shot is comparable, the Pixel lags ridiculously at 2x and is completely destroyed by the Galaxy’s 10x lens. It’s bordering on hilarity.
Now, some may argue that the 10x zoom on the S21 Ultra is overkill. To those, I say you are wrong, but the argument still stands at closer distances. In the examples below, I took a few photos with minor zoom increments. Why? These photos were just easier to take with a zoom because of where I was standing and where I could stand.
That said, that’s exactly why I’m most excited to get my hands on the Pixel 6 Pro. Google recently confirmed that a camera overhaul is finally underway this year, which means better sensors and the return of the telephoto lens. The improvements here simply cannot be understated. With this upgrade, we’re looking at adding a better optical telephoto lens first. This means the Pixel 6 Pro will be able to zoom up to 4x without losing quality, and Google’s presumably still-in-use “Super Res Zoom” will likely improve other shots as well.
Beyond the optical zoom lens, however, a primary sensor with a higher resolution has the side effect of improving zoom quality as well. This is less important for the Pro model but more so for the Pixel 6, which sadly lacks optical zoom altogether.
Learn more about Pixel cameras:
Note: Some of the differences in zoom levels between cameras are due to the optical zoom on some phones as well as the fast-paced nature of taking those photos in New York.
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