Pixel 10 Camera May Be Worse Than Pixel 9 (for Some Users)
New phones are better than old ones, right? It goes without saying that upgrading is the way to get faster processors, bigger screens, and better cameras. Except, apparently, the Pixel 10.
While Google announced today that it would finally add a telephoto lens to the base Pixel 10 model , the company also quietly hinted that it would degrade the quality of the existing ultra-wide and wide-angle lenses. Depending on how you use your phone’s camera, that could make the Pixel 10 the cheaper model for you.
Pixel 10 Camera vs Pixel 9 Camera
At first glance, the regular Pixel 10’s rear camera finally seems like it can compete with the bigger cameras. While triple-lens rear cameras were previously exclusive to the Pro models , Google has equipped all Pixel 10 models with a triple-lens camera. However, this comes at the cost of a slight reduction in the base model’s megapixel count. While that caveat is to be expected, it unfortunately makes the Pixel 10 look less than its predecessor — at least in one key area.
Technically, there are two downgrades in camera quality here. First, the main, or wide-angle, camera is now 48MP, up from 50MP. However, it also has a larger sensor and aperture, and it’s worth noting that the loss in resolution here is small enough that these changes can make up for it. I’ll let you know if my opinion changes once I try the Pixel 10’s camera, but for now, I’m more concerned about the ultra-wide lens.
The Pixel 10’s ultra-wide lens, which lets you take wide-angle shots, is now just 13MP, down from 48MP on the Pixel 9. That’s a much bigger difference, and in addition to the quality reduction, the new lens will also reduce the maximum field of view from 123 degrees to 120 degrees.
Is it worth sacrificing that for the new telephoto lens? At 10.8MP, it’s not as good as the Pixel 10 Pro’s 48MP telephoto lens, though it does offer 5x optical zoom versus the Pixel 9’s 2x. That means you can zoom in on things without having to resort to software tricks to compensate. So it all depends on how you shoot.
What are the ultra wide angle lenses on your phone used for?
Have you ever taken a photo of something close by, but the subject didn’t fit in the frame and there wasn’t enough room to physically move the camera further away? In such cases, an ultra-wide-angle lens can come in handy. Most modern phones come with such lenses, and to activate them, simply press the “0.5x” zoom button.
This will widen the field of view to fit more of your subject into the frame, but not all ultra-wide lenses are created equal. I haven’t had a chance to use the Pixel 10’s camera yet, but for comparison, here are some ultra-wide shots taken with the Pixel 9’s 48-megapixel lens:
And a few shots taken with my iPhone 15 Pro’s 12MP ultra-wide lens, which is the closest I have to what you’d expect from the Pixel 10 (though keep in mind that Apple’s powerful post-processing can make up for some of the shortcomings):
It’s not entirely clear how much the Pixel 10’s image quality might drop (I’ll be sure to do a more direct comparison in my review once I get to use that phone’s camera myself), but if you’re a certain type of photo enthusiast, I think you’ll notice the difference. As someone who takes a lot of photos in crowds, it would be a shame to lose that extra precision when I’m in a critical situation and can’t move the camera. The Pixel 9’s ultra-wide lens is almost as good as the main camera, which is hard to beat for anyone who needs it.
This could also be a problem for those who like to take landscape shots but don’t want to bother with panoramic shots. Vacationers will probably want to double-check that they are missing out on something before they “upgrade” their camera.
Does your phone need a telephoto lens?
It’s not all doom and gloom, though, and Google is making these changes for a reason. With the telephoto lens on the standard Pixel 10, users will be able to use full optical zoom up to 5x and AI-powered software zoom (Super Res Zoom) up to 20x. That’s a significant improvement over the regular Pixel 9’s 2x optical zoom and even that phone’s 8x software zoom.
At least, that’s what it looks like on paper. 10.8MP is a relatively low resolution for a phone camera, so I’ll have to go back a few generations to give you an idea of what it might look like. Here are some shots at 2x optical zoom on my Pixel 9:
And similar shots at 3x optical zoom, again on my iPhone 15 Pro (which has a 12MP telephoto lens).
To illustrate, here are some shots taken with 8x Super Res Zoom on the Pixel 9.
Unlike traditional digital zoom, which essentially just crops images and can make them blurrier, Super Res Zoom uses machine learning to combine details from shots taken at different zoom levels to create a better-looking photo. There’s no AI-powered image generation here like the recently announced Pro Res Zoom feature that the Pixel 10 Pro gets, though it’s worth acknowledging that the detail still won’t be as lifelike as optical zoom, which relies solely on hardware. Personally, I can really see the difference in the iPhone’s 3x zoom, so if you often shoot from a distance, the Pixel 10 could be a worthwhile upgrade.
Computational photography could save the day
While high-resolution hardware is the surest way to get a high-quality, realistic photo, computational photography can help. For example, a phone might base most of a 0.5x image on data from the ultra-wide sensor, but use some data from the wide-angle lens to balance out details. Google told me it has improved the image processing on the Pixel 10 sensor, and is confident that most users won’t notice a difference between the new and old ultra-wide lenses, though it will take me some time to form my own opinion of the new lens.
While the Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultra-wide lens, photos are saved as 12.5MP by default, meaning most users are already using some sort of computational photography tech. Ultra-wide shots on the Pixel 9 still use data from the 48MP lens, but they combine similar pixels to reduce file size. Unfortunately, this is the only way to use Pixel post-processing on the base Pixel 9, while the Pro version of that phone has a 50MP photo mode that doesn’t compress photos.
That said, a compressed 48MP image will contain more detail than a 13MP shot, and if you want uncompressed Pixel 9 photos, you can still download the RAW files and tweak them yourself to get a full 48MP ultra-wide shot. I’m not an editing expert, so I didn’t do that in this article, but I still think the compressed ultra-wide shots from the Pixel 9 look better than those taken with my iPhone’s 12MP sensor. It’s good to know there are more talented photographers out there who can take high-res ultra-wide shots on the Pixel 9.
Is the Pixel 10 camera a downgrade?
Whether the Pixel 10’s camera is a drawback for you depends entirely on what kind of photos you typically take.
Do you often use zoom to capture details at a distance? Then the Pixel 10 is an upgrade with a big optical zoom.
But do you prefer a wider field of view when you’re trying to fit more into a frame, like a group photo or an interesting landscape? The Pixel 10 may be worse than the Pixel 9, especially if you know how to edit photos in RAW format.
I’d love to give you a definitive yes or no, but in this case, the answer depends on what kind of user you are. If you’re a certain type of Android photographer, don’t assume that newer means better.