{"id":180309,"date":"2025-08-27T17:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T17:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/180309\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T17:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T17:50:21","slug":"i-tested-the-pixel-10s-new-telephoto-camera-and-the-results-are-incredible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/180309\/","title":{"rendered":"I tested the Pixel 10’s new telephoto camera, and the results are incredible"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one aspect of the Google Pixel 10<\/a> that deserves a spotlight, it\u2019s the phone\u2019s new camera system. Although it seemed too good to be true in leaks, Google really did ship the base model Pixel 10 with three rear cameras \u2014 including primary, ultrawide, and telephoto sensors.<\/p>\n

That telephoto camera is the star of the show. Ever since the Pixel 6 series, Google\u2019s base model Pixels have been limited to primary and ultrawide cameras; if you wanted a third telephoto camera, you had to buy a Pro model. But that\u2019s not the case for the Pixel 10.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent the last couple of days using the Pixel 10\u2019s new telephoto camera, both on its own and comparing it to the zoom capabilities of the Pixel 9. Simply put, having a dedicated telephoto camera on the Pixel 10 is a truly substantial upgrade \u2014 in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

What do you think of our Pixel 10 telephoto camera samples?<\/p>\n

4 votes<\/p>\n

They look great! Adding a telephoto camera was a great decision.<\/p>\n

50%<\/p>\n

They’re fine, but I was expecting better.<\/p>\n

25%<\/p>\n

I’m not impressed at all.<\/p>\n

25%<\/p>\n

Other (let us know in the comments).<\/p>\n

0%<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the Pixel 10\u2019s telephoto camera is capable of<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10\u2019s telephoto camera is a 5x optical zoom sensor. Its Camera app features two zoom presets: 2x and 5x (the former being a cropped-in version of the primary camera), with a maximum zoom of 20x. For comparison, the Pixel 9, which lacks a dedicated telephoto camera, features a 2x zoom preset in its Camera app with a maximum zoom length of 8x.<\/p>\n

That already sounds like a big discrepancy on paper, but it becomes truly apparent once you start comparing camera samples. For this test, I captured a 2x zoom shot (largely just for reference), a 5x shot, and then the maximum zoom for both phones \u2014 20x for the Pixel 10 and 8x for the Pixel 9.<\/p>\n

In the first photos of the red barn, the differences are immediately noticeable. Compare the two 5x shots, and it\u2019s no contest that the Pixel 10\u2019s telephoto camera produced a\u00a0much\u00a0<\/strong>better photo. The Pixel 9\u2019s 5x picture is fine at first glance, but once you notice the crunchy\/over-sharpened lines on the barn and the raindrops, things go downhill pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

The difference between the 20x and 8x photos doesn\u2019t require much explanation, but it\u2019s a strong testament to the added versatility you get with the Pixel 10\u2019s telephoto camera \u2014 such as getting a clear look at the bird perched on top of the barn, something I almost missed entirely with the Pixel 9\u2019s pictures.<\/p>\n

Looking at the next photos of an old grain elevator, there\u2019s again a dramatic quality difference between the two 5x samples. The Pixel 10 did a pretty good job here, retaining a lot of detail in the wood planks and good sharpness for the painted words. The Pixel 9, by comparison, loses all of the detail in the wood and produces an unsightly blurred effect around some of the letters.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the 20x photo from the Pixel 10 once again demonstrates just how close this new telephoto camera allows you to get to your subjects. In this 20x shot, you can make out some of the imperfections of the \u201cFUEL\u201d paint, including where the paint meets the edges of the wood panels. It\u2019s honestly really impressive.<\/p>\n

For this last set of comparison photos, the takeaways are largely the same as those above. The 5x shots here appear similar at first glance, but upon zooming into the flower, you can see just how over-sharpened and low-quality the Pixel 9\u2019s version looks. By comparison, the Pixel 10 allows the flower to appear much more natural. The 20x shot of the bee on the flower isn\u2019t the greatest-looking photo I\u2019ve ever taken, but it\u2019s another good example of what this telephoto sensor is capable of.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPixel 10 (5x)\"PhotoPixel 10 (20x)\"APixel 10 (5x)\"APixel 10 (20x)<\/p>\n

Although comparison shots with the Pixel 9 are the easiest way to convey just how big of an upgrade the Pixel 10\u2019s telephoto camera is, they aren\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n

I particularly love the photos I got of the monarch butterfly. The 5x shot is a genuinely great photo, and while the 20x image is a bit overkill, it\u2019s still crazy just how much detail the Pixel 10 managed to retain \u2014 including the butterfly\u2019s fuzzy black and white body above its wings. The 20x goose photo isn\u2019t nearly as good as the butterfly one. That said, for a moving subject, I\u2019m pretty happy with how the 5x picture turned out.<\/p>\n

What I love about these particular photos is that they\u2019re ones I know I couldn\u2019t capture without a proper telephoto camera. Wildlife pictures like this are some of my favorites to take, and a phone like the Pixel 9 just isn\u2019t suited for them. But the Pixel 10 most definitely is, and I love it.<\/p>\n

The telephoto camera makes Macro Focus even better\n<\/p>\n

\"APixel 10 (Macro Focus)\"APixel 10 (Macro Focus)\"APixel 10 (Macro Focus)\"APixel 10 (Macro Focus)<\/p>\n

Last but not least, I want to briefly mention another camera capability that the telephoto camera enables on the Pixel 10: Macro Focus. While macro photography is also available on the Pixel 9, it only uses the ultrawide camera for macro shots. Comparatively, the Pixel 10\u2019s Macro Focus utilizes both the ultrawide and telephoto cameras to get the best macro photos possible.<\/p>\n

In the brief time I\u2019ve played around with Macro Focus on the Pixel 10, I\u2019ve been impressed. It automatically triggers without issue, and the quality of Macro Focus pictures looks really good to my eye. You can see a few shots for yourself with the photos above.<\/p>\n

To see full-resolution versions of these Macro Focus pictures (and all of the pictures in this article), you can find them in this Google Drive folder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10\u2019s camera is off to a great start<\/p>\n

\"Someone<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Although we need more time before our Pixel 10 review is ready, I can confidently say that adding the telephoto camera this year was 100% the right move. Whether it\u2019s significantly better 5x photos, going all the way to 20x shots, or somewhere in between, the telephoto camera allows for so many photography possibilities that simply aren\u2019t an option with the Pixel 9.<\/p>\n

As someone who tends to take a lot of zoomed-in photos, that\u2019s a big deal for me \u2014 and I imagine that\u2019ll be the case for a lot of other people, too. You\u2019ll obviously get an even more impressive telephoto experience if you splurge for the Pixel 10 Pro, but the difference this year is that you don\u2019t\u00a0have\u00a0<\/strong>to get the Pro just to capture high-quality zoom pictures. The Pixel 10 may not have the world\u2019s best telephoto camera, but from my testing so far, it\u2019s a darn good one.<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 10<\/a>\"Google<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 10<\/p>\n

Very promising battery specs \u2022 6.3-inch display \u2022 Loaded with Google AI features<\/p>\n

Baseline excellence.<\/p>\n

The Google Pixel 10 is the 6.3-inch base model of the in-house Android phones from Google. With plenty of high-speed storage options, a good amount of RAM, and the all-new Tensor G5 processor, it should blow through your mobile computing tasks with ease. A triple camera system includes standalone ultrawide and telephoto lenses, and a 50MP main sensor.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Maring \/ Android Authority If there\u2019s one aspect of the Google Pixel 10 that deserves a spotlight,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":180310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2722,15882,10974,611,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-180309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-google","9":"tag-google-pixel","10":"tag-google-pixel-10","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115101999246757651","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}