The Google Pixel 8 event didn’t yield any major surprises, thanks to the sheer number of leaks we’ve seen lately. But as usual, Google has used its big annual phone launch to unveil a range of new camera tricks that are at once impressive, useful and downright creepy.
The actual camera hardware of the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro isn’t particularly earth-shattering. The Pixel 8’s rear cameras are largely unchanged from the Pixel 7, while the Pro version gets bigger upgrades with a new main camera, an improved ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 48MP telephoto lens.
But it’s been a while since sensor size and lens apertures were the biggest drivers of smartphone camera performance. These days it’s all about computational photography (and video) tricks, an art form that Google pioneered. So what new modes did we get this year?
Quite a few actually, with Google focusing heavily on video, in the form of Audio Magic Eraser and (at least for the Pixel 8 Pro) new Video Boost and Night Sight Video features. But thanks to the combined power of Google’s Tensor G3 chip and some Google Photos algorithms, we also saw some powerful (and potentially controversial) new photography tricks in the form of Best Take and Zoom Enhance.
Here’s a full rundown of all those new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 camera tricks, starting with the one we’re most conflicted about.
1. Best recording
Let’s start with what is perhaps the most controversial new Pixel camera feature, as it allows you to effectively change people’s facial expressions in your group photos. Are you saying we’re not photogenic, Google?
Most importantly, Best Take doesn’t use generative AI to turn a frown into a smile; instead, a series of photos are taken and you can then choose the best facial expressions for your final shot.
That makes it much more palatable for those who think AI is ruining photography, because it’s basically just doing an automated Photoshop-style blend on a series of photos. And in our early demos it’s surprisingly effective, with little sign of the creepy giveaways we expected. But this is one we want to test first before we risk it in our wedding photos.
2. Video boost
Google paid a lot of attention to new video features during the Made by Google event – and perhaps the biggest event was Video Boost, coming to the Pixel 8 Pro in December.
In theory, this is computational video done right – instead of messing around with introducing fake bokeh like the iPhone’s Cinematic Mode (which Apple has gotten very quiet about), the Pixel’s new mode handles 8 Pro instead each video frame using its cloud-based HDR Plus pipeline.
This is a huge technological achievement that will require you to wait a while for your enhanced video. But the results can also be polarizing. Google was keen to show Video Boost side-by-side with the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s video, noting its improved dynamic range and vibrant colors.
However, this saturated HDR look isn’t necessarily to everyone’s taste, so it may be an option to reserve for certain situations (such as high-contrast scenes).
3. Night vision video
Google’s Night Sight has been a hugely influential trick in the field of computational photography, and now it will also be available for videos on the Pixel 8 Pro from December.
Night Sight Video is essentially a low-light version of Video Boost, using multi-frame processing to improve detail and exposure in dark scenes. Google claims the mode is the “best low-light video on any smartphone,” which it says is based on a third-party evaluation comparing major US smartphone brands.
While Google previously announced a version of Night Sight for videos at Google IO 2021, this essentially just stitches photos together to create an animation. We don’t yet know what resolution and frame rates Night Sight Video is available for, but we’re looking forward to taking it for a spin through a wintry London.
4. Audio magic eraser
Audio quality has long been an afterthought in smartphone video, but Google wants to change that on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro with a new “computational audio” trick called Audio Magic Eraser.
This uses machine learning to recognize the audio in your video and divide it into separate channels, such as speech, audience, wind, sound and music. Then you can disable any unwanted apps.
The Google demonstration of a baby talking with the loud background barking of a dog removed was impressive, but we’d like to test this in the field to see how much impact this has on the quality of those individual layers of sound.
5. Magic editor
In May, Google announced that Magic Editor (a new generative AI trick that aims to make bad photos obsolete) was on its way to Pixel phones later this year. Well, now we know those phones are the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
Magic Editor is basically Magic Eraser on steroids, letting you pick and move objects in your photos, move them around, and effectively become a Photoshop expert without having to go anywhere near masking tools and adjustment layers.
It even gives you contextual suggestions about things you can change, like swapping your gray skies for a golden sunset. Some will call it the death of photography. Others will see it as a huge time-saving crutch. Either way, the ‘experimental’ feature will now be available in Google Photos on the latest Pixel phones.
6. Zoom improvement
Google seems to have a lot of fun turning sci-fi concepts into a disturbing reality – see the Call Screen feature, where an AI robot interviews the person calling you to see if they’re worth transferring be with the real you. Another slightly less hair-raising, but equally impressive feature is Zoom Enhance.
Yes the CSI: Miami The “Enhance” meme will get a few more hits today, as Google Photos’ feature is the closest thing to a real-world equivalent. Because it’s powered by generative AI, Zoom Enhance will figure out a lot of extra details when you pinch to zoom in on a photo.
That’s not a million miles away from the way interpolation works, although we doubt it will hold up in court. Still, it looks like another impressive photographic trick to add to the Pixel 8 Pro’s arsenal – and it even gives you an ‘Enhance’ button so you can pretend you’re in a detective drama.
7. Pro controls
Apple’s unwillingness to build pro-friendly camera controls into its Pro phones has always been a bit baffling, but that’s what Google has done with the Pixel 8 Pro. The new Pro Controls allow you to adjust settings such as ISO sensitivity, shutter speed and focus.
That promises to be a particularly big bonus for video photographers, although Google isn’t going nearly as far as phones like the Sony Xperia 1 V – which has three separate camera apps (Photo Pro, Video Pro and Cinema Pro). Still, more control is always good if you don’t want to have to rely on one of the best camera apps.