For the last few years we've become used to most high-end camera phones sporting hefty camera bumps, somewhat negating the general industry trend towards slimming down the rest of a phone. But refreshingly it seems Google is going in a different direction with the upcoming Pixel 10a. In a short official teaser video, we can see Google's next entry-level Pixel will have a completely flat back; its camera island being completely flush with the rest of the rear panel:

So however thick the Pixel 10a ends up, it'll be exactly that figure, with no exceptions or 'excluding projections' asterisk.

While many will likely appreciate a high-performing camera phone that doesn't rely on a huge bump to enclose its camera modules, it's not like Google has been a major offender in this area, at least not with its a-series offerings. The current Pixel 9a has a very similar camera island to the 10a, but just ever so slightly raised. The previous few a-series phones had a more prominent visor-style camera bumps, but again, even their projection was relatively minimal.

As for what camera hardware Google is expected to pack inside the Pixel 10a, well, don't get too excited, as it's likely to be identical to the Pixel 9a's set-up. That means the same 48MP f/1.7 wide angle module, paired with a 13MP f/2.2 ultrawide snapper. We've got no reason to think Google will be adding a telephoto module to the 10a, as this would bring it too close in performance to the full-on Pixels. However when you have rivals like the Nothing CMF Phone 2 Pro which does include a 2x telephoto camera in a phone that costs less than the Pixel 9a, Google won't always be able to stick with a two-camera system for its a-series phones.

The Pixel 10a will be available for pre-order on February 18th at the Google Store.

In today’s flagship smartphone market, photography has become a key differentiator. Google’s Pixel smartphones have consistently been defined by their photographic capabilities, setting benchmarks for computational photography since the early days of the series. Over successive generations, features such as Night Sight, Super Res Zoom, and advanced portrait processing have made the Pixel line a gold-standard for mobile imaging.

The Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL arrive as the latest entries in this lineage, positioned at the top of Google’s hardware portfolio. But with increasingly hot competition from rivals both in camera hardware and software smarts – can Google's latest offerings do enough to cling onto the crown?

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Specifications

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Price

The Pixel 10 Pro starts again this year at $999/£999 for 128GB of storage – which might undercut the base iPhone 17 Pro by $/£100, but the iPhone starts at double the storage. The base model Pixel 10 Pro XL, on the other hand, now starts with 256GB at $1,199/£1,199 ($/£100 more than last year). Which now places it at the exact same price and storage as the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

While I am always grateful for additional storage, usually when the base model gets more storage, it is because the price of the parts has come down. Pixel prices are sneaking up year after year, and I can't help but feel it might have won Google a little more love to go with the consumer-friendly move to swallow the cost and stick to last year's price.

While 256GB is likely enough for most people, you can configure the Pixel 10 Pros with up to 1TB of storage for $1,549/£1,549 in the Pro XL and $1,149/£1,149 in the Pro.

But does the Pixel 10 Pro justify its price? This is not the old Pixel days of great cameras, but a compromised phone. The Pixel 10 Pro is the most premium phone Google has made yet. An all-round complete package, it looks and feels every bit as good as something coming from Samsung and Apple, both of whom you’d expect to be charging this sort of money.

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Design

Google seems to have found its stride with its Pixel Pro designs. The Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL look almost identical to last year's models. Not that this is a bad thing. I think that the Pixel 10 Pro is a really good-looking phone. Yes, the divisive yet signature camera bar is still prominent on the back, again in a raised plateau rather than the bar merging with the sides of the device, but it's a design that, from initially thinking it was a little wacky, is one I’ve grown to love – and it's still a standout design from everything else on the market.

For colors, this year, the phones' matte glass backs come in the usual Obsidian (black) and Porcelein (a slightly yellowish white) with color-matching polished side rails and camera bar. These regulars are joined by two new colors. Moonstone (which is the model I have for testing) is kind of grey, kind of blue, depending on the light, but it's a really nice shade and my personal favorite. There is also a Jade color, which is a soft green, and the only color that doesn’t have a color-matched rail and camera bar, instead opting for gold.

Around the edge, there is the usual power button and volume rocker on the right-hand side. I really like the placement, but I am right-handed, and these just happen to fall perfectly under my thumb. Shortcuts are limited but useful. A double-tap of the power button jumps straight into the camera, while holding it down summons Gemini.

Again, Google has resisted the urge to add action buttons or camera buttons to its devices. While I do detest the iPhone’s camera button, I do wish there were another customizable action button on the Pixel 10 Pro, as I’d love a shortcut for silent mode or one of my Google Home routines.

The Pixel 10 Pros have a fingerprint reader underneath the screen. The reader is ultrasonic, which means it doesn’t light up to scan – very useful at night if your partner is trying to sleep – and is also very quick and accurate. The Pixel also has face ID using just the front-facing camera, which is also lightning quick, and thanks to Google’s impressive AI face recognition tech, has even been approved to log into your banking and other sensitive apps.

For durability, the 10 Pros have Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and rear of the devices, as well as an IP68 dust and water resistance rating to survive an accidental dip in the bath. Although, unfortunately, I've found the shiny side rail is vulnerable, I have managed to scratch up two of my corners in just a few weeks of use.

The big change this year is the introduction of PixelSnap – Google’s MagSafe competitor. This is the first major Android phone we have seen with magnets built directly into the phone, which means not only is the Pixel 10 now compatible without a case with thousands of magnetic wireless chargers and power banks – it also opens the Pixel line up to creatives to use in cages, on gimbals, or the hundreds of other creative tools previously only targeted at Apple’s devices – and hopefully the a step towards Android phones being seen as competive content creation tools.

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Screen

I sometimes feel Google doesn’t shout enough about its Super Actua displays, which on the Pixel 10 Pro, and Pro XL especially, are absolutely gorgeous. The screens are bright, sharp, colorful, with great viewing angles. With maybe the exception of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is my favourite screen I have used on an Android phone.

The screen is completely flat, with no beveled edge, which I much prefer. The bezels are equal around the four sides and very minimal, with the earpiece speaker blending seamlessly into the top bezel. There is also the front hole punch camera, which, for better or worse, Google has decided not to turn into any sort of interactive iPhone-style pill.

The only criticism I can level at Google right now for its screens is that it hasn’t jumped aboard the eye-care train. Yes, Google has added new eye-care sensitivity options, but these pale in comparison to brands like Honor, Xiaomi, or OnePlus. Pulse Width Modulation (or PWM) is just 480Hz on the Pixel 10 Pro XL; meanwhile, the Honor Magic 7 Pro can reach 4320Hz. For many people, this is a non-issue, but for people with sensitive eyes, it can mean a lot.

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Camera Performance

Despite their size difference, both the Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL have the same camera setup with an ultrawide, main camera, and 5x periscope telephoto squeezed into the camera bar.

Google has long been right at the top of the pack when it comes to the best camera phones. Sure, there is much more exciting camera hardware out there, bigger sensors, devices with more cameras, or variable apertures, but, and I mean this as the biggest compliment, the best thing I can say for Google’s cameras is that they are the safest Android phone for photography.

I have taken hundreds of photos with the Pixel 10 Pro, and it has so rarely missed – which I can’t say the same for all the phones I test. Pixel processing is very neutral; there are no stylistic options here, but photos from the 10 Pro are reliably true to life, with accurate colors and a good HDR balance without being overblown. The Pixel rarely pumps the shadows up too much, instead opting for a more natural image.

Images from all three cameras are pretty strong, but the main camera sensor is the standout. In good light, sharpness is excellent; there is also the option to use lossless zoom for 2x photos, which really works, with photos looking like they have come off their own 2x lens. The telephoto camera is also very good. While 5x is a little long for portraits, it is great for zooming in on faraway subjects like wildlife or sports – and like the main camera, the 48MP sensor can provide perfect 10x images as well. The ultrawide is the weakest of the cameras, but you really have to pixel peep to start seeing its flaws with slightly murky sharpness, but it still offers solid usable images if you don’t intend to blow them up.

In low light, the camera performs really well, even competing with phones with much larger 1-inch sensors. Photos look far better lit than they were in reality, and I was taking photos that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Night Sight has gotten faster as well, with the phone requiring you to hold the phone still for less time – or often no time at all.

Macro continues to be a confusing weak spot on the Pixel 10 Pro. The telephoto lens' close focus distance has been improved, so you can get relatively close – although not true macro – and nowhere near the level of quality that you can achieve with other top phones. When you get closer than the minimum focus distance of the telephoto lens, the ultra-wide lens kicks in, which is just the wrong FOV for macro photography, and the quality takes a significant hit.

Google has improved its Super-Res Zoom this year, with the phone now offering an AI-enhanced zoom up to 100x – a number that is such a distance away, I struggled to find good examples to shoot for this review. There is also a caveat that it won’t work on people, so unfortunately can’t be used at sports games or concerts.

The super zoom though is impressive, and puts Google up there with the competition for one of the best AI super zooms I have used. The AI element is actually very underplayed compared to other brands like Honor that lean hard into generative AI. Results from the Pixel are quite natural, looking like a cleaned-up and sharpened version of the original photo – although with slightly too much ethereal glow.

One of the other big new AI features on this year’s Pixels is Google’s ‘Camera Coach’. This uses Gemini’s visual AI to determine a scene and give suggestions on framing, composition, or just general inspiration – the camera app can then guide you through step by step on how to achieve your desired photo. I am always a little sceptical of AI, but this is a use case where it actually really works. The scene recognition is very accurate, suggestions are genuinely useful, and for novices to photography, the guide could be invaluable. We all have that relative who can’t frame a photo to save their life – I'd get them a Pixel 10 Pro.

Video is still a weakness for the Pixel. The fastest you can shoot directly on the device is 4K60p, with no 4K120p, and there is no HDR or speech enhancement above 30p, as I am assuming that is too much for the Tensor processor to handle at once. Video itself is fine, although I found the colors, sharpness, and contrast a bit subpar compared to rivals.

There is an option for 8K video, which involves uploading the video to Google Photos and using Google's AI Video Boost feature. Video Boost also enhances color, lighting, and stabilization, although there are no controls over this, so you just have to let it do its thing and take whatever result it puts out. Frustratingly, Video Boost also turns itself off every time you close the app, so you have to remember to dive into settings to turn it on first, as it can't be applied later.

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Phone Performance

The Pixel 10 family comes sporting Google’s latest Tensor G5 processor. Benchmarking will show this is considerably less powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite processors powering other Android flagships, Apple’s in-house silicon, or indeed the GPU performance of the Pixel 9. But honestly, day-to-day, I can’t notice.

Generally, I wouldn’t say the Pixel 10 Pro has felt slow when I have been using it. Navigating around the phone, jumping in and between apps feels effortless, transitions and scrolling are incredibly smooth. Even when it comes to photo and video editing, trimming and resaving a video on Google Photos was only fractionally faster on my Snapdragon-equipped Xiaomi 15 Ultra than on the Pixel 10 Pro.

As already touched upon, the Tensor chip does show its limitations when it comes to video recording, with a very limited combination of settings available once you go into higher frame rates, including dropping HDR support, speech enhancement, and active stabilization.

I also noticed the phone slowing down when trying to take 50MP photos in quick succession, which would occasionally grey out the shutter button for a second or two while it buffered – but this is not an activity I do a lot.

Battery life on the 10 Pro is just about fine. It got me through a day, although each time by the evening, Google’s battery saver mode had kicked in to save me until I got home. Google’s battery life is outclassed by bigger cells in rival Android phones and less thirsty processors that just last longer. Google really needs to retool its processor or switch to a much higher-capacity battery.

Fast charging can alleviate some battery anxiety. The Pixel 10 Pro tops out at 30W wired and 15W wireless, while the 10 Pro XL goes up to 45W wired and 25W wireless (with compatible chargers) – although these numbers pale in comparison to other brands offering up to twice those speeds. But with around a 20-minute wired charge, I was usually able to get my Pixel up from 10% to over 50% battery.

When it comes to software, the Pixel is probably my favorite Android phone to use. The Pixel OS is clean and minimal; it looks good, menus mostly make sense, and everything is easy to find. If you're heavily into customizing every aspect of your phone though, then this is not the phone for you. But, I do wish there were a few more customization options for the home screen, like the ability to choose the size of icons or add larger folders like on many other Android devices.

After using the phone for almost a month, I am still none the wiser about what Google's big new AI feature – Magic Cue – actually does. It's meant to pull information from your phone to pre-empt answers to texts or things you might be searching for on an app. It only works in Google apps, and I am a heavy YouTube, Gmail, Drive, and Photos user, but so far, it has not surfaced anything. I am hopeful, but I feel this might not actually become useful until it can use third-party apps, as 99% of my communication is done between WhatsApp and Instagram.

Google Pixel 10 Pro & Pro XL: Verdict

The Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL might not boast the kind of headline specs that look set to redefine mobile photography, but that’s never really been Google’s game. Instead, what you get here is consistency – reliable camera performance time after time, now enhanced by meaningful upgrades like a more effective 100x super-res zoom, the helpful new camera coach, and a growing suite of clever AI editing tools.

It isn’t flawless. Video capture still trails behind the best in class, with middling quality and an over-reliance on AI upscaling that feels like a stopgap rather than a true breakthrough. But for stills, which is where most people will spend their time, the Pixel 10 Pro continues to deliver shots that look fantastic straight out of the phone, with minimal fuss.

Beyond the camera, this is one of the most beautifully designed smartphones you can buy. It feels superb in the hand, the display is stunning to look at, and while Google’s latest Tensor chip can’t quite match rivals on raw benchmarks, in real-world use, it never feels overly sluggish. Battery life isn’t the strongest, but it just about holds up for a full day of regular use.

So is it the most powerful camera phone money can buy? No. But is it the best choice for most people who simply want to point, shoot, and get consistently excellent results without thinking about it? Absolutely. The Pixel 10 Pro nails the everyday photography experience in a way few competitors can match – and that’s what makes it such an easy phone to recommend.

Alternatives

I’ve been a Pixel user for years and, if there’s one thing that keeps me coming back time after time, it’s the cameras – I love Pixel processing. Pixels do an extraordinary job of extracting a lot from modest hardware. Google has consistently shown us that clever computational photography can more than make up for sensor sizes and lens specs that, on paper, aren’t quite as exciting as the competition.

But, as much as I adore what Google’s image processing can do, I can’t ignore the fact that the latest “Ultra” phones from Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo are sensational pieces of camera hardware that manage to edge out Google’s computational trickery. And through partnerships with legendary camera brands like Hasselblad, Leica and Zeiss, they have closed the gap on attractive processing.

These manufacturers have been putting one-inch sensors into their flagships and pairing them with lenses that rival the best compact cameras. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra, for instance, doesn’t just have a headline 1-inch sensor – it backs it up with a huge telephoto sensor that’s equally ambitious and, frankly, leaves the Pixel Pro looking underbaked.

I find myself reaching more now for my Oppo Find X8 Ultra or Xiaomi 15 Ultra than my Pixel 9 Pro. Not because I suddenly prefer their Android skins; it’s purely down to the cameras. When I’m shooting in challenging light, those 1-inch sensors pull in more detail than the Pixel can manage. And the Oppo’s 3x and 6x telephoto lenses give me more options for optical zoom, without having to rely on computational photography to fill in the gaps.

AI, of course, has come a long way – and the Pixel line has some of the best, be it Night Sight, Super Res Zoom or the AI-driven editing tools that are increasingly becoming part of Google Photos. But physics hasn’t changed and better camera hardware still makes for better photos. Bigger sensors gather more light, larger apertures let more of it in and higher-quality lenses resolve finer detail. Software magic can’t (yet) get around the fundamentals.

That’s why I can’t stop thinking about a hypothetical Pixel “Ultra.” Something that doesn’t play it safe with camera specs, but instead throws everything at the wall. A 1-inch main sensor, multiple telephotos, a larger telephoto sensor, perhaps even variable aperture lenses. I want to see what Pixel processing can do when running wild with the best possible hardware.

And there’s a market for it, too. Xiaomi / Oppo / Vivo have been producing premium Ultra phones for generations now, and Samsung’s Galaxy Ultra series is proof that people will pay a premium for a phone with the top camera tech. If Samsung can sell Ultras year after year, there’s no reason Google couldn’t do the same – especially with the growing recognition of Pixel as a brand for great mobile photography.

For me, the Pixel Pro line has always been great. But the Pixel Ultra – that’s the dream. And if Google ever lets its engineers off the leash to make it happen, I think it could be a game-changer for mobile photography.

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As an Android phone enthusiast, for years the iPhone has had one feature I’ve secretly envied more than any other – not the camera, or iMessage, or even AirDrop – but MagSafe.

The little magnetic ring hidden under the iPhone’s glass back is genius, and for me as a content creator – it’s a game-changer. Whether slapping your phone quickly on a gimbal like the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro, dropping it onto a tripod, or sticking it onto a chest mount so you can film hands-free, it's just quick, solid, and strangely satisfying.

That’s why Google’s new PixelSnap on the Pixel 10 is such a big deal. Finally, a mainstream Android phone with magnets built in!

On Android, you could sort of do the same thing, but only with a clunky MagSafe-compatible case, which always felt like a compromise. I’m a case hater. They spoil the look of your phone, add bulk, can block accessories using the USB-C port, and in my experience – the magnets were never as strong as Apple’s.

This may sound like a small detail, but for anyone making content, it’s a big deal. Apple has owned the creative crowd for years, and not just because of its MacBooks being the best photo-editing laptops. The iPhone has long been the default phone for shooting video, and accessory makers followed. Gimbals, rigs, and mounts are all marketed with iPhone users in mind.

And yet, video quality on Android has quietly caught up. Brands like Samsung, Oppo, and Google can all shoot footage that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Apple. With magnets baked into Google’s flagship, there’s no reason accessory brands can’t now market their magnetic gizmos directly to Android creators too.

Apple still keeps a trump card in DockKit, its clever system that lets iPhones talk directly to gimbals and PTZ cameras for smooth subject tracking. Right now, Google doesn’t have an answer, and while third-party AI tracking add-ons do exist, they don’t feel as seamless.

But if there’s one company that can close that gap, it’s Google. Its AI smarts are already creeping into framing with its new Camera Coach feature, and it’s easy to imagine Google building in proper AI tracking soon.

At the end of the day, we’re talking about something as trivial as magnets. But sometimes it’s the small things that completely change how you use a device. With PixelSnap, the Pixel 10 feels like the first Android phone that doesn’t just match the iPhone for creators – it actually feels ready to rival it. And as someone who’s spent far too long juggling cases and weak magnets, I couldn’t be happier.

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Mobile photography apps brought photography editing to the masses – but will the next big thing in photo editing mean anyone can edit a photo without any technical skills? Amid the launch of the Google Pixel 10, Google shared an update to Google Photos that allows for editing a photo without touching any sliders or tools. How? By asking Gemini, Google’s AI.

Soon, Google Photos will be able to edit a photo using a text or voice prompt. In demos of the feature, Google demonstrated how Gemini removed glare, brightened a photo, and added clouds to the sky using a single prompt. In another demonstration, Gemini adjusted the overall quality and removed a water bottle, and in another, the AI restored a vintage photograph.

The process did not require knowledge of the photo editor’s slider or tools, and in the demo, Gemini even suggested some potential editing prompts. The update hints that future photo editing software could require less technical know-how if natural language prompts are able to tackle edits.

The feature is coming first to Pixel 10 users in the US, Google says, but "coming first" implies that other devices will follow.

I don’t think generative AI is a big threat to portrait and wedding photography, where the resulting images need to be authentic images of real moments – but the ability to snap a photo with a smartphone and then make it better without any technical know-how may be a larger threat to the industry. My social media feed is already filled with parents taking smartphone photos of their graduates instead of getting professional senior portraits done. What will the ability to edit those images without any technical skills mean?

I find some comfort in the fact that I liked the before version of the demo photo with the lovely sun flare better than the AI-edited image, because I actually love lens flare.

The Google Pixel 10 even comes with a Camera Coach, which uses AI to offer live suggestions on how to improve the photo with tips on composition, framing, and lighting. I don’t think generative AI can replace real moments, but AI-guided photos taken with real cameras and AI-guided edits may be a different story.

The Google Pixel 10 series, however, will also be the first to use C2PA Content Credentials on the native camera app, which will mark whether or not the image was made with AI.

Google Photos will also gain support for C2PA, which means the app will also be able to tell users how an image was made. The feature is coming first to the Pixel 10 smartphones, but Google says the Content Credentials will be rolling out to Google Photos across Android and iOS in the coming weeks.

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It's been rumored for several months that the Pixel 10 could be getting a significant camera upgrade. Now, Android Headlines has got hold of what are claimed to be official renders of the upcoming phone. They show a wider glass window in the camera bar, containing a third camera module. This is widely speculated to be a telephoto camera, which would make this the first standard Pixel (non-Pro) model to feature one. The module is said to be the same as the telephoto camera used in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which would therefore make it a 10.8 megapixel, 1/3.2" sensor, with a 112mm (equivalent) focal length giving 5x optical zoom relative to the phone's primary (wide-angle) camera. The main camera will allegedly use the 48MP, 1/2.0" sensor from the Pixel 9a, and the 9a will also donate its 12MP 1/3.1" ultrawide module.

Keen Pixel fans will note that both these main and ultrawide modules are notable hardware downgrades compared with the current Pixel 9. This features a much bigger 50MP, 1/1.31" main sensor, and also a larger 1/2.55" 48MP ultrawide camera. The likely reason for Google doing this is to add greater separation between the base Pixel 10 and its Pro siblings, given it's now likely that the regular pixel and the Pro models will all have triple camera systems. But even with smaller sensors, the Pixel 10 will almost certainly still be capable of excellent image quality, such is the power of Google's image processing tech.

The Android Headlines Pixel 10 renders show the phone in four colors: Obsidian, Indigo, Frost, and Limoncello. That translates to black, blue, white, and a greenish-yellow (chartreuse).

The Pixel 10 is due to be launched on August 20th, with shipping slated for August 28th.

It isn't long since foldable phones were clunky, pricey and liable to break. The cameras were bad. The battery life wasn't great. In short, they were more of a novelty than a serious purchase.

But a lot of that's changed. And specifically, it's seeing people actually use these devices in the wild that's making me realise what a gamechanger they could be. 

For instance, last month at a press conference, I watched a journalist with her Galaxy Z Fold 7 lying open like a tiny laptop. On the left side, she had the press release pulled up. On the right, she was making notes in real-time, cross-referencing technical specs as the speaker went through each point. 

What struck me was how natural it all looked. She wasn't in any way straining or fumbling with this new workflow. She looked like she'd been doing this her whole life.

Workflow possibilities

I'm intrigued by the possibilities for photographers' productivity. Imagine editing a photo while keeping your reference image or client feedback open on the other screen. Reviewing a shoot while updating your shot list, or communicating with your team. This multitasking potential might end up finally matching how photographers actually work in the real world.

The general public seem to be warming to foldables too. I was in the pub on Friday night, when a friend pulled out her Pixel 9 Pro Fold to show me shots of her granddaughter's first steps. When she opened it up to its tablet-sized display, the pics truly popped. 

For the first time, sharing mobile photos felt like a proper viewing experience, and required no squinting whatsoever.

Up to the job

In short, it seems we're reaching the point when foldable tech is finally delivering on its promises. The latest devices from the likes of Google and Samsung are so thin and light that using them closed doesn't feel like you're carrying a brick. 

The cameras are becoming genuinely competitive too, not just "good for a foldable." And while the durability concerns haven't vanished entirely, they've certainly become more manageable.

So I think a lot of people will soon be starting to ask a new question. Not "Why would I want a foldable?" but "What am I missing by not having one?" And when the conversation moves from justifying early adoption to worrying you've been left behind, that's massive.

We saw it with mirrorless cameras, we saw it with 4K displays, and we saw with fast charging. Now, it feels like we're seeing it with foldables too. Mark my words: the foldable future is coming—and for some of us, it's already here.

The Pixel 9a could be one of the most sensible phones to buy in 2025. It has a big battery, years of future-proofing courtesy of Google, and it also has the same processor for near-flagship-grade (by Pixel standards) gaming. Of course, when the price goes down, so too do some features, and the Pixel 9a’s camera is arguably the area that’s been hit hardest.

The dual-camera mix combines a 48MP wide and 13MP tele camera with a 13MP selfie camera. While the pixel counts aren’t alarming, the main camera sensor is smaller than last year’s Pixel 8a.

Going up against the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G and Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro, Xiaomi 14T Pro, and other not-quite-flagships, would you be better off spending a bit more and getting a few fewer compromises, or is the Pixel 9a a winning balance of value and substance?

Google Pixel 9a: design and screen

The Pixel 9a is a compact metal and plastic phone with a glass front. As with all Pixels, it’s available in some fun color options, with Obsidian (black) and Porcelain (white) being safe choices, and Iris (blue) and Peony (pink) adding a bit of pop to the line.

Despite its modest 6.3-inch display size, the chunky bezels, flat sides, and almost 9mm profile ensure the Pixel 9a doesn’t feel particularly slender or futuristic. It's a chunky phone with a relatively compact footprint, but it definitely isn’t a waif.

With IP68 water and dust resistance and Gorilla Glass 3 on the front, the 9a competes with phones like the Poco X7 Pro when it comes to durability, and it’s great to see this level of life-proofing available on more affordable devices.

The phone has two speakers, pumping most of the sound from the bottom and about 20 percent from the earpiece above the screen. The power button and volume rocker on the right side are responsive with satisfying click feedback, and the in-display fingerprint scanner is quick to unlock the Pixel 9a securely.

The ultra-slim camera bump (it feels excessive even calling it a bump) is a serious novelty. In an era of phones piling on the pounds up top to make their cameras look like they mean business, Google goes old-school and chases a subtler aesthetic, even bucking its own trend across the rest of the Pixel 9 family. Considering midrange phones don’t typically have huge camera modules, I’m more than happy with this design choice, just as long as it doesn’t mean worse cameras and, in turn, photos and videos.

As for the Pixel 9a’s 6.3-inch screen, it’s very manageable when using the phone one-handed, so the size is an instant win for anyone tired of big phones that are a serious stretch for thumbs and fingers. It’s also a quality screen with its smooth 120Hz refresh rate and crisp 422 pixel-per-inch panel. Being OLED, blacks are inky and colors pack punch, and with a peak outdoor brightness of 1800 nits (2700 nits spot brightness for HDR content), it’s easy to see indoors and out.

So if you can get past the almost Duplo-esque simple styling and 2020-grade chunky bezels framing the screen, the Pixel 9a ticks a lot of boxes, especially for anyone tired of camera bumps and big screens.

Google Pixel 9a: camera specs

Google opted for a 48MP primary camera for the Pixel 9a, flanked by a 13MP ultra-wide camera. It’s a familiar setup, but interestingly, the 9a has a significantly smaller main sensor than last year’s Pixel 8a (a 1/2-inch size compared to the 1/1.73-inch 8a sensor), albeit a faster f/1.7 aperture. Its new lens packs a superpower beyond f-stop – it focuses as near as roughly 8cm – adding extra versatility to the mix.

25mm 50MP primary camera: 1/2-inch sensor with f/1.7 aperture lens, dual-pixel PDAF and OIS

16mm 13MP ultra-wide camera: 1/3.1-inch sensor with f/2.2 aperture lens (no AF)

20mm 13MP selfie camera: 1/3.1-inch sensor with f/2.2 aperture lens (no AF)

In addition to a new primary camera, the Pixel 9a also packs Google’s fun photo features including Add Me for double-exposure group shots with some computational magic, as well as Google’s notoriously balanced photo processing. There’s no Pro mode per se, so manual shutter speed and ISO are out of the question, however, exposure, shadows and white balance can all be adjusted for photos.

Video is captured at up to 4K resolution 60fps from the Pixel 9a’s main camera and 4K 30fps from the ultra-wide camera, with 60fps ultra-wide footage locked to 1080p.

Google Pixel 9a: camera performance

Considering the Pixel 9a’s camera specs, the phone is a testament to Google’s impressive photo processing, with shots taken in bright environments looking excellent, with balanced exposure, vibrant colours and dynamic-looking contrast.

Shadow detail is abundant, in-sensor zoom is strong at up to 2–3x zoom depending on lighting, and even when you pull out to the ultra-wide camera, quality holds, making the 9a a great shout for anyone who tends to shoot in daylight conditions.

An area the Pixel shines is close-up photography, with the 9a’s macro lens able to snap close-up subjects with luscious blurry backgrounds and shallow but natural-looking focus.

When the lights drop, the 9a doesn’t drop the ball – at least not for photos. Google’s Night Sight and computational photography magic kick in to boost and clarify stationary subjects even in challenging scenes, though moving subjects are more hit and miss.

Another byproduct of the Pixel 9a heavily leaning on computational photography is longer processing times, especially for the ultra-wide camera. For anyone looking for an all-purpose night snapper, the 9a could let you down.

Video is the main area where the Pixel 9a’s hardware holds it back. In bright scenes, it looks good with the macro focus shining once again from the main camera; however, low-light video is bad. Not even Google’s computing magic can clean up the noisy night footage the 9a captures, especially from the ultra-wide camera.

Nevertheless, with a strong portrait mode, mostly accurate skin tones in our testing, and that macro capture, there’s enough camera bang to keep the Pixel 9a competitive, even if it isn’t class-leading.

Google Pixel 9a: performance and battery

Performance is seldom a Pixel’s best attribute, with Google’s Tensor chips always falling behind MediaTek and Qualcomm’s for gaming power. When you combine two facts, though – the Pixel 9a has the same Tensor G4 as the flagship Pixel and it costs significantly less – performance is actually one of the 9a’s key selling points.

Gamers will be able to run the latest 3D games, including Wuthering Waves and Zenless Zone Zero, at medium to high graphics settings without any issues, so the main limitation when loading up your games library will be the meagre 128GB starting storage capacity of the 9a.

Considering one of the best things about the Pixel 9a is how future-proofed it is with the promise of seven years of OS updates, if you’re thinking about a phone for the long haul, we’d suggest stumping up for the 256GB version.

Running Android 15, the Pixel 9a’s interface is clean with no clutter and a handful of Google’s AI smarts on hand, including Gemini for voice assistance and Circle to Search, so you can search whatever’s displayed on-screen.

The battery has been bumped up from 4490mAh on the Pixel 8a to 5100mAh on the 9a, a welcome boost, and the phone comfortably makes it through a full day without any issues. It charges at 23W when plugged in and supports 7.5W wireless charging, the latter not often seen at the Pixel 9a’s price, so while faster charging would have been great, it’s good to have charging options.

Google Pixel 9a verdict

Google’s struck a basic but incredibly sensible balance with the Pixel 9a. It isn’t the best at anything in particular – the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro’s cameras are more exciting, the Poco X7 Pro is better for gaming, and the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion packs plenty of extra storage – but as a package, it’s very easy to recommend.

The Pixel 9a’s camera is typically good enough, with its main area of weakness being low-light video or low-light photos when capturing moving subjects. But in most environments, it takes a good-looking shot for the price, and matched with a clean interface and nippy performance, not to mention wireless charging, it’s packed with highlights.

So if you can handle those issues, don’t mind its blocky styling, and opt for the 256GB model for extra future-proofing, the 9a is a great package that should last for years to come.

Google's next generation of Pixel camera phones - the Pixel 10 series - will drop later this year, but rumors are already circulating about what camera hardware the upcoming devices might pack. Android Authority has allegedly viewed documents from a Google insider that specify the image sensors that'll be used in the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL and 10 Pro Fold. Don't get too excited though - the changes are minimal at best, and in the case of the base Pixel 10, a mixed bag.

Google Pixel 9 Pro & Pro XL full review

In previous generations of Pixel, the base-model (non-Pro) has sported a main (wide-angle) camera module, and an ultrawide module. If this latest leak is true, that could be set to change for the Pixel 10, which is claimed to the be the first base Pixel phone to get a triple camera array: wide, ultrawide, and now telephoto. The latter using Samsung's 10.8MP, 1/1.3” 3J1 sensor - we've already seen the 3J1 on telephoto duty in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

But the news might not be all good for the Pixel 10. At the same time as adding a third camera module, the leak suggests Google could also downgrade the wide and ultrawide modules in the Pixel 10.

The Pixel 10's main camera is said to use a Samsung GN8 sensor, replacing the Samsung GNV chip in currently in the Pixel 9. Although both sensors are 50MP in resolution, the GN8 is significantly smaller at 1/1.95", compared to the GNV's 1/1.31". Smaller sensors tend to struggle to resolve fine detail, while also being more prone to image noise.

The ultrawide camera in the Pixel 10 is claimed to use a 13MP, 1/3.1" Sony IMX712 sensor, which if true would be another downgrade compared to the Pixel 9's 48MP 1/2.55” Sony IMX858. In fact, should these sensors be implemented in the Pixel 10, the new phone would then have exactly the same main and ultrawide cameras as those in the Pixel 9a, leaving the Pixel 10 to rely solely on its new telephoto camera to differentiate itself from the cheaper Pixel 9a in terms of camera performance.

If the details of this leak are correct, then it's likely Google's reasoning for downgrading the Pixel 10's cameras is either to reduce its production cost to maintain a similar price point to the Pixel 9, or to free up space inside the phone to fit that new telephoto module in. But whatever the rationale, the base Pixel 10 could be tough to recommend over a cheaper Pixel 9a if the two phones end up packing the same primary and ultrawide cameras.

The leak also details the camera specs for the upcoming Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, but these are said to carry over the exact same image sensors from the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL. Finally, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is also likely to retain most of the same camera hardware as in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but the leak does suggest that the primary camera could potentially be based around a Samsung GN8 sensor, rather than the Sony IMX787 in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Story credit: Android Authority

Google has officially unveiled the Pixel 9a, its latest addition to the A-series and the successor to the Pixel 8a, which launched in 2024.

Just like Samsung's Galaxy A56 5G and the iPhone 16e, the A-series costs significantly less than a flagship. It's unsurprising that the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro pack much better camera specs, however, if last year's Pixel 8a is anything to go by, we're expecting Google's trademark balanced photo processing to save the day.

Priced at $499 / AU$849, and packing many of the same internals as the pricier Pixel 9, it's looking like a solid value option out of the gate, but specs are only half the Pixel 9a story.

Pixel 9a: AI and software

One of the biggest selling points of the Pixel 9a isn’t the camera but the Google Tensor G4 chip powering it. While on the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, it was underpowered compared to competing flagships, on the 9a, it’s a fantastic chipset for the phone's price.

The Tensor G4’s real strength is its AI performance, and Google states we can expect water-tight integration with Google’s AI assistant, Gemini, with upgraded visual recognition integrated into the camera so that you can share video and screen content with it in real-time and it can help you pick an outfit, choose what color to paint your walls, and identify items.

Unsurprisingly, the Pixel 9a supports Google’s Circle to Search, which allows instant searches of whatever’s on your screen, and Pixel Studio for custom image and sticker creation.

Google’s also committing to seven years of OS updates, security patches, and feature drops, so the Pixel 9a is hands-down one of the most future-proofed phones at its price, and is crammed with Pixel 9 and 9 Pro value-adds, including a built-in VPN, car crash and theft detection, and Google’s excellent call screening.

Pixel 9a: camera upgrade or downgrade?

The Pixel 9a switches up its dual camera, sticking with the same setup of one wide and one ultra-wide but swapping out from a 64MP wide camera on the 8a to a 48MP main camera on the Pixel 9a. While the resolution drop doesn’t raise any eyebrows, the fact it’s a smaller sensor is surprising.

The main camera captures 12MP photos with the 48MP, 1/2-inch sensor, has 4-in-1 pixel binning, and an f/1.7 lens with OIS. By contrast, the Pixel 8a captures 16MP photos with a larger 64MP, 1/1.73-inch sensor and a slower f/1.9 lens.

The Pixel 9a’s ultra-wide camera spec remains unchanged on paper, with a 13MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. Other camera highlights include macro focus – a first for the series – and Google's photo features, including Add Me, Best Take, Magic Editor and Reimagine.

Pixel 9a: design, screen and battery

The Pixel 9a’s style steps away from the bulbous, playful design of the 8a in favour of a more generic smartphone-by-numbers aesthetic. It has a flat profile with rounded edges, similar to the pricier Pixel 9. However, that's matched with a much more subtle camera bump.

The Pixel 9a’s 6.3-inch screen gets nice and bright at up to 2700 nits, has a smooth 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

A standout aspect of Pixels is their colors, and the 9a's colors are no exception, with Iris, Peony, Porcelain, and Obsidian available, each with a metal frame and a back cover made from 81% recycled plastic. With IP68 water and dust resistance, it matches the ruggedness of flagships.

The 5100mAh battery – much higher capacity than we were expecting, with the Pixel 8a's battery being 4492mAh – promises over 30 hours of use, and it supports 23W wired charging and Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W.

The Pixel 9a is available for pre-order now, with general availability starting March 26th, costing $499/£499/AU$849, and while it can't best the competition on camera hardware – Nothing's Phone (3a) Pro probably tops that chart – we're still expecting it to be one of the best midrange camera phones of 2025.

Samsung's TM Roch took to the stage to show the new S25 phones, holding them in his hands. This, for me, was a mistake because it was nearly impossible to see what was different, except for a slight color change.

Apparently the positioning of the antenna might have moved, and the base memory is now 12GB but no significant specs have changed. What does an increase in RAM mean? These days it generally seems to mean a lot of AI software is being added.

So what happened? Has Samsung simply stopped trying now?

iPhone 16 v Samsung Galaxy S25

I thought the point of Samsung phones was to provide a significant rival to Apple. Personally I wasn't likely to change because I'm somewhat embedded into the Apple universe, but I did, grudgingly, respect some of the tech that Samsung seemed to get out there first. Better camera specs (at least on paper), that kind of thing.

If nothing else, historically, Samsung kept Apple on their toes. The first periscope zoom camera was in the Galaxy S20 Ultra – that's a long way before Apple finally got the tech into the iPhone 15.

So, even as an Apple user with a still-very-new iPhone 16 Pro Max, I was a little excited by the launch of Samsung S25 because, if nothing else, I reasoned it might herald the future of my phone. It's odd for long-time Apple-users like me that Apple no longer aims to "Think Different." Then again, this is a market it has the lead in, so perhaps Tim Cook is being sensible!

Not this time though. The S25 Ultra simply looks like an S24 (near-identical camera layout) but the edges have been tweaked so they give off an thoroughly iPhone vibe – flat edges, curved corners – rather than the distinct (if rather drab in my view) Samsung look from before with the sharp corners.

How else, has Samsung distinguished the new devices? OK, to be fair the identical looking camera has had a spec bump on the wide to 50MP, but the most visually obvious thing – they've done something very Apple. Yes, they've gone with different colorways.

Oh, and something else – some AI. Which, to me anyway, isn't as exciting as they think it is.

Why not? Because AI is always a series of specific potentially very useful tools which might look very good in a presentation but you won't actually use very much and in day-to-day life. If you want to take clips of videos and make GIFs within the OS, or search on images, great. But it's hard to get excited about.

Worryingly, too, those features are only definitely free until the end of 2025 when an as-yet unspecified charge may (let's be realistic; almost definitely will) come into play, at least for cloud AI, which is most of it.

If that weren't enough, the S25's Samsung-enhanced variant of Android seems to have deliberately styled itself to look as much like the most recent iteration of iOS as possible.

Indeed if the point wasn't clear enough, Samsung goes out of its way to highlight the fact they've switched into a kind of Apple following mode with their Smart Switch features to 'make it easy to switch' from iOS.

For me, at least, it has the opposite effect. It leaves me unexcited. Personally, if I'm going to ditch a platform that works for me and I trust, I want a reason – not just to know Samsung's design team are inspired by it, which leads me to the real battle...

iPhone 16 v Samsung Galaxy S25 v Google Pixel

What I think has really happened here is that Samsung has quietly accepted that the Galaxy phones have ceded the ground of 'best Android phone' and 'the iPhone alternative' to the Google Pixel 9.

For one thing a lot of the AI in the S25 phones is essentially driven by Google's Gemini anyway, with some extensions into Samsung's Bixby AI to interact with Samsung's calendar and the like (more useful if you actually use Samsung's software – which I suspect I wouldn't).

It even says 'ask Gemini' in the dialog box. Though, given Samsung clearly want to charge their own fees in the very near future, you can see why they've also spent time integrating their own features.

The result? A disappointing mess from the perspective of someone who – admittedly – isn't that tempted to jump ship for AI anyway. Give me an impressive camera (that doesn't just fake a moon) and I might be a lot more tempted!

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Perhaps it'll be more exciting next time – there is talk of a 200MP S26. In the meantime, check the best camera phones and the best iPhone for photography.

The Samsung Unpacked 2025 event didn’t just bring the new S25 series of smartphones – it unveiled a slew of new AI-based features for the smartphones. But as Samsung and Google worked together to unveiled the S25’s new Gemini Live features, they asked the AI for advice on how to become a better photographer. Some of the advice the AI offered was on point, but as an actual photographer, I think one piece of advice the AI offered is particularly off base.

Sissie Hsia, the VP of Google Gemini Experiences, took the stage to explore the new Gemini features during Samsung Unpacked 2025. That list of features includes Gemini Live, an AI-powered virtual assistant coming first to Android and S25 phones. What’s impressive about the AI is that it's multimodal and could use the voice prompts with a photo to offer specific advice.

To demonstrate, Hsia showed the AI a photo of her dog and asked how she could become a better photographer. Gemini’s first bit of advice, to try a composition that’s not centered, is fairly standard advice like the well-known Rule of Thirds.

But when Hsia asked how to get a more vibrant photo, I didn't quite agree with what Gemini suggested. The AI suggested shooting on a sunny day for a more vibrant photo. While a sunny day will produce more vibrant colors, the AI failed to suggest when to shoot on a sunny day. Shooting at noon on a sunny day will have more vibrant colors, yes, but it will also create terrible shadows. The advice to shoot on a sunny day should have also came with advice on when to head out that day.

Ironically, I often recommend beginners shoot on an overcast day or in the shade, at least for portraits, because it’s the easiest light to get a flattering portrait in. Overcast light is soft light, and soft light can help reduce the appearance of skin texture and wrinkles, make the eyes pop, and avoid those under-eye shadows that make you look really tired. Yes, the contrast will be a bit softer on a cloudy day, but it’s the easiest light for a beginner that doesn’t yet know how to work with light at all.

If you’re a beginner and don’t know how to work with the sun, the odds are that your photos would turn out better on an overcast day or in the shade. If you don’t position the sun just right, you’ll end up with deep shadows over the wrong parts of the photo, like a dog completely in a dark silhouette. Experienced photographers who know how to work with light and flash can get good photos in the middle of a sunny day, but it's a near impossible challenge for beginners.

What Gemini should have said is to photograph on a sunny day an hour before sunset. This essential clarification would have made all the difference. Shooting at noon on a sunny day, you can’t position the sun properly for a flattering shot. But the hour before sunset is different. Photographers call this the golden hour specifically because it's often the best time to create a flattering photo that has lovely contrast but without harsh shadows.

Inexperienced photographers tend to get images that are too dark when shooting in full sun. Working close to sunset offers that greater contrast, but in light that’s a lot easier to work with. If a beginner photographer asks me how to create a more vibrant photo, I suggest shooting on a sunny day but about an hour before sunset.

Gemini’s response could have been better, but perhaps that gives those who teach photography a sigh of relief that AI isn’t going to replace them anytime soon. Google Gemini made a similar gaffe on stage when presenting Gemini Live when the AI recommended opening the back of a film camera to solve an issue with the film not winding, which as film photographers know, will ruin the photos.

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Explore the new smartphones with our Samsung S25 preview, or browse the best Android phones for photography.

The best Android phones for photography are increasingly a valid alternative to the latest iPhones. They come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, and each offers a slightly different take on what the best camera phone should provide. 

Some chase huge sensors and optical zoom, others lean on computational smarts, and a few – like the new Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra – now come with optional camera grips and teleconverter lenses that turn your phone into something much closer to a proper camera system. 

Below I've chosen the best Android phones for photography based on their design, the quality of their displays, processing power, battery life, unique features, value, usability and of course, camera quality. 

The best Android phones for photography

Best Android phone for most people

The Google Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL continue Google’s long-standing focus on photographic consistency and everyday use-case excellence, making them a compelling choice for most mobile photographers who want great results without fuss.

What sets the Pixel 10 Pro line apart is its ability to turn point-and-shoot simplicity into reliably strong stills, regardless of conditions. The triple-camera array – with a 50 MP main sensor, 48 MP ultra-wide and 48 MP 5× telephoto – delivers images with excellent color, dynamic range and detail straight out of the phone. Computational tools such as Camera Coach and powerful AI editing features further elevate images with minimal effort. While the headline “100×” super-resolution zoom isn’t a replacement for true optical performance at extreme range, it does extend versatility and can produce usable handheld shots beyond typical smartphone reach.

The phones’ Super Actua displays also make reviewing and editing photos a pleasure, with bright, sharp panels that stand up well to outdoor use. Design and ergonomics are thoroughly premium too, with a build quality that feels at home alongside Samsung and Apple’s flagship Android rivals.

Video capture is less of a highlight, trailing class leaders with middling quality and an over-reliance on AI upscaling, so if your photography leans heavily into video work, check out the Vivo X300 Ultra. Still, for stills, photographers who want dependable, easy-to-use image quality backed by excellent software intelligence, the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL represent one of the most consistent Android camera experiences available.

Read our full Google Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL review

Best Android phone for zoom

Oppo's Ultra series has been steadily closing the gap on dedicated cameras, and the Find X9 Ultra closes it further still. Its five-camera Hasselblad Master Camera System spans 14mm to 230mm optically, with a 200MP main sensor, a phenomenal 200MP 3x telephoto, and a 50MP 10x periscope that comfortably beats rivals' digital zoom for detail and usability. Let's be clear: this is the best telephoto system I've seen on a phone to date.

Elsewhere, Hasselblad Master mode is the standout feature, stripping away over-processed sharpening and HDR for results that feel genuinely photographic, while an optional grip case and 300mm teleconverter lens push things even further for those willing to invest in extra glass. 

Some small niggles: standard photo mode can still look a touch over-sharpened, and the teleconverter sadly can't be used alongside Master mode's film-style presets. But as an all-round photography tool, it's exceedingly capable.

Read more: Oppo Find X9 Ultra review

Best Android phone on a budget

Nothing’s second‑generation CMF handset proves you don’t need deep pockets to get a phone that feels genuinely exciting. For $279 / £219, the Phone 2 Pro upgrades last year’s formula with a symmetrical 6.77‑inch 10‑bit OLED that’s richer, brighter, and smoother than anything else at this price, and it even supports contactless payments thanks to newly added NFC.

The headline, though, is photography. A true triple‑camera array – a 50 MP main sensor, a 50 MP 2x portrait‑friendly telephoto, and an 8 MP ultrawide  shoots colourful, natural images, with RAW capture and optional macro or fisheye adapters for creative play. The lack of OIS and the modest ultrawide hold it back, but the main and tele units comfortably narrow the gap to mid‑range rivals.

MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 Pro and 8 GB RAM keep daily use snappy, though demanding games ask for low graphics. A 5,000 mAh cell routinely leaves 40 % in the tank at bedtime, and 33 W wired charging refills to 60 % in half an hour.

Nothing OS remains a joy: monochrome icons, zero bloat and the new Essential Key give the phone a premium vibe, but the fledgling Essential Space – and its rumoured subscription – feels half‑baked. Combined with only IP54 protection and shorter software support than class leaders, the CMF Phone 2 Pro isn’t flawless. Yet its blend of style, modular fun, and outright value makes it our top budget pick for Android buyers who prize photography and personality over raw horsepower.

Read our full CMF Phone 2 Pro review

Best phone for Samsung fans

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is a more mixed camera upgrade than usual, but it's still one of the most complete Android flagships around. The 200MP main sensor gets a brighter f/1.4 lens, and Nightography video is meaningfully improved, but the 3x camera has actually been downgraded with a smaller sensor, and macro focusing has taken a hit on both the main and 5x lenses.

Where the S26 Ultra wins is everywhere else: a gorgeous 6.9in display with a genuinely useful Privacy Display mode, fast charging, excellent performance, and the S Pen all still present. If you're keen to stay within Samsung's ecosystem and the fact that rivals such as Oppo and Vivo now shoot more natural-looking stills doesn't excite you, this brilliant all-rounder is the one to go for.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review

Best foldable Android phone

The Honor Magic V5 takes the foldable crown for photographers who want a large, tablet-style canvas without major camera compromises, making it one of the most interesting Android phones for photography if you value both versatility and imaging quality.

Honor’s slimmest, lightest foldable yet pairs a capable triple-lens array – a 50 MP main sensor, a 50 MP ultra-wide and a 64 MP periscope telephoto with 3× optical zoom and up to 100× digital reach – with bright, detailed OLED screens that make reviewing and editing images a pleasure. Across real-world shooting, all three cameras deliver reliable results with good colour, clarity and dynamic range, while Honor’s AI-assisted zoom and portrait modes extend creative flexibility.

Where the Magic V5 really stands out in a photography buying guide is its foldable form factor: unfolding to a nearly 8-inch display gives you a mini-tablet view for culling shots, fine-tuning edits and working with compositional tools on the go. That extra space, combined with flagship performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, makes casual retouching and AI-assisted tweaks feel genuinely productive without a laptop.

It’s not without compromises for photographers: Honor’s image processing can feel a little heavy-handed at times and switching between lenses may produce perceptible shifts in colour balance, and foldable phones generally trail slab rivals in pure camera performance at equivalent price points. Still, for anyone who prioritises a larger editing workspace and capable-enough photography in one sleek package, the Honor Magic V5 is a compelling Android choice.

Read more: Honor Magic V5 review

Best camera-like processing

Xiaomi continues to champion big sensors, and the 17 Ultra's 1-inch main camera delivers extraordinary detail and dynamic range, especially at night. The headline new feature is a single 200MP telephoto with a 75-100mm mechanical optical zoom, replacing last year's two separate tele lenses. That's some clever engineering, even if the practical difference between the focal lengths is smaller than you'd hope.

What really sells the 17 Ultra is character: Leica's Authentic and Vibrant color profiles give images a genuinely filmic look that few rivals can match. Lens-to-lens consistency could be better, and macro shooting isn't quite as close-up as before, but for photographers who care about style as much as sharpness, this is one of the most rewarding Android cameras around.

Read more: Xiaomi 17 Ultra review

Best Android phone for value

Seeking the best combination of camera quality and value? Google's mid-range smartphone doesn't reinvent the formula, but it remains one of the smartest buys in Android. The same dependable 48MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide combo from the Pixel 9a returns, now joined by Camera Coach for in-app shooting tips, and everyday shots are still some of the most naturally balanced you'll get at this price.

The bigger draws come in the form of design and longevity. Specifically: a flat, bump-free back, a vibrant 120Hz display, all-day battery life, and Google's class-leading seven years of software support. Zoom is limited without a telephoto lens, but for reliable daylight photography and long-term peace of mind, the Pixel 10a is hard to beat for the money.

Best Android phone for video

If shooting video is your main area of interest, here's my top pick. The Vivo X300 Ultra takes an unusual approach with a 35mm main camera rather than the usual ultrawide-leaning default, and it pays off with naturally pleasing perspective and excellent detail. The 85mm telephoto is outstanding for stills, and the 14mm ultrawide is one of the best around. But it's video where this phone truly shines, with gimbal-level stabilization, full manual Pro Video controls, 4K 120p 10-bit Log, and a built-in teleprompter.

Optional 200mm and 400mm teleconverter lenses add real reach without the mode limitations seen on rival accessory systems. It's expensive, the camera kit itself feels a little plasticky, and it's not yet widely available, but as a video-first creative tool, nothing else in Android comes close.

Read more: Vivo X300 Ultra review

Great all-rounder

The OnePlus 15 delivers a compelling all-round Android experience, pairing flagship-tier performance and battery life with a capable, flexible camera system that’s reliable for everyday photography.

At its heart is a triple-50 MP rear array with main, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses, supported by OnePlus’s new DetailMax image engine – the company’s first iteration after parting ways with Hasselblad. In practice, this produces sharp, colour-accurate stills in good light, with tone and balance that feel natural and consistent across the focal range. While the upgrade in camera performance over last year’s model is more evolutionary than revolutionary, it keeps pace with what most photographers will need day-to-day without introducing glaring weaknesses.

The system’s HDR handling and low-light performance aren’t class-leading, with some scenes feeling a little flat or soft in very dim conditions, but overall, the 50 MP sensors deliver dependable results that can be quickly shared or edited. OnePlus also boosts creative photo control with support for higher-frame-rate video capture in 4K at 120 fps and AI-enhanced editing tools within the Photos app, which help bring out the best in captures straight from the camera.

What the OnePlus 15 lacks in standout imaging brilliance, it makes up for in other areas that matter to photographers on the go: an excellent, bright display for reviewing shots, class-leading battery life that can easily last more than a full day, and a design and performance package that rivals much more expensive rivals. For those wanting a balance of strong camera performance without sacrificing overall flagship value, the OnePlus 15 is one of the most appealing Android phones in its price bracket.

How to choose the best Android phone

The main considerations to look at when buying a new Android phone are the camera, design, and price.

Let's start with the camera, or cameras, as most modern smartphones come with two or more cameras offering different perspectives. To pick the right camera for you, you need to ask yourself what you like taking pictures of, if you take a lot of close-up shots, make sure that the Android phone you pick has a good macro mode, if you like wide dramatic landscapes, then opting for a phone with the best wide-angle camera is essential, and for far away shots, a good telephoto lens is a must.

It is easy to get carried away with cameras and specs though, but you'll find most Android phones offer a great experience. Find the design that resonates with you, with the features you really need, and luckily there is an Android phone to suit practically every budget.

How we test Android phones

As a photography website, I pay special attention to the photo and video quality of Android phones. Camera phones are all-around digital assistants too, of course, so I will also check general handling, usability, and practicality – such as battery life. And as I do more and more editing on my phone now – it's essential that my choice has a sharp and color-accurate screen.

To test Android phone cameras I take hundreds (sometimes thousands) of photos with the phone and carefully compare the images side by side to look for any inconsistencies in quality or color between shots. I also compare Android phone cameras to one another – I keep a range of the latest phones on hand, so I can take the same pictures with multiple devices and see which performs best.

For images, I rate resolution, noise, and color rendition in the context of what rival Android phones can do, and what the manufacturer promises. I also test all the special camera features, such as ‘night modes’ or ‘portrait modes’ to see their effectiveness, and how they compare to rivals.

I can then put all the data, as well as a healthy dose of my informed opinion, together in this list to help you decide on which might be the best Android phone for your photography needs.

Deals

Smartphone photographers using a Google Pixel device will soon be able to quickly adjust white balance and brightness without having to dig through menus – again. In update 9.7 to Pixel Camera, Google is reinstating the controls that previously enabled users to adjust the white balance and brightness directly from the camera’s main screen.

While the app never completely removed the ability to adjust color temperature and brightness, an earlier update pushed those controls into the submenus in an effort to clean up the interface. Some users took to complaining over the change on online forums, saying that they now had to dig through menus in order to make the adjustments they could previously have accessed with a quick tap.

With the update, users can now opt to have three different sliders appear on the viewfinder by just tapping the screen. After tapping the screen, Pixel photographers will have a slider on the left for color temperature, with two separate sliders on the right for brightness and shadows.

The Google Pixel Camera app 9.7 has already begun to roll out, though not all users have access to the download yet. The update is part of Google’s December round of Pixel updates.

The Pixel Camera app previously had the sliders on the main screen by default. According to Tom’s Guide, Google removed the on-screen guides in version 9.1 in an effort to clean up the user interface. While the update didn’t remove the ability to adjust white balance, brightness and shadows completely, it buried those controls into menus, making them take longer to access.

After downloading version 9.7 Pixel users will have quick access to those settings once again. However, those shortcut sliders do need to be enabled in the settings menu first. Inside the settings menu of the Pixel Camera app, users need to enable the quick access controls. Once enabled, tapping on the viewfinder will bring up those three sliders on the sides of the screen.

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Take a look at the best Google Pixel phones available right now, as well as the best camera phones from all manufacturers – including the best iPhones for photography, if you're considering joining the dark side!

Apple and Android phones don’t exactly have a history of playing nice together, but one of the latest updates to the Android setup app means iOS users will no longer have to face the loss of Live Photos when making the switch to Android. While the update launched with the Google Pixel 9 series in August, the feature was buried under new device updates in the Android Switch app.

Apple’s Live Photos take a few seconds of video before and after the still shot, resulting in a seemingly “moving” image. Live Photos save as two separate files, one a photo and one a video, typically either a JPEG and MOV file or HEIF/HEVC. On compatible Apple devices, the resulting file appears as a more interactive file which can also be used to create moving wallpapers or even exported as GIFs.

Google has a similar still-video combination called Google Motion Photos, which launched with the Pixel 2 about two years after Apple rolled out Live Photos.

However, Apple notes that Live Photos are only compatible with certain apps. The internet forums are filled with Apple users asking how to save Live Photos when backing up photos to a PC or switching from iPhone to Android. While there are some workarounds like exporting the Live Photos as a video file, the process is tedious for working with large numbers of the file type.

By incorporating the process of converting Live Photos into the Android Switch app, the process should hypothetically be easier for iOS trading in for a Pixel device. On Threads, Paul Dunlop, the product lead for Android onboarding and Android settings at Google, confirmed that support for migrating Live Photos to Android was live for Pixel 9 users back in August, with support for older Pixel devices expected to roll out shortly after. While the feature was initially launched exclusively for Pixel devices, Android Police noted the change is expected to roll out to more Android models.

Because Live Photos are typically enabled by default, many iPhone users find themselves with an abundance of photos in the moving format, even in cases where that larger file type and added video may not be needed. On iOS, the Live Photos feature can be toggled on and off by tapping the circular Live Photos icon in the upper left corner of the native Camera app.

As an iPhone user myself, it’s nice to see the two operating systems playing nice when it comes to switching from one platform to another. But what I would really love to see is my iPhone videos that I send to my Android family members not shrunk to a pixelated mess over a text message.

For more, read our guide to the best smartphones for photography or learn how to use Apple Live Photos.

Ever since they were first unveiled I have been lusting after a foldable phone – entranced by the ability to view and edit my photos on the bigger internal screen, I could ditch my iPad and stop carrying around two devices for on-the-go editing.

However, the staggering price tags of the best foldable phones have prevented me from ever pulling the trigger! But today it is Cyber Monday, and I have found some pretty epic deals on the latest foldable models that are tempting me hard to part with some of my cash!

I am personally drawn to the OnePlus Open, a device I have tested before and been hugely impressed by its beautiful screens, but also its amazing camera setup tuned by the legendary Hasselblad. But no matter where your brand allegiances lay, there are significant savings to be had on Samsung's latest Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the only months-old Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Check out the best deals below...

Looking for more of the best camera phones – check out our guide for more of my top picks.

Ever since they were first unveiled I have been lusting after a foldable phone – entranced by the ability to view and edit my photos on the bigger internal screen, I could ditch my iPad and stop carrying around two devices for on-the-go editing.

However, the staggering price tags of the best foldable phones have prevented me from ever pulling the trigger! But today it is Cyber Monday, and I have found some pretty epic deals on the latest foldable models that are tempting me hard to part with some of my cash!

I am personally drawn to the OnePlus Open, a device I have tested before and been hugely impressed by its beautiful screens, but also its amazing camera setup tuned by the legendary Hasselblad. But no matter where your brand allegiances lay, there are significant savings to be had on Samsung's latest Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the only months-old Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Check out the best deals below...

Looking for more of the best camera phones – check out our guide for more of my top picks.

The phone release cycle moves so quickly that we are already excited for next year's phones! But that means there are some great deals on the handsets released just a few short months ago!

I think this year has been one of the most interesting years for phone photography with the increased presence of AI editing making editing both simpler and more imaginative than ever before.

The phones below are my picks for the best phones you can get this Cyber Monday that both talk amazing images, but also come with AI-editing superpowers you can take advantage of right now!

None of these quite what you're after? You can also find more deals on the best camera phones in 2024 in our guide.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro is a great phone, but altogether, it is a pretty mundane update from last year's Google Pixel 8 Pro in the camera department. It marks the first time in as long as I can remember that I haven't bought a Pixel phone on launch day, and held on to my Pixel 8 Pro.

So when it comes to buying a new phone this year, you could opt for the latest flagship – but my recommendation would be to take a look at last year's Pixel 8 Pro which is currently an absolute bargain at just $592.78, which is a pretty whopping 41% off the usual price, and a darn sight cheaper than the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Apart from some fancy schmancy new AI updates with Google's Gemini AI to photo editing, there is not much to separate the two models when it comes to the main reason I pick a phone – the cameras.

On the rear, both cameras have a trio of 50MP main shooter, alongside a 48MP ultra-wide and 48MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and up to 30x digitally enhanced "Super Res" zoom. There are new algorithms in play, and Google says it has improved the HDR+ in the newer model – but comparing the two, I haven't noticed much difference.

Around the front, the older Pixel 8 Pro is limited to a 10.5MP selfie camera instead of the 42MP one found in the 9 Pro, so this might be make-or-break for you, but have been pretty happy with my Pixel 8 Pro selfies for sharing on social or in messaging.

Not sold on the Pixel? You can find more of the best camera phones in our guide.

Google Pixel 8 Pro Deals

The Google Pixel 9 Pro is a great phone, but altogether, it is a pretty mundane update from last year's Google Pixel 8 Pro in the camera department. It marks the first time in as long as I can remember that I haven't bought a Pixel phone on launch day, and held on to my Pixel 8 Pro.

So when it comes to buying a new phone this year, you could opt for the latest flagship – but my recommendation would be to take a look at last year's Pixel 8 Pro which is currently an absolute bargain at just £499, which is a pretty whopping 44% off the usual price, and a darn sight cheaper than the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Apart from some fancy schmancy new AI updates with Google's Gemini AI to photo editing, there is not much to separate the two models when it comes to the main reason I pick a phone – the cameras.

On the rear, both cameras have a trio of 50MP main shooter, alongside a 48MP ultra-wide and 48MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and up to 30x digitally enhanced "Super Res" zoom. There are new algorithms in play, and Google says it has improved the HDR+ in the newer model – but comparing the two, I haven't noticed much difference.

Around the front, the older Pixel 8 Pro is limited to a 10.5MP selfie camera instead of the 42MP one found in the 9 Pro, so this might be make-or-break for you, but have been pretty happy with my Pixel 8 Pro selfies for sharing on social or in messaging.

Not sold on the Pixel? You can find more of the best camera phones in our guide.

Google Pixel 8 Pro Deals

When we tested the original Pixel Fold, it was the foldable camera to beat with its periscope 5x zoom and Google’s notoriously reliable photo processing, but the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn’t look set to be such an instant camera hit. A year on, and the foldable landscape is very different, with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold facing stiff competition from the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V3, both packing superior camera hardware. 

So while Honor, OnePlus, and even Samsung upgraded their foldable camera hardware in 2024, Google is reprising the same small sensors as its debut foldable. When we covered the launch of the Google Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, we held out hope that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold would still be a foldable camera champ, but after almost a month with the phone, it just can’t keep up with the less expensive, more specced-out competition even if it is good enough for most.

Thankfully, there’s so much more to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold than its camera. Its revamped design is a huge leap forward (it actually unfolds flat which, believe it or not, the original didn’t), and it also has a huge 8-inch inner display and a usable 6.3-inch outer screen, dwarfing Samsung’s more cramped Z Fold 6.

Add all of Google’s latest AI smarts, a clean stock Android interface, and Google’s much-improved Tensor G4 internals, not to mention seven years of OS updates, and there are plenty of reasons you might be swayed to pick up a Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold design

If you’ve used the original Pixel Fold, you might remember it being unwieldy at a whopping 283g, packing a super-stiff hinge, slippery sides and as mentioned, not unfolding flat. Google’s addressed all those points with the new 257g Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

From the front, it’s a bit taller and less wide, so drops the passport shape for a more traditional, phone-sized fascia. In fact, the screen’s the same size as the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. There’s a big border on the hinge side to the left of the screen, which makes the phone feel a bit wider than it needs to, especially next to similarly sized and shaped foldables like the OnePlus Open, but all things considered, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Relatively slim at 10.5mm when closed and 5.1mm when unfolded (not including the camera bump), the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels thicker than the Honor Magic V3. This isn’t just because it is – the V3 is 4.4mm folded, and 9.3mm unfolded – but the chunkier feel is also a result of the V3’s curved sides versus the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s flat sides.

While flat sides may make the phone feel thicker, they also add extra grip, which coupled with the matte frame and smooth hinge, make opening and closing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold a secure-feeling experience.

At the base of the phone is a single SIM slot and a USB-C port, the volume and power buttons are on the right side, with the volume button also doubling up as a fingerprint scanner, and the cameras are around the back.

We’re not in love with the stretched-squircle camera design around the back of the phone. It offsets the symmetry of the G logo, stacks the cameras, and, therefore, breaks from the style of the other Pixel 9s. Most notably, it fails to improve the camera hardware over the Pixel Fold, which will be more on later.

With IPX8 water resistance, the Pixel Fold is relatively hardy, and there’s tempered glass on the front. We managed to get a tiny micro scratch on our Pixel Fold screen after a few days, so if you’re thinking about picking one up, a screen protector is a great shout.

If you’re wondering how cases work with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, we’ve tried the official Google case, the Mous case and the Poetic case. Google and Mous’s solutions are very similar and are slimline, though don't protect the hinge when the phone is closed. If you have a thick glass screen protector, neither Google or Mous’s case fit on the phone, so we had to choose between protecting our screen or smartphone. This might not be an issue with a thinner screen protector.

By contrast, the Poetic Case for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is thick, almost tank-like. It has a pop-out kick stand, and gives big Decepticon styling. It also has an inbuilt screen protector, so it feels like it seriously protects your closed Pixel 9 Pro Fold from all sides. That said, it's incredibly hefty, filling out even the baggiest of jean pockets. 

With each protection option being imperfect, therefore, you’ll need to decide which is right for you.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold screens

Most foldables have roughly 6.3-inch cover screens, but the inner screens tend to be different sizes. Samsung's is the smallest at 7.6 inches, the OnePlus Open's 7.82-inch inner screen is slightly bigger, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's is the biggest of the bunch at 8 inches.

Whether open or closed, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's screens look great with bright panels that are easy to see outdoors. They are sharp, smooth with 120Hz refresh rates, and both support HDR content.

Dip into the display settings and options are more limited than other phone makers, but if you don't need to tinker with colour balance, go granular in setting resolutions and refresh rates, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's display settings should suffice.

A major factor when it comes to foldables is how noticeable their crease is. A deep crease can pull you out of that big screen experience and Samsung's tends to be the deepest of the bunch. OnePlus wins the crease wars with a nearly imperceptible crease on its OnePlus Open, followed by the Honor Magic V3 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, both of which sit firmly in the middle. Compared to the original Pixel Fold, though, it's night and day, so if you're upgrading from that, you'll love using the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold unfolded.

Unlike Samsung's Z Fold 6, the Honor Magic V3, and OnePlus Open, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn't support pen input. If size and quality are your top priority, though, Google's 9 Pro Fold is as good as it gets.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Camera Specs

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's camera specs are a mix of hit and miss on paper. While its 5x telephoto camera gives it more optical reach than the foldable competition, making the Pixel 9 Pro Fold the best option for far-reaching snaps, the fact Google hasn't upgraded the camera hardware over the original Pixel Fold is a let down. This is particularly painful given the price, and the fact the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro Plus have such a great camera mix. You could make the argument that Google could have dropped the Pro and just called this a Pixel 9 Fold based on the camera performance.

The main camera is a 48MP resolution, 1/2-inch sensor with an f/1.7 aperture lens and a 25mm focal length, and OIS. With foldables like the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro sporting a 1/1.3-inch sensor, Google's clearly not winning any hardware wars.

There's also a 10.8 MP resolution telephoto camera with a 1/3.2-inch sensor and an f/3.1 aperture, and while the size and resolution are low, a 112mm telephoto reach, which equates to a five times optical zoom is best-in-class, with OIS helping it along. 

The ultra-wide is another mixed bag, with a respectable f/2.2 lens and PDAF, so it can double up as a macro camera, but a small 10.8 MP, 1/3-inch sensor falls behind the competition from Honor and OnePlus.

To put the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's hardware into context, it's worth comparing the sensors to those of its direct competitor, the OnePlus Open. The primary camera of the Open has a 1/1.43-inch sensor versus the 1/2-inch Pixel, it has a 1/2-inch telephoto sensor versus the 1/3.2-inch Pixel, and the ultra-wide has a 1/2-inch sensor compared to 1/3.4-inch on the Pixel. Sensor size isn't everything, but it counts for a lot, especially for video and noise handling. 

So when you put OnePlus Open shots and footage alongside content captured on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at 16mm, 28mm, 50mm and 70mm – some of the most common focal lengths for smartphone photography – the Pixel falls behind.

There are also two 10MP selfie cameras, one in the cover screen and another in the unfolded display in the right corner. The phone also records 4K video at up to 60fps, or 4K 30fps HDR footage from all the rear cameras.

While we hoped Google's software would compensate for some hardware shortcomings with features like Video Boost, software handicaps hold the 9 Pro Fold's camera back too. One example is portrait mode – a notorious selling point for Pixels – this only works on the main camera at 1.5x and 2x (both digital crops). 

There's also no option to activate the telephoto camera for portraits, which feels very counter-intuitive for a photographer. Video Boost, a feature that uploads footage to the cloud and cleans it up, is only available for the primary camera when it's desperately needed across all the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras owing to their weaker spec.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold AI Imaging

On the plus, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold does get new smart AI features introduced to the series, including Best Face, which was introduced last year. This lets you swap out faces of individuals in group shots, working best for head-on faces in our experience. Another new feature is Add Me, which lets subjects in a group photo take a photo with the photographer in shot by compositing them in after the fact. This works to great effect in simple setups, though more complex group shots overwhelm it. It's also significantly less spontaneous than a selfie, but is a fun party trick and can be excellent for more creative, playful group shots.

Magic Editor has also been upgraded, so 2024 Pixel owners can reframe an image using generative AI, breaking through the border and using photography principles to get subjects in the best position. This was very useful, and the feature is a dab hand at accurately creating organic shapes and features like arms. It struggled more with patterns like a chequered shirt, for example.

The final editing highlight to focus on for the Pixel 9 Pro series is Reimagine. Select a portion of your picture in Magic Editor and use a text prompt to make edits. The results are fantastical, as with much AI, but it's also impressive that those transformations took mere moments.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera review

Google Pixel photos are always good enough before you pinch into them or crop them. They're relatively balanced, pulling out a healthy amount of shadow detail and salvaging highlights. The main camera is unsurprisingly the most reliable, though all three pull off a usable shot in bright environments, processing with pleasing saturation and a slightly cool vibe.

When you zoom or go ultra-wide, everything gets a bit softer. At 0.6x and between 2-4.9 times zoom, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is weak set against the competition, but at 5x and beyond picks up the slack thanks to that far-reaching focal length.

When the lights drop, the ultra-wide is the weakest camera, and the telephoto camera is only good if it can focus and lock-on in time, and you give it a steady hand which isn't always possible. Once it does, night mode kicks in and shots at 5x and beyond look respectable, though there’s clearly more noise, and noise suppression going on here than the competition. Nevertheless, the telephoto camera’s detail is strong at 5x zoom and beyond versus the 3x zoom alternatives.

While Google’s computational photography helps keep the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s stills camera competitive, video capture is where the phone really drops the ball. The main camera is okay, slightly noisy even in relatively well-lit scenes, but after uploading footage to the cloud for Video Boost cleaning up, it’s passable.

The ultra-wide and telephoto cameras' video produce muddy clips in all but the best lighting, and with no Video Boost, there's no scope for cleaning them up automatically. This is the main reason the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a weak phone for creatives and indeed creators, whereas the OnePlus Open, by contrast, is has fewer weak spots.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold additional features

Pixels have been plagued by poor performance in the past thanks to their Tensor chips, which were known to heat up and drain battery more so than their Qualcomm and MediaTek counterparts. The latest-generation Tensor G4 in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, however, improves things on almost all fronts. 

While the G4 still isn’t a gaming powerhouse, at least it gets the basics right. When we tested the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and now, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, we enjoyed smooth performance, good enough battery life, and no overheating. The phones get warm when charging and WiFi hotspotting, but never uncomfortably so.

Google’s interface is clean and packed with useful tools. Running Android 14, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will get software updates for seven years, taking it up to Android 21 which is excellent. It also ships with Gemini AI assistant, is loaded up with Pixel Studio for AI image creation, and featuring voice note transcription and more, you get plenty of smart features out of the box too.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold also has 16GB storage, which is as good as it gets and a first for the Pixel line. This keeps multitasking smooth and apps safely running in the background. Having said that, we did notice that some apps were a little late with notifications compared to our iPhone, including WhatsApp, WeChat, and even Gmail. 

Multi-tasking on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is great when using two apps side-by-side on the main inner display. You can dip into the developer settings and activate floating windows, but this isn’t well-optimized, resulting in visual bugs, so for more than two apps, the phone falls behind the multi-tasking solutions from Honor, OnePlus, and Samsung, which support many more simultaneous apps on-screen and off-screen.

As for battery life, the 6450mAh cell in the 9 Pro Fold is ample considering the cover screen’s size, but heavy inner-screen use might leave you short by the end of the day. Missing out on fast charging, it takes over 90 minutes to power up fully, though with wireless charging onboard, it edges ahead of the OnePlus Open when it comes to charging options.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Verdict

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a good smartphone despite being a mediocre camera phone. 

By recycling already middle-of-the-road camera hardware from its predecessor, the phone’s camera falls behind the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V3 in every respect other than telephoto reach. 

For point-and-shoot photography, though, it’s still a competent performer, and the many ways Google has upgraded the rest of the user experience over the original Pixel Fold are game-changing for the line.

For 2024, the design is thinner, lighter, and more refined; the screens are bigger, brighter, and better; the hinge and folding mechanism feels less clunky, and performance is significantly improved.

If Google had managed to fit the Pixel 9 Pro’s camera on the 9 Pro Fold, this would have been our number one foldable, arguably justifying its very high price. As it stands, though, the OnePlus Open is still the best flip-and-fold phone for photographers, followed by the Honor Magic V3. Nevertheless, Pixel Fold fans looking to upgrade will be delighted with all the improvements Google’s made this time around, provided they can justify the phone’s price.

The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL showcase the finest camera smarts in Google's latest smartphone line, but the Pixel 9 could well be the breakthrough star in the new series. It gets the same primary and ultra-wide cameras as the Pro models, a virtually identical design, processor, and overall user experience.

There are a fair few compromises to the Pixel 9's camera across both hardware and software. It misses out on a telephoto camera, and some of the more advanced shooting features, including Video Boost, which we found seriously useful in our time with the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL.

Loaded up with Google's Pixel Studio for AI image generation, Magic Editor for photo editing, the headline camera feature - Add Me - and the promise of seven years of Android OS updates, though, the Pixel 9 still has plenty going for it, and as we'll come onto, the camera is one of its key selling points.

Google Pixel 9: design and screen

There's very little difference between the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro's design. They have the same dimensions, flat sides, front and back, and can even share cases. Both phones also have 6.3-inch screens, pack glass and metal build, and benefit from IP68 dust and water resistance.

While the Pixel 9 Pro has a polished stainless steel frame, the Pixel 9's frame is matte aluminum. As for the Pixel 9 Pro's glass back, it has a matte finish, while the Pixel 9's back is shiny glass.

Anyone after fun colors, the Pixel 9 is available in classic black (Obsidian), white (Porcelain), Winter Green, or pink (Peony), and you can get color-matched cases that look and feel soft to the touch and equally playful.

There's a USB-C port, loudspeaker, and SIM slot at the base, all the buttons on the right side, and a chunky camera bump around the back, so there are no surprises for anyone coming from a Pixel 8, aside from the much more iPhone-like shape.

The Pixel 9's screen is the same size as that of the Pixel 9 Pro at 6.3 inches, but it's slightly less sharp, slightly less bright and the refresh rate is slightly less dynamic.

At its core, the screen is an OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and peaks with a 2700 nits brightness when playing back HDR content, or a 1800 nits brightness outdoors with auto-brightness fired up in direct sunlight.

Packing plenty of pixels with a 1080 x 2424 resolution, the Pixel 9 has a pixel density of 422 pixels per inch, so everything looks wonderfully crisp, and the display's 60-120Hz refresh rate is super-smooth, ensuring menus and feeds glide.

Side-by-side with a Pixel 9 Pro or Pro XL, the Pixel 9's display does miss out on the contrast ratio and color depth of its pricier siblings, and it's a similar story when set against the similarly-priced OnePlus 12. But it's still a compact, easy-to-manage and competitive screen and looks excellent in isolation.

Google Pixel 9: Camera Specs

The Google Pixel 9 has two cameras around the back: a 48MP ultra-wide camera, and a 50MP primary camera. On the front is a 10.5MP selfie camera.

Ultra-wide camera

The Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultra-wide camera with an f/1.7 aperture, autofocus for macro capture, and a modest 1/2.55-inch sensor size, with upgraded autofocus over the Pixel 8.

Primary camera

The primary camera has a 50MP, 1/3-inch sensor with an f/1.7 aperture lens with OIS. This is unchanged when compared to the Pixel 8, though the sensor's spec is still competitive with the best iPhone cameras and Galaxy cameras, despite falling behind 1-inch sensor phones like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Vivo X100 Pro.

Other camera specs

While the Pixel 9 Pro benefits from an upgraded 42MP front camera, the Pixel 9's selfie camera pares things back with a 10.5MP, f/2.2 camera with a 20mm equivalent focal length and a modest 1/3.1-inch sensor. It does have autofocus, offering some versatility; however, just like the rear cameras, it also misses out on Video Boost.

The Pixel 9 captures 4K video at up to 60fps in standard definition, or 30fps HDR 4K video. With no Video Boost, it can't capture 8K video like the 9 Pro.

Google Pixel 9: camera review

Just like the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, the biggest improvements to the Pixel 9's stills over the Pixel 8 are panoramas and cleaner AI processing.

Google's photo processing loves to pull out shadow detail while being respectful of colors – not ramping up saturation too much – and applying sharpening without making shots look too crunchy. This makes for a consistent, reliable experience that might not always pull out the most croppable or high-impact shot, but it typically results in a good one.

Google Pixels have long-been camera phones that take excellent pictures until you pinch into the details or crop heavily. Once you do, results won't always hold up as well as the best from Oppo, Vivo, or Xiaomi, but for reliability, the Pixel 9 is a great value choice. 

For 9 Pro owners, it's easy to grab a bit more detail by firing up 50MP capture, but that's disabled on the vanilla Pixel 9; this seems like a software handicap too far as many budget phones support this feature, but at least Google has enabled RAW capture, so you can tweak your snaps to crisp them up if needed.

One area in which Pixel cameras edge ahead is night photography, and the Pixel 9 is no exception. Alternatives like the Samsung Galaxy S24 can create muddy-looking shadows when the lights drop, but the Pixel 9 series strikes a better balance across both the wide and ultra-wide cameras.

Google has also upgraded the panorama mode for the Pixel 9 series, capturing multiple stills and stitching them together instead of grabbing a smooth sweep to get your shot. On-screen prompts guide you through the process, and by incorporating computational photography, the Pixels capture the best night panoramas we've seen on a smartphone.

Where the Pixel 9 falls behind the 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and similarly priced competition with dedicated periscope zooms like the OnePlus 12 is telephoto reach. The phone supports an in-sensor and digital zoom of up to 8x, and results look good up to between 3-4x in bright environments. Any further, though, and you can see AI at play cleaning up edges and creating block colors in place of gradients.

With its 1/1.3-inch sensor, the primary camera is an excellent go-to for rich-looking depth of field when photographing any subject nearer than 1m away, while the ultra-wide can create some depth when a subject is super-close, at around 10cm or less.

Selfies taken on the Pixel 9 look great, particularly when shot in bright environments, and while vlogging doesn't look quite as crisp and the 9 Pro definitely edges ahead, Google's front-camera algorithms do a great job of prioritizing faces and skin tones.

One area that might sway you in favor of the Pixel 9 Pro over the Pixel 9 is video quality, and specifically, the lack of Video Boost. Don't get us wrong, the Pixel 9 can capture excellent-looking footage across both its cameras. However, we ended up using the Pixel 9 Pro's Video Boosted footage to capture everything from a climber in the distance to a swimmer in an underwater tank, featuring the footage in a commercial video and the client loved it. Those types of clips wouldn't have been possible with the Pixel 9, particularly the zoomed-in footage.

Google Pixel 9: AI Imaging

Despite not getting Video Boost and Zoom Enhancer, the Pixel 9 doesn't miss out on the series's image capture and editing tools like Best Face, Magic Editor (both introduced last year), and the new Add Me.

Add Me lets subjects in a group photo take a photo with everyone using the primary camera by compositing images. This works to great effect in simple setups, though more complex group shots overwhelm it. It's also significantly less spontaneous than a selfie, but is a fun party trick and can be excellent for more creative, playful group shots.

Magic Editor has also been upgraded, so 2024 Pixel owners can reframe an image using generative AI, breaking through the border and using photography principles to get subjects in the best position. This was very useful, and the feature is a dab hand at accurately creating organic shapes and elements like arms. It struggled more with patterns like a chequered shirt, for example.

The final editing highlight to focus on for the Pixel 9 Pro series is Reimagine. Select a portion of your picture in Magic Editor and use a text prompt to make edits. As you can see above, the results are fantastical. While this shot, in particular, took a couple of retries to get it to look borderline realistic, it's hard not to be impressed at the ease with which such transformations are now possible.

Google Pixel 9: Additional Features

The Google Pixel 9's AI features don't stop with image editing. Open Pixel Studio for full-on text-to-image generation. This supports a range of styles: Freestyle, 3D Cartoon, Video Game, Cinematic, Sketch, Anime, and Sticker.

As you can see below, the results can look like a very convincing illustration. There's definitely a question to be asked: what does Pixel Studio mean for creatives? Feeding into the broader responsible AI debate. Google also doesn't watermark its AI-generated Pixel Studio pieces, or specify what it uses to train its AI image generation models.

All the new Pixels pack the same Tensor G4 chipset, and over a week with the Pixel 9, and even more time with the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, one aspect we are seriously impressed with is performance. We're not talking about gaming grunt, but rather battery and heat management.

Past Pixels have suffered at the hands of Tensor chips. Frequently overheating and inconsistent with battery performance, since the Pixel 6 introduced the Tensor G1, built in partnership with Samsung's chipmaker division, Exynos, Pixels were falling behind their Qualcomm rivals when it came to performance and stability.

While the gaming performance of the new pixels is significantly weaker than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 competition, stability – which is much more important – is significantly improved. Even with hours of gaming and WiFi hotspotting, our Pixel 9 didn't overheat, which is excellent going. Just bear in mind that you won't be able to ramp up the graphics quality in top-tier titles like Genshin Impact for any significant period of time.

The Pixel 9's starting storage of 128GB falls behind the 256GB as standard we're seeing from much of the competition. With no expandable storage, there's every chance you'll fill up the internal storage before you're ready to upgrade your Pixel 9 if you capture a lot of 4K video and play high-capacity games. 

It's great to see Google include fast 45W wired charging for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro Pro, and 9 Pro XL, with the Pixel 9 reaching a full charge in around 80 minutes. The Pixel 9 also supports 15W wireless charging, though no magnetic charging mounts a la MagSafe or Qi2. 

Google Pixel 9: Verdict

The Google Pixel 9 is a great phone. It looks good, can be picked up in fun or traditional colors, feels premium, is relatively durable, lasts a full day on a single charge, and the screen is as good as it needs to be.

You can get more hardware for less from the OnePlus 12, Nubia Z60s Pro, Z60 Ultra and Vivo X40 Pro, however, none pack the long-term software support Google does, or the point-and-shoot reliability.

All this means the Pixel 9 could be the best camera phone of 2024 at its price. A great shout for anyone who doesn't want to think too hard about their photos, just make sure you pick up the 256GB option if you anticipate needing the extra storage.

While we've always enjoyed Google's Pixels, it feels like for 2024, they've overcome their biggest hurdle – heat and power management – making the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, and 9 Pro XL easier to recommend than any of their predecessors.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL are virtually identical across camera quality, battery life and core user experience, with the only difference being size. This breaks the trend of iPhone Pros, Samsung Ultras, and virtually every phone makers' strategy of saving their best cameras for their most oversized phones. 

With Asus ditching its compact ZenFone for 2024, instead launching the massive ZenFone Ultra, we had lost hope that fans of not huge phones would have a flagship camera option this year, but with the Pixel 9 Pro, Google may have saved the day.

The 9 and 9 Pro sport a triple camera setup that includes a periscope zoom, they’re loaded with Google’s smart AI-infused photo processing and editing tools, plus a new Video Boost feature to help bring Pixel video close to iPhone 15 Pro quality. But has Google done enough to make its latest Pixels the Androids to beat?

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL design

There’s no getting around the iPhone comparisons when it comes to the Pixel 9s’ overall shape. From the rounded corners to the flat front and back; the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL both look and feel like home for anyone who uses an iPhone.

The phone’s glass back panel has a matte finish, while the polished metal frame combines soft edges with a slick feel. If you're coming from a Pixel 7 or 8, it isn’t just the curved sides that have been zapped; the curved, visor-like camera bump is no more, either. Now, a flat oblong around the back houses three cameras, a temperature sensor, and a flash.

Available in four colors, Obsidian (black), Rose Quartz (pink), Porcelain (white), and Hazel (grey), you can also pick up corresponding cases for each color.

With its boxier shape, all the Pixel 9 series seem chunkier than old Pixels and other curved front-and-back phones, but they also feel exceptionally solid.

Flat displays are better for gaming than curved screens and are also notoriously easier to repair, so many applauded Google's move to a flat front with the Pixel 8 Pro in 2023. For 2024, Google flattening out both sides should make it sturdier still, and the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL are IP68 dust and water-resistant, so can withstand a dunk of up to 1.5m for 30 minutes.

As for which you should go for, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is a handful, weighing 221g, the same weight as an iPhone 15 Pro Max, and it clocks in at a slightly thicker 8.5mm. The Pixel 9 Pro, meanwhile, weighs 199g – 12g more than an iPhone 15 Pro and 32g more than a Galaxy S24 – so while it's smaller than the XL and last year's Pixel 8 Pro, it definitely isn't a dainty little thing.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL screen

Screen size is where the main difference lies between the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. The 9 Pro's screen measures 6.3 inches, while the 9 Pro XL's is 6.8 inches. While the XL and iPhone 15 Pro Max are a similar size, the iPhone 15 Pro is noticeably smaller than the Pixel 9 Pro with its 6.1-inch display.

The Pixel 9 Pros deliver excellent viewing angles, vibrant colors, deep and inky blacks, and smooth 120Hz refresh rates. With HDR10+ support across Netflix and YouTube, they are poised for top-quality streaming, and thanks to 2000 nits peak auto brightness and 3000 nits peak HDR brightness, they are easy to see and playback content brilliantly.

Both phones have an almost identical level of screen clarity of around 490 pixels per inch, making them sharper than pro-grade iPhones, and they also have very similar neutral color profiles by default. In the settings, you can choose between Adaptive and Natural color modes.

Where the Pixel 9 Pro XL shines is when gaming and editing. Apps like Lumafusion and Lightroom are a bit more comfortable to use on its bigger screen, while on-screen game controls also benefit from the extra space. Meanwhile, the 6.3-inch Pixel 9 is excellent for watching, with ample space for videos and day-to-day navigation in a more compact body.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL Camera Specs

The Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL have three cameras around the back: a 48MP ultra-wide camera, a 50MP primary camera, and a 48MP telephoto camera. On the front is a 42MP selfie camera.

Ultra-wide camera

The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL get a 48MP ultra-wide camera with an f/1.7 aperture, autofocus for macro capture, and a modest 1/2.55-inch sensor size, with upgraded autofocus over the Pixel 8 Pro.

Primary camera

The primary camera has a 50MP, 1/3-inch sensor with an f/1.7 aperture lens with OIS. This is unchanged when compared to the Pixel 8 Pro, though the sensor's spec is still competitive with the best iPhone cameras and Galaxy cameras, despite falling behind 1-inch sensor phones like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and Vivo X100 Pro.

Telephoto camera

The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL's telephoto camera has a 48MP, 1/2.55-inch sensor with an f/2.8 aperture lens with OIS. With a periscope structure and a roughly 5x equivalent reach, the module's spec competes with the best out there, though the Pixel 9 Pro's lens doesn't support telephoto macro capture, which would have been a great feature that's available on other phones like the Oppo Find X7 Ultra.

Other camera specs

The main hardware upgrade the Pixel 9 Pros get is an upgraded selfie camera. This 42MP resolution sensor is matched with a wide f/2.2 lens, a 17mm equivalent focal length and autofocus.

The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL can capture video at up to 8K resolution with Video Boost or 4K resolution as standard. 

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL camera review

The rear camera's photo results are very comparable to the Pixel 8 Pro with the biggest improvement to the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL being panoramas, selfies and front camera video.

Overall, Google's photo processing loves to pull out shadow detail while being respectful of colors – not ramping up saturation too much – and applying sharpening without making shots look too crispy.

Google Pixels have long-been camera phones that take excellent pictures until you pinch into the details or crop heavily. Once you do, results won't always hold up as well as the best from Oppo, Vivo or Xiaomi, but for point-and-shoot excellence, the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro are amongst the best out there.

One area the Pixel cameras really edge ahead is night photography. While Samsung, in particular, can generate some muddy shadows at night, the Pixels do a better job of balancing computational long-exposure with a pleasing final shot, and this is the case across all three cameras for photos.

Google has also upgraded the panorama mode for the Pixel 9 series, capturing multiple stills and stitching them together instead of grabbing a smooth sweep to get your shot. On-screen prompts guide you through the process, and by incorporating computational photography, the Pixels capture the best night panoramas we've seen on a smartphone.

One of the key reasons to pick up the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL over a vanilla Pixel 9 is zoom, and Google combines hardware and software zoom to great effect on its 2024 Pros.

Both Pixel 9 Pros outperform all iPhones at far-reaching zooming, and go toe-to-toe with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Most impressive is how the smaller Pixel 9 Pro bests every other standard-sized phone around, making it an obvious choice for photographers who want compact phones that don't compromise on zoom.

The Pixel 9 Pros also get Zoom Enhance, adding an additional layer of post-processing to clean up lines, up contrast, and firm up soft shapes. This is particularly useful when cropping a photo shot on the wide or ultra-wide camera, eradicating pixelation, even if the results don't always look super-realistic.

The primary camera is an excellent go-to for rich-looking depth of field when photographing any subject nearer than 1m away, while the telephoto can create some decent depth when a subject is further than its minimum focus distance, also around 1m.

The Pixel 9 Pro line's biggest winner for 2024 is the selfie camera. Its photos look flattering and clean, and its video is reliably as good as the best out there. The microphones do a great job of picking up vocals, and with up to 4K 60fps capture, or 4K 30fps HDR capture, the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL are excellent vlogging phones when lighting is on point. As with all selfie cameras, this quality drops for video when the lights go down, but it's always competitive.

The rear camera's video performance is also improved, with footage shot in bright environments looking excellent. Video Boost is limiting in its mechanic – you have to pre-select it in advance, it doesn't work with the ultra-wide camera and with 8K video boost, it locks your focal length – zapping some spontenaety. The results are typically impressive, though, with clarity annd stability gains. That said, the process of uploading and waiting for Video Boost to edit your clip can take over an hour.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL AI Imaging

In addition to Video Boost and Zoom Enhancer, the Pixels are loaded with image capture and editing tools that add fun and utility but can be hit and miss. Best face, for example, which was introduced last year, lets you swap out faces of individuals in group shots, and it was oftentimes unsuccessful, only really working for head-on faces in our experience. 

For 2024, the feature on every Pixel reviewer's lips is Add Me, which lets subjects in a group photo take a photo with everyone using the primary camera by compositing images. This works to great effect in simple setups, though more complex group shots overwhelm it. It's also significantly less spontaneous than a selfie, but is a fun party trick and can be excellent for more creative, playful group shots.

Magic Editor has also been upgraded, so 2024 Pixel owners can reframe an image using generative AI, breaking through the border and using photography principles to get subjects in the best position. This was very useful, and the feature is a dab hand at accurately creating organic shapes and features like arms. It struggled more with patterns like a chequered shirt, for example. 

Once we got past our what is a photograph? existential questioning, we used Magic Editor with Add Me and ended up with some great family photos.

The final editing highlight to focus on for the Pixel 9 Pro series is Reimagine. Select a portion of your picture in Magic Editor and use a text prompt to make edits. As you can see above, the results are fantastical, as with much AI, but it's also impressive that those transformations took mere moments.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL Additional Features

The Google Pixel 9 Pro's AI features don't stop with image editing. Open Pixel Studio for full-on text-to-image generation. This supports a range of styles: Freestyle, 3D Cartoon, Video Game, Cinematic, Sketch, Anime, and Sticker.

As you can see below, the results can look like a very convincing illustration. There's definitely a question to be asked: what does Pixel Studio mean for creatives? Feeding into the broader responsible AI debate. Google also doesn't appear to watermark its AI-generated Pixel Studio pieces, or specify what it uses to train its AI image generation models. 

So while the utility is undeniable – Pixel Studio is a fun tool that can be useful for ideation – you'll have to ask yourself how you feel about the philosophical questions AI art poses.

After over a week with the Pixel 9 Pro XL and six days with the 9 Pro, one aspect we are seriously impressed with is performance. Past Pixels have suffered at the hands of Tensor chips. Frequently overheating, inconsistent with battery performance, since the Pixel 6 introduced the Tensor G1, built in partnership with Samsung's chipmaker division, Exynos, Pixels were falling behind their Qualcomm rivals when it came to performance and stability.

While the gaming performance of the new pixels still doesn't best the finest flagships running Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon, stability – which is much more important – is significantly improved. Even with hours of gaming and WiFi hotspotting, our Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL didn't overheat, which is excellent going.

Our main gripe with the Pixel 9 Pros are their starting storage capacity of 128GB. For flagships that cost as much as they do, we would expect a starting capacity of 256GB. This is especially relevant when Google makes a big deal out of its software update promise of seven years being class-leading. We're guessing most 128GB Pixel users will run out of storage long before that seven years is up. On the plus, it is great to see both phones get 16GB RAM.

It's also great to see Google include fast 45 wired charging for the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, with the Pro reaching a full charge in under 80 minutes and the 9 Pro XL taking around 90 minutes. While the phones also support wireless charging, unfortunately, they don't introduce Qi 2 MagSafe-style charging to the line.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL Verdict

If you want a top-tier camera phone, both the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL should fit the bill, though the 9 Pro is the more exciting device. There is plenty of competition at the XL's size from the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, to less mainstream alternatives including the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and VIvo X100 Pro. At the Pixel 9 Pro's size, however, it's head and shoulders above the competition when it comes to overall camera performance, and specifically, zoom.

For many, the Pixel 9 Pro will be the best camera phone of 2024. Practically speaking, it's small enough to easily fit into your palm and pocket, powerful enough to capture excellent photos, and reliable enough to last a full day without getting too toasty. Add the long-term software support promise from Google, and both phones could be smart options for years to come.

In what is – for most of the world's population at least – the summer lull, there aren't usually a lot of product launches, but this week has seen not only potentially the most significant new phone in a while, but the revelation that DJI – usually the best drone company – might have some serious competition on its hands.

On the face of it, both are all about AI, too. That isn't much of a surprise these days, what isn't? A second look, though, and you'll see that, in both cases, the industrial design might also be worthy of serious attention. The new Google Pixel 9 series really do look like flagship phones rather than a software showcase this time, and the HoverAir X1 Pro Max's new airframe looks a lot more considered.

The new Google Pixel 9 range has big new cameras, an amazing fold model, and spectacular AI...

Google has announced four new smartphones at its Made by Google 2024 event, with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold being its most expansive mobile line-up to date. All four phones pack Google's latest AI camera and editing tools the Pixel series has become known for, and the Pixel 9 Pro finally brings Google's finest camera hardware to a more compact form.

If you're wondering why the Pixel 9 Pro getting a top-tier camera is a big deal, historically, Google released the Pixel 7 or Pixel 8, and the Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel 8 Pro, with the Pro always being larger and packing a superior camera. This typically meant Pro users benefited from a periscope zoom, while vanilla Pixel users had to settle for in-sensor cropping.

For 2024, the smaller Pixel 9 Pro...

Read More:
Google Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold launch with punchy pricing and upgraded AI cameras

HoverAir casually puts two new AI drones, including an 8K drone, on its site...

Easily the most exciting new drone of 2023 was the HoverAir X1, and now the company has quietly revealed two new models – the specs suggest a much more powerful 8K camera will be an option.

What made the original HoverAir X1 so exciting for me and many others was that it not only brought a wholly new form factor, with built-in propellor guards, but it could also be operated without a controller – instead finally fulfilling the promise of a 'follow-me' device which would track you as it caught pics and clips. It immediately became an obvious choice for our best beginner drone guide.

Now, though the company seems to be gearing up to take on the establishment...

Read more:
HoverAir is ready to take on DJI with TWO new drones – 8K camera and more flight time promised

Instax mini Link 3 has a few new tricks

Fujifilm has just announced the Instax mini Link 3 with a few new tricks to get the most out of your prints including a brand new AiR Studio 3D AR effects, and photobooth style collages.

If you want to make your best phone photos a little more tangible, Instax’s range of printers has long been some of the best portable printers around, coming in three sizes of prints – wide, square, and mini. Like the Instax mini Link 2 before it, the latter is where you’ll find the Instax mini Link 3, printing photos from your phone or tablet directly onto Instax mini film.

The Instax mini Link 3 isn’t a huge departure in style from the previous version, keeping the textured design that is easy to grip, but...

Read More:
New Instax mini Link 3 adds new 3D AR effects and photobooth-style collages

Beaverlab announce new AI-powered 4K telescope

Beaverlab has just launched a new crowdfunding campaign for the Finder TW2 – an upgraded model of its groundbreaking Finder TW1 telescope and this time, it's harnessing the power of AI.

Beaverlab is a company born from a passion for technology and creativity with the mission of promoting human exploration. This is evident in its beautifully designed optical products, from microscopes and telescopes to its recent telephoto lens for mobile phones, each has an element of creativity and fun and caters to the enthusiastic beginner as well as the professional.

The new Finder TW2 is no different and claims to harness premium optics and the latest technology to enable users to explore the stars...

Read more:
Beaverlab's new AI-powered 4K telescope takes you closer to the stars

Sony and Nikon win awards – but what about Canon?

The EISA Awards has announced the winners for the best cameras and lenses for 2024-2025, with Nikon and Sony scooping a total of 10 awards between them.

Every year EISA (the Expert Imaging and Sound Association) deliberates over the best cameras and lenses released over the past year. Its photography category honors different formats of cameras and various styles of lenses – and this year, 20 awards were given to the best of the best.

Six cameras were announced as winners...

Read more:
Sony and Nikon win big at the prestigious EISA Awards… but where is Canon?

Check our guides to the best camera phones and the best beginner drones.

It's that time of year again, folks - time to welcome a new generation of Pixel devices! Preorders are now open for the Google Pixel 9, Google Pixel 9 Pro, and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, and I've gathered the best deals for early adopters right here.

Pricing for the latest Pixel phones starts at $799 / £799 for the standard Pixel 9, $999 / £999 for the Pixel 9 Pro, and $1,099 / £1,099 for the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Plus, there's an eye-catching new flagship, the Pixel Fold 9 Pro being a heart-breaking $1,799 / £1,749.

This year's Google Pixel 9 series marks one of the most significant upgrades we've seen from Google's flagship lineup in recent years. Along with a refreshed design and the powerful Google Tensor G4 chipset, you can expect notable improvements in battery life, camera performance, and display quality. For this generation, Google has also introduced a new twist by offering the Pro model in both a larger XL size (comparable to the previous Pro) and a more compact, palm-friendly standard Pro size (same dimensions as the Pixel 9).

Explore the latest Google flagships and check out today's best Google Pixel 9 deals below.

US deals

• AT&T (Pixel 9): $10.99/month, no trade-in required + storage upgrade
• AT&T (Pro XL): with eligible trade-in, free storage upgrade
• Best Buy: as low as $0 with qualified trade-in, plus $200 gift card
• Google:  up to $200 store credit, plus up to $800 off with trade
• Verizon: save up to $800 with a trade-in

UK

• Vodafone: £360 off plan and device, plus up to £420 off with a trade-in 
• Google: save up to £735 with trade-in, double storage and more freebies

The Google Pixel 9 series marks one of the most significant upgrades we've seen from the brand in recent years. This year, all devices have undergone a major design overhaul and received a powerful new chipset, with a few additional models added to the lineup.

Introducing the new 'XL' and Fold Pro models, which now take the place of the previous Pixel 8 Pro as the top-tier options in the range. The Fold Pro is an entirely new foldable design, while the XL serves as a direct successor to the Pixel 8 Pro, featuring a larger display compared to the standard model. The latest Pixel 9 Pro maintains the same form factor as the standard Pixel 9 but includes all the exclusive features of the Pro line.

Equipped with the new Tensor G4 chipset, the Pixel 9 Pro models come with 16GB of RAM, a new 42MP front camera, and enhanced video capabilities like super zoom and 8K recording. These features are available on both the 6.8-inch Pro XL and the 6.3-inch Pro, allowing you to choose between a larger phone and a more pocket-friendly option.

The standard Google Pixel 9 features a 6.3-inch display, the new Tensor G4 chipset, a 48MP ultra-wide lens, and a display that's 35% brighter than before. It also boasts an improved battery with increased capacity and faster charging. This upgrade is significant enough to position the standard model as a serious flagship contender in its own right.

All Google Pixel 9 devices come with seven years of guaranteed updates and emphasize AI integration through Google's new Gemini assistant. Gemini assists with everything from daily planning to translation, with the Pixel 9-exclusive feature 'Pixel Screenshots' being a standout addition.

Google's Pixel line seldom packs best-in-class hardware, but thanks to super-smart camera software and powerful editing tools, it's still revered as one of the best camera phones you can buy, a reputation the new Pixel 9 series is clearly poised to carry forward.

For 2024, Google introduces Add Me to its new phones to make group shots easier, as well as upgraded lowlight panoramas, and improves Magic Editor with two new features: Auto Frame and Reimagine.

These updates join a slew of trademark Pixel tools, including Magic Eraser, Audio Magic Eraser, Best Take, Photo Unblur, Zoom Enhance, and Portrait Light, which are already available on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro .

Going beyond editing, the new Pixels also look set to benefit from Google's latest computational photography smarts, including Super Res zoom, Night Sight, Top Shot, Face Unblur, and its notoriously powerful photo processing.

Add Me, Auto Frame and Reimagine

The three most standout image editing features introduced on the new Google Pixel 9 series are Add Me, Auto Frame, and Reimagine.

Starting with Add Me, it helps photographers get in a group shot without having to resort to a selfie camera. Instead, Add Me uses the primary camera and AI compositing smarts. 

First, you take a picture of the group shot you want to be in, leaving room for you to slot into. Next, a fellow group member takes your phone, frames things up, and directs you using on-screen prompts to get in the shot. Once you're in position, they take a second photo and Add Me will composite both shots into one primary camera-quality photo.

The result is a group shot that bypasses the selfie camera's inferior quality and awkward framing without leaving anyone out.

Auto Frame combines AI photo reframing with Google's generative fill within the Pixel 9's Magic Editor. If you haven't used Google or Samsung's generative fill feature, they let you rotate an image without cropping, using generative fill to expand it. Auto Frame, by contrast, analyzes an image, assesses the best framing for the focal point, and makes it so, even if that requires generative fill.

Finally, Reimagine combines text-to-image with photo editing. Adobe users may already be using text-to-image edits in Photoshop Beta, but for the Pixel 9 series, it's even more accessible. Within Magic Editor, type what you want to be changed in your photo and your wish is its command, with Google adding everything from a hot air balloon to flowers in the demo of the feature at the Pixel 9 launch event.

Video also gets a boost on the new Pixels with an aptly named feature called 8K Video Boost, and the line also gets upgraded panoramas with improved HDR and lowlight quality compared to past pixels.

A recap of existing Google features

As you can see below, Magic Editor for the Pixel 8 already includes object removal and resizing, tools to swap out elements like the sky and generative fill.

When you take a photo with Pixels, you can also choose individual faces in a group shot so everyone's smiling at the camera with Best Take, and within the Pixel Photo app, Unblur and Unblur Faces can salvage shaky hand shots with surprisingly impressive results.

Google's AI smarts are firing on all cylinders within the camera app as well with intense bracketing creating a single photo from a composite of shots at different exposures. In addition to helping Google produce optimal skin tones and dynamic range, this mechanism is behind Night Sight, improving nighttime capture.

Finally, a key area Google Pixel phones are leading the charge for mobile photography alongside Vivo is zoom, with the Pixels combining in-sensor cropping with high-resolution sensors and AI object recognition. This creates what Google promises to be supremely detailed zoomed-in shots at up to 20x on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and 30x on the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL.

To find out more about Google's latest announcements, read our overview of the Made by Google 2024 Pixel 9 launch, and check back for full reviews of all four phones in the coming weeks.

Google has announced four new smartphones at its Made by Google 2024 event, with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold being its most expansive mobile line-up to date. All four phones pack Google's latest AI camera and editing tools the Pixel series has become known for, and the Pixel 9 Pro finally brings Google's finest camera hardware to a more compact form.

If you're wondering why the Pixel 9 Pro getting a top-tier camera is a big deal, historically, Google released the Pixel 7 or Pixel 8, and the Pixel 7 Pro or Pixel 8 Pro, with the Pro always being larger and packing a superior camera. This typically meant Pro users benefited from a periscope zoom, while vanilla Pixel users had to settle for in-sensor cropping.

For 2024, the smaller Pixel 9 Pro is added to the lineup and features an identical camera mix to the Pixel 9 Pro XL, with all four Pixels sporting shared styling that marries flat backs, flat sides, and curved corners.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL

The best cameras on the new Pixel phones are on the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, so it's little wonder they're the priciest non-folding Pixels this year. You can pick each up with either 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB storage, with pricing below.

Both Pro Pixels feature the same triple camera mix around the back:

Wide: 50MP 1/1.31-inch sensor, f/1.68 aperture lens with OIS
Ultra-wide: 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor, f/1.7 aperture lens with autofocus
Telephoto: 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor, f/2.8 aperture lens with 5x optical equivalent reach and OIS

Eagle-eyed readers might spot that this is the same sensor mix introduced on the Pixel 8 Pro, with the only hardware upgrade appears to be the faster f/1.7 aperture on the ultra-wide.

Both the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL's front cameras are 42MP sensor + f/2.2 lens combos with autofocus and a 103º ultra-wide field of view.

With both phones enjoying the same Tensor G4 chipset, ultra-bright OLED screen technology with 3000 nits peak brightness, 45W fast charging, and wireless charging, plus 16GB RAM, it really is the screen size and battery capacity that differentiates the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL.

The Pixel 9 Pro's display is a Pixel 9-matching 6.3 inches, and its battery is 4700mAh, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL's display is 6.8 inches, and its battery is 5060mAh.

Google Pixel 9

The Google Pixel 9's camera mix is very similar to the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, missing out on the periscope camera and dropping the front camera resolution. The phone's storage options are also dialed down as is its price:

The Pixel 9 looks very similar to the Pixel 9 Pro, sporting virtually identical dimensions, which include a 6.3-inch display, a 152.8mm height, and an 8.5mm depth. It also weighs 1g less at 198g, and has the same battery capacity of 4700mAh. The screen is a little bit less brilliant, with a lower peak brightness of 2700 nits, and it's slightly less sharp too. It also has 12GB RAM versus the 16GB in the Pixel 9 Pro, and the selfie camera is a lower 10.5MP resolution.

The Pixel 9's many similarities with the 9 Pro make it a more premium counterpart to both the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL than an iPhone 15 is to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, a fact that should make it an attractive prospect for Pixel fans given the high prices of both Pro models.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Arguably the most exciting Pixel to launch at Made by Google 2024 is the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold, an update to the original Pixel Fold which combined a respectable camera with middling hardware when we tested it. With a total design overhaul, the new 9 Pro Fold looks set to benefit from taller screens, styling that reminds us of the Oppo Find N3 and OnePlus Open, and similar camera hardware to its predecessor, not to mention a foldable-grade price tag.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's camera is more modestly specced than that of the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro given the limited space foldables offer for optics and sensors, though Google does fit a triple camera mix around the back:

Wide: 48MP 1/2-inch sensor, f/1.7 aperture lens with OIS
Ultra-wide: 10.5MP 1/3.4-inch sensor, f/2.2 aperture lens with autofocus
Telephoto: 10.8MP 1/3.2-inch sensor, f/3.1 aperture lens with 5x optical equivalent reach and OIS

The 9 Pro Fold also has two selfie cameras with 10MP resolutions and f/2.2 apertures, one in the cover display and one in the main display.

The foldable's screen sizes look super-competitive, with a Pixel 9-matching 6.3-inch cover screen and a huge 8-inch inner display. With a 10.5mm depth when closed and a 257g weight, while the 9 Pro Fold isn't the lightest foldable around, it's a huge improvement over the 12.1mm, 283g original Pixel Fold.

Google's also kitted the Pixel 9 Pro Fold out with the same Tensor G4 chipset found in the rest of the series, 16GB RAM, and fast 45W charging plus wireless charging.

Google is clearly justifying its premium prices with a hardware and software one-two punch for 2024. After all, each Pixel 9 is set to get seven years of major OS updates, Google VPN at no extra cost, spam protection, and Google caller ID, as well as a suite of image editing features including the new Add Me tool for composited group shots.

Check back for our full reviews of all four Pixels in the coming weeks, and to find out what the Pixel 9 series's competition looks like, here's our guide to the best camera phones of 2024.

Not only has Google just teased its next flagship camera phone, the Pixel 9 Pro, it's also revealed its second-generation foldable phone, called the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Apart from the external design shown in the short teaser video, official specs are yet to be confirmed. The video does however show (surprise, surprise) that AI will likely be heavily integrated into the new foldable phone, courtesy of Google's generative AI chatbot Gemini (formally called Bard, and Google's answer to OpenAI's ChatGPT).

The teaser reveals a similarly prominent - and in my opinion, ugly - camera island/bump to the Pixel 9 Pro, though the Fold's implementation is squarer and houses two separate lens windows. The exact specs of the camera modules hiding behind are still to be confirmed, but rumors suggest the camera array won't be as impressive as the Pixel 9 Pro's triple 50MP rear-facing set-up and will be largely unchanged from what's in the original Pixel Fold.

According to GSM Arena, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will also feature a triple camera array, but headed by a relatively small 1/2.0" 48MP sensor for its primary, wide-angle camera, paired with a 25mm-equivalent lens with OIS. The ultrawide camera could use a 1/3.2" 12MP sensor, while the telephoto camera is said to be a 10.8MP 1/3.1" module providing 5x optical zoom.

As for the signature folding OLED screen; rumors suggest this will be slightly bigger than the original Pixel Fold's screen, measuring 8.02 inches. It could also feature a higher native resolution of 2200 x 2480 pixels, equating to a pixel density of 413ppi - up from the Pixel Fold's 378ppi. A 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support are also said to feature.

Whether or not these specs turn out to be correct will be revealed on August 13, when Google is expected to formally launch the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

The Pixel 9 Pro is coming next month, but in a new teaser video Google has given us a sneak peak of the phone's final design, and it's not pretty. Back in January the first unofficial renders of the Pixel 9 Pro appeared, showing the phone's possible new design. Though they came from a reliable source, the new camera island was so butt-ugly that I for one assumed that the renders must have been of some sort of prototype design, such was the 'tacked-on' look of the phone's camera bump. The final retail phone would surely have this integrated more neatly into the rest of the back panel, right?

Wrong. The renders were correct, the phone featured in them wasn't a prototype, and that hideous camera wart actually got the official sign-off from management.

As for what the bump contains, well that's likely to be a triple camera array with a trio of 50MP modules. The primary, wide-angle camera looks set to be based around Samsung's 1/1.31" GNK sensor, while both the ultrawide and telephoto modules could uses a Sony IMX858 sensor measuring 1/2.51" - itself slightly larger than the 1/2.8" Sony IMX386 chip used in the Pixel 8 Pro. Judging by the slightly rectangular lens cut-out in the camera bump, the telephoto module could also use a periscope lens, potentially enabling 5x optical zoom. The Pixel 9 series is also said to be the first Pixel generation to enable 8K video recording.

We'll have to wait until Google's official Pixel 9 Pro launch on August 13 to know more.

The OnePlus Nord 4 and OnePlus Pad 2 are official, and we’ve got our hands on both devices at the launch event in Milan, with each taking on the best from Google and Samsung with gusto. 

Starting with the OnePlus Nord 4, the phone undercuts the excellent Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy A55 5G, two of the hottest Android midrange phones out now. At its price, the most notable win for the Nord 4 is long-lasting software support, though its metal body, quality display, and 50MP camera all look competitive for a midrange.

We’re arguably more smitten with the OnePlus Pad 2 on first impression. It’s the only mainstream Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 tablet at its price, so packs flagship smartphone power, and with a super-smooth 144Hz display, smart detachable folio keyboard, and pen support with up to 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, it could be an awesome option for photo and video editing.

OnePlus Nord 4

The OnePlus Nord 4 is a quirky-looking phone in its hero color, Mercurial Silver (pictured). The striated back panel is set against a glass camera surround, and for anyone who’s been geeking out on smartphones for a few years, it feels like a serious blast from the past, echoing old-school Pixels and HTC phones. This is largely down to the metal unibody, making the Nord 4 the only metal unibody current-gen smartphone, owing to difficulties fitting all 11 antennae required for modern 4G and 5G connectivity.

Other Nord 4 colors include Oasis Green and Obsidian Midnight, with all three colors clocking in at a slim 7.99mm. The phone is also splash resistant and the display works when wet – just like the flagship OnePlus 12. 

While we wouldn’t go so far as OnePlus and suggest the Nord 4 packs in flagship specs, it’s certainly no slouch with the current-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset powering it.

The Nord 4 also has a huge 5,500mAh battery, putting plenty of flagships to shame, and charges up at 100W for a full charge in under half an hour. The one compromise on the battery front is a lack of wireless charging.

As for the camera, OnePlus loads up two around the back and one on the front. The rear cameras mix includes a primary 50MP Sony LYT-600 sensor and f/1.8 lens combo complete with OIS, and an ultra-wide 8MP camera with an f/2.2 lens, while the selfie camera is 16MP with a 24mm wide-angle and an f/2.4 aperture.

In addition to competitive camera hardware are the AI smarts OnePlus packs into its midrange phone, with the Nord 4 following the OPPO Reno 12 Pro by adding AI Best Face, AI Clear Face, and AI Eraser, as well as an updated version of OnePlus and Oppo’s Smart Cutout.

OnePlus Pad 2

Android tablets have struggled to compete with iPads for generations. Apple’s app ecosystem is better than Androids, but Samsung’s Galaxy Tab series and OnePlus’s Pad line have given hope to Android fans, with the Pad 2 looking set to be OnePlus’s most compelling tablet offering yet.

Anyone who read our OnePlus Open review might be familiar with OnePlus’s Open Canvas, an interface feature that supports easy multitasking across up to three apps. While we were disappointed Open Canvas didn’t make it to the original OnePlus Pad, it’s great to see the feature’s tablet debut on the Pad 2. Matched with its flagship power and impressive keyboard folio accessory that can be detached and still control the Pad 2 via Bluetooth, as well as the large, 12.1-inch display, the OnePlus Pad 2 looks set to be an impressive multitasking tool.

OnePlus makes a few smart choices to keep the Pad 2’s price down. Unlike Samsung’s pricier Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra and the iPad Pro 2024, the OnePlus Pad 2 Pro doesn’t have a 120Hz OLED display, instead featuring a 144Hz IPS panel. While it doesn’t get as deep and colors don’t pop with as much gusto, therefore, its fluid smoothness is seriously impressive at the display’s large size. There's also no fingerprint scanner, just face unlock via the selfie camera.

The Pad 2 is also sharp with its 3K resolution, and when matched with the Stylo 2 pen accessory, delivers an impressive 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity. This looks set to be a winning match for Lightroom and other pen-compatible apps, we’re looking forward to testing it out as part of our creative workflow.

It’s also great to see OnePlus creating a solid ecosystem for fans. You can control your Nord 4 or OnePlus 12 on the OnePlus Pad 2, for example, enjoy a shared folder across devices and more.

OnePlus Nord 4 and OnePlus Pad 2 price and availability

The OnePlus Nord 4 is available in the UK, Europe, India, and other markets for £429 / €499 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, or £529 / €599 with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. Pre-orders are open now, with the phone available from 8 August 2024.

The OnePlus Pad 2 is also launching in the US. A single memory option is available with 256GB storage and 12GB RAM, costing $549 / £499 / €549.

We’ve got both devices in for review, so check back in the coming weeks to find out whether the Nord 4 and Pad 2 live up to their impressive first impressions, and check out some of the best budget smartphones and best tablets to scope out the competition in the meantime.

Blackmagic launched the Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone late last year, now the App comes to all Android users for FREE and I think this is a great move from Blackmagic!

The app leverages the same operating system found in Blackmagic’s professional cameras, providing Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel smartphone users with tools typically reserved for feature films, television, and documentaries. Additionally, Blackmagic Camera integrates with Blackmagic Cloud, facilitating instant collaboration and media sharing with editors and colorists worldwide.

Blackmagic Camera app can harness the power of smartphones by incorporating digital cinema camera controls and advanced operating systems into your smartphone. Users can achieve a cinematic look akin to Hollywood films, thanks to the intuitive and user-friendly interface similar to that of Blackmagic’s professional cameras. 

The app allows for seamless adjustments of settings like frame rate, shutter angle, white balance, and ISO with a single tap. Users can also record directly to Blackmagic Cloud in industry-standard formats up to 8K. 

With Blackmagic Camera, users have access to all the essential controls needed to quickly set up and begin shooting. The interface is interactive, allowing users to tap on any item to change settings instantly, avoiding cumbersome menu navigation.

The heads-up display (HUD) provides quick access to status indicators, recording parameters, histograms, focus peaking, levels, and frame guides. Users can show or hide the HUD by swiping up or down and can utilize touch-to-focus for pinpoint accuracy. 

The app supports various aspect ratios, including 16:9 and vertical, and allows discrete vertical shooting for unobtrusive filming. It also offers tabs for media management, uploading to Blackmagic Cloud, chatting, and accessing advanced settings.

Blackmagic Camera can be downloaded for free now from the Google Play app for Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices.

The introduction of the Blackmagic Camera app to Android revolutionizes mobile filmmaking. Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel users can now access professional digital cinema features directly on their smartphones, enabling cinematic quality and creative control previously exclusive to high-end cameras. 

This advancement democratizes filmmaking, offering seamless collaboration via Blackmagic Cloud, and makes high-quality film production more accessible and efficient for all content creators worldwide.

The Pixel 8a is a more affordable version of Google’s flagship Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. It packs pared-back hardware in a cutesy, bulbous package but still offers AI smarts and Google’s special sauce photo processing.

Starting at $499 in the US, £499 in the UK, and AU$849 in Australia for the 128GB model, the phone isn’t much cheaper than the Pixel 8, and it also has a lot of competition at its price. In the Apple camp, you can get a 2022 iPhone SE, or an iPhone 12, and Android fans could pick up the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G, Xiaomi 13T, or stump up extra cash for the Nothing Phone (2). Gamers would also be well served looking at the new Poco F6 Pro.

Loaded up with Google Gemini and baked-in AI features, the Pixel 8a could be a great value entry into out-of-the-box AI, helping justify the Pixel's price premium. So, is the 8a a camera champ with AI highlights or a mid-ranger that should have cost a bit less?

Google Pixel 8a design and screen

If the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are Lego, the Pixel 8a’s chunky, bulbous styling feels more like Duplo. The extremely rounded corners, thick bezel surrounding the screen, and playful styling all come together to create a fun, light-hearted impression.

With a metal frame, the Pixel 8a definitely doesn’t feel cheap, but neither does it feel super-premium with its plastic back. With IP67 water and dust resistance and Gorilla Glass 3 on the front, it’s relatively durable and dunkable, but unlike some other midrange phones, Google’s Pixel 8a doesn’t ship with a case in the box or a pre-fitted screen protector.  

You can choose between four colors: Aloe (green), Bay (blue, pictured above), Obsidian (black), and Porcelain (white). Whichever you choose, the phone has a matte finish across its back and sides. All its buttons are on the right, the USB-C port is at the base, and there’s a responsive in-display fingerprint scanner.

The Pixel 8a’s screen is a manageable 6.1-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, Full HD resolution, and a 430 PPI pixel density. With HDR support and a peak brightness of 2000 nits, the 8a showcases impressive contrast and is relatively easy to see even when the sun’s out, so while its chunky bezels hold it back from looking flagship and futuristic, the picture quality is great.

Google Pixel 8a camera specs

The Pixel 8a has two cameras around the back and one selfie camera. The primary camera features a 64MP, 1/1.73" sensor with an f/1.9 lens packing OIS. Hardware-wise, this isn’t the most impressive sensor at the price, with the Nothing Phone 2a outclassing it on paper. However, as we’ll come onto, Google’s photo processing produces excellent results.

The 8a’s ultra-wide camera and selfie camera appear to share the same specs, only with different focal lengths. Both are fixed-focus with a 13MP resolution and an f/2.2 aperture, with the ultra-wide camera lens being 120º, and the front camera lens being 96.5º.

Google’s AI imaging tools are arguably one of the Pixel 8a’s main selling points, with Best Take, Magic Eraser, Portrait Light, and Unblur helping out with photos and Audio Magic Eraser cleaning up video background noise.

Google Pixel 8a camera review

The key thing the Pixel 8a's camera gets right is reliable point-and-shoot photography. This isn't a $1,200+ Xiaomi 14 Ultra or Oppo Find X7 Ultra, so there's no cutting-edge camera hardware here, but the photo processing is reliably good at the phone's price, day or night.

The phone only has two cameras around the back, an ultra-wide, and a primary camera, but with in-sensor and AI zooming, you can punch in to 8x and still get usable results in bright environments.

The Pixel 8a's photos showcase balanced colors and contrast and tastefully eradicate most clipping in the highlights, while also zapping featureless shadows. The key difference between photos taken on the wide and ultra-wide cameras (apart from the angle of view) is how well they hold up when you pinch into them. Ultra-wide photos aren't quite as loaded up with detail, so they crumble under the pressure of a crop or a pinch.

This reduced scope for cropping is particularly noteworthy in darker environments, with the Pixel 8a's ultra-wide softening results, though it still produces a cleaner-looking image than competitors across both rear cameras.

The Pixel 8a is a phone you can give to a 10-year-old, and they can snap a load of pictures that all look crisp, well-exposed, and intentional. There's just something about Google's photo processing that pulls even clumsy shots together very well at the 8a's price. You don't need to labor over each snap, so for anyone after a point-and-shoot camera phone, the 8a is an excellent shout for the price.

Despite the phone's modest wide camera sensor size, it still grabs convincingly shallow depth of field to give photos of subjects closer than a meter away notable background separation. The 8a is also excellent for photos of animals, quick to focus on eyes, pulling out plenty of texture in fur, both indoors and outdoors.

Google's Magic Eraser, Unblur tool, and Magic Editor, all part of the Pixel 8a image editing experience are also a cut above other AI editors at its price. The main drawbacks for photographers after a more nuanced shooting experience are the lack of RAW capture and manual controls.

The Pixel 8a's 4K video looks excellent in brightly lit environments. We were able to shoot handheld at up to 60fps and seamlessly splice footage into a YouTube video we mostly shot on much pricier hardware. The ultra-wide camera caps out at Full HD and is a marked step down for video, especially when the lights drop.

Selfies also have a natural, flattering quality and handle dimly lit scenes respectably, provided the Pixel 8a is held by a steady hand and pointed at still subjects. 

As with the rear camera mix, when lights go down, video quality is the first to fall, and its small sensors hold it back from capturing quality nighttime video. You can get better results from some alternatives, making nighttime video the main drawback of the 8a's camera..

Google Pixel 8a additional features

Powered by a Google Tensor G3 – the same chipset in the flagship Pixel 8 and 8 Pro – the Pixel 8a combines respectable performance for the price with the latest version of Android, and a clean, stock interface.

Gamers looking for maximum bang for their buck would be better served with a Poco F6 Pro or Nothing Phone 2, given Google’s Tensor chips are typically a step behind Qualcomm and MediaTek when it comes to GPU grunt. For day-to-day tasks and less demanding games, though, the Pixel 8a feels snappy and smooth with its 8GB RAM.

Available in either 128GB or 256GB storage options, we would suggest the higher-capacity Pixel 8a if you plan on using it for a couple of years or more. This suggestion is particularly noteworthy if you think you'll shoot a lot of large 4K video, or download large games like Genshin Impact or Wuthering Waves.

Google’s excellent sound recorder app is ready and waiting when you fire up the Pixel 8a. It can transcribe audio, identify speakers, and automatically back up recordings to your Google account.

With Google Gemini optionally replacing Google Assistant, this also unlocks AI voice assistance. Unlike ChatGPT and other third-party services, it integrates directly with Gmail, Google Docs and YouTube Music, so you can ask Gemini to summarize your emails, for example, and it will.

Google’s Circle to Search feature, introduced on the Galaxy S24 series, is also pre-loaded on the Pixel 8a for speedy searches. If that's what you're looking for, the Pixel 8a is the most AI-packed phone at its price.

With its 4492mAh battery, the Pixel 8a comfortably lasts a full day of moderate use, but heavy users may struggle to make it from first thing in the morning to last thing at night.

While Google doesn't include a charger in the box with the Pixel 8a, it does charge using the PD 3.0 standard at up to 30W, which allows for a full charge in around 100 minutes and a 50 percent charge in half an hour.

It's also great that Google promises seven years of Android updates with the Pixel 8a, adding a degree of future-proofing seldom seen at the phone's price.

Google Pixel 8a verdict

Despite not having the mightiest camera hardware around, the Pixel 8a is an impressive camera phone. Thanks to Google's smart processing, it can capture a good point-and-shoot picture in most lighting conditions. Its 4K video also looks impressive, provided the lighting is on its side, and the day-to-day experience feels nippy.

Loaded up with smart features, how many of them you choose to use will depend on how comfortable you are integrating AI into your daily life. But if you’re buying what Google’s selling, nothing at the Pixel 8a’s price can touch it on that front.

Being one of the best camera phones of 2024 when it comes to value for money, the only group of smartphone buyers we wouldn’t recommend the Pixel 8a for at its price are gamers. The Tensor G3 chip falls behind the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in the Poco F6 Pro. The fact that the F6 Pro also offers more storage for large games gives it another win over the Pixel 8a. 

If you’re able to find a great deal on a Pixel 8 and prefer glass and metal versus the 8a’s plastic back, then that’s another option. Generally, though, the Pixel 8a represents a reliably good all-around phone with a great camera and eerily smart AI features out of the box.

Are you disappointed with your tablet's battery life? The new Armor Pad 3 Pro from Ulefone could be the answer. It packs an immense 33280 mAh battery that's around three times the capacity of the battery in an iPad Pro. Ulefone claims it's good for 181 hours of talk time, and 1812 hours (75.5 days!) of standby time. Thankfully there's 66W fast charging to get you juiced up relatively quickly.

Read more:
The best tablet for photo editing
The best tablet camera

As its name suggests, the Armor Pad 3 Pro is also built to survive abuse: it's aimed primarily at industrial and construction sectors, or anyone who needs a tablet built to military standard 810 certification. The Armor Pad 3 Pro is also IP68 rated, meaning it's both dust resistant and waterproof to a depth of 1.5m for up to 30 minutes. Other unusual tablet features include a built-in flashlight with 483 individual LEDS that provide 1100 lumens of light output. There's even support for an optional dual-camera borescope (inspection camera).

Surprisingly for a device which clearly isn't focussed primarily on photography, the Armor Pad 3 Pro still packs a 50MP main camera based around Samsung's GN1 image sensor. This 1.31-inch chip is used in some of the best camera phones like the Google Pixel 7 Pro, so with the right image processing, it's capable of great image quality. In the Armor Pad 3 Pro it can record 1080p video and is fronted by an f/1.95 lens with an 85-degree field of view. On the front of the tablet is a 32MP, 1080p selfie camera that uses a Samsung GD1 image sensor.

The Armor Pad 3 Pro is based around an 8-core MediaTek MT8788 System-on-Chip and features 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage. This is expandable up to 2TB using the microSD card slot. The tablet sports a 10.36-inch IPS display with a 1200 x 2000 resolution and 500-nit maximum brightness. In-keeping with the device's rugged credentials, the display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

But you don't get all that battery life without some compromise. The gargantuan battery inside increases the tablet's overall weight to a meaty 1.24kg - that's around 2.5x the weight of a standard 10.9" iPad. The device is also rather thick at 21.2mm, and measures 262 x 167mm length x width.

The Ulefone Armor Pad 3 Pro is available to order now, priced at $600.

Google has just introduced the Pixel 8a, a more affordable version of its flagship Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones from last year. This new phone is now available for pre-order starting and will officially launch on May 14.

Priced at just $499 / £499 / AU$849, the Pixel 8a promises to disrupt our list of top budget phones by incorporating groundbreaking AI features previously found only in the most expensive Pixel models.

Check out the official Pixel 8a launch video:

True to expectations, the Pixel 8a operates on Google’s latest Tensor G3 chip, enhancing the phone's suite of photography editing tools. Among these capabilities is the Best Take feature, enabling users to edit group photos in a way that combines everyone's best expressions – a function previously reserved for premium Pixel models.

Also noteworthy is the inclusion of Google’s standout AI tool, the powerful Magic Editor. This feature enables users to reposition, delete or resize subjects in photos with generative AI seamlessly filling in any gaps. On top of that are all the non-photographic AI embellishments, such as Circle to Search, Clear Calling and Audio Magic Eraser. 

Until now, the premium Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro were the sole beneficiaries of Google’s recent AI advancements. Given that much of the AI processing occurs in the cloud, rather than solely on the device, it makes sense for Google to offer these features on a budget-friendly phone – and I can see this becoming very popular!

In addition to the classic Obsidian and Porcelain colorway options, the Pixel 8a will now come in a wonderful Bay Blue and a limited-edition Aloe Green – this would be my personal pick!

The 6.1-inch display boasts a 40% increase in peak brightness compared to last year's model and receives an upgrade in refresh rate from 90Hz to 120Hz. The RAM remains unchanged at 8GB, but there's a new 256GB storage capacity option – a first for the a-series Pixel phones.

Camera hardware remains the same as the Pixel 7a, featuring a 64MP main lens, 13MP ultrawide lens and a 13MP front-facing camera. This camera setup has already proven to be high-performing; we consistently rate the Pixel's camera as one of the best in the smartphone market.

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Take a look at the best camera phones from all brands, whether it's the best iPhones or the best Android phones – which includes some of the best Samsung phones and best Google Pixel phones.

Despite likely still being around 6 months from launch, we've just had a leak of a possible Google Pixel 9 Pro. The leaked images show a device with a redesigned camera bump/island that was first displayed in renders back in January. This refreshed design is more prominent than the 'Robocop' wraparound camera island introduced with the Pixel 6, and appears to stick out further from the phone's rear panel. The new pill-shaped island's sharply defined edges are certainly distinctive, though we can't help but think its 'stuck-on' appearance makes it look like more of an afterthought than a neatly integrated design. Those chiselled edges also seem prone to catching on things and being chipped in daily use.

Within the camera island, the individual camera modules appear similar to those in the Pixel 8 Pro: the smaller round module on the left is likely the ultrawide camera, while the primary (wide-angle) module appears in the middle. We presume the rectangular module on the right is a periscope telephoto camera, again following the arrangement of the Pixel 8 Pro.

Read more: what is a periscope lens?

The leaked photos are rumored to show a regular 6.1-inch Pixel 9 Pro as opposed to a larger 'XL' handset. Consequently the phone appears relatively compact when placed alongside an iPhone 14 Pro Max. The leak also shows the edges of the phone, which share the same polished metal finish as the Pixel 8 Pro and has the usual array of power & volume buttons, a USB-C port and speaker outlet alongside that. Another leaked image shows the bootloader screen, displaying amongst other things that this handset is equipped with 16GB RAM, which if correct means the Pixel 9 Pro would have 4GB more memory than the Pixel 8 Pro.

But as with any rumor/leak so far from a phone's likely launch, take all this with a generous helping of salt!

Story credit: Rozetked

Can't wait for the Pixel 9 Pro? Read our guide to the best Google Pixel phones available now, and if you're happy to look further afield, check out some of the best camera phones of 2024

It may only be January, but rumors and leaks are already emerging about Google's next flagship phone, the Pixel 9 Pro. Thanks to MySmartPrice and OnLeaks, there are now high-resolution renders showing what the Pixel 9 Pro could look like. We can't confirm if these definitely portray the final design of the phone, but OnLeaks has previous form with releasing renders of past Google phones many months before the handset's launch, and those renders did indeed turn out to be accurate.

The most notable change compared to the current Pixel 8 Pro is the new phone has a restyled camera bump, which contains three camera modules. The central, larger lens presumably fronts the primary, wide-angle camera module, while the secondary circular lens is likely the ultrawide camera. The third module is a rectangular shape, indicating that it's probably a periscope telephoto camera. We wouldn't be surprised if Google was keen to equip the Pixel 9 Pro with a periscope module, if only to match key rivals like the Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Unlike the camera bump on the Pixel 8 Pro which wraps into the edges of the phone, the Pixel 9 has a more pronounced, oval-shaped camera island. This appears to protrude significantly from the rear panel of the phone.

Read more: what is a periscope lens?

The dimensions of the Pixel 9 Pro are claimed to be 162.7 x 76.6 x 8.5mm, though if you also include the thickness of the hefty camera island, the total thickness increases to 12.0mm. These dimensions are very similar to those of the Pixel 8 Pro, however it's speculated that despite this, the Pixel 9 Pro will have a slightly smaller screen size of approximately 6.5 inches (the Pixel 8 Pro has a 6.7-inch display). The screen on the new phone sports the same punch-hole design cut-out for the selfie camera.

Also evident from these renders is the flat-edged frame of the phone, contrasting from the current bevelled edge of the Pixel 8 Pro. The overall look of the edge design is very 'Apple'.

Though the source of these renders has proven to be reliable, we still wouldn't assume the images definitely depict the final design of the phone. If Google follows its previous release schedule, then the Pixel 9 Pro would be set to launch in October. There's therefore still a lot of time for designs and specifications to potentially be tweaked.

Story credit: MySmartPrice

Can't wait for the Pixel 9 Pro? Read our guide to the best Google Pixel phones available now, and if you're happy to look further afield, check out some of the best camera phones of 2023.

With January 2024 just around the corner and the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S24, S24 Ultra, and S24+ imminent, we are finally starting to hear some potentially very exciting leaks. A camera release wouldn’t be a camera release these days without several AI-powered features and if the rumors are true, Samsung’s forthcoming release will be the most advanced yet. 

Nothing seems impossible with AI – already this year the Google Pixel 8 Pro has boasted features that enable you to remove objects from a photo, curate the perfect group picture, and even remove motion blur from an image. The best camera phones are now so advanced, they leave mirrorless cameras and DSLRs in the dust when it comes to onboard editing features and the Samsung Galaxy S24 series will be no different thanks to the anticipated ONE UI 6.1 operating system. 

One of the most exciting AI-powered features we could see on the Samsung Galaxy 24 series as hinted by Benit Bruhner Pro on X is that users will be able to remove unwanted objects from video clips – a feature we haven’t yet seen in smartphones. It will also benefit from enhanced video capabilities such as improved low-light performance, better stabilization, and reduced graininess making it even easier for users to create more professional-looking videos. 

The magic of AI doesn't stop there. Samsung devices will now leverage AI to expand the borders of photos just as you can in Photoshop using Generative Expand. This means that – if you haven’t been able to frame your subject quite how you wanted – you can crop an image and it’ll automatically fill in the missing parts for you. 

Aside from camera-related AI enhancements, Samsung is teasing that the S24 series will have a built-in chatbot similar to ChatGPT which will be able to perform simple tasks such as answering questions and solving equations. An intelligent call management system will make it easier to organize calendars and to-do lists by processing phone calls and implementing actionable insights while managing notes will be streamlined by transforming messy notes into an organized structure complete with bullet points. 

Samsung borrows a page from Google's playbook with AI-generated wallpapers that promise to provide a visually stunning experience, though admittedly lacking Google’s animation feature. For users navigating language barriers, Samsung will introduce live translation during calls to ensure smooth communication between individuals speaking different languages, fostering a global and connected community.

The Enhanced Battery Protection feature introduces multiple stages of protection, striking a delicate balance between battery life and security. Users can choose varying degrees of protection without sacrificing convenience, ensuring a tailored experience that fits individual needs.

Samsung's latest innovations promise a future where AI seamlessly integrates into daily life, enhancing user experiences across various aspects of device usage. The launch of these exclusive features positions Samsung as a trailblazer in the competitive tech industry and undoubtedly will set new standards for smartphone innovation. 

Can't quite stretch to the latest smartphone? Check out the best budget camera phones as we round up our favorite older models.

Rumors suggest that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 may not get a camera upgrade at all, sticking with the same cameras as its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. 

In fact that would be two generations without a change, since the Galaxy Z Fold 4 before that also sported the same camera, although both previous phones did make it into our guides to the best Android phones and the best fold phones. 

Samsung equips the current Z Fold 5 with a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 10MP 3x telephoto camera, a 10MP outer selfie camera, and a 4MP inner under-display selfie camera. This on, paper seems, to be a substantial list of specs for a phone, but its biggest fold phone competitors – the Google Pixel Fold and OnePlus Open – now provide much higher quality.

Samsung may have decided against an upgrade to the camera, perhaps focusing efforts elsewhere. It has become a modern preference for a phone model to be updated every year, but it is unnecessary to upgrade the camera each time. Instead, manufacturers often focus on different aspects of the design or software of the phone. So where we may not see an update to the phone's camera, you can be confident that there will be upgrades elsewhere.

Reports suggest that there may instead be an update to the form of the phone. "Specifically with a wider front display, along with dust protection to accompany the current IPX8 water resistance rating," according to a recent article by Tom's Guide. "We may even get an all-new 'Lite' model that'll be a more affordable option than the $1,800 full-fat Z Fold."

Nothing official has been announced and this is all just speculation and rumors, although from some credible sources. We are expected to see the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 next summer, with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to arrive alongside it. We will have to wait until nearer the time to see if these rumors are confirmed.

See our articles on the best Android phones, the best smartphone gimbals, and the best wireless chargers for more information on smartphones.  

The Google Pixel 7 Pro flew to the top of our best camera phones list when it launched because of its fantastic value and powerful camera system, but for 2023, the Pixel 8 Pro's main selling point seems to be software. 

Marketing for the new Pixel 8 series has focused on tools like its Magic Editor and Best Take rather than camera resolution or zoom, and a glance at the specs puts the Pixel 8 Pro behind the best from Apple or Samsung when it comes to gaming power. 

The most impressive thing about the Pixel 8 Pro looks set to be future-proofing. It will get seven years of software updates, according to Google. iPhones typically receive six years of software support, while Android phones get four years or less. 

The 8 Pro also brings back the Pixel line's traditionally superb imaging capabilities and a triple camera setup with a wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto camera. But do software and futureproofing really sell phones, and can its smarts argue away the Pixel 8 Pro's sub-flagship power?

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Design

From the back, the Pixel 8 Pro looks a lot like the 7 Pro. It has that visor-style camera bump, but in-hand and from the front, it sports a different look and feel.

The glass around the back of the 8 Pro is frosted, so it doesn't cling to fingerprints as readily as the glossy glass of past Pixels, especially in its darker color options. It also has a flat screen versus the curved display of the Pixel 6 Pro and 7 Pro.

Packing premium appeal, the Pixel 8 Pro feels great with its polished, stark metal frame that's curved for a comfortable hold. The phone has all the usual ports and buttons: a USB-C port at the base, power and volume buttons, and a SIM card tray.

While the Google Pixel 8 Pro has some weight to it at 213g, it's still lighter than the 234g Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the 221g iPhone 15 Pro Max. Durability matches the key competition, with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back and IP68 dust and water resistance.

Available in three colors: Obsidian (pictured in this review), Porcelain, and Bay, Google's kept things a bit more muted for 2023 when compared to past-gen pixels.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Screen

The big 6.7-inch screen on the Pixel 8 Pro is a key upgrade when compared to the 7 Pro in one key area: brightness. While we quite liked the 7 Pro's screen, if you live somewhere sunny, its viewability couldn't stack up to the best Galaxys and iPhones. With a through-the-roof peak brightness of 2400 nits, the Pixel 8 Pro addresses that and is easy to use even in direct sunlight.

With a 20:9 aspect ratio, the 8 Pro packs a tal display, and with a 1344 x 2992 resolution, it's sharp with 489 pixels in every inch of screen. That's a little crisper than an iPhone 15 Pro Max, and a little less crisp than a Galaxy S23 Ultra – but all three phone displays look fantastic in the flesh.

The screen credentials check a lot of boxes out of the gate, with 24-bit color depth and HDR10 support, though no Dolby Vision. Blacks and dark colors look deep and inky, while highlights sing with saturation and punch. If it's all a bit much, you can dial the colors down with a Natural display profile for a more sRGB-style look.

The Pixel 8 Pro brings back a 120Hz display for a smooth scrolling experience, and you can drop this to 60Hz to save a bit of power. 

The fact the 8 Pro's screen is flat and not curved like other premium Android phones is neither here nor there for us. Yes, it makes the whole phone feel a bit chunkier, but it also makes the entire display area a little more usable. The overriding takehome regarding the screen: we found responsiveness and quality to be where it needs to be.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Camera specs

Google has become the safe bet camera phone maker. Whichever phone you pick up, from the cheap and cheerful Google Pixel 7a to the pricey Pixel Fold, point, shoot, and your picture will reliably be good enough. Don't get us wrong, Pixels are also known for shots that aren't particularly croppable, and its camera hasn't had a pro mode for manual control, holding the line back. 

For the Pixel 8 Pro, everything changes. Google's introduced a full-resolution 50MP capture option for unbinned JPG and RAW shots, grabbing loads of extra detail, as well as a powerful new Pro mode.

Starting with camera specs, there are three rear cameras on the Pixel 8 Pro and one front camera:

Wide camera: 50MP resolution with 1.2-micron pixels, an f/1.68 aperture lens with an 82° field of view, and a 1/1.31" image sensor size.

Ultra-wide camera:  48MP resolution with 0.8-micron pixels, an f/1.95 aperture lens with autofocus, and a 125.5° field of view. While the sensor size is unconfirmed, based on the 0.8-micron pixels, it should be a 1/2" sensor – competitive for an ultra-wide camera.

Telephoto camera: 48MP resolution with 0.7-micron pixels, an f/2.8 aperture lens with a 21.8° field of view, equivalent to a 5x optical zoom, and a roughly 120mm focal length.

Front camera: 10.5MP resolution with 1.22 μm pixels, an f/2.2 aperture lens with auto-focus, and a 95° ultra-wide field of view.

This all translates to a competent camera mix that's very comparable to the iPhone 15 Pro Max's setup, though with higher-resolution secondary sensors than the iPhone, there's potentially more scope for detail in bright environments.

As for shooting modes, the new Pro mode, pictured above, adds long-awaited manual controls to the Pixel mix. The phone also captures RAW photos and high-resolution JPG and RAW photos from all three cameras and brings back Google favorites like Night Sight, Astrophotography, Portrait Mode, and more.

The Pixel 8 Pro captures videos at up to 4K resolution, 60fps. While there are no standout shooting modes, the phone introduces Audio Eraser to the line, which is effectively retrospective noise canceling to help vocals pull through while suppressing other sounds. This works with any video, even if it isn't captured on the Pixel 8 Pro, and does a great job.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Magic Editor

Smart AI and AI-like features are peppered throughout the whole Pixel 8 experience. Live transcriptions of voice notes and videos, Google Assistant call-screening, and even battery management are tuned based on your specific needs with machine learning algorithms. But the aspect of AI that Google’s pushing the hardest in its marketing is photography, or more specifically, photo editing.

Open a photo on the Pixel 8 – it doesn’t have to have been taken on the phone – tap Edit, followed by the Magic Editor icon in the bottom left corner of the UI, and once your photo is backed up to Google’s cloud, the reality distortion begins.

Depending on what’s in your shot, you can access portrait optimizations, totally swap out the sky for a different one, generate some heavily stylized options, or apply a Golden Hour filter. Each time you generate a new set of images, you have four options to pick from, and if none fit the bill, you can keep generating another four until one does.

If your photo has an object in it, draw around it with your finger to select it, then move it around the frame at will. Generative AI will fill in the background behind the moved object or, using the same smarts, it can erase objects altogether.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Camera review

In some shots, a strange camera bug has been rearing its head on our Pixel 8 Pro. It introduces bizarre artifacts. See the photo below; taken in a backlit, relatively bright room, we wouldn't expect these kinds of results from a flagship.

This only seems to happen at 12MP resolution for us, suggesting it's down to binning and computational photography, and Google is reportedly working on a fix that might have already rolled out.

Even without a fix, owing to how infrequently we encountered this issue, it doesn't hold the camera experience back too much but is definitely worth noting.

The three photos below illustrate what you can expect from the three optical focal lengths. These were all captured at 12MP, so they benefit from all Google's computational smarts, and each one balances all the elements nicely. Foreground shadow detail in the buildings retains texture, while the central subject and sky look inviting and warm.

The Pixel has a wider set of optical focal lengths than the iPhone, so it doesn't reach quite as far despite both phones packing roughly 5x zoom equivalent tele lenses.

If you're wondering how the 8 Pro's zoom stacks up, the answer is: very well indeed. Below are four shots, wide, telephoto, and two digital zoom photos at roughly 10x and 25x zoom. When you go past the 5x optical reach, sharpening does creep in as resolved detail falls off, however, the Pixel 8 Pro is still a powerful zoomer.

Like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google's flagship struggles just before the telephoto camera kicks in, so results can start to crumble between the 3-4.9x range (roughly 65mm-110mm).

While the Pixel 8 Pro doesn't have a telemacro periscope camera like the fantastic Huawei P60 Pro, it's periscope is better than the iPhone at capturing relatively nearby photos. With a nearest focus-distance of under a meter, you won't need to rely solely on the wide camera for high-impact close-up shots with natural depth.

The ultra-wide camera is also a powerful macro tool, and when the sun's out, does a fantastic job of high-impact close-up shots.

When you flick on high-resolution capture, all three cameras snap large files with loads of croppable detail. This is game-changing for any photographers who have loved Google's Pixel line, until they come to crop into shots.

As you can see below, there's an abundance of resolved detail, specifically when taking photos in bright environments. Google hasn't compromised on overall picture quality; contrast is pleasingly high, and saturation is on the balanced side of vibrant.

Take the phone indoors and Night Sight automatically kicks in to great effect. The phone seems to know what your subject probably is, and gives it a helping hand at standing out, while managing noise well without losing too much detail.

The front camera benefits from Google's impressive portrait mode and autofocus, though its photos aren't as rich in detail as those of the rear camera mix. This is especially true in low light, with indoor selfies seeing some noise creep in. On the plus, selfies are flattering without looking overly beautified.

As for video, Google's upped its game in a big way this year. The front camera captures 60fps 4K footage, and it looks great in bright scenes, stabilized at up to max resolution, and the rear cameras do an even better job. While editors will still prefer ProRes capture on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, casual creatives will really enjoy the picture and audio the Pixel 8 Pro records.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Additional features

Running with a Tensor G3 chip, Google's latest smartphone processor, the Pixel 8 Pro is powerful and clever, but won't deliver the gaming phone grunt you might expect when paying its asking price. It also starts with just 128GB storage, which feels very dated in 2023 for a high-end flagship, especially considering the phone misses out on an SD card slot.

Plenty of highlights are exclusive to the Pixel line: Google's most pure Android experience, filled with charming visuals and excellent performance, a VPN at no extra cost, loads of security features, and a best-in-class software update promise.

Google says it will support the Pixel for a staggering seven years, so while it's launching with Android 14 in 2023, we can expect the final update to drop in 2030.

There's an under-display fingerprint scanner, and the phone supports face unlock, too, so it's quick and easy to fire it up securely. 

With stereo speakers, audio from the 8 Pro is loud, though it isn't as deep as that of the iPhone 15 Pro Max or ROG Phone 7. On the plus, the Pixel 8 Pro does support Spatial Audio when paired with compatible buds or headphones.

Interestingly, there's also a thermometer on the back of the Pixel 8 Pro. We're not sure what it's doing on the phone, but it's here, and it works.

A large 5050mAh battery ensured that unless we were hammering the phone with max-resolution Genshin Impact gaming and loads of camera use, we easily got through a full day on a single charge. 

While the Pixel 8 Pro only charges at 30W, which is relatively slow for a 2023 flagship, it does pack wireless charging. Whichever way you want to power it up, the charger is sold separately, with box contents including a cable, a USB-C to USB-A converter, a SIM eject tool, and the phone itself.

Google Pixel 8 Pro: Verdict

The Pixel 8 Pro delivers a refined experience and it's also a great camera phone. With the higher price compared to the 7 Pro come higher expectations, and for the most part, Google meets them.

There are a few things we'd have liked Google to do differently. 128GB is too little storage for a phone of the Pixel 8 Pro's price. If you're considering buying one, we would suggest going for the 256GB option if you plan on using it for a year or more, taking loads of photos or videos, and installing many apps and games.

The camera gremlins that crept in occasionally also threw us. But as the performance was so good most of the time, we are willing to give the 8 Pro and Google the benefit of the doubt, and anticipate this will be fixed. The entire imaging experience is improved versus the 7 Pro and is one of the best available on a smartphone right now, a fact that stops the processing issue from being a deal-breaker.

Other than those grumbles, though, the Pixel 8 Pro won us over, and is without a doubt the Pixel to buy if you're a keen photographer, with the Pro mode and high-resolution capture changing the game and unlocking a new level of cropping for the line.

If you're thinking about a Pixel but don't want to spend 8 Pro prices, read our guide to the best Google Pixel phones, and if you're happy to look further afield, check out some of the best camera phones of 2023.

In a move that shouldn't really be anything close to a shock, Google has quietly renamed its Google Camera app to Pixel Camera. Although the former branding was clear and concise, the fact that only Google-branded phones were officially supported by the Google Camera app, it makes total sense to rebrand the app as Pixel Camera, thereby making it totally clear that the app is only for Pixel phones. Prior to the rebrand, it was plausible to assume Google Camera would work on any Android device with a built-in camera, but this was not the case.

The newly-labelled app has also been given a fresh description in the Play Store, to better reflect the features it can now unlock in current and recent Pixel devices:

Never miss a moment with the fully redesigned Pixel Camera, and take fantastic photos and videos using features like Portrait, Night Sight, Time Lapse and Cinematic Blur.

Pixel Camera is available for Pixel phones running Android 14 and above, though only the latest Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are eligible for the latest version 9.1 of the app. Prior devices like the Pixel 7 range, Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet are limited to version 9.0.

Alongside the Pixel Camera rebrand, Google has also streamlined the photo sharing process within the Google Photos app. Now when the share icon is clicked, a 'Sharing image' sheet pops up, including a 'Modify' option in the top right of the sheet which enables the sharing of multiple images. The new sharing sheet also includes an image preview of the photo to be shared, with the preview containing a pencil icon that can be used to launch the Mark-up tool. The new share sheet is included in version 5.65 of Google Photos, but like the Pixel Camera app, you'll need to be running Android 14 on a Pixel device to access the latest app version.

Read more:

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The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best iPhone to date: our reviewer dubbed it "almost perfect". But there's a catch: it's pretty expensive. So if you've made the leap and invested in this superb smarphone, you'll want to keep it safe. And that's where the best iPhone 15 Pro Max cases come in.  

Not to brag, but we're pretty much experts now when it comes to finding the best phone cases on the market to suit every budget and lifestyle. I've tested over 100 cases from respectable phone case brands and manufacturers, So I know exactly what you need to keep your phone safe, and what's best avoided.

In the list below, I list the very best iPhone 15 Pro Max cases on the market today, in a range of styles and budgets. And I'll share the facts and figures you need to compare them, and make the right purchase for your needs.

Best iPhone 15 Pro Max cases

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FAQs

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How to choose the best iPhone 15 Pro Max case

It's simple, really. Do you like your smartphone to feel weighted, or light as a feather? Are you someone who values intricate designs, or prefers to keep things simple with a clear case? How do you feel about having your credit cards stored in your phone case? Kickstand: love them or hate them? 

We understand that the hunt for a reliable yet reasonably priced phone case can be a little daunting, but fear not. Once you know the answer to these questions, then finding the best iPhone 15 Pro Max case to suit your budget is a breeze. 

There are also plenty of magnetic smartphone accessories available to enhance your device, so be sure to grab a wallet or pop socket and personalize your new iPhone. Need a case with extra strong magnets? Check out our best magnetic phone cases guide instead.  

Oh, and don't forget that the MagSafe charging system is also used to hold the phone's own weight facing out in Nightstand mode (with a suitable charging stand), so a simple clear plastic case won't cut it – you'll need something which can 'repeat' the MagSafe (as Adam found out when trying the cheapest Amazon case he could!)

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How we test iPhone 15 Pro Max cases

In all honesty, there's no way to test a phone case thoroughly enough without actually putting our own phones in danger. So we base our recommendations on things like comfort and grip, weight and bulkiness, case texture, plus any additional features such as integrated kickstands and card slots. 

There are other things to consider such as a case's compatibility with MagSafe, if it enables Qi charging and other wireless functions, as well as the manufacturer's reputation, and most of all value for money.

We weren't born yesterday, and we know that most manufacturers will exaggerate and upsell key features of phone cases knowing that you'll never test them. For example, some cases might be listed with 10ft drop protection, but we aren't about to find out for ourselves whether that's true. 

With this in mind, we tend to take things with a pinch of salt when it comes to testing phone cases, but vow to only recommend products to our readers that we would purchase ourselves, from brands that can be trusted. 

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See also best iPhone 15 Pro max lens protectors, the best iPhone microphones, and the best iPhone printers

The Google Pixel 8 Pro's announcement date has been set as October 4, though it's possible from the latest renders we won't need to wait that long before knowing all about the upcoming handset. The latest leak – a 3D simulator showing all angles – has been taken down but plenty of videos are left up there, and some features are now confirmed.

Tap see more below the Twitter/X message from Android leaker Mishaal Rahman to see the renders.

Other leaks from Google have included a tutorial – which also confirmed a white colored handset is on the way – suspected to be 'Porcelain' (which also suggests an 'Obsidian' shade will be coming along, matching the Pixel Fold).

From the screen recordings and shots of the renders, we can see some interesting details. The leaked tutorial video also suggested the Pixel 8 Pro will have a temperature sensor. People are also expecting an 'Audio Magic Eraser' to reduce background noise in videos.

The renders seem to confirm there will be a SIM card tray – so the phone won't be all eSIM just yet.

Interior-wise, the renders don't give things away there, but the Pixel 8 will apparently have a Tensor G3 chip designed by Google with a focus on AI – this will have to address performance concerns about previous phones. 12GB RAM might help too.

According to HT Tech, the main camera in both models will be a Samsung Isocell GN2 50MP, with 8K video support, while the Pixel 8 Pro's wide-angle camera may also get a boost to 48MP. The displays, too, will rise – apparently – to 1,400 and 1,600 nits respectively.

The October 4 announcement will come at 3PM EDT / 12 Pacific / 8PM BST / 5AM Sydney. Officially it'll be the new smartphones – Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro series.

We're also expecting to see the next generation of the Pixel Watch (though it seems just as plausible we'll find out in advance from Google's own store or tutorial pages!)

If you want to check the previous generation, read our Google Pixel 7 Pro review, or see where it lands in our best camera phones guide. Or perhaps check out the Google Pixel Fold?

Sony has announced the Xperia 5 V, its latest compact flagship smartphone, and for 2023, the Xperia 5 series seems to be on the back foot on first impression. With fewer cameras and chunkier styling than last year’s Xperia 5 IV, some might call the latest in the line a downgrade, but while it doesn’t look set to be the best phone of 2023, it could still be a winner on the camera front for a number of reasons.

We’ve been using the phone for a few days, and when we first got our hands on it, we had a few concerns. Costing £849 – as much as a Google Pixel 7 Pro and significantly more than excellent alternatives like the OnePlus 11 – Sony’s Xperia 5 V has a smaller display, fewer cameras, and clunkier styling. 

After firing up its camera, though, the fact the Xperia 5 V is loaded up with the same main sensor as found in the much pricier Xperia 1 V seems to be its saving grace. That makes it the most affordable phone with Sony's latest stacked sensor technology, and when you factor in Sony’s pro shooting modes, the phone begins to flex on the photography and video fronts.

Xperia 5 V: Cameras

The Xperia 5 V has two cameras, a primary and ultra-wide camera, with the main camera featuring a 1/1.35-inch sensor. While its native resolution is 52MP, the effective photo resolution is 48MP. The reason for this difference is the sensor’s aspect ratio. It’s a little wider than traditional sensors – 4.3:3 – so when recording video, it captures the entire width of the sensor and has more information for stabilization. 

If you think that means you’ll be able to capture full-resolution, 48MP photos, though, we weren’t able to on our device. It shoots 4:3 photos which are then pixel-binned down to 12MP.

The Xperia 5 V also uses Sony’s stacked pixel architecture, resulting in superior noise handling when compared to other phones with the same sensor size.

As this phone has two cameras – a wide and an ultra-wide – it misses out on the optical zoom of its Xperia 5-series predecessors. This marks a continued trend – the gradual paring back of the Xperia 5 series cameras versus the flagship Xperia 1 series. Nevertheless, Sony makes a 48mm focal length available in the camera app, so you can punch in and capture with a native 12MP, two-times zoom by cropping into the high-resolution sensor.

An ultra-wide 12MP camera with a 1/2.5-inch sensor and a 16mm focal length sits alongside the main camera, and with autofocus, offers a bit more versatility than some wide-angle alternatives, and the front camera is a 12MP 1/2.9-inch setup.

On first impression, the Xperia 5 V’s camera captures impressive, realistic photos that are loaded with natural tones and colors, with a strong amount of resolved detail, and the digital zoom is also respectable. Noise-handling and low-light performance from the ultra-wide camera is a bit more disappointing, though, so its primary camera looks set to be the 5 V’s main selling point.

Sony Xperia 5 V: New features

Sony’s updated a number of camera features for the new 5 V. The first is portrait mode – finally – which has historically been a poor performer on Sony’s Xperia line. Called Bokeh mode, the UI takes inspiration from Alpha cameras, the phone captures deeper foreground/background separation, and we’re hoping that Sony’s improved edge detection as well, as we’ve had mixed results on past Xperias.

A new app, Video Creator, is also debuting on the Xperia 5 V. While it hasn’t landed on our review device, so we can’t test it out, it looks like a bit of a mishmash between GoPro Quik, thanks to its auto-generated highlight videos, and Kinemaster. 

Venturing beyond the camera, Sony’s also refreshed its Game Enhancer for the Xperia 5 V, while bringing back all the modes we’ve come to expect from a premium Xperia.

Sony Xperia 5 V: Additional features

The rest of the Xperia 5 V’s specs read well, but no better than we’d expect for a phone of its price. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 power and 8GB RAM have done a good job of keeping the phone fast and cool in our time with it. 

A modest 6.1-inch 21:9 Full HD OLED screen with an up-to 120Hz refresh rate looks vibrant and bright enough for comfortable outdoor use, and the phone’s 5000mAh battery, complete with wireless charging, has no issues keeping it alive for a full day.

Xperia fan favorites are back too – a SIM tray you can pull out with a fingernail, IP68 dust and water resistance, a physical camera button, and a headphone jack – and Sony’s launching the phone in three colors: Black, Blue, and Platinum Silver.

Our biggest gripe with the phone after a few days with it is the 128GB storage. For not much more, the Honor Magic 5 Pro offers 512GB, and the Asus Zenfone 10 costs £100 less with 256GB. While the Xperia 5 V has a microSD card slot, with so many apps needing to be installed or save data on internal storage, Sony dropped the ball for a power user in 2023 on this front.

On the plus, the Xperia 5 V will double up as an external monitor for an Alpha camera, just like the flagship 1 V, and its battery life, main camera hardware, and powerful software should still make it a compelling package for keen smartphone photographers. 

Expected to be on shelves in late September for £849 (roughly US$1,075 or AU$1,660), if you want a preview of the main camera’s performance before it drops, check out our Xperia 1 V review, and if Sony isn’t quite doing it for you, read our guide to the best camera phones of 2023.

See our rundown of the Best Sony phones, and the best budget camera phones

The Huawei Mate X3 is the most impressive foldable we’ve tested to date. Not only does it combine a full, phone-sized cover screen with a big main display, but it’s also thin, light, and IPX8 water and dust resistant.

 Launching alongside the mighty P60 Pro, Huawei’s flagship camera phone, the two-in-one folding Mate X3 also promises a best-in-class camera experience, thanks to its periscope camera, which is usually reserved for thick, traditional flagship mobiles like the Google Pixel 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

• Read our guide to the best Android phone for photography

But you’d expect the very best specs in a phone that costs £1,999 / € 2,199.00 / $2,550, and you’d also expect it to be easy to use too.

Given the fact Huawei’s kit is held back by no access to 5G or Google services, though, is the Mate X3’s incredible hardware little more than a tragically brilliant flourish amidst an overriding compromise, or does it stand tall as a triumphant package inside and out? The answer: a little bit of both. 

Huawei Mate X3: Design

There’s one area the Mate X3 is an unequivocal winner, and that’s design.

Before you even look at the phone in the flesh, its dimensions are standout for the right reasons.

Folded, the Mate X3 is just 11.8mm thin – not much thicker than many non-folding smartphones. But the real silver bullet is its weight – it's just 239g. That means Huawei’s managed to make this phone 1g lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max (both phones pictured above), despite the fact it packs two screens and a periscope camera.

With the Mate X3, Huawei really has shot down the foldable competition’s hardware one by one, making the Galaxy Z Fold 4 look chunky, the Honor Magic Vs look clumsy, and the Google Pixel Fold, unnecessarily squat.

Now we’ve covered the sheer brilliance of the phone’s dimensions, we can appreciate its flourishes. First up – water resistance – IPX8 rated, just like the Galaxy Z Fold 4. While Samsung loaded up its phones with a hinge gap to strike that IP rating, Huawei’s foldable snaps shut with two perfectly flat sides giving it the edge.

What’s most impressive about the Mate X3 isn’t just that its design beats out competition that’s almost a year old from Samsung, it’s that it bests the current slew of foldables coming out of China right now as well.

Available in Black, Dark Green, Gold, Violet, and White, the Mate X3’s style combines with its slender credentials to create a mature, premium-looking experience.

We tested the vegan leather green option, and it feels solid, both when open or closed, measures just 5.3mm thin when flat – barely thicker than the USB-C charging port, and the hinge feels smooth at virtually every point in the opening process – not quite Samsung solid, but still superb.

Huawei Mate X3: Screens

There are two types of foldable – flip phones and large-form – and the Mate X3 falls into the latter category. That means it has two screens you’ll be interacting with a lot. On the front, there’s a traditional-sized, 6.4-inch cover screen, while inside is a 7.85-inch, nearly square tablet screen.

The first thing to mention is that unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Mate X3’s cover screen is a relatively traditional 20.9:9 aspect ratio. That means that it isn’t as narrow as Samsung’s foldable, so the whole experience feels less cramped.

The Mate X3’s screens are both 120Hz OLED panels that are bright, punchy, and look mighty in the flesh. Both are also sharp, with over 400 pixels in every inch, so whether watching, gaming, or reading, visuals are on point.

More impressive than the standalone screen quality is the lack of a crease along the center of the main display. A combination of factors affects the screen crease – hinge mechanism being the most notable – and a reduction in crease size usually requires a larger hinge. The fact Huawei’s managed to create a skinny, big-screened folding phone with a smaller crease line than the much chunkier competition is incredibly impressive.

Practically speaking, the larger inner display is perfect for reading, showing off photos, and enjoying a split-panel view of apps like Outlook and WhatsApp. It's also great for gaming, and desktop versions of most websites are easy enough to read too.

When it comes to streaming content, old school, 4:3, and even 16:9 content is best placed on the main display, while super wide 21:9 videos look great on the front display, so when watching cinematic movies, you don't have to open up the phone.

With excellent brightness levels and viewing angles, use across both screens is great whether outdoors or indoors, cementing the Huawei Mate X3 as the most polished foldable around from a hardware point of view.

Huawei Mate X3: Camera specs

The main camera on the Huawei Mate X3 is a 50MP sensor matched with an f/1.8, 23mm lens with OIS. We don’t know how big any of the sensors in Huawei’s new phones are – it holds its cards very close to its chest – but based on the depth of field pulled up in close-up shots, it’s probably a little smaller than that of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Foldables don’t tend to have powerful telephoto performance, but the 12MP, f/3.4, 125mm periscope camera on the Mate X3 has a mighty optical reach, equivalent to five times zoom, and packs OIS.

The final part of the rear camera trinity is a 13MP, f/2.2, 13mm ultra-wide. This is also the phone’s macro camera thanks to the fact the lens gets autofocus.

There are two selfie cameras on the Mate X3 – one at the top of the cover screen, and the other at the top of the main display. Both are 8MP resolution with f/2.4 aperture fixed-focus lenses.

Huawei Xmage

Huawei made its biggest strides in imaging during its partnership with Leica, which lasted from 2016 with the launch of the P9, through to 2022. Now, Huawei's branded its own imaging system as Xmage.

This Xmage system is what Huawei credits for its flagship P60 Pro's excellent camera performance, but it's also set to boost its entire portfolio of smartphones, including the Mate X3.

From an imaging philosophy point of view, Xmage focuses on enhancing four elements: optical, mechanical, imaging, and processing. 

Optical covers individual lenses, taking what Huawei learned during its time working with Leica and developing it. The P60 Pro's best-in-class telephoto macro capabilities suggest Huawei's in a good place here.

Mechanical refers to the sensor and lens array setup. This includes lens group arrangement, once again, as demonstrated by the P60 Pro packing the nearest-focusing periscope camera we've tested.

Imaging focuses on the hardware used to capture the photos – Huawei's SuperSensing sensor, as well as the new anti-shake sensor rotation system on the telephoto camera.

The final element, processing, is relatively self-explanatory, covering the XD Fusion Pro engine matched with Huawei's XD Optics to create the computational photography-powered photos Huawei has become known for.

Based on our time with the P60 Pro – Huawei's imaging flagship – it's clear this is a company that can make a superb camera phone, but can it repeat that success on a foldable?

Practically speaking, when you tap the Xmage icon in the camera menu, you're prompted to choose between Original, Vivid, and Bright – mirroring the Leica looks on current-gen Xiaomi phones, and the options Apple offers when you first fire up an iPhone's camera.

There's also an option to toggle Master AI on and off – and while casual users will enjoy its automatic scene detection, it also boosts contrast and sharpness, so we tended to leave it off for a more natural look to photos we took.

As illustrated below, Huawei supports part-folded capture, so you can use the Mate X3 as a stand and angle the camera for a steadied long-exposure shot – and it works to great effect.

Huawei Mate X3: Camera review

For anyone who wants a P60 Pro-grade camera on a foldable, the Huawei Mate X3 isn't it. The phone's lowlight performance and dynamic range just can't stack up to Huawei's 2023 flagship, the Mate X3 misses out on the P60 Pro's variable aperture, and the periscope camera isn't a telemacro lens system – so can't capture close-up shots.

Another specific area the Mate X3's camera falls behind high-res non-folding competition with large, 1-inch, or similar-sized sensors is detail, and the ability to crop into shots. Nevertheless, what the Mate X3 does deliver is a best-in-class system for a foldable.

The first highlight of the X3's camera is its optical range. As you can see in the photos below, it starts at a super-wide 13mm, and goes all the way through to a far-reaching 125mm. In bright environments, shots across all three cameras look rich and balanced. While contrast can be high for our tastes in shots captured with Master AI on, turn it off or shoot RAW to switch to a more natural look.

Compared to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 specifically, where the Mate X3 wins out is color management – Samsung's photos are just too vibrant, while Huawei's are significantly more realistic.

The Mate X3 also preserves highlight and shadow detail nicely, and noise is generally well managed. You can see below that both the dog's fur and shadow detail in the harness are visible, and there's plenty of information in JPGs to pull out.

The images below were all taken in low to middling light on the main camera, and the Mate X3 automatically activates a night mode of sorts to help brighten things up. Across the different textures of the subjects in all photos, the phone retained impressive detail, though in mixed-lighting environments, struggled a little with white balance.

The two shots below were taken using the 5x zoom, periscope camera, and illustrate the impressive separation you can capture between foreground and background objects, as well as the telephoto camera's multi-purpose use for portraits – human and animal.

Video taken on the Mate X3's main camera looks excellent, with Huawei's stabilization right up to 4K 60fps impressing. While many other smartphones struggle indoors, the Mate X3 actually does a respectable job capturing clips in middling light, though shines in brighter environments.

You can capture selfies with one of the two 8MP punch-hole cameras, or with the main camera, opening the phone and activating the cover screen as a preview display. Whichever you go for, the results are flattering, however, if you use the main camera, the Mate X3 could be the best phone around for selfies. Its photos are loaded with detail, enjoy a natural depth, look clear in most environments, and can be edited extensively.

Huawei Mate X3: Additional features

Despite its top-tier hardware, Huawei has to pare back some features in order to sell its phones in the West. That’s why the Mate X3 misses out on 5G, and possibly why it features a last-gen Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, and not a 2023 8 Gen 2 chipset.

Practically speaking, the lack of 5G will depend heavily on where you live. If you’re in a city in the UK, for example, you might feel it more than someone in a more rural region, with speeds on average being about 25-40% slower in our time with the phone.

As for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 – for most, this will pack ample power. Genshin Impact played back on the Mate X3 with minimal slowdown, we were able to shoot and edit 4K videos and day-to-day performance is fluid too.

What will more likely hold you back is the lack of Google Play Store. Huawei’s solution, Petal Search is better than ever, giving you access to apps missing from the Huawei AppGallery, but the experience isn't always smooth, and it takes a level of know-how to manage a Huawei phone in 2023.

Almost all of the apps we needed could be downloaded through one of Huawei’s two app portals, though we came across three that just wouldn’t work – CityMapper, Happy Cow, and HBO Max (now Max). These require Google services to run.

Games are also hit-and-miss on the Mate X3. If you’re coming from an Android phone, importing your save data might not be possible – specifically, if it’s linked to Google Play Games. What you can do in most cases is start a new game across most titles.

Huawei does get some software elements very right on the Mate X3. Apps like Lightroom are brilliant to use on a big screen, and between the phone's split-screen and floating window features, you can comfortably run four apps at once, docking unused apps on the edge of the UI when done.

Available with 512GB storage as standard in the UK, where it's on sale in Dark Green for £1,999 / € 2,199 (roughly $2,550), that's plenty of space. You can also bump up the storage with a nano memory card, and the phone takes up to two SIM cards (provided you aren't using a memory card).

The power button is a fingerprint scanner, quickly getting you into the phone, and there's also face unlock too. The phone runs EMUI 13.1.0 on top of Android, which is why you can install Android apps on it, even though it doesn't support Google services.

As for battery life, thanks in no small part to the supremely usable cover screen, we were able to get a comfortable day out of the 4800mAh battery in the Mate X3. After all, we seldom needed to open it, minimizing power use.

The phone charges quickly at up to 66W, hitting 50 percent in around 20 minutes, and fully charging in a little less than an hour. Unlike most foldables, the Mate X3 also charges wirelessly at up to 50W with a compatible wireless charger, making it the fastest-charging foldable system around.

If you consider yourself a geek and like to tweak your tech to kingdom come, the Mate X3 could be perfect for you. Sideloading APKs and figuring out occasional app workarounds could be a worthwhile task for the reward of using the best folding phone hardware around.

But between the high price and the faff of non-Google software, anyone after an affordable, easy option will be well served to look elsewhere.

Huawei Mate X3: Verdict

For a peek into the future of foldables, look no further than the Mate X3. It's the first to deliver a full-sized, dual-screen experience in a compromise-free body that's lighter and more manageable than some non-folding phones.

There are some obvious caveats when talking about Huawei phones, and in particular, the Mate X3: it's incredibly expensive, is missing 5G, and the lack of Google support hurts the app experience and the phone's ease of use significantly.

Huawei's P60 and Mate X3 are both at the top of their game when it comes to imaging, though, and the Mate X3 is a masterclass in foldable design and a technology showcase in general.

Read more: If Huawei Mate X3 doesn't do it for you, check out the other best flip and fold phones

There’s more to the Google Pixel Tablet than its name suggests. It comes with a stand that doubles as a charging dock and a speaker to create an entirely different product offering. It is surprisingly good, so much so, you have very little reason to take the tablet portion off.   

Really, this is a smart hub. And under this definition, Google may have hit gold because there really isn’t much else on the market that offers a straight comparison here. You’d have to sellotape your Amazon Echo to an iPad to find something similar, but that wouldn’t give you any of the innovative software of Google’s Pixel brand. 

Specifications

Display - 10.95in touchscreen LCD, 2560 x 1600, 276 pixels per inch density

Dimensions (WHD) - 258 x 169 x 8.1mm

Weight - 493g

RAM - 8GB

Storage - 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 storage

Processor - Google Tensor G2

Operating system - Android 13

Front camera - 8 MP, ƒ/2.0 aperture

Rear camera - 8 MP, ƒ/2.0 aperture

Dimensions - 258 x 169 x 8.1mm

Weight - 493g

Price:  $499/£599 – includes charging dock and power cable

Design

Starting with the design, it does appear that Google has found a style it likes, one that’s also easily identifiable. The Pixel Tablet is a neat and tidy affair, made from recycled aluminum and glass, with many of the same touches found on the Pixel 7. With the simplistic ‘G’ logo on the back, the calm pastel shades, and even the ‘Material You’ Android interface, this is unmistakably a Pixel device. If there is one fault to its design, it’s the very iPad-style screen bezels that lack a little originality and also slightly sullies some of that great work on the rest of the device. 

The docking station (or stand/speaker) is brilliant. Amazingly, no one has come up with this idea before, and it does now raise the question of why bother buying a smart speaker when it can come as part of a tablet (RIP Google Nest). The accompanying speaker – which is included in the price – is arguably the best thing about it in both looks and function. It includes a power cable and you can place this somewhere centrally, such as the living room, or the kitchen, and it works well as a smart speaker. I found it to be much easier to open apps, such as Spotify, with ‘Hey Google’ than you find with Alexa, though there were occasional moments it couldn’t hear my commands. 

The tablet portion connects to the top via ‘pogo pin’ magnets that also charge the device so it really shouldn’t ever be out of power. It’s also slanted; the tablet will sit on the stand at a decent viewing angle, making it a smart screen. The always-on display can also be set up to showcase your best pictures, provided they’re saved in Google Photos – I couldn’t get it to show images saved in Google Drive, though.

The 11in LCD touchscreen display is crisp and bright with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and 276-pixel density. The refresh rate is only 60Hz, which is a little disappointing, but it still presents smoothly enough for social media and web browsing. Sadly, as an LCD display, it does lack those real punchy colours one would find on an OLED screen which most Samsung Galaxy tablets sport. However, there is enough quality here to please the average user. It isn’t going to offer a suitable experience for editing software, like Adobe, or any illustration apps, but for Netflix or video calls, it's perfectly fine.

Camera and photography

There are just two 8MP lenses on the Pixel Tablet (front and rear) and if you’re expecting the same innovative experience found on the Pixel smartphones, you may be a little disappointed. Images come out crisp with colors grounded in reality, but the options for shot selection and editing are limited.

Portrait mode, for example, can only be used with the front-facing lens so every picture you take with that lens will have the bokeh effect. The rear lens only offers wide shots which are admittedly nice for landscape photos. And there are fewer options for video capture with just standard and time laps, which means there’s no fun with slow motion. What the Pixel Tablets camera system can do is good, but you will feel there were too many things it wasn’t able to do.

Editing tools are good, however, as you can enhance images with a range of filters, change their aspect ratio and also delete unwanted objects with the Magic Eraser. There are also advanced controls for changing contrast, shadows and saturation, and so on. However, it does lack many of the little extras found on the Pixel 7, such as the unblur tool. So you need to get your shots in focus the first time.  

Performance

Having silicon developed in-house is clearly working wonders for Google, allowing the company to really showcase its innovative software. The Pixel Tablet features a Tensor G2 processor, the same chip found in the Pixel 7 and 7a smartphones, which enables the device to run a breadth of machine-learning functions from camera enhancements to battery-saving capabilities. 

Scores are not always amazing here; where Apple and its Bionic chip might blow the competition away in Geekbench, the Tensor chip is a little more modest in its benchmarks. However, it is tailored to its host device so well that the user experience is as good as any smartphone or tablet. Multiple tabs, apps, and intensive gaming, it prioritizes power to where it needs it, so everything is handled with ease.  

What’s more, you can also set up multiple user accounts on the Pixel. My four-person household was simple to set up and it even allows me to add profiles for my children sans a Google account. You can set all your parental controls from the get-go and there is a raft of games and apps tailored for small ones – no panic about what they’re watching on YouTube. 

Unfortunately, the fingerprint sensor is Google’s weak point. It isn’t as poor as one finds on its smartphones, but it still doesn’t quite work as seamlessly as it probably could. Here it is embedded into the power button where it can take multiple attempts to work. 

Battery life was long; admittedly, the stand gives the impression that this is a tablet unlikely to leave the home and correct use means putting it back on the plugged-in dock when not in use. There is also an argument for never taking it off the dock, provided it is in a suitable place. However, I did spend a day with just the tablet and it lasted for almost 14hrs with moderate use, which included streaming a few episodes of TV, a video call, and hours of web and social media scrolling. 

The stand being a dock and speaker is just a brilliant idea, which almost makes up for the fact that there is no keyboard or stylus (it supports USI 2.0 stylus pens but doesn’t include one). I couldn’t directly do much work on the Pixel Tablet, but it was still a nice addition to my home office setup. You can obviously make video calls and tweak or edit Google Docs or Sheets, but it has a clearer use case as a media hub. 

Verdict

It is hard not to love the Pixel Tablet, though the majority of the praise should actually go to the combination of tablet and speaker dock. While ordinary tablets just sit idle on the shelf, the Pixel becomes so much more while it rests on its stand. Smart display, smart speaker, smart hub, it does all that, and more.  

The only issue I can really point to is that the stand only works while plugged in, which is OK, that is the only way to charge it, but that also means the speaker stops working when you remove the charger. The tablet's in-built speakers are nowhere near as loud or crisp, so this is something that would be a good improvement for the next iteration. 

My only other problem was working out exactly where in the home the Pixel Tablet is best suited, mainly because it’s so dam useful in a range of places. I used it in the kitchen and it was superb, I had it in the living room as a central hub and my kids fought over it, and in the evening, it streamed movies till I fell asleep. I would seriously consider getting one for each room of the house. 

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The latest Pixel smartphone series is here, and if you value your devices, then you'll want to ensure that your new Google Pixel 7a, Google Pixel 7, or in this instance, your Google Pixel 7 Pro is protected from the get-go with a reliable screen protector made by expert manufacturers. A lot of folks think that screen protectors aren't needed anymore as flagship phones are built from tougher materials, but this couldn't be further from the truth. 

No smartphone is indestructible, and even the best rugged phones have their limitations. A quality screen protector will go a long way to ensuring your expensive tech stays scratch-free and like new for as long as possible. 

Keep in mind: this guide includes a host of screen protectors for the Google Pixel 7 Pro model only, and the products featured will have been created with precise measurements for this exact screen size and front camera cut-outs.

Already purchased a screen protector? The next step is securing a phone case. Take a look at our guides to the best Google Pixel 7 Pro cases, as well as the best cases for the Google Pixel 7, and not forgetting the newer Google Pixel 7a cases  too for our top picks of the best cases, and let us do the work for you. 

How do I choose a screen protector?

We understand that the hunt for a durable yet reasonably priced screen protector can be daunting and time-consuming, but fear not. We're pretty much experts now when it comes to finding the best smartphone accessories available for the best camera phones, with options to suit all budgets and from brands you can trust. 

Are you a bit of a germaphobe? A screen protector with antimicrobial coatings will help to prevent and eliminate surface bacteria from lurking on your phone screen. Whether you need a strong Tempered Glass screen protector to withstand hefty drops, or a more subtle and sleek protector to keep your device in top condition, this guide can help you find the perfect screen protector for a fair price.

If you're a photographer and smartphone shooter (which we assume you are - this is Digital Camera World after all) then you might want to pair your screen protector with a strong phone case with raised edges to protect your camera unit from any cracked lenses upon impact. Maybe even consider purchasing a separate camera lens protector too. 

Best Google Pixel 7 Pro screen protectors

How we test

In all honesty, there's no real way to test a screen protector thoroughly enough without actually putting our own phones in danger. So for this reason, we base our recommendations on things like quality and materials used, ease of application, and most importantly the price range and value for money. 

We weren't born yesterday, and we know that most manufacturers will exaggerate and upsell key features of screen protectors knowing that you'll never test them. For example, some products might be listed with 10ft drop protection, but we aren't about to find out for ourselves whether that's true. 

With this in mind, we tend to take things with a pinch of salt when it comes to testing screen protectors, but vow to only recommend products to our readers that we would purchase ourselves, from brands that we're familiar with from having tested other products from their catalog and know are reliable and high quality. 

• Take a look at our case guides for the latest flagship smartphones that boast the most powerful cameras: including the best iPhone 14 Pro Max cases, as well as the best Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra cases, to protect your phone from daily damage. 

• There's also the best magnetic phone cases for those who use mounting systems, and the best lenses for iPhone and Android camera phones for mobile shooters. 

Ever since the launch of the original Google Pixel back in 2016, Pixel phones have been some of the best camera phones on the market, producing image quality to rival any competitor. What makes this more remarkable is that the actual camera hardware in a Pixel isn't always the best available, with rival phones often packing larger, more exotic primary camera sensors. Yet thanks to the sheer might of Google's computational image processing power, the camera hardware in the Pixel becomes almost insignificant.

This may explain why Google didn't upgrade the primary camera sensor for four Pixel generations. The 12.2MP, 1/2.55" sensor in 2017's Pixel 2 was retained right through to the Pixel 5 in 2020, yet still Google managed to extract excellent image quality from the Pixel 5. Only with the Pixel 6 did Google finally switch to a larger 1/1.31" Samsung ISOCELL GN1 50MP sensor; the same sensor we find in the current Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.

But it seems we might not need to wait another two or more Pixel generations to see another camera sensor upgrade. According to a leaked report from Android Authority, it seems that for the Pixel 8, Google may be switching to Samsung's ISOCELL GN2 sensor. Though still 50 megapixels, the GN2 is physically larger than the GN1 at 1/1.12", resulting in a 1.4μm pixel size - that's up from the ISOCELL GN1's 1.2μm. The end result is the GN2 should capture up to 35% more light, theoretically meaning better low light image quality.

The new sensor can also record 8K video, though whether or not Google can turn this into reality and deal with the associated processing and cooling requirements remains to be seen. Lastly, the GN2 reportedly supports Staggered HDR, whereby the delay between successive shots taken in an HDR sequence is reduced, resulting in faster, more reliable HDR image capture.

Not only is the primary camera sensor rumored to be new in the Pixel 8, the Pixel 8 Pro is said to be getting a new ultrawide camera sensor as well. Out goes the aging 12MP Sony IMX386 in the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, reportedly to be replaced by the 64MP Sony IMX787 sensor. At 1/1.3-inch in size, the IMX787 is considerably larger than the 1/2.9" IMX386 in the Pixel 7, so ultrawide image quality should be vastly improved. Interestingly, the vanilla Pixel 8 may not receive the Sony IMX787 for its ultrawide sensor, with Google instead sticking with the old IMX386.

As for the rest of the Pixel 8 Pro's camera array: the telephoto camera will reportedly stay unchanged, carrying over the 48MP Samsung GM5 from the Pixel 7 Pro, giving 5x zoom. The 11MP Samsung 3J1 selfie camera is also said to reappear in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.

On the software side, the Pixel 8 camera app may be getting additional features. “Adaptive torch" should dynamically adjust flash intensity to prevent overexposure, while “Segmentation AWB” will segment a scene into multiple parts using AI, with different image processing then applied to individual segments to better optimise and target processing effects. A video bokeh blur level selection is also likely to be added to the Pixel 8's cinematic mode.

If these leaked details are indeed true, Google is doubling down on camera quality for the Pixel 8 Pro. No more recycled hardware from previous Pixel generations for the primary and ultrawide cameras - the Pixel 8 Pro would combine fresh hardware with Google's formidable image processing tech. We could have a new camera phone beast in the making.

Story credit: Android Authority

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The Google Pixel 7a could well be the best camera phone you can buy for under $500/£500. It’s both a wonderful little smartphone and also a timely reminder that a good phone needn't cost you the best part of a grand. 

It’s modeled on last year’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, but this is actually the successor to the Pixel 6a. The ‘a’ series is generally a more affordable version that’s released almost a year later with reduced specs and capabilities. However, this year it appears that Google has found a way to embed some of its best features in its more affordable handset.  

There are still some limitations, however, such as the smaller screen (6.1in) and the 90Hz refresh rate rather than the 120Hz that was found on the Pixel 7 Pro. There is also only an 8GB model with 128GB of storage available, but that is arguable where you're saving money as the Pixel 7a is just $499/£449.

Specifications

Rear camera: 64MP wide, 13MP ultrawide
Front camera: 13MP wide
Processor: Google Tensor G2 (5nm)
Memory: 128GB storage and 8GB RAM
Screen: 6.1” FHD OLED
Battery: 4385 mAh
Dimensions: 72.9 x 152.4 x 9.0
Weight: 193g
Colors: Charcoal, Sea, Snow, and Coral

See the best Google Pixel 7a cases

Key Features

For a budget phone, the Pixel 7a has a surprising amount of quality; from facial recognition to a 64MP main camera lens, it has more than you expect for a sub-$500 phone. However, the two key features this year are both the size of the handset and its Tensor G2 processor. 

This is the smallest Pixel 7 device currently on offer at just 152.4mm tall and despite the shorter display, it is an OLED panel that still packs quality with a highly responsive 90Hz refresh rate and punchy color coverage. 

However, the inclusion of Google’s Tensor G2 chip offers users the same innovative experience as the premium Pixel models. Real-time language translations, audio transcriptions, rapid image editing, and an ever-helpful Google Assistant. This is, by far, one of the most useful devices around.

Build & Handling

Being the ‘a’ model of the Pixel 7 means that there is no change to the design; in fact, it’s hard to see the difference between the 7a and the regular 7 with the former just 0.2 inches shorter and just a tad squarer. There are some material changes, however,  with recycled plastic used for the back cover. The chassis and camera bar remain aluminum while the screen is fitted with corning gorilla glass. 

Smaller handsets are better for those that like to operate single-handedly and also feel a bit more comfortable when taking pictures on the move. The obvious downside here is that the user interface is smaller and things like the digital keyboard become a tiny bit harder to use. It isn’t a major issue, though I did find it slowed my text typing speed when on the move.  

Camera Specs

In a relatively short period of time, the Google Pixel has become synonymous with great photography. This is largely down to the Tensor chip enabling a range of rapid image enhancement capabilities and some innovative editing software. The 7a has a 64MP main lens that takes nice crisp shots and a 13MP ultrawide lens that allows you to take in more of the picture. There is also a high res function that works like a telephoto lens, though at 8x optical zoom, it isn’t quite as impressive as Huawei's P50 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The Magic Eraser feature is again the star of the ‘tools’ section, allowing you to remove unwanted objects in the background. However, there is also a ‘Camouflage’ feature that can be used to change the color of an object so it blends into the background. The aim here is not to remove them, but to make them less obvious in the photo. Much like the original eraser it isn’t perfect and sometimes it just turns people's clothes brown or green.

Night mode on the Pixel 7a is good, but it works best in certain scenarios. Scenes with neon light produce the best results, whereas normal low-light settings tend to offer up grainy images. What is pleasing is the speed with which the images are captured; the processing takes just a second. On the 7 Pro, an image took a lot longer to capture, but the 7a gives the same clarity and color in low light settings seemingly in a third of the time.

For video, you can shoot in 4K with either 30 or 60fps, and all with good image stabilization. The slow-mo function is arguably the best feature here, though it works best at x1.8 rather than the default x1.4.

Sample Images

Below are some sample images taken with the Google Pixel 7a.

Performance

With its Tensor G2 processor, the Pixel 7a really is a smart phone. This is a Google-developed chip that can process many of the phone’s AI-based functions on the device in real-time, such as live translations or complex image editing.  

On the Geekbench 6 website, the Pixel 7a has a score of 1405 for single-core and 3,436 for multi-threaded workloads. That’s near enough the same as the Pixel 7, though it isn’t anywhere near the iPhone 14 and Apple’s A15 Bionic processor. But that doesn’t really explain what either phone can do in terms of processing speeds. 

For real-world use, the 7a is an amazing handset that does genuinely make life that little bit easier. No other phone can match the Google Assistant which makes browsing and controlling the device so simple. From transcribing audio into text messaging to translating menus into different languages, it is more useful than any phone I have ever had the pleasure of testing.  

The battery is also very good; it almost made it through 24hrs with my excessive social media scrolling, which is about the same as the larger Pixel 7 Pro. No model of iPhone will do that and in my opinion, the only device that will surpass those times is the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S23.

Charging is less impressive, with 18Wh ‘fast’ charging and 7.5Wh wireless charging – neither was particularly rapid. It managed to go from less than 10% to over 70% in around 50 minutes, which is a bit poor for busy people.

I also found the initial setup of the device very frustrating as it failed, multiple times, to transfer my data from my old phone. In the end, I simply did the painful task of setting the device up without a data transfer (you can, of course, get all that from a Google backup). This could well be a teething issue as the handset is so very new and it is something Google can probably fix with an update.

The fingerprint reader is also a little inconsistent. Pixel devices are becoming notorious for software glitches and the fingerprint reader is a regular offender. It’s not a massive issue, but it is annoying enough to simply stop using it altogether – thankfully, the facial recognition system is more consistent.

Verdict

At 6.1in the Google Pixel 7a is as small as a modern smartphone can be without overly reducing quality. It isn’t quite as little as the iPhone SE but it is still smaller than what most consumers will be used to. This might not be for those with massive hands or people that want a big bright screen for streaming.

What it is, however, is a fun little device with helpful features. It might not be the best phone of the year, but it certainly offers the most value for money right now; for camera software, processing power, and price it cannot be beaten. It is, pound-for-pound, the best smartphone around. 

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The smaller models of iPhone 14 and Samsung Galaxy S23 might be the direct competitors to the Pixel 7a, though both are at least $200 more expensive.

In terms of budget smartphones, the Honor 70 is a slightly cheaper offering, though it doesn’t quite have as many high-grade features.  

Read more: the Pixel 7a is excellent value for money, find out more about the best budget camera phones and the best Android phone for photography.

Google is getting ready for its annual Google I/O conference, what started as a software developer conference, Google has turned into a chance to reveal the latest consumer products it has been working on.

Google I/O has consistently brought us some big announcements, from last year's reveal of the Pixel Watch, Google Pixel 6a, and Pixel Pro Earbuds. And it looks like an exciting one again this year, with the heavily teased Google Pixel Fold and Google Pixel 7a set for their full unveiling. 

It also looks like we will be seeing much more of the long-in-development Pixel Tablet (or potentially tablets plural). Google also has a big update on the next version of its Android operating system, hopefully revealing some new features for Google Camera or Google Photos.

You can watch the trailer and follow along on the YouTube video below, and stay tuned here as we follow and give our take on all the announcements. 

Google I/O kicks off on May 10 at 10AM (US-PST) / 1PM (US-EST) / 6PM (UK) / 4AM (AUS-ACT).

How to order the latest Pixel devices

Order the Google Pixel 7a right now!
Google Store (US) / Google Store (UK) / Google Store (AU)

Preorder the Google Pixel Fold (and get a free Pixel Watch)
Google Store (US) / Google Store (UK) 

Preorder the Google Pixel Tablet
Google Store (US) / Google Store (UK) / Google Store (AU)

Google has already spoiled its own party a little by releasing a first look at the upcoming Google Pixel Fold in a YouTube teaser (below). The video shows a distinctly Pixel-styled device, but very similar in form factor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, with an internal screen that opens like a book.

Google is also expected to launch the Google Pixel 7a worldwide – the latest in its line of more affordable midrange phones. 

Google has never been the best at making sure its devices don't leak early, and Vietnam's Zing News already has managed to get its hand on the device, and yes, it looks very similar to last year's Google Pixel 6a.

Although from early leaks, some new features could include an updated camera, a 90Hz screen, and a new sky blue color option.

Might we also get a first glimpse of the next flagship Pixels – the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro?

While these two phones won't be coming until at least Q3 this year, at Google I/O 2022, the Pixel 7 Pro development was teased, with an exclusive first look at the design, so hopefully this year Google repeats this tactic.

Early leaks have shown a new design for the Pixel 8 Pro camera bar that moves all three lenses into one oval cutout, there is also a mysterious new sensor or lens on the Pixel 8 Pro that might be used for better macro photography, or as a depth sensor.

Google I/O is not all about new hardware, Google is also preparing to talk much more about its upcoming Android 14 operating system. Early builds of the OS suggest that most new features will focus on making Android better on flip and folding devices, primed for the Pixel Fold launch.

Early Android 14 beta builds also include changes to the share sheets – the way that you share photos and files with other people, as well as opening files in different apps. These changes might make editing photos and videos across multiple apps much faster and easier for on-the-go productivity. 

We might also see some updates to the Google Photos or Google Camera apps announced at the event. Google has hinted that they are going to go heavy on AI at this year's I/O, so could we see more Google Photos tools like the Unblur or Motion Blur tools that debuted last year?

Are we going to see more of Google Bard at this years I/O? 

Microsoft and ChatGPT have been steadily pushing out its AI image generation tools – called DALL·E 2, to a wider set of users. And you can be sure that Google is not going to want to be seen as falling behind.

It is only a matter of time, might Google be ready bake more AI creation features directly into its phones and apps?

Google also looks set to finally unveil the Google Pixel Tablet. The device has been long teased by Google itself, with a full design reveal coming last year, although we are still awaiting the final official specifications. There are also persistent (albeit very sketchy) rumors across the web that there might even be a second Pro version in the works.

What we do know is that the tablet will operate like a Google Nest device, and when not in use sit on a dock/speaker, which will charge the device. It can then be picked up and used as a traditional tablet.

The tablet looks set to be powered by the latest Google Tensor G2 with 8GB of RAM, so won't be a powerhouse, but might make for a great device for very light photo editing and organization at home.

If you just can't wait for the announcement to start, you can kill some time on the official Google I/O website where you can find out more about today's speakers, what's on the agenda and find other like-minded communities of Googlers. 

The countdown has begun on the official Google live stream, just over one hour to go until the main event!

30 minutes to go! We can see the stage, and DJ Dan Deacon has just taken the mic to play some AI generated music. So far it is fairly unbearable. 

There are also some AI generated video playing on the screen behind. Is this a sign to come? We know that Google has gone code red on pushing its AI projects, just how much AI will we see today?

What is everyone most excited for? Personally, I cannot wait to see the Pixel Fold. A true worldwide competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold has been a long time coming, and as a Pixel 7 Pro everyday user, I am looking forward to seeing Google's take on this type of device.

Here we go! We are live

We are immediately into AI. Google is off the bat trying to tout its approach to AI as ethical. Interesting to see how Google plan to do this.

Sundar is kicking things off by talking about how AI is going to improve Google Workspace with new AI tools for Gmail.

Help me write will compose emails for you, and it looks pretty cool.

There is a new overhead bird's eye view for navigating maps, including weather overlays. Also, maps provides 20 billion kilometers per day of mapping!

We are onto Google Photos! 1.7B images per month are edited in Google Photos. 

There is a new Magic Editor coming later this year. This is a much more generative AI editing, including isolating and moving subjects, content-aware additions, and changing the weather. All automatically at the touch of a button.

It looks really impressive. Adobe best watch out!

PaLM 2 is Google's new AI model that will power its new AI models, it works on mobile devices and can work offline.

We are now talking about how Google's next AI image generator called Gemini will embed watermarking and metadata in AI images. This is an important feature for many photographers who worry that their real images will be eclipsed by fake images generated by AI. 

As AI images get more believable (and potentially dangerous when they involve real people), this will allow anybody to check if an image has been generated by AI. 

Still no word on if Gemini will show the image sources used to generate its images.

Google Bard is becoming more helpful when it comes to images. Bard can now pull images into search results. You can use images using Google Lens and Bard to create captions and other information about your images.

Bard and Adobe Firefly are teaming up! 

You will be able to use Adobe Firefly directly in Bard search to describe an image, and Adobe Firefly will create the image from scratch with generative AI.

Microsoft and ChatGPT are already making huge strides with this with its Dall.E image generator. It will be interesting to see if Adobe and Google can compete.

Bard's image generator is able to create realistic photography directly from within Google Workspace.

Below is an image generated of cheesy pizza being dipped in fondue (for whatever reason).

Bard can also scan a whole Google Doc without even searching for specific terms and use generative AI to create images automatically.

The AI section is still going, we are on search now. With several Pixel products to launch, Google is really testing Pixel fans' patience!

Now onto Google Cloud for business, and yes, you guessed it, more generative AI!

We. Want. Pixels.

Google's new AI notebook – Project Tailwind – looks cool, and might be a great way for creators to compile notes and ideas on shoots, as well as get some AI suggestions based on your ideas. This is really special as Google claims this is based entirely on your own model.

Google continues to walk a very careful tightrope, talking about making AI ethical, while also showing AI models that are going to put people out of work. 

One solution to combat fake images, Google is offering a way to evaluate images directly on Google Images for authenticity. This puts too much emphasis on the user, which will not work when the fake image is widely shared without context on social media or messaging, or when authenticity is deliberately obscured.

Is Google far too optimistic about people's nature?

Its finally time for some Android and Pixel news! Hurrah!

Android used AI this year to stop 100 billion spam messages and calls! 

Google has redesigned over 50 apps for tablets and folding screens. Still have to wait a little longer for Pixel announcements though as we move on to talking about Google Watch and WearOS.

WhatsApp is coming to WearOS natively!

Google is expanding the find my device network to other devices so you can track and locate more of your devices. 

Google and Apple are also jointly launching unknown tracker alerts to warn you if it detects any unknown trackers that are traveling with you, which should help alleviate ongoing security concerns over Apple's AirTags and stalking. 

Over 800 million people now use Google RCS (Google's answer to Apple iMessage), and just managed to slam Apple on stage for holding back communication between Apple and Android users.

Generative AI has made it into Google Messages. Using Magic Compose, you can now change the tone of a message in a touch, great for when you just aren't in the mood for certain people...

You can now customize the lock screen clock on Pixel devices, and change the lock screen shortcuts. You can also turn photos into 3D photos using AI, which moves the background behind a subject as you move the phone. It looks really cool, if a little gimmicky.

You can also now create backgrounds using emojis and colors, if that is something that you want to do. The emojis do wobble when you tap them which is kind of cute. 

Finally, you can use the new Bard AI image generators to make new wallpapers on the fly, which is actually very cool.

We are finally onto Pixel devices (although still with a generous helping of AI). We are now hearing about all the ways Pixel AI makes phones better with machine translations and call screening. And of course the benefits of Google Photos like Magic Eraser and Unblur. All powered by the Pixel Tensor G2 processor.

Last year's Pixel devices are the most popular ever with users and with reviewers (you're welcome). Google is the fastest growing manufacturer in its markets.

Pixel 7a is official! Powered by Tensor G2 and with 8GB of RAM

The camera sensor in the Pixel 7a is 72% larger than the previous generation!

See the best Google Pixel 7a cases

The Pixel 7a costs $499 / £449 / AU$749 and is available to order right now, with delivery in the coming days.

Order now at the Google Store (US) / Google Store (UK) / Google Store (AU)

We are moving on quickly to the Pixel Tablet!

The tablet has a high-resolution display with four individual speakers. Powered by Tensor G2, the tablet is specially engineered for calling, keeping you in the frame and in focus.

The tablet is also being touted as a great place to edit photos with Magic Eraser and other Google Photos AI editing.

You can have multiple users on the Pixel Tablet, each user can log in with their own individual fingerprint. Great for families.

The Pixel tablet is available in three colors and will cost just $499/£599/AU$899, and comes bundled with the speaker dock included! 

That is a very impressive price (and slightly confusing that it costs the same as the Pixel 7a despite sharing the same processor, RAM but having a considerably bigger screen).

Order now at the Google Store (US) / Google Store (UK) / Google Store (AU)

Last but certainly not least, we are finally onto the Google Pixel Fold!

The Pixel Fold is again powered by Tensor G2, and is apparently the thinnest fold phone on the market. Google also has just claimed it is the most durable folding design on the market too!

Google are claiming the Google Pixel Fold is the best foldable camera system (although with not much to back up that claim, so we shall wait and see).

We are now watching a demo of the new and improved Android OS for fold devices. Google has improved the split screen with drag-and-drop resizing, as well as a new multitasking view. You can also move items from one app to another easily. 

The Google Pixel Fold will be available today for preorder and it will ship next month,  it is going to cost $1799/£1749, which is a premium price for a premium device, although you will get a Pixel Watch thrown into that deal for free.

Preorder at the Google Store (US) / Google Store (UK)

Our Pixel 7a review is live, and our reviewer was blown away by the quality you get in a sub $500 phone.

That is wrap for the live blog. Thanks for joining, and stay tuned to Digital Camera World as we bring you more news and reviews on the latest Pixel devices over the coming days.

It's not always easy finding the best deals on Samsung's latest devices, but if you buy at the right time or from the right retailer you can often find a saving. These are the best deals on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra right now, which has recently been launched by Samsung at the 2023 Galaxy Unpacked event.

Our aim is to help you find the best Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra deals available right now.

We know that the latest flagship from Samsung may never be as cheap, compared to other Android devices such as the best Google phones. But that extra investment gets you a device that regularly sits atop our list of the best camera phones available today.

And the good news is that Samsung deals are fairly regular. The biggest reductions are often saved for the biggest sales events of the year, but you can usually find a discount or two every so often.

Best Samsung S23 Ultra deals:

The headline feature of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is its brand-new 200MP primary camera sensor, almost a two times increase from the S22, it also eclipses the latest 50MP sensors in the latest iPhone 14 Max and Google Pixel Pro 7. Samsung's Expert RAW app can now record images in 50MP (previously 12MP on the Galaxy S22), giving even more control in editing for serious phone photographers.

For video, the S23 Ultra can shoot 8K at 30fps with a viewing angle of 57-80 degrees. Samsung is claiming merging pixels on the 200MP sensor will work to create a more cinematic look. An improved adaptive VDIS (image stabilization) system now uses AI to analyze subject movement and lighting conditions to improve performance.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a 6.8" QHD+screen with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, a first for the smartphone industry. The S23 Ultra screen is curved on the sides, but less severe than last year's model, offering more flat surface than available on last year's model.

Samsung's new Advanced Vision Booster mode is an automatic color management system for its latest screens that adjust the screen temperature, colors, and contrast for three different ambient lighting conditions and eye comfort.

The S23 Ultra is powered by the very latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. Samsung claims the new Galaxy series offers the best mobile gaming experience available, supported by a large 5000mAh battery.

An updated One UI 5.1 offers modes and routines for different parts of your day such as sleeping, driving, or at work. Bixby Text Call will also now allow users to respond to phone calls with a voice-dictated text from the call screen. And Samsung Notes now allows collaborative editing in a Google Meet video call.

For more details read our Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review and check out the best Galaxy S23 Ultra cases

You might also like to see the best flip phones & best fold phones, and find out why our expert reviewer thinks that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is THE best choice for photographers (at the time of writing, at least).