Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review: Cameras
Cameras are always a high-point of Pixel phones and these are no different. The main lens balanced exposure excellently, producing broad dynamic range with bright highlights and deep, moody shadows. Colours are once again fantastic, too, with a punchy level of vibrancy that doesn’t overstep into excessive saturation.
There are a couple of useful new editing features this year as well. Zoom Enhance is available from launch, effectively sharpening up blurry zoom shots with AI, and Add Me allows photo takers to be composited into group shots after the fact.
The former is a decent idea but hit and miss in practice, leaving some images looking a little oversharpened for my tastes. Add Me, on the other hand, was very effective in testing, and even opened the door for some silly fun: here’s me with the best guy I know:
Night photography is once again fantastic at brightening the scene and plucking out details. I found that big blocks of darkness like sky and water sometimes suffered from excess noise but for the most part, this is an excellent night shooter.
Equally, I have nothing but good things to say about the telephoto camera. The 5x optical shots are crisp and detailed and the hybrid zoom does a decent job at capturing 10x shots – the phone goes up to 30x with reasonable detail but you’ll want to top out around 10x to get the best results.
The new aperture works well for the ultrawide camera, with the level of detail feeling like a step up from last year, especially in those tricky corner areas. The image processing also does a great job at matching the tone and exposure levels of the main lens.
Video can now shoot 8K at 30fps, alongside 4K up to 60fps. There’s no stabilisation on the 8K mode, so you do see a little sway in the footage, but it otherwise looks nice and sharp – though for the most part, you’re better off just sticking with the steadier 4K setting.
