I Captured 1,000 Photos With The Google Pixel 10 Pro In Hawaii, And It Set A New Standard For Me

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways 

• Google's photograph prowess whitethorn beryllium nan champion retired location owed to its package tuning.
• The Pro Res Zoom brought to life objects that were hardly visible to nan naked eye.
• Night photography, seamless editing, and different features added to an astonishing camera experience.

After decades of covering mobile devices -- and a individual obsession pinch ever having nan latest and greatest smartphones -- I ne'er recreation pinch conscionable one. For my mediate daughter's wedding successful Hawaii, I packed 5 flagships to archive nan week: nan Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, Vivo X200, OnePlus 13, and Google Pixel 10 Pro.

Also: How to clear your Android telephone cache (and why you shouldn't hold to do it)

It didn't return agelong to crown a clear winner. After nan first event, nan Pixel 10 Pro stood retired arsenic nan astir reliable and versatile option. Its effortless point-and-shoot experience, exceptional image value crossed each lighting conditions, and powerful on-device editing made it my go-to device. I moreover passed it astir to family members passim nan week -- and now I'm sorting done thousands of photos and videos, astir of which came from nan Pixel.

Matthew Miller/ZDNET

I was peculiarly impressed by Google's Pro Res Zoom functionality, which provides up to 100x zoom connected nan Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL. The Tensor G5 powers Pro Res Zoom, and nan 10 Pro impressed everyone erstwhile I captured turtles connected nan beach, flowers from afar, wildlife joining america for breakfast, and more. The telephone helped seizure objects that we could hardly spot pinch nan naked oculus while still maintaining fantabulous clarity.

Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is my existent regular driver, and its zoom capabilities are coagulated -- bully capable that I reached for it a fewer times to seizure wildlife and nan vivid item of Hawaiian flora. But successful astir each instance, nan Pixel 10 Pro delivered noticeably sharper, much elaborate results.

Also: The secrets that make Pixel 10 Pro nan world's smartest telephone camera - from wrong Google

The quality comes down to optics and software. The Pixel 10 Pro features a 5x optical zoom lens compared to nan Z Fold 7's 3x. It besides supports up to 100x integer zoom, acold exceeding nan Z Fold's 30x limit. That other reach, and nan image clarity that came pinch it, made each nan quality erstwhile shooting distant subjects.

Matthew Miller/ZDNET

With nan wedding events held connected nan shores of Hawaii, I captured a fewer panoramic shots and recovered nan updated view seizure guidance to beryllium flawless, pinch formation and lava contented looking beautiful connected nan Pixel 10 Pro.

Matthew Miller/ZDNET

We had astir 60 guests joining america successful Hawaii, truthful we spent a batch of clip astatine nan reception trying to seizure group shots. The Auto Best Take function, which automatically turns connected erstwhile taking a group photo, helped america seizure nan champion of each personification without immoderate editing aliases manual action later on. 

Also: Want nan Pixel 10 Pro? I urge buying these 5 phones alternatively - here's why

My woman was particularly impressed pinch Google's expertise to usage AI to hole photos she captured while dancing and moving that she would usually delete because they were excessively blurry. 

Matthew Miller/ZDNET

I person not been impressed pinch nan artillery life of Pixel devices successful nan past, truthful I was worried astir nan six-hour wedding and reception schedule. However, nan Pixel 10 Pro helped america seizure much than 500 photos and videos earlier nan artillery yet ran out. Thankfully, Google besides now supports accelerated charging, truthful I was capable to complaint up nan telephone and support going nan adjacent morning.

There's a adjuvant cropped viewfinder that shows you wherever you're focusing erstwhile zooming.

Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Now that I americium home, I scheme to effort galore much functions and features, including utilizing earthy prompts successful Google Photos to edit photos and having Camera Coach guideline maine to return amended photos. Things were moving excessively accelerated and furious during nan wedding week for maine to salary attraction to nan coach, but I dream to research this usability soon.