The Difference Between the Pixel 10 Pro’s 100x Zoom and the S25 Ultra’s Is AI

Google has teased its new ProRes Zoom for the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL, saying the phones can reach up to 100x zoom. At first glance, this looks like a big leap over the 30x zoom on the Pixel 9 Pro, but the company clarified that the technology works differently from traditional zoom. Instead of only relying on optics, the Pixel 10 Pro uses a generative AI system built into the Tensor G5 chip to improve details when pushing past the 5x telephoto lens.

Super Res Zoom, first introduced with the Pixel 3 in 2018, remains available and continues to be used on the base Pixel 10. This method combines multiple frames taken at slightly different distances and exposures to sharpen images. It depends solely on real camera data without creating or generating anything new, such as from AI. The result is usually clearer than a simple ...