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I'm super pumped about the Pixel 9 Pro's improved selfie camera
Our lastest Pixel 9 series camera leak brought some very good news for those of us who are interested in the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro phones, with some bad ones for foldable fans. While my colleague Rob is disheartened by the camera downgrades on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, I’m looking at the glass-half-full part of the equation, specifically the promised upgrade to the selfie sensor on the two Pixel 9 Pro phones.
According to our sources, both the smaller and larger Pixel 9 Pro phones are getting a major bump in their selfie shooter. You can see the details in the table below. We should be going from a 10.5MP 1/3″ sensor on the Pixel 8 Pro to a larger, newer, and more powerful 50MP 1/2.51″ sensor. The numbers alone predict a massive improvement in photo quality, especially in low-light conditions and at night. That is exciting!
| Pixel 8 | Pixel 9 | Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL | Pixel 8 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Main camera | Pixel 8 Samsung GNK 1/1.31” - 50 MP OIS | Pixel 9 Samsung GNK 1/1.31” - 50 MP OIS | Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL Samsung GNK 1/1.31” - 50 MP OIS | Pixel 8 Pro Samsung GNK 1/1.31” - 50 MP OIS |
Ultrawide camera | Pixel 8 Sony IMX386 1/2.8” - 12 MP | Pixel 9 Sony IMX858 1/2.51” - 50 MP | Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL Sony IMX858 1/2.51” - 50 MP | Pixel 8 Pro Sony IMX787 (cropped) ? - 48 MP |
Telephoto camera | Pixel 8 - | Pixel 9 - | Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL Sony IMX858 1/2.51” - 50 MP OIS | Pixel 8 Pro Samsung GM5 1/2.55” - 48 MP OIS |
Selfie camera | Pixel 8 Samsung 3J1 1/3" - 10.5 MP | Pixel 9 Samsung 3J1 1/3" - 10.5 MP Autofocus | Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL Sony IMX858 1/2.51” - 50 MP Autofocus | Pixel 8 Pro Samsung 3J1 1/3" - 10.5 MP Autofocus |
Look, it’s no secret that every time I’ve talked about the Pixel phones’ camera prowess in the past few years, I was focused on the main sensors on the back of the phone, definitely not the front shooter. That’s because the selfie camera on Pixels has always been serviceable at best, but nothing to brag about.
No one has ever lauded the Pixel lineup for its selfies, especially not at night.
Last year, in my Pixel 7 Pro and 8 Pro camera shootout, I discovered that Google had improved its selfie mode by ditching the blurry-lens effect for better focus. The end result was better than previous Pixels, but that’s not saying much. Google had always nailed the color science on its Pixel selfies, but the bad, grainy, motion-blur night selfies sucked. Even in daytime, the lack of extra resolution and a better portrait mode without cropping on a sensor that’s too tiny to begin with often left me a little unconvinced.
I’m not a big selfie-taker, but each time I have wanted to snap a selfie alone, with my husband, or with someone else, I’ve found myself thinking, “Eh, I know this won’t be the best.” Especially at night and in dark situations. Those were really dreadful. Sometimes, I even went through the effort of flipping the phone around and capturing a blind selfie just so I could use the power of the main camera sensor for my shot.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve used and tested many other phones that really outdid the Pixel’s selfie capture and left me a little jealous. In an era where we’re all about the me-me-me and personal sharing and vlogging of things, the Pixel felt like it was always a few steps behind the best flagships in the business. We all knew it could do better, and the Pixel 9 Pro should, hopefully, finally fix this glaring miss in Google’s photography pedigree.
I can’t wait to learn more about the upcoming Pixel 9 phones, especially that small Pixel 9 Pro. And I really hope the selfie sensor upgrade provides a real improvement in photos, specifically in environments that aren’t perfectly lit. Maybe then I’d start using the selfie mode a bit more? Who knows.