I tested the Pixel 10 Pro camera against the Pixel 9 Pro — here’s why it blew me away

The Google Pixel 10 Pro is an outstanding Android phone. With high-end hardware, good thermals, excellent software, and top-notch cameras, Google’s latest flagship has quickly become one of my favorite Android releases of this year.

However, much of what makes the Pixel 10 Pro so great is that it carries over many of the same specs and features from the Pixel 9 Pro — one of the biggest being the cameras.

I’ve been thrilled with the Pixel 10 Pro’s camera performance, but given that it uses the same camera hardware as the Pixel 9 Pro, is it actually any different or better? I’ve been comparing the cameras on both phones over the past few weeks, and the results have been surprising.

From a hardware perspective, the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro cameras are virtually identical. Both phones feature a 50MP primary camera, a 48MP ultrawide camera with a 123° field of view, and a 48MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. On the front of both phones is a 42MP selfie camera with autofocus and a 103° FoV.

While the primary camera sensor remains the same, the Pixel 10 Pro benefits from improved stabilization. The telephoto camera on the Pixel 10 Pro is also capable of 100x Pro Res Zoom, compared to the 30x maximum on the Pixel 9 Pro.

It’s easy to assume that unchanged camera lenses would result in identical-looking photos between the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro, but as I quickly found out during my testing, that’s not at all true.

Looking through all of the pictures I took with the primary camera on both phones, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: the Pixel 10 Pro (usually) has the best colors compared to the Pixel 9 Pro. This is something my colleague Rita discovered in her own Pixel 10 Pro XL camera test, and it’s something I noticed too.

Sometimes, like in the picture of the campfire, the difference is pretty stark. The Pixel 10 Pro’s picture is quite a bit darker and more contrasty than the Pixel 9 Pro photo. I can see some people preferring the brighter scene the Pixel 9 Pro captured, but I personally prefer the greener trees, darker wood, and slightly more punchy flames captured by the Pixel 10 Pro.

Other times, it’s the Pixel 10 Pro that takes a brighter photo, and it works out in the phone’s favor. The picture of the tomatoes is a great example of this. The Pixel 10 Pro gives the tomatoes a much brighter and redder color that’s both visually pleasing and more true to life. Meanwhile, the Pixel 9 Pro’s version of the same scene is horribly drab.

The shot of the sunset over the lake is an even better illustration of the two phones’ different approaches to colors. The Pixel 10 Pro does a lovely job of depicting the sun’s bright, orange glow while still retaining some of the sky’s blue color near the top, as well as the dark navy waves of the water near the bottom. The Pixel 9 Pro didn’t take a bad picture, but the sun casts an orange tint over the rest of the scene, detracting from the contrasting blue colors visible in the Pixel 10 Pro photo.

The next photo of the lamp is quite interesting. In terms of colors, I actually think the Pixel 9 Pro does a better job here, as it gives the scene a sense of warmth that’s absent from the somewhat harsh light in the Pixel 10 Pro’s photo.

However, this is where the Pixel 10 Pro’s improved stabilization becomes apparent. The lamp’s on/off cord is completely out of focus in the Pixel 9 Pro image. The base of the lamp also appears quite soft, and the menu holder to the left is blurry. The Pixel 10 Pro picture doesn’t have any of these issues, and although I’m less keen on its colors, it’s ultimately the better shot of the two.

That better stabilization is also evident in the photo of City Hall. If you look at the text near the top right of the building, as well as the shrubs and flowers below it, all of it appears much sharper in the Pixel 10 Pro’s photo compared to the Pixel 9 Pro. The Pixel 10 Pro also handles the lights significantly better, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro overexposes them significantly.

Moving to the ultrawide camera, it’s more of the same story. On a technical level, the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro are evenly matched, though the former’s improved colors continue to stand out.

The first scene of the stream highlights this well, as the entire photo is more colorful and punchier in the Pixel 10 Pro version compared to the Pixel 9 Pro. The sky is a deeper blue, the trees are greener, and the water has a warmer, greenish hue from the reflection of the trees. The Pixel 9 Pro photo is fine on its own, but put side-by-side with the Pixel 10 Pro, there’s no question that I prefer the picture from Google’s newest phone.

I feel exactly the same way about the second photo of the nature trail. The Pixel 9 Pro doesn’t take a bad picture, but the Pixel 10 Pro — once again — renders colors that are more pleasing to the eye. It’s subtler here, but you can still see a bluer sky, a warmer brown color for the telephone pole, and greener grass in the Pixel 10 Pro shot.

Things get more interesting with the telephoto camera. Although it’s the same sensor on the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro, there’s a pretty noticeable quality difference — and not just with colors this time.

Looking at the photos of the hawk, the 10x shots are pretty similar. I want to say the Pixel 10 Pro photo is a tiny bit sharper when I zoom in closely, but it’s really a toss-up. But when we zoom in to 30x, it’s undeniable that the Pixel 10 Pro is the winner. You can see the strands of fur on the bird’s legs, and its feathers are considerably more detailed, too.

This is thanks to the Pixel 10 Pro’s Pro Res Zoom feature, which automatically kicks in once you zoom in up to 30x or beyond. It uses AI to upscale an image, adding more detail, and it’s worked shockingly well in all of my testing. Google also gives you a version of the same photo without Pro Res Zoom. You can see how much of a difference it makes with the 50x camera sample above — a zoom range the Pixel 9 Pro simply isn’t capable of.

But even in situations without Pro Res Zoom, the Pixel 10 Pro still delivers better telephoto results. The picture of the leaves was taken at 5x zoom, the optical range for both phones, and the Pixel 10 Pro easily delivers the better photo. The results look similar at first glance, but once you zoom in, you quickly see how much sharper the leaves are in the Pixel 10 Pro image compared to the Pixel 9 Pro.

Other telephoto samples, such as the photos of the building and the lighthouse, reinforce all the points I’ve already discussed. The picture of the two buildings on the beach showcases the Pixel 10 Pro’s superior color reproduction, and upon closer inspection of the sign, you can also see the Pixel 10 Pro’s sharpness advantage. I also greatly prefer the brighter red roof next to the lighthouse in the second set of photos, plus the added detail in the shingles and the white brick of the lighthouse.

Last but not least, a couple of quick selfie camera samples to wrap things up. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Pixel 10 Pro (once again) comes out ahead of the Pixel 9 Pro.

Quality-wise, sharpness, exposure, autofocus, etc. are all basically identical between the two phones. The first picture of me walking outside is perhaps the most closely-contested, with the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro capturing almost indistinguishable images. I do prefer my warmer skin tone from the sunlight in the Pixel 10 Pro version, but it’s a pretty minor difference.

The Pixel 10 Pro has a larger advantage in the second selfie of me inside my bedroom. The difference here is readily apparent, with the Pixel 10 Pro producing a much brighter and warmer photo. The Pixel 9 Pro didn’t do a bad job by any means, but as has been the case throughout this entire comparison, the Pixel 10 Pro is the winner.

On the one hand, I suppose it’s not surprising that Google’s newest Pixel phone takes better pictures than the older one. However, while analyzing the images in this comparison (and dozens more that didn’t make it into the article), I have been surprised by how much better the Pixel 10 Pro’s photos really are.

The Pixel 9 Pro is certainly still a capable cameraphone, but it’s remarkable just how improved the Pixel 10 Pro’s pictures are despite no significant hardware changes. Boosted colors, deeper shadows, and enhanced detail may not sound like much on their own, but when you add those things together — advantages the Pixel 10 Pro regularly has over the Pixel 9 Pro — the quality difference (as you’ve seen) can be quite something.

It seems silly to suggest that the Pixel 10 Pro’s cameras are so good that they’re reason enough to upgrade from the Pixel 9 Pro, but that’s the direction I’m leaning toward. Which, again, is an insane thing to say, considering the complete lack of hardware changes between the two camera systems.

Google really knocked it out of the park with the Pixel 10 Pro camera, and no matter which Pixel you’re thinking of upgrading from, I can wholeheartedly say that the photo experience on this year’s Pixel is well worth it.