Pixel 9 Pro camera may still max out at 30x zoom, leak shows

Google’s upcoming Pixel 9 series keeps on leaking, with a new video on TikTok offering a quick look at the camera, including that it is still maxing out at 30x zoom.

One of the big differentiators between Google’s base Pixel and the “Pro” tier for the past few years has been the use of better zoom lenses. Pixel 6 Pro through Pixel 8 Pro used periscope zoom lenses for varying levels of optical zoom, maxing out at 5x on the Pixel 8 Pro. Then, through a combination of hardware and software processing, that could push to 30x.

With the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, though, it seems there won’t be any upgrade.

A video from @pixo_unpacking on TikTok (the same source that’s leaked several other Pixel 9 hands-on videos lately) shows the camera in action, showing the Google Camera app with default steps of 0.5x for ultrawide, 1x for the main camera, 2x for a sensor crop, and 5x for the telephoto lens. From there, manually zooming in further shows the camera maxing out at 30x zoom, just like the past couple of generations of Pixel.

That comes as little surprise given we don’t expect any major software changes, but it would have been interesting to see Google perhaps pour a little AI onto the zoom situation and give us a bit further reach.

What’s really odd about this video, though, is that the Google Camera app running on this Pixel 9 Pro XL is running the older UI that was replaced last year (first on Pixel 8, and later on other devices in December). This is easily visible as the sliders for brightness, contrast, and saturation are visible as overlays on the viewfinder, rather than sitting underneath the shutter. The new button for additional settings is also nowhere to be seen.

It seems unlikely that Google would completely revert all of the changes to its Camera app, so the most likely scenario here is that the device is simply running an older version of the app. That’s equally odd, though, as early units of the Pixel 9 series would surely be running newer versions of the app at this point. But, if it is running an older version, that does leave open the possibility that a newer app version could unlock more features or zoom.

Whatever the case, we’ll find out more about the Pixel 9 series in just under a month, as Google is set to launch its quartet of devices on August 13.

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