Ever since Google announced thePixelback in 2016, it was all about its camera. Of course, Pixel also offers a clean software experience and decent performance - first from Snapdragon platforms and more recently fromGoogle’s own Tensor platforms- but it’s always been the Pixel’s camera that has grabbed headlines and turned heads.
From the very beginning of Pixel, Google has been highlighting the importance of processing over hardware and openly suggesting computational photography and artificial intelligence (AI) could do it all. We saw it prove this first withNight Sight, which quickly saw Pixel become the benchmark for low light photography after it launched on thePixel 3.
Magic Eraser - which arrived a couple of years later on thePixel 6- then cemented the idea of AI’s usefulness and in my opinion, was one of the defining features to do so. It showcased what AI and computational photography could achieve by allowing you to get rid of things you didn’t want in your images, like a bin or another person, with a simple swipe of your finger.
We’re no longer in the era of just AI however.Generative AInow has a seat at the table, and not just any seat, but right at the head of the table. ThePixel 8 and 8 Prohave taken computational photography and AI intervention to a whole different level, with a plethora of features, many of which lean on generative AI to move beyond erasing the odd unwanted object to in-filling pixels that didn’t even exist in the first place.
While thePixel 8 ProandPixel 8are currently the envy of Android andiPhoneusers alike for some of these fantastic features, they aren’t going to be for long. Qualcomm’sSnapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platformhas arrived with a huge focus on generative AI, and the camera capabilities offered within Snapdragon Sight that could give Google a run for its money.
Where Google offersAudio Magic Eraseron the Pixel 8 to let you eliminate unwanted noise from your videos, Snapdragon Sight offers Video Object Eraser that will allow you to remove unwanted people and objects from your videos.
Google has Video Boost that pushes everything through its HDR pathway for more depth and detail, along with Video Night Sight that is promising to offer a huge leap for low light video when it arrives later this year. Snapdragon Sight meanwhile, has Night Vision for video, which claims to do the same - and deliver better videos at night and at 4K 60fps too.
WhereGoogle has Magic Editor- which frankly is awesome - using AI to suggest edits on photos and offer features like generative in-fill to give you Photoshop-like powers on your smartphone, Snapdragon Sight has Photo Expansion that will expand images by using generative AI, also in-filling pixels that didn’t initially exist.
Starting to see a trend here? While the offerings aren’t identical, there’s definitely a very common theme - that AI is coming to your camera in a big way. Of course the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 features have to be adopted by manufacturers likeSamsung(which already confirmed it’s going to use a feature called Zoom Anyplace with its new sensor) before you’ll be able to use them on a device, and so Pixel might reign for a little while longer when it comes to AI. The point is, however, that the AI camera crown has the potential to be stolen from Pixel.
I’m not sure how I feel about what are effectivelyfake photoswhen many of these features are used, but Snapdragon is bringing the fight to Pixel, and if certain smartphone manufacturers take these features on, we’re on the verge of a really exciting time for smartphone photography.
