TheGoogle Pixel 8and Pixel 8 Pro are here. While both phones are packed with impressive new features, the Pro stands out with its superior camera setup, which includes a better 48MP ultrawide camera and a 5x 48MP telephoto shooter with a faster aperture. It’s not just the hardware, though. The Pixel 8 Pro also has exclusive access to camera-centric features, like Pro controls and Video Boost. Google claims the latter will improve the Pixel 8 Pro videos using its computational photography models. But this AI magic won’t happen locally on your phone.
With Video Boost, Google will process every frame of a 4K video that the Pixel 8 Pro records using its HDR+ image pipeline for better dynamic range and vivid color and details. As the company highlighted during its product launch event, processing a 4K 30fps 1-minute video is equivalent to processing 1,800 photos. And while the newTensor G3chip inside the Pixel 8 series is a lot faster than before, it is not that powerful. So, Google is relying on its cloud processing power to achieve this.
You can immediately view a “high quality” version of the recorded video on your Pixel. But for the Video Boost-ed version, you must upload it to Google Photos first, where the AI magic happens. When the video is ready, the app will send you a notification. It is unclear whether the enhanced Video Boost version replaces the original video.
From what it looks like, Google’s cloud servers do all the heavy processing work for Video Boost. But you may seemingly have to enable the feature in Pixel 8 Pro’s camera app before recording videos, indicating that the new 50MP sensor might be capturing additional data for Video Boost to work. This could also explain why the Pixel 8 Pro has exclusive access to this feature and not the regular Pixel 8.
Video Boost on the Pixel 8 Pro is also linked to Night Sight Video. The latter will improve low-light videos by “subtly enhancing the light” to make them look more vivid with better dynamic range and colors.
Based on what Google shared on the stage today, it appears Video Boost is more of aGoogle Photosfeature than that of the Pixel 8 Pro. This is exactly how Magic Eraser debuted on thePixel 6series in 2021. Two years later, Google opened it toall smartphone users with a Google One subscription. The company could likely do the same with Video Boost after a year or two.
Video Boost will arrive on the Pixel 8 Pro with the December Feature Drop. So, you will have to wait a couple of months after getting your hands on the phone to know how good the feature is.
Google Pixel 8 Pro
The Pixel 8 Pro is Google’s best phone yet, featuring a super-bright 2400nits display, a Tensor G3 chip, upgraded cameras that can take a lot more light, and AI features like Video Boost and Night Sight Video.
