Pixel 10’s rumored telephoto camera upgrade could make your macro shots pop

What you need to know

• The Pixel 10’s telephoto lens is supposedly stepping up to sharpen your close-up shots, doubling as a macro hero alongside the ultrawide.
• Google is not dropping ultrawide macros—just adding the telephoto for extra punch, letting the phone pick the best lens depending on how close you are.
• Telephoto brings smoother background blur and less distortion than ultrawide when you’re up close, making your macro shots look way cleaner.

Google is reportedly planning to level up macro photography on the Pixel 10 by letting the telephoto lens join the party, so you can expect sharper close-ups with the zoom camera now pulling double duty.

To be clear, Google isn’t ditching the ultrawide shooter’s macro capabilities. Instead, the tech giant is tapping the telephoto lens to boost close-up shots even more, according to a fresh leak from Android Headlines.

This move makes sense when you consider how each lens focuses—telephoto needs more space, while ultrawide gets real close. So, with the Pixel 10, Google is making it smart enough to pick the right lens on the fly depending on how near your subject is.

At present, Pixel phones mostly rely on the ultrawide lens for macro shots, thanks to some smart engineering tweaks like autofocus that help nail those close-up details. And from the looks of it, that setup isn’t going anywhere with the Pixel 10.

Telephoto’s macro perks

Compared to ultrawide lenses, telephoto lenses have some nifty perks for macro shots. They give you a nice, creamy background blur thanks to a shallower depth of field, which is ideal for making your subject pop. Plus, they avoid the funky distortions ultrawide shooters sometimes bring when you get up close.

It’s still up in the air whether this new telephoto-powered macro feature will be available across the whole Pixel 10 lineup. But with the official reveal just a couple months out, we won’t be waiting long to find out.

On top of beefed-up macro shots, the Pixel 10 is also said to step up its video stabilization. According to an earlier report, the phone's upgraded stabilization could rival a DJI Osmo Mobile 6 gimbal, meaning you might get buttery-smooth, pro-level footage straight from your phone, with no extra gear needed.

Triple-camera shakeup?

Adding more fuel to the hype, early leaks hinted that the base Pixel 10 might ditch the Pixel 9’s two-camera setup for a fresh triple-camera lineup. Typically, regular versions stick to a wide and ultrawide lens, but the Pixel 10 looks set to shake things up by adding a telephoto lens as a third player.

To make room for it, Google is reportedly tweaking the sensor setup, which might mean some fresh changes to the wide and ultrawide cameras too.