How to use Best Take on a Google Pixel

One of the coolest features of the latest Google Pixel phones, including the new Pixel 10 and 10 Pro and Pro XL, is called Best Take. The photo feature is designed to help you get the best possible picture when shooting more than one person or, most likely, a group photo.

Usually, what happens when taking a group photo, for example, is one person's eyes are always closed. Maybe someone looked away right when the shutter was pressed. With kids, especially, it can be challenging to get just the right shot. One kid is moving while the other keeps making silly faces. What about a group photo when multiple people are shooting at the same time, and everyone's gaze keeps shifting, not sure which camera to look at. Sound familiar?

You could take numerous photos and still end up with none that are absolutely perfect. In one, someone's eyes are closed while the other, that's seemingly perfect, has someone who's looking away. That’s where Best Take comes in. It allows you to combine the best aspects from multiple images taken of the same pair or group to create the, as the name implies, best shot.

What to know about Best Take before getting started

The first thing to note about Best Take before trying to use it is that the feature works when you take a set of images within a 10-second timeframe. You can use it for older photos in your library, but it’s most reliable with a new set of images. It also only works with human subjects, so sorry, you won’t be able to fix your antsy pup or yawning cat.

There also can’t be hands obscuring shots. If Aunt Velma hates being in photos and covers her face, sadly, you can’t fix her insistence that she isn’t photogenic. Once these parameters are met, you can get to work.

How to use Best Take

1. Open the camera app on a compatible Google Pixel phone (any model from the Pixel 8 onwards) and take a set of photos in rapid succession, or open Google Photos and select the image you want to use as your starting point from a set you have already taken (ideally, one of the first ones that was taken).

2. Select Edit at the bottom, left of the screen.

3. Select Actions.

5. Scroll to the left and select Best Take. The screen will display a message that it's finding similar shots to improve the photo.

6. After a few seconds, you’ll see circles for each person's face in the photo. Select the person's face you want to fix. (Repeat this for each face as needed).

7. Try the different expressions until you land on the one you want. In this example, I have chosen an image with the woman's eyes open and her head tilted up.

8. Once you have selected the photo you want and you're happy with the result, select the checkmark, and you'll see the newly created image.

9. Select Save as copy if you want to keep it. If you don’t like the options you receive when browsing through the facial expressions for Best Take, you can try another photo in the set as a starting point and see if it yields different results.

What is Auto Best Take?

With the latest Pixel 10 series, Google introduced an upgrade called Auto Best Take. This improved AI function can automatically recognize when you're about to take a group photo. It will then analyze up to 150 photos in the set to pick out the best facial expressions and head directions, for example, and blend the images together to deliver the best shot of the lot. This means there's no work on your part; the feature simply works in the background.

A few other things to note about Best Take

Best Take is a fabulous feature. But it isn’t perfect. The faces from which you can choose are automatically selected in the app, and sometimes, none of them work. But you can play around with it. As noted, select different photos as your starting point to see if each yields different results for the editing options. I found that this was often the case. For example, when I selected an image in a set where my head was slightly turned towards the other person, I ended up with a better facial expression.

The option is fabulous for group photos, squirmy babies and toddlers (or even antsy older kids), and for photos when multiple people are shooting at the same time, and some subjects are looking left at their camera while others are looking right at yours.

Google Pixel devices are among the best Android phones, and one of the key standouts isthe features related to photography and editing. This includes ones like Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and, of course, Best Take. All of them combined are designed to help you get the best possible outcomes with your photos, even ones that might otherwise have been considered throwaways.