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Snap a photo on a Pixel, and the magic happens instantly. Switch to video, though, and the shine quickly fades — that’s been the story of Google’s phones for years.
The Pixel 10 series is now the hottest release on the market, with Google hyping it up in its August 20 event as having the best camera system available. But I find that hard to believe when the company is still leaning on one of its clunkiest, least reliable features: Video Boost.
First introduced with the Pixel 8 Pro, Video Boost was pitched as the breakthrough that would finally bring Google’s AI wizardry to video, the way HDR+ once revolutionized Pixel photos. Two years later, though, the reality hasn’t changed much. The Pixel 10 family still delivers fantastic stills, its new AI zoom pushes to 100x (with questionable results), but when it comes to video, Google is still banking on Video Boost — and it still doesn’t work the way it was promised.
The promise of Video Boost
When it first introduced Video Boost, Google made it sound like the next big step in the future of smartphone video recording. By uploading your footage to Google's cloud servers, the company's powerful AI models would do their magic and send back a version that looked like it was shot and edited professionally: no noise, shadows lifted, highlights preserved, etc. Video Boost was also what enabled the so-called "Night Sight" mode for video, which was supposed to drastically improve nighttime video.
Whether you were filming in a dim bar, on a busy street at sunset, or under harsh indoor lighting, Video Boost would elevate the footage to a level no phone could match. At least in theory.
The reality check
The reality, as we found in our late 2023 testing, was messy at best. On the Pixel 8 Pro, processing even a 30-second clip with Video Boost took hours. A simple 90 MB video ballooned into a 1.2 GB file, quickly eating up storage.
Worse, boosted clips couldn’t always be transferred properly. Some lost their enhanced colors entirely once uploaded to Drive or YouTube. And despite being touted as a flagship feature, it only worked with the main camera — not the ultra-wide or telephoto, where it arguably could’ve made the biggest difference.
Ironically, Video Boost did perform better in low-light scenarios. Footage came out brighter, cleaner, and less noisy, which was genuinely impressive. But in good lighting, the results often went sideways: shadows looked unnaturally lifted, highlights blew out, and colors — especially skin tones — turned out unnaturally saturated.
Our conclusion at the time was that the idea behind Video Boost was forward-thinking, but the execution felt clunky and half-baked.
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Fast-forward to Pixel 10
Image by Google
Two years later, you’d expect Video Boost to be leaner, faster, and more integrated. After all, the Tensor G5 chip is Google’s first fully custom chip, capable of running complex AI models on-device. Except that’s not what we’re seeing when it comes to video.
In his recent Pixel 10 Pro XL camera test, Dave2D highlighted the same issues we are used to seeing: low-light video still lags behind the iPhone, dynamic range struggles with fire and bright light sources, and Video Boost remains cloud-dependent, because of which processing a clip took nearly 20 hours before it was ready.
That’s not the seamless experience people expect from their phone in 2025, especially not a flagship one. The whole point of a smartphone camera is instant capture and instant sharing. Nobody wants to record a family trip, wait a full day, and only then see the final version.
It looks bad when your expensive flagship phone needs 20 hours just to deliver similar level of video quality as your competition does without the need for any additional processing.
This disconnect is especially obvious because the Pixel is marketed as the camera-first smartphone. Google wants the Pixel 10 to be the device that creators and everyday users alike can rely on. Unfortunately, when it comes to video — a format more central than ever to how we communicate — the Pixel still feels inadequate.
The paradox of Video Boost and where it needs to go
After three generations, Video Boost still feels like a beta feature. Instead of solving Pixel’s long-standing video problem, it only underscores the gap between Google’s big vision and what its phones can actually deliver today.
Until Video Boost — or at least its benefits — is integrated directly into recording, works across all cameras, and avoids bloated files or cloud detours, the Pixel will remain a photographer’s phone, not a videographer’s. And in 2025, that’s a serious issue, because for most people, video is now the priority.
That doesn’t mean the feature is doomed. It just means Google has unfinished business. If future chips like the Tensor G6 or G7 finally bring Video Boost fully on-device, it could be genuinely transformative. Google seems to be heading in that direction — but until then, anyone serious about video will keep looking elsewhere.
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Aleksandar is a tech enthusiast with a broad range of interests, from smartphones to space exploration. His curiosity extends to hands-on DIY experiments with his gadgets, and he enjoys switching between different brands to experience the latest innovations. Prior to joining PhoneArena, Aleksandar worked on the Google Art Project, digitizing valuable artworks and gaining diverse perspectives on technology. When he's not immersed in tech, Aleksandar is an outdoorsman who enjoys mountain hikes, wildlife photography, and nature conservation. His interests also extend to martial arts, running, and snowboarding, reflecting his dynamic approach to life and technology.
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