The Google Pixel 11 series phones continue the company’s trend toward cool camera features. You get all the best ones that have been in the latest Pixel devices, like Add Me, Best Take, and Unblur, as well as new ones like Camera Looks that lets you adjust the look of a photo after capture. But there’s another new, even more impressive one called Magic Capture. Available on all Pixel 11 series phones, it’s a simple way to get engaging stills from your videos.
Sure, you could scrub through a video and manually save a low-resolution screen grab. But the intelligence that captures high-res stills simultaneously is what make Magic Capture so interesting. When you enable this mode, the phone automatically extracts the best image stills from a video, so you get both the complete video and a selection of suggested stills automatically saved to your camera roll. It might be during the “Happy Birthday” song at your child’s party or candid moments from an intimate group dinner. Whatever the case, you can have a ton of fun playing around with the feature. While Magic Capture easy to use, you need to know how to select it before shooting.
How to use Magic Capture
Set it up and get familiar with it first
Before you can use Magic Capture, you need to make sure that your Pixel 11 device, from the entry model to the Pixel 11 Pro XL we reviewed, is updated to the latest OS. This includes running necessary updates to the camera app as well. Once updated, open the camera app and tap the Magic Capture button, which is positioned to the left of the photo and video buttons under the shutter. An information page pops up explaining what the feature does when you select it for the first time. The option to Apply auto edits: crop, straighten, and unblur is checked by default, and it’s a good idea to leave that on. Then select Get Started.
Hold the phone up to the subject(s) you want to capture and, with Magic Capture selected, press the shutter button. The phone lets you know that it’s capturing both video and photos. Press the shutter to end and you’ll see the message that Magic Capture is being processed. From there, both the original video and the still images that were intelligently extracted appear in your camera roll. Don’t forget to delete the ones you don’t want as the more you use this feature, the more quickly it can fill up your phone’s storage.
How well does Magic Capture work?
I had lots of fun with it
To test Magic Capture’s capabilities, I had my son assist by appearing in some fun action videos so I could see what it came up with. For the most part, it pulled out pretty good images. If you don’t like what it has extracted, you can manually scrub through the video timeline, pause on the frame you want, and select “save as photo.” I did this for an image of me jumping in mid-air that Magic Capture didn’t capture for some reason. (How did it miss this great action still?)
While Magic Capture is a Pixel Camera feature hiding behind a single swipe, because it requires heavy computational hardware, it only works with the phone’s rear camera. So, if you’re taking selfies, you will have to mount the phone on a tripod and use the rear camera, then strike a few poses. But it works well if you want to take modeling shots for your social feed or capture candids of yourself at the beach, maybe even pose for a few headshot options if no one is around to take them for you. Set up the camera, record video, and the phone will intelligently extract great stills or you can manually pick them. The feature works when the phone is both in portrait and landscape mode. I found that for each one-minute or so video, it pulled out anywhere from four-to-six stills, and maybe 75% of them were good.
Magic Capture is one of the Pixel 11’s best new features
It lets you enjoy the moment
It’s marketing speak when Google touts Magic Capture, available in all Pixel 11 phones including the Pixel 11 Pro Fold we reviewed, as helping you “enjoy the moment” without fussing over capturing it. This is only half true because you’re still holding the phone to record. But I have been in many situations when I have struggled to capture both video and photos at the same time. I’ll usually coordinate with someone else to record video while I capture stills or vice versa. With this feature, I can capture video footage at my son’s baseball game, on a fun day out with friends, or at family events, and let Google do the work of finding the right moments to transform into stills. What’s more, even if I extract them myself, these are high-resolution 12MP stills versus low-resolution video frame grabs.
Candid photos are always best and rather than waiting for someone to spot the perfect moment to take a photo only to miss it, you can capture videos and find these candid moments within them. It’s an effortless experience, and a feature I’ll probably be using pretty often.
- Brand
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Google
- SoC
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Google Tensor G6
- Display
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6.3-inch Super Actua display
- RAM
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12 or 16GB
- Storage
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256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- Battery
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4850 mAh
Magic Capture is one of the most exciting new features in the Google Pixel 11 Pro, allowing you to record video then watch as the phone’s camera magically extracts engaging stills from the footage. It works pretty well, allowing you to enjoy capturing the moment via video and worry about stills later.