The Pixel 11 Pro’s 5x zoom portrait mode is mind-blowing, and you have to try it

Telephoto cameras on our phones are played out, right? After all, there’s one on the back of most big-name flagship phones, and we’ve been spoiled with 3x, 5x, and even 10x optical zooms for a while. You can even buy teleconverter kits for some phones to extend the zoom range even further. Equally, portrait modes are just as common and a feature we probably all take for granted.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro has done something special by combining these two features to create a fantastic camera mode that, if you haven’t already, you should go out and try. Here’s why.

The Pixel 11 Pro (and the Pixel 11 Pro XL) features a 48-megapixel telephoto camera that enables a 5x optical zoom. On its own, this isn’t especially noteworthy. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 5x optical zoom, the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max has a 4x optical zoom, and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra has a 4.3x optical zoom.

Google’s computational photography expertise has always made the Pixel series one for camera fans, and it has long worked on aspects of the portrait mode other brands prioritize less, such as its Real Tone technology to render natural skin tones. However, portrait modes are usually about taking photos of people, and edge recognition for things other than faces has historically been hit-or-miss.

Portrait modes can add a shallow depth of field to photos of things other than people, but manufacturers have often shied away from this ability, mostly due to edge recognition shortfalls. Some even disable it entirely, with portrait modes only operating when the camera sees a face. The Pixel 11 Pro laughs at these restrictions because its portrait mode recognizes the subject of your photo regardless of whether it’s human or not, and when combined with the 5x telephoto, the results are often astonishing.

Open portrait mode in the Pixel 11 Pro’s camera app, and you have the choice of 1x, 2x, or 5x zoom. While you can use whichever one you please, the telephoto camera only kicks in when you choose 5x. Otherwise, the main camera takes care of the photos. That’s fine, but we’re in this for some lovely depth of field, and the telephoto camera delivers it best.

The one downside of shooting like this is the working distance you need from your subject, particularly if it’s big. I enjoy taking photos of cars, and a 5x zoom photo needs considerable space between you and the vehicle. As we’ll see in the examples, I think it’s worth the effort. What makes me appreciate the mode most, though, is the edge recognition. It’s remarkably accurate, and it’s what makes the mode worth using.

Take a look at the photos of the car above and how well the Pixel 11 Pro separates it from the complex background, which includes a fence, red decorations, grass, and gravel on the ground. That’s a lot going on, yet the only spot where you can immediately tell a portrait mode has been used is when you look at the car’s aerial on the rear wing in the first photo. It blurs into the fence right at the tip.

The photo below shows it understands depth and isn’t fooled by objects with the same color. The three wooden decorative elements are all the same, and the two closest to the camera overlap. I tapped to focus on the center element, and the edge recognition does a superb job of separating it from the one in front. The photo is sharp, and the colors are natural.

What’s also notable in these photos is the depth-of-field effect itself. Many portrait modes obscure the background to the point where it becomes a blurry, unnatural smear. The Pixel 11 Pro’s depth of field in portrait mode is just right. There’s enough blur to focus your attention on the subject, but not so much that it becomes a distraction or looks fake.

Taking photos of relatively common objects outside is one thing, but the Pixel 11 Pro’s 5x portrait mode is much more versatile than that. It’s incredibly adept at understanding the subject of your photo, even when it’s not all that obvious, or something you’d expect would be in its image recognition library.

I love how cleanly it separates the Lego minifigure from the background and the foreground in the photo at the top. It actually recognized the “faces” in the viewfinder and has given the first image a lovely portrait lighting effect. I think the mode is fantastic for model builders. In the second Lego photo, I tapped to focus on the small, blue figure deep inside the structure, and the Pixel 11 Pro still captured it sharply and naturally, cleanly separating it from the busy brick environment.

There are limitations, though. The photo of the cat shows that the camera can still struggle against harsh backlighting, and the edge recognition looks more artificial here than in other images. Additionally, it cuts the whiskers off on the right, while leaving them in on the left. The photo has more of the quirks and telltale signs I expect from a smartphone portrait mode.

The Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max lets you use the 4x optical zoom in portrait mode, but side-by-side, it often only highlights how impressive the Pixel 11 Pro’s edge and object recognition can be. In the photo of the Lego minifigure, look at the subtle gradations in the depth of field, and the way different elements across different focal planes have been blurred.

The iPhone doesn’t do a bad job, and can equal the Pixel 11 Pro in some circumstances, but in general, the cutout effect looks more artificial. You can immediately tell I used a portrait mode to take the photo with the iPhone. I don’t think it’s the same with the Pixel 11 Pro’s photo, and this is what encourages me to use it far more often.

The 5x telephoto and portrait mode combo adds another fun, creative tool to the already versatile Pixel 11 Pro’s camera. Don’t pass it by thinking it’s only for headshots. It’s far more interesting than that, and everyone from model hobbyists and car obsessives, to pet owners and architecture buffs will find it changes the way they frame and photograph their favorite subjects.