Pixel 5 is taking video seriously with 4K60 and cinematic pan features

Video has been the weakest point of the Pixels so far, and Google's making a change to that.

What you need to know

• Google has announced the Pixel 5 and 4 5G with new dedicated video modes in the camera app.
• There's a new cinematic pan mode, and Google's finally building in 4K60fps.
• The Pixel 5 and 4a 5G will also ship with ultra-wide cameras and new photo editing features.

Google is focusing on video with the Pixel 5's camera almost as much as photo this year around. The company is launching with three new stablisation modes. Locked, active, and cinematic pan.

The most interesting of these is cinematic pan, a mode that's inspired by (drum-roll) cinema shots. Google says that it creates dramatic moments out of everyday shots. It's not as exciting as all the hundred features you'll find on Samsung's camera apps, but Google says its something that people really want to know how to do. Just like with portrait mode and night sight, the company's trying to distill the most commonly requested use-case into something easily accessible. How well it works given Google's prior performance in this space is something that we'll find out in a review.

Google will also let you shoot in 4K60fps on the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G. The company had previously said that it wasn't offering the option due to storage constraints. With the Pixel 5 and 4a lines, the storage floor of the Pixel has been raised to 128GB which fixes that problem.

Finally, you'll now be able to capture hi-res photos while shooting slow motion and time lapse videos on the new Pixels. Google says these, and the other video features, will come to older Pixels in a software update.

Google has traditionally focused hard on the Pixel's still image prowess, and it hasn't let up in this regard this year around. That said, when you look at the ultra-wide lens included with the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G and Google's inclusion of 4K60fps, these address customer pain points it had previously explained away. With this and other changes with the Pixel 5, Google is making sure to build a Pixel that doesn't have many flaws this year around.

Pixel 5

$699 at Amazon $699 at Best Buy $699 at B&H

Google's making as much effort with video as it does with still images on this phone, we'll have to see if it pays off as well in this department.