I wish Samsung and Google copied these great camera zoom controls

Google and Samsung frequently top our lists of the best camera phones on the market, and I can understand why. A big reason for this is that they both have great camera apps, offering distinctive designs, mostly consistent image quality, and a variety of modes.

However, after using recent vivo phones like the X200 Ultra and X200 Pro, I realized there’s one very useful UI choice that I’d love to see on my Pixel and Galaxy phones, and that would be more powerful and intuitive zoom controls.

Tap that zoom button, then tap it again

The vivo camera app isn’t a looker by any measure, but it gets the job done in terms of features and modes. However, the way it handles zoom levels is much better than I’ve seen on any Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phone. More specifically, you can tap a preset zoom level (e.g., 1x, 3.7x, 10x) to enter it, and then tap it once or several more times for additional zoom options.

For example, I can tap the 1x button on the X200 Pro while I’m already at 1x zoom to switch to 1.2x (28mm). Tapping the button again will zoom in to 1.4x (35mm). The vivo X200 Ultra offers a 35mm main camera, equivalent to 1.4x or 1.5x on other phones, but you can tap the 35mm button once more for a 50mm option, and then tap it again for 70mm zoom. Check out the demo in the video below for an idea of how it all works.

This becomes very handy at longer zoom ranges. Vivo’s flagship phones tend to offer a 10x preset zoom button. This already represents an improvement over my Google Pixel phone, which doesn’t offer a 10x button at all. However, tapping this button when I’m already at 10x lets me quickly switch to 15x, 20x, 30x, and 50x, too. Sure, you’re probably not going to use 30x or 50x on most flagship Android phones, but it’s a very convenient way to access long-range zooms.

Samsung phones do a better job than Pixel devices when it comes to giving you more preset zoom shortcuts. Most notably, the latest Ultra phones in the Galaxy S series have a 10x button, as well as an overflow menu that shows 30x and 100x options. But I still have to use the finicky zoom slider for a 1.5x, 15x, or 20x snap, or anything in between 30x and 100x. Meanwhile, my 2022-era Google Pixel 7 Pro tops out with a 5x button, so I must use the overly sensitive zoom slider for 10x or 20x. I also have to use the slider for 1.5x, 3x, and other zoom ranges below 5x.

That’s why I’d love to see Google and Samsung copy vivo’s method of handling camera zoom. It’s a very sensible, intuitive approach that takes a lot of the frustration out of finding the right zoom level on a smartphone. I realized how much I missed this feature when I recently switched back to my S23 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro, after using the vivo X200 Ultra, and found myself fruitlessly tapping the zoom buttons in their camera apps.

This isn’t the only feature Google and Samsung should grab from their rivals. Other Android brands offer neat features like sports/snapshot modes for capturing fast-moving subjects, stage/concert modes for live performances, and the ability to share custom filters with other users. So I hope we see more of these nifty options on future Galaxy and Pixel phones.