Google Pixel 9’s Magic Editor: Flop or Functional?
Just minutes ago, I made Godzilla and Ultraman fight right smack in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. I also conjured a prehistoric dinosaur at a small lake in a park; then I removed some friends from a photo I took just ’cause they didn’t catch my vibe.
I did all these within seconds through the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, which I’m sure you’re aware comes with an AI-powered Magic Editor.
A lot can be debated about what truly makes a photo. Perhaps in this era, it might be more important to wonder what level of post-processing and editing is acceptable before it is considered inauthentic.
Like it or not, AI image editing is here to stay. And a large chunk of those you’ll find on the Google Pixel 9 Series. They are undeniably groundbreaking stuff, but are they necessary at this point in time?
Initial thoughts about Magic Editor
When Google first previewed the Magic Editor, the audience was presented with possibilities so far-fetched that it seemed ludicrous anyone would pass off the end product as ‘photos’. Like when they turned mundane, dull landscapes into colourful fields of flowers.
Maybe if you re-labelled them as visual art you might get away with it – though the art community who spent thousands of hours working on their craft might have something to say.
Love it or hate it, the Magic Editor is the kind of tool you can’t help experimenting with just to see what it’s capable of. Whether or not you incorporate it into your post-editing routine is something only you can decide.
So then the question arises: is the Magic Editor functional enough to be used often? Or is it simply a gimmick that has earned its 30 seconds under the sun? Naturally, we had to find out.
The gimmicks
Now, there’s a whole suite of AI features in the Magic Editor and not all of them will appear with every photo. The Magic Editor is smart enough to determine the context of the photos, which means it will only present relevant AI tools for enhancement. So, for example, if you take an indoor photo, cloud editing tools like Golden Hour and Sky won’t appear as an option.
However, there are two permanent features in the Magic Editor, these being Magic Eraser and Reimagine. The one I feel it’s a gimmick? Reimagine. So let’s start with that.
Reimagine
Don’t get me wrong. It works great…as a tool for kicks. The things you can conjure up border on limitless, such as summoning prehistoric dinosaurs and turning car parks into sunflower fields. I say border on limitless because it’s not entirely without restrictions. I think Google has intentionally made it impossible to Reimagine humans, just to safeguard individuals against deepfake attempts. Good on them for that.
Nevertheless, going back to what it’s capable of, I can’t help but wonder: is anyone really going to mislead their followers into thinking they were in sunflower fields when they were actually in a less interesting place? I really hope not.
I see Reimagine as something people would use for fun, with these altered photos kept within group chats between friends and families. Once the hype has gone down, it will scarcely be revisited as most would rather stick to the real photos for social postings.
It’s not the easiest tool to use either. Tracing the area you want to Reimagine can prove difficult depending on the photo, especially if you have stubby fingers like mine.
Add Me
Add Me seems to be the only AI feature that other smartphones can’t seem to replicate. Or maybe they just don’t want to, we don’t know for sure. Does Add Me work? For the most part, yes – if the conditions are right.
Based on my brief time with it, I kept seeing this message: ‘Add Me works best in a bright, static scene with a detailed background’, which prevented me from pressing the shutter. Granted, it was overcast that day, but I was still in an open area with plenty of light.
Also, before you use Add Me, you’ll need to ‘scan’ the area by panning the phone a little towards the right and left, so it can read the entire scene and incorporate the new addition to the picture. It’s a lot of work and conditions to meet even before pressing the shutter.
In my opinion, it still can’t beat pulling over a random stranger to take the group shot for you.
Zoom Enhance
Zoom Enhance is pretty self-explanatory: it enhances a specific part of the photo you want to see more clearly. It’s not so much a photography feature. as it is a tool for getting a closer look at something, like a signage in a picture.
Though the intention is great, Zoom Enhance as a feature just doesn’t seem to work all that great.
The details are noticeably artificial, often straying far from what the object actually is.
Auto Frame
Auto Frame is a little bit of a mixed bag. I’ve seen it generate some pretty wonky interpretations of the surroundings, but it has also come out with some really consistent stuff that’s very passable.
In most cases though, the renders look very obviously AI-generated and you can easily separate fact from fiction.
The Functional
Despite these less-than-perfect AI tools, Google’s Magic Editor does have some seriously powerful features in its arsenal. They are incredibly surreal, and honestly, pretty scary given how realistic the photos turned out.
As such, we find these might actually be incorporated into the post-processing routines of even casual users like myself.
Magic Eraser
At the early stages, Magic Erase might seem off-putting. Photography purists in particular may find this unethical and stains photography as an art form. However, for the casual clickers who just took a decent shot but wants a few pedestrains removed – it does the job, and very well too.
That being said, even I don’t feel right using Magic Eraser for large scale editing as it takes away too much authenticity. For small stuff like dust bins and traffic cones though, I’ll happily give myself a free pass.
Sky, Golden Hour
Sky and Golden Hour are two different AI features, but I’ve lumped them together since they function more or less the same. In essence, they make clouds and skies more picturesque without tampering anything else.
The results are often really good, and it can easily fool me and I reckon many others.
I was pretty amazed myself when I saw it turn gloomy, overcast whether into something entirely different and social media-worthy. Would I use it? Heck, if I spent thousands on a holiday to see a landmark, only to be bummed out by horrible weather, I might be tempted to put it through one of these just to make myself feel better.
So yes, I would.
Magic Editor: A little too over the top
At the end of it all, is Google’s Magic Editor really worth all the hype? Not to me.
It is great fun no doubt, but it’s not something to hinge your decision on. I can still see life without Magic Editor, and I doubt I’d use it often even if the Pixel was my main driver. Of course, the Pixel 9 Series comes with a whole fleet of AI features beyond Magic Editor that might suit your needs. But if you’re getting sold solely by the Magic Editor, I’d recommend you hold your horses first.
It’s a good launch point for Google, and no doubt many of these will be refined in the future. For now though, a lot of these still need fine-tuning and hasn’t entirely peaked just yet.
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