Best Take: group photos everyone can agree on.

If you have a Google Pixel 9 or 10 series phone, there’s a simple solution. It’s called Best Take, and it allows you to blend similar photos into one fantastic image where everyone looks their best. It’s like having a personal photo editor with you, wherever you go.

Over the holidays, this feature came in handy for Eric Peterson, a software engineering manager in Oakland, when he was at a family dinner with his wife and two children. “My wife’s family lives in Brazil,” he says, “So when they’re here, we try and get everyone together for a holiday photo.” 

But the cutest photo subjects can sometimes be the most difficult. Like many kids, his daughter has a habit of looking at everything except the camera. His son tends to make silly faces when he’s supposed to smile.

Peterson turned to Pixel’s Best Take, which made his family photos simple. He tapped once, and Google AI did the rest: analysing multiple expressions taken from a burst of photos and selecting the best ones to combine into one take. If he’d decided to do his own picking and choosing, he could have done that by manually selecting the expressions for the final version.

“It’s made such a difference when we’re out having fun,” Peterson says. “Now, we just take five photos and figure it out later. We don’t have to stop and pose.”

Whether you’re in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Cinderella Castle, or a glittering ocean, Best Take on Pixel makes the helpful stranger’s job faster, easier, and free from the usual awkwardness of taking another round. 

Travelers can flag down a passerby to take a quick photo burst with one tap, say thanks, and let Google AI combine the multiple photos into one great image. That’s what Peterson did recently when he went on vacation to Legoland with his wife and children. “If I ask someone to take a picture … it doesn’t matter if it’s good or not,” he says, “Best Take can fix it later.”

Using these tools means a helpful stranger only has to do a few seconds of work. Then, everyone can get back to relaxing. If you’d like to both take and be in the photo, that’s also doable – with Add Me, which uses AI to let you take a picture. You simply hand your phone to someone else to take a similar photo with you in it. Your Pixel will merge the two shots, whether there are two people on a beach or five excited guests at your wedding table.

Pro-level pictures, pro-level Pixel

Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL have the best camera on any Pixel.

Buy Learn more

Pro-level pictures, pro-level Pixel

Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL have the best camera on any Pixel.

Buy Learn more

Best Take works for all of your favourite moments, from everyday fun to once-in-a-lifetime experiences. 

For many friends, a night out doesn’t feel complete without a picture to share on social media. With just a few taps, Best Take will make sure everyone is looking their best, whether they’re at a neighborhood bar or the Grand Canyon.

And when it comes to special occasions like weddings, a single picture might be your best memory of the experience. With Best Take, even if the bride is blinking when the groom is smiling – or vice versa – both will be beaming in the final image.

For families with kids, taking pictures can be an epic struggle – one that Melissa Hague knows well. She’s a landscaper in West Point, Utah, who took an amazing group photo that would have never worked without her Pixel phone. “I used Best Take to get the best image of my wife and me and our friends with their kids,” she says. “The kids would be looking one way in a photo. They’d be crying in another. And one of the adults sneezed mid-photo. But I was finally able to create the perfect photo using this incredible feature.”

Sam Nies, an experiences supervisor in Alta, California, credits Best Take for helping him create the best Christmas card his family has sent out in decades. “I have four teenagers … [and] I can’t get them all to smile at the same time ever,” he says. “Everyone I’ve shared [the card] with has been impressed and asks me to take all our group pictures.”

Best Take and Auto Best Take make group photos faster and less stressful in just a few quick steps. Here’s how they work:

1. Take a series of consecutive photos within 10 seconds.

2. Open up a photo and tap Edit.

3. Head to the Tools tab and tap Best Take, then See result.

4. If you want, tap someone’s face bubble, then tap on a different expression for that person.

5. Repeat the same process for as many faces as you want until you have your Best Take.

6. Tap Done and then Save Copy.