Google's upcoming Pixel 4 smartphone is rumored to have a new camera feature that should make your pictures better, but the change is actually a terrible idea

People thought that a Google design director was teasing the Pixel 4's camera in an incredible Instagram shot, but the photo was actually taken with a $400 Pixel 3a, which was zoomed and cropped to the point that it was considered "20x" zoom.

If a $400 Pixel 3a can deliver 20x zoom that looks as good as the photo above with a single lens, then we don't need a dedicated zoom lens on the Pixel 4. We need an ultrawide lens.

XDA-Developers is a respected and reliable source, and if the code in the unreleased version of Google's Camera app is accurate, it would certainly suggest that a second camera lens on the Pixel 4 might be a telephoto lens. Indeed, it literally says "telephoto" in the code.

But there's one detail that doesn't seem quite right, and it gives me hope. 9to5Google said that the code suggests the telephoto camera is going to be 16 megapixels, and that the regular camera lens will be 12 megapixels.

Here's the thing: zoomed lenses don't typically have more megapixels than the regular camera lens on most smartphones.

On the OnePlus 7 Pro, the telephoto camera is 8 megapixels versus the regular camera's 48 megapixel.

On the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10, and the LG G8, both the regular and telephotos camera are 12 megapixels.

Meanwhile, the ultrawide camera lenses on all the phones listed above are 16 megapixels — the same number of megapixels that 9to5Google suggests for the supposed telephoto lens in the Pixel 4.

Regardless of the number of pixels, ultrawide camera lenses typically have more — not fewer — megapixels than regular or telephotos lenses. It's a little smidgen of hope against some pretty convincing rumors. Still, rumors are rumors — not concrete facts.