Recently, I attended my best friend’s wedding and took several photos with my friends and family. Among them, there was one picture where I looked somewhat nice. However, the moment I cropped the image, the quality worsened. That’s when I began searching the internet for the best app or web tool to enlarge photos without losing quality.
And this is the result I was able to achieve.
Table of Contents
Are Image Enlarger Websites or Mobile Apps Safe to Use
Generally, image enlarger websites and apps are safe to use, but there are a few things you should keep in mind, such as:
- Check the website or app’s reputation, reviews, and reports of security issues or data misuse.
- Review their privacy policy to understand what data they store and for how long.
- Pay attention to unnecessary permissions the app requests, like access to contacts, locations, or microphones, which may indicate a security risk.
- Be wary of sites or apps with excessive irrelevant ads, redirects, or prompts.
1. PixelCut (Online Tool)
When I first wanted to enlarge my photo, the very first thought that came to my mind was using an online tool and that’s where I stumbled upon the site called Pixelcut. During my first visit, I was impressed by the intuitiveness of the website design. It had no ads or unnecessary banners.
Moreover, Pixelcut not only upscales image resolution but also enhances the image quality by adding new pixels to maintain the original picture quality. You can watch the side-by-side comparison in the screenshot below.
Pixelcut also offers upscaling photos up to 4x quality, but this feature requires an upgrade to their Pro plan priced at $59.99 per year. This plan unlocks additional features, such as background removal, batch photo editing, premium templates, fonts, and overlays.
Honorable Mention: If you want to upscale your image to up to 4x resolution for free, try Image Upscaler.
2. PhotoTune (Android App)
After seeing the astounding results from Pixelcut, I wondered if there were similar apps available for Android phones. Who knows? I might achieve even better results than with Pixelcut. Finally, after testing numerous image enlarger apps, I found a winner: PhotoTune. It consistently delivered excellent results and met all my requirements. You can see the result:
While you may be impressed by the outcome, there is a significant drawback – ads. Yes, I understand that to use the service for free, one has to tolerate ads. However, it’s quite frustrating to see pop up ads with every action.
Now, you may ask, why did you mention this app in the first place if it’s so inconvenient? Well, I tried out many image enlarger apps, but all of them had some sort of issue. Some provided only a decent level of upscaling, while others that produced good results often came with either a watermark, required a paid subscription, or offered only a free trial with upfront credit card details.
So, if you think you can deal with ads, this app won’t disappoint you; otherwise, opt for their paid subscription starting at $4.99/month for an ad-free experience.
3. EnhanceFox or Pixelup (iOS App)
After sharing the photo comparison with my office colleagues, they asked me to find a similar app for iPhone. And just like on Android, finding a reliable photo enlarger app with impressive results was challenging. Eventually, I discovered two such apps – EnhanceFox and Pixelup.
However, both apps came with compromises, as illustrated in the table below.
| EnhanceFox | Pixelup | |
|---|---|---|
| Ads | ✓ | ✓ |
| Watermark | ✘ | ✓ |
| Upscaling Limit | 3 per day | Unlimited |
| Price | $22.99 per year | $14.99 (Lifetime) |
Now that you know the key points, it’s your call whether to try these apps. I’ve tested many others, but most either required payment or didn’t meet expectations. These were the only two somewhat useful ones.
Enough talk, let the result speak for itself.
As you can see both the photo enlarger apps delivered good results and have similar output.
Closing Note
After reading the article, you may feel disappointed with the way Android and iOS apps function, particularly regarding the ads. However, there’s no need to worry; the online tools I’ve mentioned will easily enlarge your photos without sacrificing much quality. Simply remember to bookmark or note down these websites for future use.
