Can you tell if a plant needs to be watered by looking at its leaves?

I have an indoor Pothos, and sometimes I think I can tell it needs to be watered just by looking at the leaves. It's like they look "thirsty" to me, they look kind of dry, and they're a lighter shade of green. The thing is when I put my finger in the soil to check if it's dry, I think I can still feel a little moisture, and my plant has had problems with root rot before, so I don't want to water it until I'm sure the soil is dry. Am I just imagining things?