Gadgetory

google says a camera on its pixel - can beat the iPhone 8 plus using just one lens yet again to find out we put them to the test at pier 39 in San Francisco all shots were taken on the default settings with Auto HDR unless we said otherwise in ideal conditions landscapes seem to be neck-and-neck on these two phones the colors look slightly more saturated with more contrast on the iPhone but the pixel seems to have a bit more detail the downside of having just one lens though is that the pixel can only do digital zoom and at 2x this shot of alcatraz looks washed out in grainy up close the iphone uses the second telephoto lens as an optical zoom making alcatraz look sharper and more vibrant the same goes for actual close-ups the greater contrast on the iphone makes the grains of salt look clearer whereas on the pixel it all kind of starts to blend together the iPhone also uses a telephoto lens for its portraits along with image processing the pixel creates the blurred background effect using software and machine learning portrait mode on the iPhone is super easy you just swipe to the setting and that's it and then on the pixel though you have to click twice you have to click on settings then select portrait mode and you don't really know when it's activated because it doesn't have that yellow sign that the iPhone does I honestly thought the iPhone would be the clear winner here but I actually prefer the pixel version of Frisco Fred the colors are more accurate and there's more detail in his face and I do like this wider angle but the pixel didn't always get it right it's great with faces and pets but objects seem to be a challenge portraits on the iPhone are more consistent and you can portrait mode just about anything what you can't portrait mode on the iPhone is selfies selfies in general are better on the pixel you can also use that same blurred background effect as on the rear camera as long as you're both looking in the same plane for portraits in the more challenging setting of the mirror maze we turned on the flash Lexie's eyes look red and her face looks washed out on the pixel the iPhone made the light seem more natural but it's not as clear but with no flash and no subjects the pixel takes the crown this picture of the arches looks sharper with the better colors the iPhone is well lit but there's more noise on the pillars look it's a pretty even playing field when it comes to the cameras on these two phones they don't get much better than this and in some shots I could barely tell the difference what's clear is that this year the pixel is able to keep up and sometimes even outperforming the iPhone using just one lens and it's software at least as far as stills are concerned video is a different story and you'll have to watch our video comparison for that