7 years ago |
'07 #1 |
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Sorry, Google, The Pixel's Camera Isn't Better Than The iPhone 7 Or Galaxy S7
When Google announced the Pixel smartphone, its high-end iPhone competitor, it pointed to an unexpected achievement: the highest-rated smartphone camera ever.
The rating, an 89/100, comes from the website DxOMark — edging out the Galaxy S7 (88) and iPhone 7 (86).
That's an impressive score, and offers a reason to sit up and take notice of this smartphone's camera.
But there are reasons to be doubtful. It simply isn't the case, as many people seem to think, that DxOMark's scores represent the objective truth about a camera's quality.
A closer analogy would be college rankings. When US News and World Report declares Rice University has edged out Washington University, its conclusion is based on an internal system for weighing different statistics about the school. And that system reflects the value judgments of its creators — whether they care more about research or student experience, alumni donations or selectivity. It's an art, but it offers the illusion of science.
DxOMark similarly has a system for assigning devices numeric scores, which gives the illusion of objectivity. But the group makes value judgments, some of which I strongly disagree with. It assigns phones like the LG G5, HTC 10, and Xperia Z5 similar scores as the iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 — scores that I'm sure make perfect sense within its system, but in my view don't reflect how those phones perform in the real world.
So I compared the Pixel with the iPhone and Galaxy. I didn't stick them in manual mode or perform scientific tests of dynamic range. Instead, I was interested in one question: How the phones performed when asked to capture a photo the way most people use them.
Reasonable people can disagree about which of the closely matched iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 offers better quality and features. (I've argued that the S7 is the winner by a hair.) But, in all but a few measures, I found the Pixel simply can't stand up to them in real-world performance.
Take a look for yourself.
Here's what an average photo looks like from each phone in a fairly typical situation: plenty of sun, plenty of color, and a less-than-ideal mix of shine and shadow.
Pixel
iPhone 7
Pixel
Galaxy S7
In my first hours with the Pixel, my impression was pretty negative. Again and again, it made obvious mistakes in color balancing and focus that you rarely see from the S7 or iPhone. In this example, I'd told each camera to expose for leaves on the upper-left of the frame.
Pixel
iPhone 7
Pixel
Galaxy S7
There were no difficult situations where the Pixel outperformed both the iPhone and Galaxy S7. Though there were a few were it beat out just one of them — like the Galaxy S7 example below.
Pixel
iPhone 7
Pixel
Galaxy S7
Turning on HDR doesn't help matters. I find the Pixel's results even more garish and over-the-top than usual for a smartphone.
↪ Sorry, Google, the Pixel's camera isn't better than the iPhone 7 or Galaxy S7 - Business Insider
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