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So, the Pixel hasn't had the best run in our tests lately. Not only did it finish behind every other flagship in our battery test, it also came dead last in our speed test. But, if there's one thing that Pixel phones have always excelled at, it has been their cameras. So, today it's going head-to-head against the iPhone in our all-new camera test, one that we've spent the last 2 years building to finally let us answer questions that, honestly, we just couldn't definitively answer before. Like, which phone can track a moving subject more reliably? Or which one is more color accurate? Or maybe most importantly, which one can actually take a better photo in low light when you
have a moving subject like a kid or a pet. Now, in order to be able to answer these questions objectively, we had to control for as many of the variables as possible. Starting with something that you don't think about and, honestly, super basic, making sure that we're actually taking the same photo. Like, take a look at these two shots. It's the same phone at the same scene, yet they look different. And that's just because we were holding them a few inches apart side-by-side the way we normally do in a field test. So, to correct for this, we use computer vision, custom calibration targets, and lasers to have our robots align every camera on every phone to the same position in 3D space, down to a
square centimeter. Next, we simulate the exact same hand tremor on every phone, so the natural variation you'd get from holding two phones side-by-side won't be a factor. And then finally, with our custom-built motion platform, we can keep our realistic silicone heads either perfectly still or move them with millimeter precision, something that is required if you want repeatability. Which means that the Pixel finally has its shot at getting itself into the win column here at PhoneBuff. But, whether or not it will though, well, there's only one way to find out. This video is sponsored by Lumu, who sent out their new Geo 5 Pro, which isn't just a kickstand, but it's basically a pocket-sized utility tool that can snap
to the back of your phone. So, you get these strong 25 Newton magnets, meaning even the heavier phones can stay stable when you prop it up on a desk without having a 0 to 80° hinge, which makes it great for watching videos, for taking calls, or even just setting it up for a quick filming angle. But, my favorite part about this thing is the noise that it makes when it rotates. It just has this super satisfying mechanical click to it, which almost makes it feel like a fidget toy. The star of the show, though, is the five everyday tools that are hidden inside, where you get a flathead screwdriver that also doubles as a file. You get a SIM ejector tool, a micro saw, and a utility knife. So, you
can use this thing for opening packages, for cutting paper, or just handling small little fixes. And as a bonus, they even added a built-in protractor scale in here, which is kind of fun. You can learn more at the first link down below. All right. So, this first module is low-light motion. And honestly, this is the one I've been wanting to run the Pixel through ever since we started developing this camera test. Because if there's any one thing that leads to more deleted photos than anything else, it is blur, which usually happens when you're trying to take a photo in a challenging lighting condition and then your subject moves, whether that's a kid, a pet, or anybody who won't sit still. To test it,
we move our subject at three different speeds, so easy, medium, and hard, while precisely controlling both motion and the shutter timing. And honestly, the results surprised me. So, starting at the easy speed, both phones did pretty well. Like every shot from both phones landed in what I would consider to be the keeper category, so a score over 40. But, where there was a difference was how many were considered sharp, where on the iPhone, 12 of the 20 shots crossed our sharpness threshold, which is 55 points and above. While on the Pixel, all 20 of the shots did. And the gap actually only grew as the test got harder. So, at medium speed, the iPhone wasn't able to produce a single sharp
photo, while the Pixel went 20 for 20 again, where every single shot scored above 55. And then we got to the hard mode, which is the kind of movement you'd see when a kid like quickly turns their head. And this is where I was honestly blown away, where even at the hardest speed, 14 of the Pixel's 20 photos were still being classified as sharp with the remaining six still being comfortably within that acceptable range. But, maybe the wildest part of all of this is the Pixel's worst photo in that hard mode scored almost exactly the same as the iPhone's best photo in that hard mode, which is a huge gap.
Now, the story wasn't quite as dramatic on the other camera. So, while the Pixel still had the edge on telephoto with 19 of its shots still landing in the acceptable category compared to just one on the iPhone, neither phone was producing sharp telephotos, either. And then on the ultrawide, well, the two phones were pretty close. The Pixel was the only phone to be able to produce sharp images at the easy speed, but then the iPhone actually did a little bit better at the hardest speed. But, I think the big story here is what happened with those main cameras since that's the one that you use most of the time. And on that camera, at least when it comes to low-light motion, the Pixel
is objectively on a different level. But, we'll see how it does here in the zoom smoothness. And unfortunately for the Pixel, it did nowhere near as well as it did in low-light motion. The iPhone was not only smoother by a long shot, but it was also more consistent across our trials. It basically lived around the 80-point mark, while the Pixel ranged from as low as 46 to its high of 56, which obviously still wasn't close to the iPhone. And when you take a closer look at the footage, it's pretty easy to see why. It's not just that the Pixel has larger jumps between lenses, but it's also all the little stutters and jitters that it has along the way that just makes the video look choppy.
Now, the good news for Pixel owners, though, is Google does have an option called video boost. And when we enabled it and ran the test back, the results were actually pretty incredible. The Pixel went from scoring significantly worse than the iPhone to actually scoring higher than it, producing a zoom path that was almost perfectly straight. The catch with this, of course, is video boost requires cloud processing. So, you have to send the video over to Google and then wait up to an hour to get the results back. And you know, since we're talking about the default camera experience, the iPhone still wins this module by a wide margin, especially when you factor in the quality drop the Pixel
has right before it transitions to telephoto, which actually isn't even reflected in the score. All right, so in this next module, we're just trying to answer one question. When you have a fast-moving subject, which of these phones can actually keep them in focus more reliably? And starting with the main cameras, the good news is both phones are pretty good. The iPhone ended up with about 91% of its frames in focus on average compared to 87% on the Pixel. But the interesting thing is when we switch the phones over to their cinematic modes, this time the iPhone pulled ahead by a much bigger margin, with it having 88% of its frames in focus compared to just 62% on the Pixel. And looking at the footage, the iPhone
was simply more reliable at keeping its subject sharp throughout the clip, especially when the face was further back from the camera, or when the subject was first entering the frame. But the even bigger difference came from the ultrawide cameras, where the iPhone had roughly double the amount of frames in focus at 57% compared to just 28% on the Pixel. With the Pixel just taking longer to lock back onto the face after it enters the frame. While the iPhone was able to recapture focus much more quickly. And then finally, on the telephoto cameras, it was basically the same story as the ultrawide, with the Pixel just having a harder time maintaining focus as the subject was moving back and forth. The iPhone wasn't
perfect by any means, but it was noticeably more reliable throughout our test. So while the phones were close on the main camera, the iPhone pulled ahead in cinematic mode, in ultrawide, and in telephoto. So it's another win for the iPhone here in the focus and tracking module. Here in color accuracy, we're looking at two things. First, how faithfully each phone can reproduce the colors in a scene compared to our calibrated reference. And then second, how consistent those colors remain as you switch between a phone's own cameras. Where starting with the ultrawide camera, the Pixel was technically more accurate according to the chart data, but when you actually look at the model's face, you can see that the iPhone's doing a better job
with local tone mapping. Switching over to the main camera, this time the Pixel got the edge both on the chart and on the model's face, although the difference wasn't that big. And then on the telephoto, it was kind of the opposite of the ultra wide, where this time the iPhone was slightly more accurate on the chart, while the Pixel was slightly more accurate on the face. Now, those were just photos. When we switch over to video on the ultra wide, neither phone was particularly accurate, with them both just boosting the brightness on the model's face. Moving over to the main camera, the two were close again. The Pixel was a little bit more accurate to the chart, with the iPhone being a little bit closer on the
model's face. And then on telephoto video, we essentially saw the same thing, with the Pixel maintaining a small advantage on the chart, while the iPhone was a little bit closer on the face. So, like the takeaway here is both phones are pretty close when it comes to color accuracy. And the good news is when it comes to color consistency, well, they're both pretty consistent across their own lenses, with no major shifts as you move from ultra wide to main or from main to telephoto. Of course, that was just one scene, and you know, there are an infinite number of scenes out there that obviously we couldn't test. But one thing that we did want to push was skin tones. Where the
setup for this test is simple. We take one sample with only our light skin model in frame, one with only our dark skin model in frame, and then one with both of them together to see how each phone reacts to these different situations. And starting with the ultra wides, the iPhone had the clear advantage. Across all three testing scenarios, the Pixel was just pushing the brightness up more aggressively, which caused it to drift further from our reference. Once we switched over to the main camera, though, that gap mostly disappeared. Both phones did reasonably well here, with the Pixel tending to be a little bit more accurate when it came to the darker skin model, while the iPhone was a little bit more accurate
when it came to the lighter skin model. And then on telephoto, it was actually even closer, with neither phone establishing a meaningful advantage. And then when it comes to video, it was basically the same story. There were a few situations where the Pixel had the advantage due to the darker skin tones, and then others where the iPhone handled the lighter skin better. So, the overall takeaway is pretty simple. The iPhone wins on ultra wide, but once you get to the main camera or the telephoto, the gap between the two becomes surprisingly small. Next up is image stabilization, which is one of those areas that's nearly impossible to score without proper controls. And starting with the
ultra-wide camera, the Pixel had the slight advantage, which mainly came from the standing tremor test, where we mix in a couple of quick jerks to simulate the kind of hand twitch that you would naturally have while recording a video, where you can see how the Pixel just did a better job at absorbing those sudden movements. On the main camera though, the iPhone pulled ahead, and it's not for the reason that you would think. Like, technically, the Pixel did a better job at reducing the total amount of movement in frame. You can see it during the jerks, where you know, it actually moves less than the iPhone, but the trade-off for that is it introduces
this wobble into the image that just makes it look unnatural. You can especially see it during the walking and running tests, where you know, if you zoom in on the model's face, the Pixel's image is just vibrating and wobbling in a way that makes it look less polished overall. Now, the good news for the Pixel is when we switched over to each phone's action mode, that wobble is mostly eliminated. The Pixel actually uses its ultra-wide here, which explains the difference you're seeing in focal length, and maybe the trade-off for that is the image does become noticeably softer. And then finally, when we switch over to the telephoto cameras, this one was a bit of a mixed bag. So, during the
standing tremor, the Pixel did do a better job at absorbing those sudden jerks, but the problem was its stabilization was almost too aggressive, kind of refusing to return naturally to where you're pointing the camera, which is something that we factor into the score. In the walking test, we saw the same artifacts from the Pixel that showed up from the main camera, while in the running test, well, the story actually flipped. Neither phone was great here, but the iPhone was just all over the place. The Pixel, you know, it didn't look great, but it did at least manage to keep the footage usable. So, overall, this one is really close. The Pixel gets the nod on the ultra-wide, it
gets a slight win on the telephoto, but then the iPhone wins on the main camera. All right, so the final module that we're looking at is resolution, and this one's still in preview since we're still dialing in the scoring. But starting with the main cameras at their default settings, the iPhone had the advantage, which isn't entirely surprising considering it is outputting a 24-megapixel photo compared to the Pixel's 12. And you can see it most clearly in the star, where the Pixel just isn't able to resolve the detail here with the aliasing, whereas on the iPhone, those lines are perfectly sharp. What's interesting though is when we switch the phones to their highest resolution modes, the story actually
flips. This time the Pixel pulls ahead with the aliasing we saw earlier largely disappearing and the fine detail becomes cleaner. Video, however, swings back to the iPhone with it once again resolving slightly more detail. When we move over to the ultrawide, the iPhone pretty much takes over. Like whether we're looking at the default mode, the highest resolution mode, or video, the iPhone was consistently producing a cleaner image with fewer artifacts and better detail reproduction. And the same thing happens at telephoto. So at their default settings, the iPhone is noticeably sharper and unlike in the main camera, switching over to the Pixel's higher resolution mode doesn't do anything to close the gap. So you
know, while this module is still a work in progress, overall, I think the story is pretty clear. The Pixel's high-resolution is genuinely good and actually outperforms the iPhone. But then across the rest of the cameras and modes, the iPhone was consistently delivering the sharper image. All right. So to sum everything up, the iPhone ended up winning more modules overall. It was smoother when zooming, it was better at keeping subjects in focus, it was a slightly better in stabilization, and it generally resolved more detail across its lenses. The Pixel though absolutely dominated when it came to low-light motion, which if your goal is getting sharp photos of like your kids or your pets while you're indoors, it's
clearly on a different level. But anyway, that is it for me in this video. Thank you for watching and as always, I'll
