Google is definitely giving apple a run for its money. Their new Pixel phone (formerly Nexus) just scored a full 89 on DXO’s mobile camera test. This is the highest score that a smartphone ever got on DXO.
It’s true the iPhone 7 Plus does have dual lenses and some pretty awesome features, but as far as camera quality, Google is setting a high bar. Not to say that the iPhone 7 scored badly, it scored 86 with a stellar review, but it is still 3 points short.
What’s specifically caught my eye is what DXO are saying on low light/high ISO performance (bolding is mine)
With an overall DxOMark Mobile score of 89, pixel, the latest Google smartphone, is the highest-rated smartphone camera we have ever tested. Its image quality scores are impressive across the board, but it is particularly strong in providing a very high level of detail from its 12.3MP camera, with relatively low levels of noise for every tested lighting condition. It also provides accurate exposures with very good contrast and white balance, as well as fast autofocus
On their low light section DXO noted that:
Low-light and indoor scenes
The Pixel is one of the best devices (maybe the best) we’ve ever tested for its ability to render poorly-lit scenes with low noise, while retaining good detail – even in 10 Lux and below. Its hybrid autofocus, using both laser- and phase-detect pixels, is also accurate in low-light conditions.
Low light has been a pain in the neck for smartphone photographers for a long while, and the fact that google managed to address this issue shows that it is possible to get low light photos with a smartphone.
Google’s Pixel announcement was full with small pokes on the recent iPhone 7 announcement, mentioning the fact that the Pixel’s lenses don’t stick out from the body.
full score sheet from DXO
What do you think will the Pixel Camera over do the fancy iPhone dual lens camera?
[Pixel smartphone camera review | DXO]
