Ever since Google released its brand new smartphone Pixel, tech enthusiasts have been comparing it against the iPhone 7. The search engine giant has been pretty confident that its new phone sports the best “camera anyone has ever made.” In a comprehensive camera test, folks at The Verge found that Google Pixel indeed has a better camera than the iPhone 7 and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge.
Pixel has a clear advantage in bright light
During the unveiling of Pixel, Google’s VP of product management Brian Rakowski highlighted that DxOMark had given the Pixel camera a score of 89, the highest points ever given to a smartphone. The Verge said Google was absolutely right about the quality of Pixel’s main camera. Pixel has a clear advantage over the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 Edge when it comes to shooting scenes in bright light.
Pixel loses far less detail in bright light than the other two. Google’s device doesn’t handle shadows very well, though. In low-light photography, Google Pixel lags behind the iPhone 7, as it shows “some unwanted noise and blotchiness.” However, Pixel gives you good enough images to upload on social media without having to worry about editing them.
It’s worth pointing out that The Verge had pitted Google Pixel against iPhone 7, not the iPhone 7 Plus, which has two rear cameras. The Plus version with a telephoto lens, optical zoom, and a game-changing Portrait mode offers you more versatility. The Verge said the iPhone 7 Plus will “leave you better prepared in more situations than any of these three phones that we tested.”
iPhone 7 has an edge in raw performance
It doesn’t mean the iPhone 7 lags behind Google Pixel in other aspects as well. When it comes to raw performance, benchmark tests have shown that Apple’s brand new iPhone is way ahead of Pixel. According to Geekbench, Google Pixel and Pixel XL have a score of 1648 in single-core tests and 4004 in multi-core tests. The iPhone 7 received a single-core score of 3449 and a multi-core score of 5564.
Pixel’s score was even lower than the last year’s iPhone 6S Plus, which had a single-core rating of 2508 and a multi-core rating of 4106. Google Pixel comes with 4GB RAM and Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. The iPhone 7 features an A10 Fusion chip that includes two high-efficiency and two high-performance cores. While the iPhone 7 features 2GB RAM, the 5.5-inch comes with 3GB RAM.
Pixel is a worthy competitor to the new iPhones. But if Google wants to stay in the smartphone business for a long time, it has to focus on what Apple is well-known for: After-sales support. That’s one area where most Android vendors don’t have a good track record. When it comes to smartphone ownership, the iPhone offers the least frustrating experience.
