Camera Comparison: Google Pixel 4XL vs. iPhone 11 Pro Max

[The Game 161]

As an overall package the iphone 11 pro max is the best camera. Google not having an ultra wide and awful video is a deal breaking for a lot. Certainly some of the you tubers...many have said if they had to choose they would pick the iphone.

the main reason to buy a pixel is now over...apple really focused hard on photos this year and battery life and they nailed it this year and deep fusion isn’t even officially out yet...just wait for that.

 

[dantroline]

Summary...

Pixel 4 still wins in some small narrow areas, but no longer most. The areas they do win in are by an incredibly small margin now, small enough almost no one would care about the difference and the areas they lose in range from small to HUGE now like the lack of a wide angle camera and simply terrible video vs. iPhone means that iPhone 11 Pro wins overall easily.

Correct. You can only do so much with software (turns out you can do a LOT with software), but optics is what matters more.

 

[Coconut Bean]

iPhone is the clear winner here. Also

is the complete opposite of the conclusion MKBHD came to. It showed the P4 had shocking edge detection, and didn't really use the second camera for depth information at all. Never mind that it no longer can take wide portrait photos like the iPhone now can.

With that, terrible video, no wide angle camera and worse night mode it's hard to not make the iPhone the clear winner this year.

He arrived to the conclusion that Pixel is more bold than iPhone. In other words it has better bests but worse worsts than the iPhone when it comes to edge detection (and also other areas such as hdr, contrast etc.) iPhone would just always smooth out the edges.

Video IMO is very dependent on your use case. If you don't view your videos on 4k TV or do some heavy cropping then it really doesn't matter if you have 1080p or 4k. And when people start being honest to themselves they'll quickly realize that the small fraction of videos that are actually viewed again are on Instagram or the phone itself.

Wide angle is very nice and I agree that it was a mistake from Google not to add it.

I'm actually surprised to see how good Apple's night mode came to be. Only disappointment is that it didn't come to older models.

 

[Motawa]

some pixel pictures are better but it doesnt have the ultra wide, so...

 

[mytawalbeh]

As it’s a matter of personal preference, I would choose the iPhone 11 pro photos over any of Pixle’s except the night mode shot.

 

[Cleartz]

Summary...

Pixel 4 still wins in some small narrow areas, but no longer most. The areas they do win in are by an incredibly small margin now, small enough almost no one would care about the difference and the areas they lose in range from small to HUGE now like the lack of a wide angle camera and simply terrible video vs. iPhone means that iPhone 11 Pro wins overall easily.

I could not have said it any better!

 

[jona2125]

Install a third party camera app like Camera+ 2, shoot in RAW and then you can tweak the amount of noise reduction manually. That cuts out all of Apples fancy HDR and deep fusion processing.

I just wish the ultra-wide allowed RAW. There's so much extra noise and distortion added to the photos. It's not sharp at all in any photo I've taken on a few different devices.

 

[roundaboutmusic]

Let's remember for a moment that this is the Pro version of the iPhone, the PRO version!... head to head to the boring Pixel 4.

Let’s remember that these are the top versions, TOP versions from each company.

 

[gnipgnop]

ALL tech sites do this these days. Almost every comparison ends with “Who’s to say? Ultimately YOU decide what’s best for you!”

That's because tech sites are conditioned to do everything by spec sheets AND they use a double-standard for mobile reviews vs. desktop/laptop reviews, i.e., they don't treat CPU/GPU advantages as important when they're reviewing phones because that would make Apple the winner every time.

 

[mashdots]

both take great photos, but honestly I think the iPhone comes out on top here. Then again, these are super low quality photos in the blog post so I'd like to see some RAW or full resolution images to really make a conclusion.

 

[T tx]

The iPhone night shot looks like the steeple is falling backwards.

 

[Edwardz!]

I think there is an overlooked point here, price. iPhone 11 Pro: £1049 vs Pixel 4 £829. That's 26% more expensive for the iPhone camera. On that basis you may argue that the Pixel represents better value for money.

 

[realtuner]

I think there is an overlooked point here, price. iPhone 11 Pro: £1049 vs Pixel 4 £829. That's 26% more expensive for the iPhone camera. On that basis you may argue that the Pixel represents better value for money.

You get a lot more with the iPhone than just the camera.

The lack of having your data mined by Google is a biggie. So is the superior service/support from Apple. And the better ecosystem.

 

[shanson27]

The Pixel is really the winner here 😫

 

[The Game 161]

The Pixel is really the winner here 😫


View attachment 871902View attachment 871903

but it’s based on more than two pictures....

 

[PrecisionGem]

I don't know why they call the third lens a "telephoto". In terms of equivalent 35mm lenses, the 3 lenses are: 13mm, 26mm and 52mm. A 50mm is considered a standard lens on a 35mm.

Here are 2 photos shot on my Nikon D750, both from the exact same position, both with the same zoom lens, one at each extreme.

This is what I think of when I hear telephoto.

 

[lowendlinux]

I like the Pixel pictures better except for the selfie.

 

[bchery21]

In comparisons I've seen it's usually the iPhone producing warmer tones vs the Pixel's cooler tones.

 

[shanson27]

but it’s based on more than two pictures....

I took this photo of this cute little baby with the iPhone 11 Pro and everything was 100% correct. The skin tone, hair, cloths everything !

 

[JLD94]

I think it's pretty humorous when comparisons are done and people insist on this or that one is the best when they are so close in many aspects. I personally like it when they do the blind tests and don't tell you until after you have decided for your self which picture you liked best.

For me in most cases I see some pictures that I think look better from each one. A pretty good mix honestly. I did find the Supersaf video with MKHD interesting and it was surprising that during his 'run' test the iphone did outperform the pixel with stabilization.

All in all they are both pretty great cameras

 

[anthogag]

I prefer the initial unedited picture to be true to life.

The next iPhone could have a close-up lens; get clarity at 10x.

Will Apple’s upcoming AR glasses have a camera view from the connected iPhone

 

[polbit]

Definite kudos to Apple for closing the gap that existed with X and Pixel 3. Night Mode Pixel still has an edge to me, but otherwise it's a toss-up. Lack of 4K60 video is a strange omission, but in all honesty irrelevant to most people right now.

 

[Rocko99991]

but it’s based on more than two pictures....

And pics that have not been heavily adjusted.

 

[sn0warmy]

Over the last 3+ years, the latest Pixel or Galaxy phone was the clear winner for me, in terms of photo quality, compared to the same year's iPhone. However, I must say that this time around, both cameras are equally great. And dare I say the iPhone 11's night shots look notably better.

My Pixel 4 arrives tomorrow and I'll be sticking with Android simply due to personal preference. But it's very clear that you're not going to go wrong with either phone, in terms of camera quality.

 

[spiderman0616]

That's because tech sites are conditioned to do everything by spec sheets AND they use a double-standard for mobile reviews vs. desktop/laptop reviews, i.e., they don't treat CPU/GPU advantages as important when they're reviewing phones because that would make Apple the winner every time.

I never even thought about the CPU/GPU comparisons in this way, but you're totally right. And if weren't already someone who follows this stuff, it would be a major disservice to me as a potential buyer of these devices. I do want things graded with those items in mind, because I do high powered things on my iPhone and iPad that benefit from the best hardware.