Tom's guide compared the Pixel 6 camera to the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pixel seems to take better photos. Thoughts?
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iPhone 14 Pro Camera comparison: Pixel 6 vs iPhone 14 Pro
- Thread starter Retskrad
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I had a pixel 6 pro. The issue with the device and the entire pixel line at this point isn't so much the camera. Like most smart phones we are splitting hairs when we talk about "best" cameras. They all take good enough pictures for most people.
The pixel's issue is the Tensor chip.
The pixel's issue is the Tensor chip.
Pray tell, for us apple diehards who only know apple, what is the Tensor chip and what is the issue with it?
I'm not an expert on it.
Pixel used to use Qualcom chips, they were awesome. Google switched to Tensor which is supposed to be a special "custom" chip but in reality its Samsungs older version they basically have been moving on from and Google is now buying to put in their devices. They are inefficient pieces of **** chips that have high heat output and cause issues with devices doing anything. My 6 pro couldn't record 4k longer than a five minutes because it would over heat. It would over heat with maps running. It was a total POS device. In addition to this the tensor chip's radio is garbage as well. Signal is 8-12 dbm worse on mine vs the iPhone and other devices show similar differences. Heat is inefficiency and inefficiency leads to sub standard battery life and the pixels have that in abundance.
One of the reasons I got off Android and moved to iPhone last year was the 6pro and my experience with it. I'm tired os Samsung and the **** ware bloat they have going on with their system. Oneplus, I'm good with my data being mined in China. Moto doesn't have great software support, owned by google now iirc.
Thanks for the explanation! As usual, it’s about the whole package, not cherry-picked feature stats.
Certainly. I would actively avoid the Pixel line until google gets off the Tensor chip. The Pixel line has been trash for a few releases now and the 7 will likely be no different.
As for camera, honestly most smart phones are going to fill the need. Especially when we are talking about anything in the mid range and up. Samsung makes some devices with awesome cameras. IF I went back to android I would probably go that route. You deal with a lot of bloat though.
Tom's guide compared the Pixel 6 camera to the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pixel seems to take better photos. Thoughts?
This is a pretty mixed bag really. Most of these issues are processing issues (some are likely capture issues like AWB). Among the comparison images, I would say I prefer the iPhone over the Pixel. There are a couple of ties and a couple where I prefer the Pixel.
I would want to see these places physically as there may be times I prefer the rendition of either phone but I would not feel they captured the scene accurately.
It would be great for Apple to tone down the processing a bit and gives users a bit more control though. ProRaw is too heavy for everyday use.
Pixel completely destroys iPhone in stills. Whatever Google are doing with pixel binning, color reproduction, HDR, and white balance needs to be studied meticulously at Apple. Apple need a complete revamp of how they render colors for starters, especially skin tones. The Pixel 6 Pro has just 2 more megapixels than the 14 Pro and Google also utilize pixel binning yet somehow their image detail is leagues above the 14 Pro.
As others have pointed out in the review reactions thread there are longstanding issues with iPhone photography that remain mostly unaddressed in the 14 Pro series. Given that Apple are finally upgrading to a 48MP sensor I assumed this would mean a revamp of the iPhone postprocessing pipeline entirely to catch up with Google and Samsung, I was wrong. I'm still gonna enjoy those 48MP ProRAW images but I'm very disappointed with how little progress Apple have made to address the issues like poor white balance (yellow tinge), oil painting effect (wouldn't higher megapixel count help with this? guess not), etc.
If you put aside your issues with the Pixel 6 Pro as an overall smartphone (I know there are a lot of issues) and accept that neither phone's camera is superior to the other in each category (video is apparently better on iPhone) I still can't see how the conclusion isn't that Pixel 6 is better for stills in most scenarios.
As others have pointed out in the review reactions thread there are longstanding issues with iPhone photography that remain mostly unaddressed in the 14 Pro series. Given that Apple are finally upgrading to a 48MP sensor I assumed this would mean a revamp of the iPhone postprocessing pipeline entirely to catch up with Google and Samsung, I was wrong. I'm still gonna enjoy those 48MP ProRAW images but I'm very disappointed with how little progress Apple have made to address the issues like poor white balance (yellow tinge), oil painting effect (wouldn't higher megapixel count help with this? guess not), etc.
If you put aside your issues with the Pixel 6 Pro as an overall smartphone (I know there are a lot of issues) and accept that neither phone's camera is superior to the other in each category (video is apparently better on iPhone) I still can't see how the conclusion isn't that Pixel 6 is better for stills in most scenarios.
Basically if iPhone could just get the white balance right, tone down the sharpening, get the exposure right by correcting blown out highlights, and improve the overall color depth I would prefer it over Pixel for stills.
I didn’t look at the article but for me if “picture quality” was of the utmost importance I would reach a real camera and not any phone. Just my opinion (after being involved in photography for going on 55 years).