Google Pixel

The new Google Pixel smartphone camera works overtime to woo iPhone users. GeoffHarris falls for its charms.

- GeoffHarris

Having been a denizen of the Apple ‘ecosystem’ since the early 1990s, both personally and professionally, the decision to dump my iPhone for a younger Android model did feel rather caddish. But this callous decision wasn’t taken lightly, and the Google Pixel isn’t just any old Android phone. Camera performance has always been a major criterion for me when choosing a new phone, so when the Google Pixel stormed to the top of DxO’s mobile rankings last year with an impressive score of 89, my head was turned. ‘The latest Google smartphone is the highest-rated smartphone camera we have ever tested,’ gushed DxO’s notoriously fastidious imaging pundits. Another whole hearted recommendation came from Lars Rehm, AP’s resident phone-camera guru, so the deal was sealed.

I’ve now had the phone a month, and while the honeymoon period is over, I am still besotted with the quality of its images. There are a few quirks, but hey, when is a new partner ever 100% perfect? Let’s look at some of the key photographic features of the Google Pixel before considering how it compares with its main rival, the iPhone 7.

Despite the natty blue casing, the Pixel and iPhone look so similar that even knowledgeable colleagues didn’t realise at first I had changed phone. While the Pixel lacks the fancy dual camera set-up of the iPhone 7 Plus, it certainly makes the most of what it’s got. The headline specs include a 12.3MP main camera, paired with a fast f/2 lens. Autofocus is taken care of by laser-detection (LDAF) and phase-detection (PDAF) systems, and the Pixel can also record 4K video at 30fps, and 1080p video at up to 120fps.