Less than a day after the Google Pixel 2 was unveiled, industry experts DxOMark have already published their views on the camera of the phone.
Last year’s Google Pixel had been the best camera phone until the recent release of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Apple iPhone 8 Plus, two phones that have a score of 94 on DxOMark. However, the same team now says that the new Google Pixel 2 is way better than anything they’ve tested before, beating the two high-end phones from Samsung and Apple with a score of 98.
This has never been witnessed before, which all but sums up how good Google is when it comes to software. Why the mention of software? Because the Google Pixel 2 has a single-lens camera compared to the dual-lens setups on the iPhone 8 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 – hardware configurations that should give the latter pair an edge over the former.
According to DxOMark, the Google Pixel 2 is nothing like they’ve seen before with respect to video performance, scene reproduction, fast and accurate autofocus as well as color rendering. The reviewers were also keen to highlight the amazing ability to render detail regardless of the lighting conditions. However, every good thing has a downside and apparently, the Pixel 2’s comes in the shape of exposure in very low light images, where you’ll notice increased noise in HDR scenes, but you’ll still notice excellent exposure and highlight preservation.
The Apple iPhone 8 Plus was still a notch higher when it comes to zoom capability. Also, the Pixel 2 – at times – exposed aliasing and moiré items in medium and long-range zooms. The Pixel 2 also loses out on the zoom and bokeh effects that dual-lens cameras such as those on the iPhone 8 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 are so good at.
Best camera ever on a smartphone. Highest ever DXOMARK score of 98. Power of AI+Software+Hardware! https://t.co/EGYWB7zWAC
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) October 4, 2017
Now, according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the reason the Pixel 2 is outscoring every other smartphone in terms of camera superiority is the combination of artificial intelligence, great hardware and software. For years now, Google has come up with the best smartphone cameras thanks to the use of great software. Now that the power AI has joined the party, don’t be surprised if future Pixel phones take this to the next level – or perhaps the new iPhone X, which also boasts AI at the core of its functionality.