Google launched the Pixel 7 Pro, its new high-end flagship smartphone, in October. The Pixel 7 Pro was released just a few weeks after Apple’s new iPhone 14 Pro Max, so we thought we’d compare the cameras of both smartphones, pitting the high-end iPhone against the high-end Pixel 7.
On paper, the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Pixel 7 Pro have similar camera systems. The iPhone features a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 12-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 48-megapixel wide lens, which Apple calls the “main” camera. The Pixel 7 Pro has a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 48-megapixel telephoto lens, and a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens. The Pixel 7 Pro wins in terms of raw megapixels, especially for telephoto.
What we’ve learned from camera comparisons over the years is that high-end smartphones all take similar photos and they all turn out to be excellent. For the most part, you’ll get stunning images with the iPhone 14 Pro Max and Pixel 7 Pro, though there are a few differences to consider.
With standard photos, shadows are darker in iPhone images, with the Pixel 7 Pro brightening things up a bit. Images from the Pixel 7 Pro are less saturated and we see more vivid colors from the iPhone. In some cases, images coming directly from the Pixel 7 Pro camera look sharper, although this could be a software effect and a difference in the editing done by Google behind the scenes.
Wide-angle and ultra-wide images come out the same, but the telephoto capabilities of the Pixel 7 Pro are much better than the telephoto capabilities offered by the iPhone. Google added 5x optical zoom, compared to 3x optical zoom for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it makes a difference. In fact, there’s an impressively sharp 30x Super Res digital zoom option.
In Portrait mode, the Pixel 7 Pro offers more depth of field for more background blur, which some people will prefer. It can sometimes struggle to separate subject from background, and it works better with people than objects.
As for the night mode, both smartphones have advantages and disadvantages. The Pixel 7 Pro is better for nighttime portraits of people because the iPhone tends to be too soft around the face, but the iPhone is better for shots that include the sky. The Pixel 7 Pro is sharper on more frames and it wins in astrophotography, but there are artifact issues in some frames.
With video, the iPhone 14 Pro Max does a better job, which is a theme we’ve seen for several years now. Video from the iPhone is sharper, although Google has made some progress in stabilization. Cinematic mode on the iPhone has improved in 2022 with support for 4K 24 and 30 fps video, while the Pixel’s cinematic blur is limited to 30 fps.
Overall, the Pixel 7 Pro has the edge when it comes to photos, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max wins in the video category, but both smartphones take excellent images and it’s often hard to decide which is better. What do you think of the Pixel 7 Pro? Let us know in the comments below.