Pixel’s camera showcase (Pixel, Pixel 2 and Pixel 3)

Is Pixel 3 camera really as good as they say? Two more people in my office got so impressed (Samsung owners), that they ordered their Pixels the same day (they were due for a contract upgrade). I have to say, that the pictures are impressive. The camera’s sensor may not look spectacular on paper, but thanks great pixel processing behind the Google Camera app, every pixel looks amazing. This begs a question: “what’s more important: the hardware or the image processing?”

Pixel camera showcase (Pixel, Pixel 2 and Pixel 3)

I’m not going to answer this question, use your eyes, develop your own opinion. Below, you will find the pictures taken from the following phones using the same Google Camera app:

• Pixel, Pixel XL
• Pixel 2 XL (no access to Pixel 2 unfortunately)
• Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL

I’d like to thank Mikhail (@sekela) for sending me XL versions of the pictures, thanks to him the scope of this write-up goes beyond the original “night sight” feature.

Pixel vs Pixel 3 Selfie

Pixel XL, vs Pixel 3 Portrait (and lens blur substitute for Pixel)

Pixel XL, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 XL Portrait (and lens blur substitute for Pixel XL)

Pixel vs Pixel 3 “Night Sight”

Pixel vs Pixel 3 at night

Pixel XL, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 XL “Night Sight”

Pixel XL, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 XL at night

Pixel vs Pixel 3 normal mode

Pixel XL, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 XL normal mode

I hope you enjoyed this little experiment. Camera-wise, Pixel 3 stands out. There is no doubt about it. I’d love to see a full manual mode for the Camer app sometime soon but I know for sure it would be used rarely. Pixel 3 is an incredibly good point and shoot camera as it is. If you want to see all the pictures in higher rez, you can download the zip here.