And with early deliveries come early camera samples, which is good news for those who are impatient to see what Google’s been cooking up. Let’s not forget that the Pixel is named “Pixel” because it’s supposed to be a camera-centric flagship.These specific camera samples comparing the snappers of the brand new Pixel 9 and Apple’s nearly a year old iPhone 15 are courtesy of YouTuber JCVP11.
So, without further ado, let me tell you why I think Google might’ve messed up once again.
User who received his Pixel 9 early compares Google’s camera to iPhone 15 to show that Google refuses to learn its lesson
The iPhone takes the better, more accurate portrait, while the brand new Pixel 9 continues to struggle in Portrait mode – just like the Pixel 8, Pixel 7, and Pixel 6.
The only hardware upgrade to the camera of the Pixel 9 compared to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 7 is the new 48MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, which replaces the 12MP one used in the prior models. The new sensor is larger, which seems to help with clearer photos and videos in mixed and low light (as you can see this in the video).
Before proceeding to tell you why I’m worried the Pixel 9’s cameras might not be the upgrade we’ve all been asking for, I’ll remind you that I’ve been using the Pixel 8 Pro since launch – alongside the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Galaxy S24 Ultra.
I’ve taken hundreds of photos with Google, Samsung, and Apple’s flagship, so I know how their cameras tend to behave and perform.
With that in mind, my immediate observations, based on the samples you see here, are that Google hasn’t learned its lesson.
Early camera samples show Pixel 9 still takes lacklustre Portrait mode photos – just like Pixel 8, Pixel 7, and Pixel 6
Google messed up the Pixel’s Portrait mode algorithm while going from Pixel 5 to Pixel 6, and hasn’t been able to fix it ever since.
Unfortunately, this has been the case with my Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, and even the Pixel 6 Pro, which I bought and sold back in 2021. Portraits improved on Pixel 8 but they are still not on the level of the iPhone 15 or Galaxy S24, and Pixel 9 might not do enough to change that.
The Pixel’s issues with noisy video persist, show rear and selfie cam videos shot on Pixel 9 and iPhone 15
The Pixel 9’s selfie camera seems to take some of the noisiest low-light videos. The rear cameras can be noisy too.
Judging by the video sample in the comparison, it looks like the noisy videos my Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 6 Pro take, are still a thing with the Pixel 9. The screengrab you see above is from the selfie cameras.
My Pixel 8 Pro’s issues with capturing accurate colors indoors are back with Pixel 9?
According to the user who took the photos, the Pixel makes the scene yellow, which it isn’t.
The Pixel 9 can’t accurately capture the color red indoors. I’ve encountered this problem on my Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 6 Pro.
And last but not least, I also noticed another familiar camera issue with these photos taken with Pixel 9. I’m talking about the sheer struggle to reproduce accurate colors in indoor lighting conditions, and more specifically, when there’s artificial lighting in the scene.
My Pixel 8 Pro’s camera behaves similarly when compared to my iPhone 15 Pro Max. The Pixel is extremely likely to take an inaccurate photo (with inaccurate colors) when shooting indoors.
As noted by the user who took and shared the samples, the Pixel 9 takes a photo with inaccurate colors of the Coca Cola bottles hanging from the ceiling, while I’m noticing Google’s everlasting struggle to capture the color red – as seen in the “Taqado Mexican Kitchen” photo.
Early Pixel 9 camera samples prove Google continues to ignore annoying camera issues found in Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 6 Pro
Although I highly doubt anything is going to change (the Pixel 9 used in this comparison is a retail unit), bear in mind that we’ll be conducting our own detailed camera comparison to determine how improved the Pixel 9’s camera is.
Considering the “Pixel” is known for being “the camera phone to beat”, and that we’re talking about an $800 flagship, I’ll lie if I said I’m not disappointed.
For example, even a $200 Samsung phone can take a photo with more accurate colors (when shooting indoors) compared to my Pixel 8 Pro, and this simply shouldn’t be the case. I just can’t cut Google any slack here.
As it turns out, no matter how different the Pixel 9’s camera bar design is compared to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 7, Google’s super annoying image processing imperfections seem to persist for a third year in a row.
Apart from self-sabotaging, Google’s biggest problem, however, is that the competition isn’t slowing down.
As you can see, the Pixel 9 already struggles to compete with the iPhone 15 in certain aspects of the camera, and this is three weeks before the launch of the iPhone 16, which should be even better.
Either way, we’re looking forward to conducting our own Pixel 9 camera comparisons against the Pixel 8, Galaxy S24, and iPhone 15/16, to see exactly how hard Google has worked in the past year.
