Pixel 6 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro Max vs Galaxy S21 Ultra: Camera Comparison

Google is back in the race for the very best smartphone out there with the Pixel 6 Pro!

Looking that close, you start to notice that the Pixel has a lot more oversharpening going on (evident in the halo around the edges of objects) and overall its detail is quite grainy and rough. The iPhone and Galaxy definitely seem to have the upper hand here. The Galaxy is a bit more aggressive with smoothening the detail on a photo and removing any grain and noise, while the iPhone doesn’t go as far, but we’d say it strikes the best balance here.

Zoom

Speaking of detail, it’s nice to know that you can get up close and personal with the 4X zoom lens on the Pixel, so we compare it agains the iPhone and the Galaxy. At 3X where you have a native zoom lens on the iPhone and the Galaxy, the Pixel loses out clearly, but then regains the lead at 4X where it looks a lot cleaner.

It all fall aparts for the iPhone further on as you can see in the 10X zoom shot, you have a sore lack of detail on the iPhone, but the Pixel is almost on par with the Galaxy which has a 10X native zoom lens, which is… interesting. It also begs the question whether you really need a separate 10X zoom lens when the difference seems to be quite negligible (we’d still give the Galaxy the slight edge).

At 15X, the iPhone is just out of the league of the other two, but it’s a close call between the Pixel and the Galaxy. The Galaxy actually has this weird glow around whites and highlights,  but otherwise has cleaner detail, but we’re just impressed with the Pixel which is very close behind it.

Portrait mode

1X is not the ideal mode for portrait photos of people, but all three phones have it and it uses the main camera, meaning that it is the most suitable one to use for low light scenarios. Interestingly, the Pixel uses a digital crop of the main camera so 1X really is a bit of a misnomer with it. As it’s using a digital crop, you get grainier, mushier detail on the Pixel compared to the true 1X portrait mode on the iPhone and the Galaxy. The colors are also darker and moodier on the Pixel, so these portraits are definitely a bit of an acquired taste, and we’d say not quite as good as the iPhone and Galaxy.

All three phones can use the main camera to capture portraits, but a true portrait begs for a longer lens and that more compressed view that isolates portrait subjects much better. And while you can use digital zoom on the Pixel to get up to 5X zoom in portrait mode, that only crops digitally from the main camera. So instead, we just used the 4X zoom camera WITHOUT portrait mode, and it actually looks quite good. Unfortunately, you don’t quite get the bokeh that you have on the the iPhone and Galaxy which can shoot at 3X using their zoom lenses, but it’s good to know that the best portrait mode on the Pixel might just be… not to use portrait mode and instead just capture a 4X regular photo.

Ultra-wide camera

Even though all three phones have “ultra-wide” cameras, these are quite different. For example, the Pixel only features an 18mm equivalent lens while the iPhone has a 13mm lens that captures a lot more in the frame and is much wider, and similarly so is the one on the Galaxy. If you have to shoot in tight spaces and want to capture the most, it’s the Galaxy and especially the iPhone that has the advantage simply because of the wider field of view.

Front camera

One cool thing with the Pixel front camera is that it is just so wide, as you can see in the first picture above. It can easily fit a large group in the photo, while that would be a stretch on the iPhone and the Galaxy. Of course, you also have a zoomed-in view if it’s just you in the frame.

In terms of quality, the most notable thing is just how aggressively sharp photos come out on the Pixel, while you have a softer look on the other phones. Being sharp is great, but it also tends to overemphasize little facial imperfections that all of us have.

Conclusion