Google Pixel 3. f/1.8 at 4.44mm, 1/20 sec, ISO 55.
Extraordinary images in both good and low light
The original Pixel deserves a special commendation for kickstarting always-on HDR two years ago. The revolutionary feature has now become predominant, and current flagships, from the Apple iPhone Xs to the Samsung Galaxy S9, shoot with HDR by default.
The Pixel 3 continues with always-on HDR+, which captures up to eight frames. It merges them into a single image that’s more full of color and light than a single frame could express. That helps the Pixel 3 overcome the limitations of a single, small sensor. It’s important to remember that even the best of today’s large sensor digital cameras don’t, or can’t, shoot handheld HDR images as the default.
Today’s flagship smartphone cameras are so good that in good light, differences are marginal and come down to a matter of taste. The Pixel 3, for example, produces beautiful images full of detail and color.
Google Pixel 3. f/1.8 at 4.44mm, 1/25 sec, ISO 249.
The Huawei P20 Pro applies the most sharpening and contrast, which can look hyperreal. The iPhone Xs dials back on the HDR to produce a more natural looking image, but details appear softer in comparison.
Huawei P20 Pro. f/1.8 at 3.95mm, 1/25 sec, ISO 320.
iPhone Xs. f/1.8 at 4.25mm, 1/25 sec, ISO 500.
In low light, the Pixel 3 hands in a startlingly performance. Both the Huawei P20 Pro and Pixel 3 hand in impressively clean images at high ISOs. But both the P20 Pro and the iPhone Xs’ pictures lose color saturation in low light. The Pixel 3 is the only one that records scenes as I saw them in real life. In the following images, for example, the Pixel 3 was the only one to capture the lamp’s yellow light, and retain the blue of the background wall.
Note: We were looking forward to testing the new Night Sight feature, which promises even better images in low light and might give the P20 Pro’s Night Mode a run for its money. But it turns out that Night Sight isn’t available at launch. Google only says it’s coming “after 10/18.”
Google Pixel 3. f/1.8 at 4.44mm, 1/8 sec, ISO 1,675.
Huawei P20 Pro. f/1.8 at 3.95mm, 1/17 sec, ISO 6,400.
iPhone Xs. f/1.8 at 4.25mm, 1/4 sec, ISO 640.
A subject shot without digital zoom (back) and with the maximum Super Res Zoom (front).
Digital zoom has its limits
Google makes up for the lack of a secondary camera with a feature it calls ‘Super Res Zoom.’ It’s a fancier name for digital zoom, which is essentially cropping, enlarging, and interpolating details. Google says the the mode "uses the natural movement when you’re holding your phone in your hand to add additional resolution to zoomed shots."
Google is applying its computational magic onto digital zoom, but digital zoom is digital zoom. The effect still doesn't compare to a shot from an optically zoomed lens, like the telephoto on the iPhone Xs. It’s acceptable up to around the half-way mark, but the further you zoom in the blurrier the noisier the image becomes.
It’s worth noting, however, that phones like the iPhone Xs will apply its own version of digital zoom. When you tap for the 2x zoom in low light, the iPhone Xs will default to the wide-angle lens and digitally crop that shot instead.
To illustrate Super Res Zoom, let’s look at this photo of the White Rabbit.
Google Pixel 3. f/1.8 at 4.44mm, 1/100 sec, ISO 61.
To get a baseline, here’s the 100% crop of the wide-angle, non-zoomed, images from the Pixel 3 (left) and iPhone Xs (right). As noted earlier, the iPhone Xs’ images appear softer compared to the Pixel 3.
This is a digitally zoomed Pixel 3 shot. It’s not the Pixel 3’s maximum zoom but one that best matches the iPhone Xs’ telephoto lens’ zoom.
A 100% crop of the digitally zoomed image from the Pixel 3 (left), and a 100% crop of a shot from the iPhone Xs’ telephoto lens (right). We zoomed in a tad too much with the Pixel 3, but you can see the optically zoomed iPhone Xs photo is more natural.
Here’s the White Rabbit at the Pixel 3’s maximum digital zoom. Not terrible, not great.
f/1.8 at 4.44mm, 1/1,250 sec, ISO 90.
Despite only one camera, Portrait Mode is excellent
Despite not having a second camera, the Pixel 3 does an excellent Portrait Mode. The Pixel 3 uses spilt pixels to create background blur, akin to how Canon uses split pixels in its Dual Pixel AF technology to determine focus.
Portrait Mode still struggles with fine details like hair, and doesn’t nail the right objects to blur all the time. But to be fair, nobody has really created the perfect Portrait Mode yet, every phone still struggles with accuracy to some extent.
The Pixel 3 often nails Portrait Mode more often than not, but in this instance it missed the flowers nearest to Dorothy.
The Pixel 3 struggles with fine hair (see the 100% crop, right), but otherwise this shot is excellent.
The Pixel 3’s Portrait Mode has two advantages when compared to the iPhone Xs. First, the Pixel 3 doesn’t need you to be at an optimal distance to shoot portraits, meaning you have more freedom to compose.
Second, I’ve never seen a better phone shoot inanimate objects with Portrait Mode. The Pixel 3’s ability to accurately discern between subject and background is uncanny. It nails background blur with complex objects that foils other phones like the iPhone Xs.
A complex subject that Portrait Mode nails perfectly.
The Pixel 3 (left) nails this incredibly complex Portrait shot, which confounds the iPhone Xs (right). I’ve never seen a smartphone’s Portrait Mode do this well before.
Whereas Portrait Mode on the rear camera is excellent, on the front camera it’s as bad as ever. This is where the iPhone Xs has the advantage. The Pixel 3 also doesn’t let you adjust the amount of background blur for the rear camera, which is a pity. Edit: The Pixel 3 does actually let you adjust the amount of background blur. The setting is buried in the edit photo option, which shows up at the bottom after you take a picture. You can adjust the depth as a whole, or adjust separately for blur and foreground blur. In addition, you can change the focal point of the image as well.
Portrait Mode with the front camera (left) and a 100% crop (right). Definitely not as magical as the rear camera.
Big wide selfies
The Pixel 3 may have a single rear camera, but Google snuck in two cameras on the front. Both come with 8MP sensors, one has a wide-angle f/2.2 lens, while the other has a normal f/1.8 lens. Instead of two perspectives, however, the Camera app gives you varying degrees of zoom. The wide-angle isn’t just useful for group selfies. As you can see in the images below, the wide-angle also lets you capture more of the background.
A selfie captured at the most zoomed in setting.
A selfie captured in the default perspective.
A selfie captured at the widest setting.
Smooth videos, from front and back
The Pixel 3’s image stabilization for videos is as good as it was on the Pixel 2. There’s rolling shutter on the preview when you shoot, but not when you watch the video after. Yes, there’s slight wobbliness, but I doubt most people shoot videos with as much motion as I do in these tests. But videos in low light are noisy, and it’s too bad Google can’t apply the same computational magic in motion as it does for stills.
The front camera’s video stabilization is also surprisingly solid. It’s no GoPro Hero 7, but it seriously reduces the shaky cam. Take note though, the Pixel 3's Fused Video Stabilization works only on the rear camera, though "digital video stabilization" works for the front camera too and will lock onto faces.
Camera conclusion
Last year, I wrote that the Pixel 2 was an excellent camera, but an incomplete one. The Pixel 3 is a more complete camera this year, but still not a very well-rounded one.
Stills in good and low light are exceptional, and the best from a flagship smartphone that I’ve seen this year. Image stabilization on video is excellent, especially for the front camera. The two front-facing cameras should prove useful for people who shoot group selfies as well as for people who just want more of the background in an image.
Portrait Mode misses some of the details, like fine hair, but looks good otherwise. Portrait Mode shines at shooting complex, inanimate objects with more definite edges. And because the Pixel 3 doesn’t require you to shoot portraits at an optimal distance, it gives you more flexibility to compose your shots.
The lack of a telephoto lens is the Pixel 3’s biggest weakness, especially when we’re seeing two to four rear cameras on smartphones these days. Super Res Zoom does its best, but can’t compete with a real telephoto camera.
And videos in low light are still noisy. Plus, I didn't get the chance to elaborate, but the Pixel 3’s panorama shots are as awful as last year’s.
Note: This article was first published on Oct 16, 2018.
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