Pixel 8 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Test & Performance Review

this is the pixel 8 Pro and I’m not going to waste any time introducing the phone because I really want to get down to business I want to address the two main concerns that you folks might have how’s the new Tensor G3 chip on the phone does it throttle does it heat up and is the camera performance improved enough to beat the new Champion iPhone 15 Pro Max well I’ll answer all those questions and more in this detailed performance review and Camera test versus the iPhone 15 Pro max.

Benchmark

before I get down to the Benchmark results of the pixel 8 Pro allow me to rant a little the only variant of the pixel 8 Pro that is available in India currently is the 128gb variant I mean don’t Indians need more storage space

Read and write speed

The storage speeds are slow I mean even for the ufs 3.1 storage type the read speed is fine but the ride speed is weirdly very low on our unit of the pixel 8 Pro it’s actually lower than even the OnePlus nord 3 with ufs 3.1 all right moving on from that little rant of mine

the pixel 8 Pro actually comes with tensor G3 like I mentioned firstly you all should know that the tensor G3 is based on the Samsung 4 nm Fab it’s very similar to the xos 2200 and secondly I have to say this specifically is that this is the current build of the phone that we’re running the phone at by the way there’s a 199 MB update for this build and it took 45 minutes for it to install Google seriously needs to improve the you know install speeds of updates for sure.

Build

I mentioned that it is important for me to mention the build numbers because all of the new features on the pixel 8 Pro were added after we installed the build.

Antutu score

anyway moving on to the benchmarks in antutu the pixel 8 Pro scores over a million points which is lower than the Snapdragon 8 plus gen one inside the nothing phone 2

even the geek band scores are lower than that of the nothing phone 2 for a phone that costs over 1 lakh rupees the performance scores are not very exciting anyway there’s already a tear down video of the pixel 8 Pro in which there is a graphite sheet that Google has used to cool down the tensor G3 itself but but I feel that we might need a proper weaper cooling chamber.

CPU Throttle test

I’ll tell you why so basically the CPU throttles a lot we ran the CPU throttle test before we got the update and we got a CPU stability score of 54% and after running the test we got a CPU stability score of 51% and we actually engage 40 threads for 30 minutes so it’s an intensive test and it’s not really performing well thankfully the GPU doesn’t throttle as much.

in a 3D Mark vet test test it got a GPU stability score of about 70% and the temperature Rose to 44° and you know what I actually tortured the pixel 8 Pro by running genion impact on the phone at medium graphics and 60 frames per second and we played for about 20 minutes and captured the FPS data so I got an average FPS about 53.5 and the temperature again Rose to 44° I think that’s like kind of the ceiling that I’m noticing with the temperature rise on the pixel 8 Pro it’s not going Beyond 44° so it doesn’t get too hot but like I mentioned instead of that graphite sheet Google could have added a proper Vapor cooling chamber that way the temperatures would also have been lower and it wouldn’t have to throttle so much either now I know that most of you will be like pixel fans don’t really care about raw performance we love the software features and the AI enabled features that you get with the pixel 8 Pro.

Pixel 8 pro Camera Features

let’s talk about that now and most of the AI features are you know related to the camera so we’re going to be talking about the camera and every year Google keeps adding some of the other software update and some of these features are actually very very useful and I’m really curious how many pixel 7 Pro users in the audience actually use that magic era feature or even the face and blur feature regularly it feels very useful to me anyway moving on to the camera features on the pixel 8 Pro a few new ones that Google announced at the stage I won’t be able to test it until December because that’s when it’ll get it so these features include the zoom enhancer feature there’s like a night side for video as well and a video boost too again none of this can be tested right now but it does look impressive in action we’ll have to wait and watch how that actually works though now moving on to the features that are actually available on the pixel 8 Pro there’s something called best take which is pretty awesome

now when the feature leaked first there was a fear that Google is actually trans posing you know people’s faces in a group photo well that’s not what is happening out here essentially what happens is that when you take a burst photo or a you know series of shots and there are different facial expressions of people you can actually change the facial expression to whichever one that you like and it happens pretty seamlessly and the kind of results that you get to see are pretty impressive as well but there are times when certain pixels don’t match with each other in the background and the foreground as well so you will see certain anomalies but it’s okay this is in its first stage right now and it’s still doing pretty well.

you know the Magic Eraser feature that Google announced with the pixel 7 Pro that is now a magic editor now and there’s so much that you can do with it I’ll tell you why because not only can you erase objects that you want to from a picture that You’ have captured you can actually move them around in the frame wherever you want to it does take a little bit of time to process but then it gives you four or five options and it’s pretty damn cool to see you can even change the entire sky and the way the sky change happens is so realistic it’s not like you know Google patches on an unreal looking Sky it does look very very impressive you can also add a portrait blur after you’ve taken the shot using this magic editor feature very similar to what the iPhone 15 Pro Max does but of course I mean iPhone 15 Pro does it far more seamlessly compared to this because this does take some time to show you certain results

By the way when I was using the quick take feature and the magic editor feature there was this prompt that came up which said that Ultra HDR will not be available and yes on the pixel 8 Pro you can now shoot Ultra HDR photos which captures more brightness information as well so if you have a compatible display which can actually display these Ultra HDR pictures you should go check it out iPhone’s been doing this for a while but now it’s available on the pixel 8 Pro as well it’s an Android 14 feature coming back to Features you’ve got a new Pro mode now and it’s implemented so well that even beginners can use it because of course experts have the option for changing the shutter speed or the iso and even focus peing for that matter but for beginners Google gives you the option of changing the brightness level or the white balance or the shadow detail it’s pretty useful I should say and finally pixel 7 Pro users will probably be disappointed by the fact that their phone cannot do it but you can actually get proper 50MP outputs from the pixel 8 Pro now the shutter speed is slightly slow but it works and the file sizes are not as large as I expected them to be so up till now all the features were great but I saved the best one for last it’s called audio eraser basically this is the power of AI so if you’re shooting video in a noisy environment where there’s probably you know nature sounds or music playing in the background or just you know background noise that you want to cut out you can do that very easily now so once you go to audio eraser it actually detects if there’s a nature sound or music playing or whatever it is and you can change the levels it’s so well implemented and the result that you get is pretty impressive so we’re going to check out the audio eraser feature right now.

Also read- Best Phone Under 20,000 in India

Pixel 8 pro v/s iphone 15 pro max camera

let’s compare the pixel 8 Pros cameras against the iPhone 15 Pro Max now for the specs

Primary Camera

you can take a look at the screen right now and you will see the differences but let’s just jump to the pictures all right starting off since the iPhone 15 Pro Max outputs at 24 map default you do get a lot of details without any unnatural sharpening effects added which is good but the pixel 8 Pro captures a lot of details at 12 megapixels as well however if you do notice the netting on the turf or the trees you can see the individual lines clearly on the iPhone compared to the pixel that said this is something that we’re noticing with pixel peeping and most people won’t really do that so if you’re going to be uploading directly to social media both are pretty sharp and detailed as for the color reproduction both these phones try to do a very good job of staying close to Natural as possible

Primary camera colours

for example in this sample the color reproduction is nearly accurate on the iPhone compared to the pixel pixel looks slightly cold out here in the second sample the reds are slightly accentuated out here in the iPhone sample where the pixel gets it absolutely right in fact even the greens and the blues are much better reproduced on the pixel here but the pixel does cut out the warmth in the picture which the iPhone captures well

in fact this is something you will notice in the indoor shot as well all the warmth on the wood captured on the iPhone is missing in the pixel Honestly though you can make this Pixel picture look like an iPhone and the iPhone picture look like a pixel by just doing some slight edits in post.

Primary HDR

as for the HDR pictures while iPhone has improved the dynamic range performance a lot this year pixel pushes its lead even further by making it even better so while both the phones control the highlights well and capture more brightness information in their Ultra HDR pictures the pixel 8 Pro captures more details from the darker Shadow portion of the image it does so without letting the noise correction algorithm smudge a lot of details either now in the

second sample while the iPhone has definitely reduced the sun to butt a pinpoint the shadow detail is better on the pixel 8 Pro despite the phone having messed up the scene here the iPhone has captured all the color temperatures and the mood accurately in this comparison sample which one did you prefer let me know in the comments below

generally with Focus sources of light the iPhone is slightly better because that new lens coating seems to be working really well.

Primary Portrait

now moving on to pictures of people you would all expect that the pixel would be the best because it does real tone well that’s not really the case what I could see is that the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s skin tones are way more close to Natural pixel does a good job but it doesn’t do as well to the red pigmentation here now that’s for the skin tone and if you’re shooting portraits the pixel 8 Pro doesn’t even offer you the capability to shoot portraits with the 5x teleport it shoots at 1.5x and 2x but the portrit shots look better on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Human subject HDR

no doubt The Edge cutout is more accurate here in our 2x portrait you can see that strands of hair have been you know highlighted by the iPhone where you know pixel has blurred it out and at 5x please allow me to indulge a little bit out here the iPhone 15 Pro Max is portrait mode is just fantastic.

Primary low light

however in harsh conditions against the Sun the pixel does a better job of exposing the face better most people would easily pick this picture here but in softer HDR conditions the iPhone’s picture is more true to life and very well exposed plus the iPhone captures more details too it’s such a seesaw right now pixel iPhone pixel iPhone however in low light pixel beats the iPhone fair and square you get more details from the shadow portions of the image plus the noise control which was great on the iPhone to begin with is even better on Pixel plus the pixel algorithm does it without losing any of the details despite the brighter exposure on the pixel it is close to what the scene was as well iPhone just keeps shooting way under if you ask me uh you know Apple really needs to expose the Shadows better but there are times when the iPhone does it better because of better color temperature accuracy alone like in this scene of the balcony out here in low light portraits both are equally good but iPhone always captures a soft focus image and glosses over the details pixel sharpens it slightly to add an oily waterc colory look however in certain scenarios the iPhone is better because it lets you shoot a 5x portrait pixel does not.

Ultrawide

now moving on to ultra wies the pixel 8 Pro Ultra wide camera has been upgraded a lot this year so it’s now a 48 map Ultra wide angle camera with a 126° field of view in comparison the iPhone has 120° field of view the lens correction or the barrel Distortion correction around the corners is great on both but the pixel 8 Pro Ultra wide is definitely more detailed and offers sharper textures for sure however the color sence consistency with the primary camera is spot on on both phones that is something that’s like a given on both the phone so you don’t really have to worry about that Ultra HDR performance just like the primary HDR performance is better on the pixel considering you get more details from the Shadows same is true.

Ultrawide Low light

for the ultra wide low light shots as well not only do you get more details from the Shadows the Highlight control is better and there is far less noise as well so if you’re looking at a great Ultra wide angle camera for shooting great Landscapes pixel is the way to go it’s better than the iPhone also in the pixel 8 Pro

the iPhone 15 Pro Max you can shoot macro pictures both can get really close to the subject you can even use the 2X and the 5x to shoot macro pictures honestly both are very very good in terms of capturing details and of course recreating the macro image itself so I can’t really tell the difference apart but these are some of the best macro cameras that you can find right now at 2x you get an in sensor crop on both pixels 2x uh in sensor crops are slightly more detailed and sharper now both the phones also have a dedicated 5x telephoto camera and iPhone can pull in more details for sure with 5x in fact at longer Zoom ranges above 5x like at 10x or 25x the iPhone is much better than pixel in all the samples that we’ve captured now if you’re shooting low light telephoto shots the 2x in sensor crop is equally matched on both but with the 5x the iPhone clearly beats pixel.

Selfie

moving on to selfies if the pixel and the iPhone had the same skin tones and the same color reproduction out here you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference because even if you pixel peeped you get the same amount of details and you get the same level of shotng as well there’s absolutely no difference whatsever and when it comes to skin tones I can tell you the iPhone gets it spot on once again honestly real tone on the pixel 8 Pro at least in its current state is not as good as you know Google makes it out to be maybe there’s a future software update that can fix it I had faced the redskin problem on the pixel 7 as well when I tested it initially and that was far more accentuated the of a problem than the pixel 8 Pros is but after an update it was fixed so hopefully that happens on the pixel 8 Pro

as well HD selfies are slightly better than the pixel 8 Pro with better control of the haze on the face which you can see on the iPhone 15 Pro Max but in ported selfies the iPhone is just way better pixel keeps missing semantic segmentation like this way too often iPhone is clearly better with Edge cutouts and selfies in fact the iPhone is also better at lowl light selfies you get more details you get no black crush on my t-shirt

Video specs

you just get the drift it’s better in 4k 60 FPS the iPhone 15 Pro Max shoots warmer footage of people pixel’s real tone with video seems to be working really well compared to what it was with with pictures which is kind of weird actually anyway both are incredibly detailed footage nothing to separate the two however dynamic range performance and sound quality are both Superior on the iPhone do let me know what you guys think of the sound quality

Dolby vision

you can shoot 10 bit Dolby Vision videos on the iPhone 15 Pro Max but quality wise Doby Vision on iPhone is better than hdr on Pixel one thing I must say and Google fans will be really happy to hear this Google has actually improved the low light video performance on the pixel 8 Pro now when you’re comparing the two you do get the same level of exposure but the only advantage on the 15 Pro Max is that it’s got slightly better noise control but the noise control has become so much better on the pixel 8 Pro compared to the pixel 7 Pro that’s for sure that’s just such a slight advantage on the iPhone that you know earlier there used to be like a night and day difference in video performance between the iPhone and the pixel that’s definitely not there at least not with the primary camera which brings me to the ultrawide video quality which is matched in daylight

In Low light

but in low light iPhone’s Shadow noise correction is is incredibly better and you get more details as well now if you want to shoot 5x telephoto video pixel actually does hold focus better and the stabilization seems to be better too it doesn’t move around too much iPhone was a little too wobbly but that said if you can hold Focus then the low light 5x telephoto is better on the iPhone 15 Pro Max compared to the pixel 8 Pro while selfie video at 4K 60 FPS is great on both in daylight in low light again the iPhone wins but that’s also because the pixel doesn’t do noise control well but it does pull out a lot of details and the focus on the face is much better on the pixel compared to the iPhone and you can see more details as well as a result

cinematic mode and action mode

finally with cinematic mode and action mode the iPhone clearly runs circles around the pixels and there is no doubt in my mind about that not only is the feature executed better but the iPhone can do it at higher resolutions

Pixel needs better processor

you know what this makes me wonder is that pixel definitely needs a much better processor imagine if there was a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and that  used inside the pixel 8 Pro how good the camera performance would be I’m sure there are other issues that could cop up like the AI performance or all the cool editing features that you get with the photos app but then again this is something that Google can definitely try maybe for all my concerns with the performance 

Upgrade from pixel 7 pro

the pixel 8 Pro is a huge camera upgrade over the pixel 7 Pro that’s for sure and pixel fans are definitely going to be happy but is it a better camera setup than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Conclusion

There are situations where the pixel 8 Pro Beats the iPhone 15 Pro Max. hands down for example low light performance is generally way better you also get more AI features and the ultra wide angle camera is superior on the pixel 8 Pro compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max but when it comes to pictures of people portraits sharpness or video features like cinematic mode action mode or lowl light video all of that on the iPhone 15 Pro Max is better and I’m not even getting into press or log videos that is capable on the iPhone 15 Pro Max see technicalities wise and capability wise the iPhone 15 Pro Max definitely is a more Pro camera setup than the pixel 8 Pro but features wise maybe the pixel 8 pro wins and I seriously think that the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera setup has been upgraded by so much this year especially the action mode at 5x the 5x portraits the 5x camera is so good

All right cameras and maybe software apart is the pixel doing enough to win more audience or fans in other markets apart from us and Japan where it has had a fantastic year thus far is the AI performance alone enough to win more audience in the India and Europe markets well I can talk for India the performance is not matched for the price for sure it’s a little too much when it goes down in price it’ll definitely be a great proposition for sure.

 

also one more thing I must mention is that I haven’t tested out the battery life yet so that’s something that needs to be checked as well to see if the battery performance is good and there are a lot of extra new features that have been added like the temperature sensor and the fact that you can actually use the front camera for face recognition for even in uh you know banking apps as well all of those are definitely there so you know if you guys want a detailed review do let me know in the comments below and I’ll definitely do that for you for now what do you guys think of the pixel 8 Pro I’d love to know your thoughts.