Google Pixel 3 Camera Review - Put Down the Crown By Android Headlines - Android News & Tech News

Since the launch of HDR+ on the nexus 5 so many years ago, we've seen Google turn their camera software into the leading photography engine for their phones. Last year's pixel 2 was a mind-blowing update to the already excellent original pixel and this year promises to keep the quality high by adding in a few necessary new modes. The first of these new modes is top shot, which received a lot of applause at the announcement event because of its potential top shot requires motion photos to be on which, thankfully, is a setting enabled by default last year. This motion setting was used for the rather useless motion photos, option which I still don't really understand the purpose of, but this year it's a far more useful product when a photo is taken and motion is detected. You'll get the automatic motion addition to the photo which can be switched off at will in the gallery, navigating to the hidden option of select shots in the top right menu brings up an awesome new interface that looks similar to slow motion, but lets you choose any moment out of the motion timeline to extract a picture from this is an awesome way to make sure the shot is always taken, no matter what's happening, as it'll grab around 2 to 3 seconds worth of image data and allow you to choose from anywhere in this timeline. The downside is that the extracted photos are a paltry 1024 by 768 resolution or approximately 1 megapixel resolution yeah, that's not great, but it's certainly better than missing a shot.

Sony's. Implementation of this is definitely better in quality, as it will present several full frame shots when motion is detected, but Google's does grant more control to the user. Despite the significant loss in quality. On the bright side, though, these are all that same HDR plus processing as the main shots. So while resolution isn't particularly great dynamic range should be another awesome.

New mode is super resume which attempts to use machine learning to make up for the fact that there's no 2 X optical zoom secondary camera, on the back of either the pixel 3 or the pixel 3 excel last year. Google proved many wrong by introducing portrait mode with a single camera and despite the fact that it was only one camera bested. Basically, everyone in the business and quality super resume doesn't quite work, this well at least consistently as that portrait mode does. But it's an incredible alternative for a second camera. Without it's out.

This works through Google's already existing HDR+ algorithm, which takes several shots at a time and combines them for added detail and dynamic range zooming in through the viewfinder will automatically activate this mode, no need to switch to it with presets for two three four and even five times zoom right with that zoom slider. Since there's natural handshake introduced when zooming in like this Google gets all the metadata it needs during this motion and can intelligently combine them with that. Pixel visual core processor inside the phone results are definitely much better than the usual digital crop. That takes place on most other phones without a secondary camera, but for the most part, it's not quite the same quality that comes from a secondary camera. With the telephoto lens, there were a surprising number of times when it was close enough in quality to some secondary telephoto cameras, though, and at night you'll find the difference between Google's implementation and phones with multiple cameras shrinks considerably, as many phones do not use that smaller telephoto sensor in very dark conditions.

There are exceptions depending on the lighting conditions, where the Huawei P 20 pro typically has the best detail of any phone, but the pixel 3 regularly keeps up with most of them in the darkest conditions. When zooming, you won't find quite the same quality difference while recording video, but the overall dynamic range, stabilization and general image. Quality and video mode are fair trade-offs. In most cases, a secondary camera with this tech would have been better, but this is impressive for what's available, hardware wise Google has given its camera a software facelift matching up to the iPhone style interface that so many manufacturers have settled on positives of this. Are that the four most used modes are front and center and can be easily clicked on to jump to them? You can also swipe between modes, but this is a bit on the slow side, and really I only found it usable for swiping between photo and video modes quickly.

I still wish there were a dedicated video shutter button in that photo mode so that we wouldn't have to switch modes or when we want to record a video or want to take a picture. Samsung does this particularly well? A bunch of modes are hidden in the more section on the right and I really can't stand this type of design overall. Why don't? We just have a single place where all the modes are located. OnePlus seems to be the only manufacturer that has figured this out lately, and I really don't understand why it just feels like, so many have given up on the R&D and just gone with the whole. Well, if the iPhone does, it must be good enough mantra that new photo booth mode is located in this more section, as well as the renamed playground mode photo.

Booth mode is an automated group, selfie mode that will automatically take pictures who want to detect smiles and other expressions, which is a pretty fun way to get group shots, especially with that new 97 degree, wide-angle selfie, camera up front playground is a rebranded version of the AR Snickers mode that was in the previous Google camera design. It works similarly well allowing you to put a characters into the viewfinder to add some fun to your photos. These are all shaded realistically with the scene and scale rather nicely to and can be used on the front or rear cameras. You can even record a video with them. Similarly to what LG implemented on the v40 and really is just a cool new feature, there's still no manual mode for photos or videos, but the camera can save pictures in RAW format.

Finally, so folks who prefer to post process should be pretty happy here. Hardware-Wise cameras are identical on both the pixel 3 and the pixel 3 XL. That single rear-facing camera is the same 12.2 megapixel sensor from last year with 1.4 micron pixels and an f-stop 1.8 76-degree angle lens. It uses dual pixel phase detection autofocus and also has optical image stabilization. A new pair of cameras is upfront both are using the same 8 megapixel sensor with 1.4 micron pixels. The main camera uses 75-degree angle lenses with phase detection autofocus, while that secondary is a wide-angle 97 degree.

F-Stop 2.2 lens, with fixed focus as a result of using the same hardware as last year, we're seeing results that are really no different from that phone. While the rear camera was mind-blowing last year, it just comes across as great this year, which, of course, isn't a particularly bad place to be in during the day. It excels at capturing, fast-moving imagery, thanks to the combination of that top shot mode as well as Google's. Excellent HDR+ processing, which constantly takes photos in the viewfinder, is open and combines them for one super photo when the shutter button is pressed. This results in really tight imagery, even with movement, and you'll, find no ghosting on objects, even when they move quickly.

This can be further enhanced by clicking to auto track, which then follows an object in the viewfinder, with incredible accuracy, ensuring it always stays and focused and is exposure. Prioritized I found an interesting new artifact during movement, though one that makes objects look slightly transparent when viewed up close I'd. Much prefer this over the double image, ghosting that other HDR methods can produce, but it's definitely something that'll look a bit weird. The first time you notice, it surprisingly dynamic range seems to have taken a backseat to some other flagships this year and Google's algorithms seem to have taken a turn towards underexposure. More often than not.

We tell this a little last year, but not in quite as many cases as this time around. This results in a bit of black crush in very dark shadows and even a bit more noise than I expected I'm. Definitely not someone who's opposed to noise, especially not when it helps to make a scene look more detailed or natural, but it was surprising to see moments when other phones had zero noise in a shot while still retaining detail and the pixel 3 ended up. Being a tad dark and noisy crop detail remains high in most shots, an area where Google has excelled for generations now and is typically sharpest or second sharpest when cropping the image. Color accuracy is really something special, though especially in low light, where the pixel 3s colors and contrast remain consistently excellent, no matter the light outside this, though low-light was less impressive than previous years, and it seems that the hardware on this phone is likely holding back Google software from being as good as it can be.

The detail loss in many scenes is pretty surprising and quite a few photos end up looking softer than we remember happening. Last year, the general rule of thumb and low-light seems to go like this. If you're looking for a sheer detail and amount of available light, the Huawei p20 pro is typically the phone. You want color accuracy, almost always favors the Google Pixel 3, while a Galaxy Note 9 is the most solid overall low-light performer after this latest camera update Samsung, definitely improved quite a few things of that update, delivering tons of detail and generally very color accurate photos, although it can't keep up with the p20 Pro when it comes to taking in tons of light. That would otherwise look like a very dark photo, although always color accuracy definitely takes a turn for the worse in most of these types of situations, because it uses the monochrome sensor to gather more light data and lower light I'm, not nearly as impressed this generation that Google's processing as I have been in the past, while it's still excellent and there's arguably the best when it comes to delivering solid performance.

When movement is happening, it seems to have taken a step back in dynamic range and, surprisingly, in low-light performance as well. It's surprising to see Google still only use a single camera around back, especially when there's now two up front, but I think it's the basic nature of this camera hardware. That's the biggest problem. We've got! Phones using dual aperture other phones using much lower aperture ratings in the lenses and even plenty of OEMs, using multiple cameras to stitch together a composite image as well Google does this in software, but it has its limits. What's important to note, though, especially in low-light photos is that that night shot mode is not currently available and judging on Google's sample photos could completely change the game once it's available.

This mode is also coming to the pixel 1 & 2, though so owners of those phones should see a significant uptake in their low-light shots when that lands. Video recording is definitely fantastic and ranks among the best on the market. Overall, video stabilization is done in a very similar, if not identical way to the 1 plus 6 you'll notice. The pixel 3 looks slightly more zoomed in the other phones and that's because the video is slightly cropped to give the software room to move it around when needed, to avoid shakiness. The downside to this is that there's the distinct possibility that the video won't be quite as razor sharp as other phones with 4k recording.

However, as we saw in the 1 plus 6, its video is so smooth. It looks like the camera is sitting on a handheld gimbals, instead of being carried around when comparing daytime recording to the Galaxy Note 9 you'll notice, the pixels shots tend to slightly underexposed when looking at the sky, while exposure generally favors higher values at any other time, which tends to wash out colors and the impression of low contrast. Colors are not as saturated as Samsung settings, though, which at times looks better, but the overall washed out. Look in much of this example. Certainly favors the note 9 when comparing it to the HTC u12 plus you'll, find the stabilization on the pixel.3 is far better than HTC s in 4k, with more natural colors, as well as the 12 + tends to favor similar exposure values to the pixel 3, but seems to get the colors just a tad wrong here. Focus accuracy and speed seems to be the same between all of these phones with dual pixel face: detection autofocus.

So there's not really a big difference. When comparing that, when comparing more high contrast, Laura lights in areas, however, you'll find that yet again, colors are just better and more rich in the note 9, but this time around that higher exposure value of the pixel 3 tends to bring out more shadow detail all without blowing up highlights on the bright TV and even darker conditions. This heightened exposure bias tends to pull out more shadow detail and make darker conditions look better than the competition often times making the video look better. In the end, there were a few points where the note 9 was able to pull out more detail in these scenes, but it's likely the brighter picture of the pixel 3. That's preferable in these types of conditions.

You'll also notice how much cleaner Google stabilization is while walking where, if small vibrations in the frame can be seen in the note 9, but are not as visible on the pixel 3 stabilization next to the p20 Pro shows a night and day difference that good, hybrid stabilization will grant, as the p20 only uses Hardware stabilization, whereas Google uses a hybrid between hardware and software stabilization, the pixel 3lakhs 4k 60 frames per second recording, though meaning you won't be getting both the highest resolution and the smoothest frame rate, but that extra stabilization will likely make up for anything.4K 60 could bring to the table for most people. Slow motion quality, on the other hand, is just embarrassingly bad. First off, there's only two speed settings. You have 1/4 speed and 1/8 speed, which equates to 120 frames. A second and 240 frames a second.

While this sounds pretty standard in the industry. The biggest issue is that it's only 720p video yeah we've had 1080 slow motion video for quite some time now, and at this point many phones can do 480 frames. A second or 960 frames. A second and some can even do that speed at 1080p resolution. This is really just not great.

Google did surprise us with a second camera on the front, something that a few folks thought puzzling, but made a little more sense once we realize that this is the same quality, 8 megapixel sensor, that's behind the standard, 75-degree angle lenses on the other side, while the rear camera isn't always the most impressive in the world. The front-facing cameras are absolutely the best in the industry, no matter the lighting condition or photography mode chosen, I mean seriously. It's voodoo magic good. In many cases it's sharper than anything else out there, despite having the same resolution sensor as many of these phones- and it usually has way better to any mimic range as well. Colors are deeper and everything typically just looks better during the day that new wide-angle sensor pulls in considerably wider range of imagery than ever before, which can be toggled by simply pinching out in the viewfinder or clicking the magnifying glass button and sliding out quality degrades of light, as expected, but colors remain generally excellent, even though the blacks start to get crushed at lower light levels.

This is similar to what we see on the rear camera and is probably a result of contrast being pulled too high during processing. Folks are sure to be super pleased to that new wide-angle camera and just as we expect from last year, portrait shots from both the front and rear cameras are still the best in the business. These results are particularly impressive this year, considering how many companies are pushing multiple cameras for many reasons, not just portrait mode, yet Google still slays with a single camera on the back ironically enough, portraits from the rear camera, seem to be even better than the front, despite Google having a second camera on the front now, but it's likely all down to the megapixel count as Google's processing. As a whole works on a per-pixel basis and the more pictures you've you got to work with the better likelihood that processing is going to be more accurate edge detection, isn't the only thing that's better on the rear camera, though that both effect is deeper, giving more blurred backgrounds and just looking particularly stunning. In many cases, you could also use portrait mode on the new wide-angle camera, which makes group selfies all that much more dramatic or if you need to fit in some crazy, Halloween costume into the picture, while it's definitely a better front-facing camera than others out there, that doesn't mean edge detection or depth.

Perception is perfect. In fact, you'll find many of these Harrison photos show the same exact error spots on every single phone, no matter if they've got one or two cameras to use for portrait mode bottom line, though, if you take a lot of selfies or are particularly in love with body style shots, this is the phone you want. This is the first year in a long time that Google didn't blow us away with camera quality on this phone. That's not to say it's bad by any means, but there are finally quite a few scenarios where other phones perform better in one way or another, and the lack of extra modes and options can really be felt at times as we expect from the pixel. This is a camera that delivers stellar quality overall and, while Google has finally started beefing up the available modes, it's just not as feature-rich as the competition.

It's also not as good at dynamic range, as we've seen in the past. It isn't the best at low-light and generally won't deliver the same detail when zooming in on subjects. In any light, although you'd be hard-pressed to find more stable, video from any phone and, of course, those front-facing cameras in portrait mode are as good as it gets on any phone right now. It's clear other OEMs have finally risen to the task of taking on Google's once superior processing, and this means it's now more difficult than ever to recommend the pixel 3 just for the camera alone. We hope you enjoyed that review and will subscribe to us for regularly updated content check out all our pixel 3 coverage here and on android headlines com, where you can also find 24/7 worldwide tech news coverage thanks for watching and until next time.

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