Google Pixel and Pixel XL vs Samsung Galaxy S7 – Which Camera is best?

Today we’re going to be comparing the camera of some of the best phones on the market right now: the Google Pixel and Pixel XL and also the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.

From our previous tests, these are perhaps the two best phone cameras on the market right now, so let’s go ahead and get started with the specs.

First off, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL cameras both have a 12.3MP, f/2.0 camera with the large 1.55μm pixels size, phase detection autofocus and the lack of optical image stabilization. On the front you will find an 8MP camera with an f/2.4 aperture and a 1.4µm pixels size.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 camera has a 12MP rear-facing camera and an f/1.7 aperture, face detection autofocus with OIS (optical image stabilization) and the 1.4µm pixels size. On the front you will find a 5MP camera with the 1.34µm pixels size and an f/1.7 aperture.

Without further ado let’s go ahead and take a look at the samples. Samsung’s flagship phones have probably the best cameras out of any smartphone this year and we’re sure a lot of people could agree with that.

But Google, on the other hand, made a bold statement about their camera saying that it is the best on the market. We have to honest with you though, that from this comparison, both of these phones have really great cameras and in some of the images it is actually quite a close test between them.

If you look very closely though you could tell that the Google Pixel does retain more overall detail while the Samsung Galaxy S7 noise reduction and process sharpness is evident in some images. Especially in this next picture where we look into the leaves and just notice the amount of detail that has been isolated from the Samsung’s picture.

That being said both phones represented great dynamic range and nailed the exposure for the most part but in a couple of images the Samsung Galaxy S7 did overexpose the highlights just a little bit and that could be seen best in the clouds.

In the end it would really come down to your own taste and what kind of look you prefer but in my opinion the Google Pixel does a better job overall and both of these phones are unarguably incredible at taking photos.

When it comes to the low-light performance the Google Pixels was able to capture more, in general, due to its higher pixel size but the Samsung Galaxy S7 is still no slouch and it did produce a slightly sharper image in low light.

Moving onto the front facing camera the one of the Samsung Galaxy S7 has always been one of my favorites because of just how wide it is and that enables it to capture more light in general but the Google Pixels image looks cleaner and sharper for sure and the exposure seems to be better balanced as well.

When it comes to 4K video recording, you might notice that they both have a distinct look. The color is really going to come down to personal preference. I did notice that the Google Pixel was slightly overexposed in some areas but one thing that Google Pixel is definitely better at is at stabilization.

Both cameras were mounted on the same tripod and even though the Google Pixels don’t have optical image stabilization, the software stabilization is able to do a pretty good job, aside from times when you’re trying to pan the camera, where it might come out as jittery.

Hopefully this can be improved through a software update but you might notice on that the Samsung Galaxy S7 the optical image stabilization proves to have quite a bit of a jello effect when in motion.

So although we prefer the look of the video on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and also the fact that it captures a significantly wider field of view, the stabilization is a huge weak point of this camera but other than that I have to say both phones perform very well and they obviously have their disadvantages and advantages in each category.

As a final note and conclusion we can definitely tell you with confidence that these are two of the best smartphone cameras on the market offered right now.