Google’s latest smartphone line-up, the Pixel 9, was officially unveiled on August 22 in the US market. Previous generations of Pixel devices have always been highly regarded for their camera capabilities, featuring quality camera hardware and intelligent AI.
However, according to a review by YouTuber JCVP11, published on PhoneArena, when compared to its rival, the iPhone 15, which was released a year earlier, the Pixel 9 falls short.
In this iteration, Google seems to have not addressed some persistent issues with the camera.
When pitted against the iPhone 15, the Pixel 9 continues to exhibit weaknesses in portrait mode and struggles with noise in videos captured in low-light conditions.
The iPhone delivers better and more accurate portrait shots, while the brand new Pixel 9 still faces challenges in portrait mode, similar to its predecessors – the Pixel 8, 7, and 6. The image captured by the iPhone has a better bokeh effect, and the colors are more vivid. Since the Pixel 6, Google has struggled with the portrait mode algorithm, and it appears that their latest offering has not overcome this shortcoming.
iPhone delivers superior portrait shots
When capturing photos or videos in low-light conditions, the front camera of the Pixel 9 exhibits more noise compared to the iPhone 15. A similar issue occurs when using the rear camera.
Pixel 9 struggles with noise in low-light conditions
Another issue with the Pixel 9’s camera is color inaccuracy when shooting indoors. According to JCVP11, images captured by the Pixel 9 in certain conditions appear to have a yellow tint.
Pixel 9 exhibits a yellow tint when shooting indoors
Phone Arena mentions that similar image issues were observed in previous Pixel models, such as the Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 6 Pro. The Pixel 9 struggles with accurate color reproduction in indoor lighting conditions, specifically when there is artificial lighting in the scene.
Pixel 9 struggles with color accuracy in artificial lighting
The only hardware upgrade for the Pixel 9’s camera compared to the Pixel 8 and 7 is the new 48MP ultra-wide sensor, replacing the 12MP sensor used in previous models. The larger sensor seems to improve image and video quality in mixed and low-light conditions.
The YouTuber also asserts that they have captured hundreds of photos with flagships from Google, Samsung, and Apple, and thus, can provide an informed perspective on their camera performance.
Based on the above analysis and image comparisons, it appears that Google has not learned from its past mistakes.
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