iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Pitting Phone Camera Royalty Against Each Other

I am going to take virtually any excuse to get out within the fall leaves this time of 12 months. This scene has all of it: fallen leaves, lengthy shadows, clear crisp climate and even a person in a purple shirt to attract consideration. Each photographs are nice representations of the second, although the iPhone’s colours are a bit extra punchy with out being oversaturated. Oddly, the foreground department within the Pixel’s picture is barely out of focus, although it is solely noticeable for those who zoom in. We’ll come again to this scene with the telephoto cameras later.

When testing cameras, I are inclined to search for spots the place individuals are prone to take photographs. I additionally like to seek out ones which may problem a smartphone digicam: darkish shadows within the foreground, a brilliant gentle supply within the center and plenty of little particulars like leaves and sailboat masts that may be difficult for any digicam. 

Each cameras have finished properly right here, too. The colours within the iPhone shot appear extra pure to my eye, whereas the Pixel is ever so barely muted. However actually, they’re each pretty.

Did I point out difficult? Let’s fireplace into the solar on a foggy morning. Once more, I am proud of each photographs. There’s loads of softness across the solar as the sunshine blends outward, and the white stability is underneath management in each. In case you pixel-peep, you will discover the Pixel 10 Professional XL is a contact sharper — have a look at the road lamp connected to the phone pole on the proper edge — but in addition extra noisy at nighttime areas, just like the fence at left.

Not each pair of photographs was comparable, and this scene was a shock. Initially, the colour was means off with the iPhone: very blue and unexpectedly saturated. After some investigating, I spotted the iPhone was set to seize with the Shiny photographic type by default, a brand new function in iOS 26. I’ve had that chosen since I received the iPhone 17 Professional, and most often, it does create a punchy, participating photograph. However right here it went overboard.

Switching to the Normal type introduced the tones and colours again in line, though they’re nonetheless too cool blue for my style. The Pixel 10 Professional XL has finished an awesome job rendering a extra trustworthy model of the scene with the nice and cozy fall hues.

Trying on the sculpture from a number of toes again, the iPhone continues to be obsessive about making every thing blue. Even after setting the photographic type to Normal, the sky nonetheless appears unnaturally saturated. The Pixel 10 Professional XL, once more, nails the colour.

On this photograph, I am not simply seeking to see how the cameras rendered the topic in shade with brilliant daylight within the background, but in addition how every cellphone handles its Portrait mode. That is the mushy background impact (bokeh) created in software program as a result of on the principal cameras’ focal lengths, the look is tough to realize naturally.

I am glad to report that each cameras have improved the modes over time — the Pixel 10 Professional XL can apply Portrait mode when taking pictures within the 50-megapixel high-res mode — with natural-looking bokeh and minimal artifacts across the topic. On this case, I favor the Pixel 10 Professional XL picture due to the look on her face, however the lighting and coloration of the iPhone 17 Professional photograph is best total (I ought to have saved snapping photographs with the iPhone till I received a greater expression).

This set of photographs reveals one other shock that turned out to be constant all through my expertise. They’re each comparable, however the Pixel tends to be extra restrained in tone, coloration and saturation. Not essentially flat, nevertheless it’s virtually as if Google is attempting to atone for the over-processed sins of previous smartphone cameras.

The iPhone photograph is a bit hotter, brighter and extra contrasty; have a look at the cement walkway on the bottom-left nook. I am not saying both photograph is dangerous; it was a brilliant, cloudless day. However like Andrew Lanxon did in his iPhone 17 Professional/Samsung S25 Extremely shootout, I favor extra pure, much less contrasty photographs generally. In that comparability, the iPhone was the mannequin of restraint, however right here, it is the one offering extra pop total.

This man will get included as a result of that vest and people glasses simply make him look cool.

iPhone 17 Professional vs. Pixel 10 Professional XL: Ultrawide digicam

The ultrawide cameras in every cellphone stay largely unchanged from their earlier fashions.

What’s notable concerning the ultrawide cameras is one thing you do not see: distortion. Apple and Google have finished properly to robotically appropriate for warped edges. The highest railing in each photographs would not bend again towards the viewer as one would anticipate with an especially vast lens. By way of coloration and tone, the iPhone appears higher to me with its extra vibrant greens and brighter publicity.

On this tight bend within the street, the iPhone is brighter and hotter than the Pixel 10 Professional XL.

iPhone 17 Professional vs. Pixel 10 Professional XL: Zoom high quality

One cause to purchase a Professional cellphone is to shoot with a telephoto digicam that reaches farther than you’ll be able to transfer your toes. The telephoto on the iPhone 17 Professional now lastly has a 48-megapixel sensor and affords a 4x optical zoom, whereas the Pixel 10 Professional XL’s 48-megapixel digicam has a 5x optical zoom.

However we even have to think about the 2x (each), 8x (iPhone) and 10x (Pixel) ranges, which every firm calls “optical picture high quality,” as a result of these use a crop of the primary digicam and the telephoto digicam, respectively.

I promised we might get again to this scene for an excellent cause. From the identical spot as the primary digicam picture earlier, these use the 4x and 5x zoom ranges of every digicam. For a fall-color photograph, I am keen on the brighter, extra saturated iPhone photograph. The Pixel shot can also be good, however barely muted compared to tamp down the highlights on the leaves. In every photograph, the headline of the signal affixed to the bench is clearly readable — an indication so distant that I did not even discover it from the vantage level the place the photographs had been taken.

Right here I’m going once more, taking photographs straight into the solar. However this time it is with the iPhone’s 8x zoom and the Pixel’s 10x zoom. They’ve each dealt with the brightness and coloration of the final moments earlier than sundown properly, however the iPhone has captured the solar’s glow higher and has higher managed the sunshine fringing on the clouds. Notably, although, the infamous lens flare from the iPhone is a giant distraction, whereas the Pixel has averted it.

One shock about photographing with these two telephones is that I am reaching for the 2x zoom degree extra usually, which is a crop of the primary digicam’s sensor, and never the telephoto digicam. On this pair, the iPhone’s white stability lighting up the fog in gold hues grabs my eye straight away. The Pixel appears prefer it needs to offer a “appropriate” temperature, not one which displays the circumstances. That stated, the sunshine streaks are extra dramatic within the Pixel’s photograph, and it is sharper total. Nonetheless, I favor the iPhone’s model.

Additionally price mentioning: Google’s processing has delivered a 50-megapixel picture, so though it is recording simply the center portion of the sensor, the ultimate shot is upscaled properly. The iPhone at 2x data a 12-megapixel photograph, no matter which decision mode you’ve got chosen.

One other photograph shot utilizing the 2x zoom ranges in every digicam. The Pixel 10 Professional XL’s principal digicam has a barely narrower discipline of view in comparison with the iPhone, so when cropped within the framing is a bit tighter. And right here we see the iPhone photograph being brighter and extra saturated, although not by lots. Nonetheless, the Pixel picture comes throughout as muted — I might wish to punch up the colour and brightness in modifying later if this had been the one digicam I had with me.

Listed below are two examples of why a protracted telephoto choice is nice to have in a cellphone. I am all for “zooming along with your toes,” however a mountain that is miles away is not going to be a lot larger within the body and not using a complete lot of strolling. With a telephoto, nevertheless, it is just like the mountain involves me.

The iPhone 17 Professional photograph of Mount Adams at 4x zoom captures plenty of element within the grass, the bushes and the mountain itself, all at 48-megapixel decision. Nevertheless, it does really feel underexposed to me on the grey, cloudy day.

The Pixel 10 Professional XL picture at 5x can also be stuffed with element and determination, however has higher coloration and publicity. Straight out of the digicam, the Pixel takes this one.

With an 8x and 10x zoom, the compression of the mountain, cloud and bushes creates an much more dramatic photograph. Once more, the Pixel’s publicity and coloration have created a greater picture. The Pixel picture has been scaled as much as 50 megapixels from the telephoto sensor’s crop, so credit score to the processing right here. The iPhone’s 8x zoom creates 12-megapixel photographs; it is extra true to what the sensor is recording, however you do not get as many pixels total. That stated, decision is not every thing, and the 8x photographs have been persistently good.

After the 2 Mount Adams photographs through which the Pixel 10 Professional XL ran counter to its pattern, on this 2x zoom instance, it is again to being extra muted and fewer vibrant. The iPhone 17 Professional renders the yellow leaves, inexperienced moss and a extra pleasing total publicity. It isn’t that the Pixel rendered a foul picture, however for this scene, the iPhone higher matches what I noticed.

iPhone 17 Professional vs. Pixel 10 Professional XL: Evening modes

We’re used to cellphone cameras just like the Pixel and iPhone dealing with low-light and evening photographs virtually effortlessly, nevertheless it’s nonetheless one of many harder duties a smartphone digicam takes on.

Technically, these photographs do not depend as Evening mode photographs as a result of, though it was nightfall and quickly getting darkish, each cameras had sufficient gentle to shoot the scene with their principal cameras at full 48- and 50-megapixel resolutions. Right here I might favor the iPhone’s barely hotter tones, however they’re each acceptable photographs.

Let’s pile on the darkness: Nighttime outdoors, taking an image by way of the window of a darkish bar with a full spectrum of lighting. The colours are nice in each, and the Pixel 10 Professional XL picture is high-resolution sufficient to learn the poster inside and even some recognizable bottle labels. The iPhone 17 Professional’s picture is 12 megapixels, nevertheless it additionally appears good. There are a number of areas of movement blur in each pointing to longer shutter speeds, however that is not a shock in a dimly lit setting like this.

Is it too early for vacation lights? Not right here. Though the photographs are comparable, zooming in reveals extra decision and element within the Pixel 10 Professional XL photograph. It is a bit mushy in particulars just like the brick sample on the bell tower. Each photographs had been captured utilizing the primary cameras, not the ultrawide, as you would possibly assume from the angle of the tower.

iPhone 17 Professional vs. Pixel 10 Professional XL: Selfie

Who would have guessed {that a} selfie digicam would get among the greatest enhancements this 12 months? The iPhone 17 Professional now contains an 18-megapixel digicam with a sq. sensor that may seize vertical or horizontal selfies with out turning the bodily cellphone. The Pixel 10 Professional XL’s entrance digicam is identical 42-megapixel sensor from the earlier 12 months’s mannequin, nevertheless it outputs solely 10-megapixel photographs.

To not be repetitive, however the outcomes from the selfie cameras principally match what we have seen with the rear cameras: The iPhone’s picture is brighter and extra saturated, although in direct daylight, the sunshine on my face comes near getting blown out to white. The Pixel’s picture is once more muted, presumably correcting for the brilliant daylight.

After I stepped again into the shadow of the tree, the photographs had been extra comparable in tone and coloration. The iPhone might have a slight edge right here when it comes to the saturation within the leaves, however as for the distracted man within the center, there’s loads of element in each the facial hair and the patterned sweater.

iPhone 17 Professional vs. Pixel 10 Professional XL: Which has the higher digicam?