A couple of weeks ago, camera-testing site DxOMark ranked the iPhone XR as the best single camera device that it'd used. Now the Pixel 3's score has come out, and it's done pretty well for itself, too.
The Google Pixel 3 earned a score of 101 in DxOMark's testing, matching the score given to the iPhone XR. "The camera is a great all-around performer in a variety of conditions, and has one of our highest-ever Video scores of 98," DxOMark says. The report notes that the Pixel 3's autofocus is very fast and that detail preservation is good in most conditions. The flash was noted as being very good, too.
DxOMark says that the Pixel 3 improves upon the Pixel 2 when it comes to aspects like noise reduction and a reduction in image artifacts. Zoom has gotten better on the Pixel 3 compared to the Pixel 2 as well as Bokeh, which the report says offers background blur that's more even and natural than the Pixel 2.
One area where the Pixel 3 stumbled a bit is exposure. DxOMark says that while the Pixel 3 offers good performance across all light levels, the phone can sometimes underexpose slightly and lose some detail in the darker parts of high dynamic range scenes. The report says that some ghosting and color fringing are sometimes visible, too.
When it comes to video performance, DxOMark reports that hte Pixel 3 offers very good noise reduction, good detail preservation in all conditions, and efficient motion stabilization. However, it's said that colors are sometimes a little dull.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that DxOMark did not include Google's Night Sight feature in its testing. "It is important to note that we test all smartphones using only their default settings, so we did not consider the image results from the Pixel 3’s Night Sight mode in our DxOMark scores," the site explains.
Google's Pixel phones have regularly offered some of the best smartphone cameras on the market, so it's no surprise to see the Pixel 3 put up a tie for the best single camera performance in DxOMark's testing. While the report does say that the Pixel 3 is behind some of the top multi-camera phones in some areas, the Pixel 3 still offers a solid camera that most folks should be able to use without tweaking any settings and get positive results. Plus, it comes with software updates straight from Google, helping to boost its appeal.
So, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL owners, now that you've spent some time with your device, what do you think of its camera performance?
