Let’s get this out of the way: the $1,199 iPhone 16 Pro Max takes better photos than the $799 Google Pixel 10. The differences, though, are not nearly as great as you might think, at least that’s what I learned when I took the two phones on my staycation and started shooting the same image with each phone.
Google Pixel phones have long been lauded for their photographic capabilities, with some claiming that they outstrip those of the garden-variety iPhone. I’ve never quite found that, but I will acknowledge that I have long been impressed with Pixel’s image-capture skills. After Google unveiled its Pixel 10 line at its Made by Google event and sent me the base model, I decided that, for the duration of my go-nowhere vacation, it would sit in the pocket opposite the one carrying my everyday handset: the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Despite the massive price difference (Pixel 10 : $799 / £799 / AU$1,349 vs iPhone 16 Pro Max: $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149), the camera arrays are more similar than you might think.
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Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max |
Google Pixel 10 |
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48MP Fusion: 24 mm ƒ/1.78 aperture Sensor‑shift optical image stabilization |
48 MP Quad PD wide camera Æ’/1.70 aperture 82° field of view 1/2″ image sensor size |
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48MP Ultra Wide: 13 mm ƒ/2.2 aperture 120° field of view |
13 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera Æ’/2.2 aperture 120° field of view 1/3.1″ image sensor size |
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12MP 5x Telephoto ƒ/2.8 aperture 20° field of view |
10.8 MP Dual PD telephoto camera with optical image stabilization 5x optical zoom Æ’/3.1 aperture 23° field of view 1/3.2″ image sensor size |
From a specs perspective, the main cameras are essentially a wash. Apple’s 5x optical zoom has somewhat more megapixels than the Google Pixel 10’s, and while the Pixel beats the iPhone in field of view, the iPhone’s lower aperture rating will provide better exposure overall. The biggest difference can be found in ultra-wide lenses, where Apple brings a whopping 48MP to the lens, and the more affordable Pixel 10 has just 13MP of capturing power. They match on FoV (120 degrees) and f/2.2 aperture.
Those are the numbers, but in use, the difference could be, depending on the lens I used, somewhat harder to discern.
Virtually every single photo I took with the Google Pixel 10 looks good. They’re clear, colorful, and full of details. It’s only when I compare them directly with the photos taken with the iPhone 16 Pro Max that I can see the core differences. Mostly, as you’ll see in the samples below, it comes down to color and exposure range. (Note: I did ZERO editing on these images and essentially left controls on default settings.)
The Pixel 10 might lose some of the steps between the lightest and darkest parts of the image, and it can lack just a bit of that colorful oomph found in the iPhone photos. I want to be clear, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is capturing reality and not oversaturating the image. For some reason, the Pixel 10 lacks just a bit of that saturation, which might be due to a slight lack of contrast.
Since the lenses are not that different, this might be a result of image processing, which, I believe, is just a tick better on the iPhone.
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Speed is, as far as I can tell, a match. There’s one image of a memorial fountain where both phones do an excellent job of stopping the fountain’s splashing water so we can spot individual droplets.
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On the portrait mode images I took of my wife in low light, I think I prefer the Pixel 10 capture. There’s far less low-light grain, and the bokeh effect is more pronounced and ultimately pleasing. Sure, the iPhone wins for better sunset color, but the overall clarity and composition on the Pixel 10 is A+.
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Where the iPhone 16 Pro Max really shines is on this telephoto image of a turtle. Notice the rich colors in both the water and the aquatic animal. There’s a remarkable range of greens, yellows, and white highlights. Even the water is its own shade of green. Here, the Pixel 10 struggles to punch up the turtle colors sufficiently for it to stand out from the surrounding water.
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There are other telephoto images where the Pixel 10 stood nearly toe-to-toe with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. This shot of the water tower at sunset is a good example. Timing was a factor here because a man walked in front of the sun just as I was snapping the image with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Otherwise, the photos are quite similar. Where the iPhone 16 Pro Max excels is in capturing the range of colors in the sky. But I almost prefer the Pixel 10’s warmer approach. Both images get high marks for their sharpness and detail.
I was especially impressed with the Pixel 10’s Night Sight photography, which helped me capture some excellent fireworks images. Generally, the Pixel 10 fireworks photos are as sharp, if not sharper, than those from the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
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One area where the Pixel 10 was the unexpected but clear winner was in panoramic photography. This, though, is less a product of the lens and sensor than Pixel’s much smarter capture and processing technique.
To capture a panoramic image on the iPhone 16 Pro Max (or any iPhone for that matter), you hit the capture button and then slowly sweep roughly 180 degrees, but while keeping your image framed so that it doesn’t diverge from an on-screen center guideline. This can be tricky, and I tend to veer north or south of that line, which results in less-than-perfect panoramas.
Google Pixel 10’s method is completely different and arguably better. Instead of struggling to follow a guideline, you turn slowly in a 180 arc but pause at pre-determined intervals (there are dots), where the camera appears to capture part of the image. Initially, after I did this, I had what appeared to be a jumble of unusable panoramic images, but a second or two later, the system processed the full image into a perfect panorama. We have a winner.
I think the Pixel 10 takes some lovely macro images with its ultrawide lens, but there’s little comparison to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which has a much higher pixel count and lets you get even closer to your subject. If macro photography is a priority for you, and you’re an Android fan, you’ll probably opt for the $999 / £999 / AU $1,699 Google Pixel 10 Pro, which has a 48MP ultrawide camera.
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I’m not arguing that the Pixel 10 is the best camera phone on the market, but for $799, it’s a far more affordable smartphone option that, remarkably, includes a 5x optical zoom lens and will deliver generally excellent photography across a range of image styles.
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