iPhone 7 vs Google Pixel: which of the two takes better selfies?
It is believed that the world's oldest selfie – a photo one takes of oneself – dates back from 1839. Preserved safely in the Library of Congress, it was captured by a man named Robert Cornelius, and according to estimates, he had to sit still for 3 to 15 minutes for the image to be exposed. Today, millions of selfies are taken on a daily basis, which is why the quality of a phone's front-facing camera is more important to the average buyer than it has ever been.
This brings us to today's quick selfie camera shoot-out. In the left corner we have the iPhone 7, equipped with a 7MP camera – the highest resolution ever on an iPhone's front. In the right, there's the Google Pixel, packing an equally respectable 8MP selfie cam. We spent a day in the company of both and snapped a set of images for a side-by-side comparison. Let's take a look, shall we?
Note: high-resolution versions of the photos used in this comparison are available in the gallery at the end of this article.
Scene 1
Right from the start, we're treated to a pair of selfies that don't look exactly right. They're both clear and detailed, but the accuracy of their colors could be better. The Pixel delivers an image with too much magenta in it, giving Stephen a purplish look, while the iPhone's image is a bit yellowish. Overall, both images are usable, but we expected better.
Scene 2
In the second set of images, the iPhone appears to be lacking in clarity, but the phone itself isn't to blame. Let's say that our hands might have not been perfectly steady when taking this one. While the selfie out of the Pixel looks fine overall, the iPhone's is also likeable due to its greater exposure – an approach that works well in this case, as the position of the sun is behind our handsome model.
Scene 3
Moving on, we see the color reproduction trend continuing. The Pixel's selfie has a slight purplish tone to it, while the iPhone is giving its image a warm, yellowish look. Another thing worth mentioning is that the iPhone has a narrower field of view. This makes it ideal for self-portraits where the focus is put on one person or on the few people in it. The Google Pixel's wider viewing angles would allow it to easily fit more people into the frame, or the extra space could be used to add context to the image. We're okay with both solutions, as they both have their pros and cons, depending on the scenario.
Scene 4
This pair of images was taken indoors, and as it is clear to see, light wasn't abundant. We have to give this round to the iPhone as it has managed to deliver a clearer, brighter selfie. Of course, the one from the Pixel is also usable, but a bit more clarity would have been welcome.
Scene 5
This time around, the Pixel delivers slightly better results with a selfie that is clearer and more detailed. Meanwhile, the iPhone sticks to a slightly warmer color tone, as it did in its previous images.
Scene 6
And lastly, here's a pair of selfies that we took at night. While it's hard to pick a favorite, we can easily call both images pretty decent. The one from the iPhone is a bit more lively and with more accurate skin tones, hence it has a greater potential to get more likes on social media.
Conclusion
While the iPhone 7 and the Google Pixel are two of the best phones one can get right now, taking selfies is clearly not their main selling point. Both deliver usable results of so-so quality – worthy of being posted on Facebook or Twitter, but not quite good enough to hang on a wall.
The main issue with the two selfie snappers appears to be color reproduction. Yeah, we know that's not always easy to get right, but given the phones' high price point, one would expect to see better results.
Still, we can't call any of the two phones bad either. They're okay when it comes to taking selfies, and frankly, we doubt that any of their competitors would be significantly ahead of them. This means that while the selfies out of the iPhone 7 and the Google Pixel aren't stellar, we'd still rank them among the better phones in that respect.
What's your opinion on the matter, and which phone's selfies do you like better? Let us know in the comments below!
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