This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
It’s been almost a year since Google released the Pixel 9 series. As someone who is constantly looking for the best camera phone for that next trip to Italy, I have continued pitting it against not only the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S25 Ultra, but most Ultra camera phones from China.
And even nine months after its release, there is something about Pixel phone photos that remains very distinct. While most other brands have that typical “smartphone look” for photos, I appreciate how pictures from the Pixel don’t have that. In fact, they actually feel much closer to images you get from a real camera. Let me explain.
Pixel 9 Pro Photos
What is that dreaded "smartphone look" to photos? Most would agree that it is about unnaturally vivid colors and artificially boosted detail to make the images "pop" more. Google does not go that way with the Pixel 9 and there is something captivating about a camera that conveys realism rather than trying to scream at you with vivid colors.
Google, however, is not the only one in that quest. Some phone makers have tried to emulate a “film” look in the past few years. Xiaomi phones have the Leica Authentic color profile. Others like Vivo have something similar with the Zeiss Natural color profile. However, on most others like Samsung and Apple, this is mostly missing and the best we have is Apple's Photographic Styles. But that is not a "natural" look — it's Apple giving up on trying to give you that and leaving you with some toggles to try and figure out yourself.
Leica Authentic mode on Xiaomi 15 Ultra
Let me give you an example. The Leica Authentic mode on the 15 Ultra is fantastic if you want that film look, but it is also a bit much with the strong vignetting and the moody look, while the Pixel is a bit more neutral.
I have noticed that white balance, however, often skews on the warmer side on the Pixel, while the Xiaomi gets it correct more often. So don't think that the Pixel is perfect.
Another thing worth noting after using those cameras for a while (especially the ones from China), is I just feel overwhelmed with options there. You have filters and effects, and many options that you actually want are hidden, while the Pixel maintains a beautiful simplicity that I have come to appreciate.
For example, you can see the toggles for the 12MP/50MP resolution and the RAW/no RAW option right in the viewfinder, while on many other phones you have to switch to a different mode to change those. This does not sound like much, but in some settings when you have to take a photo in this very split second, it makes a big difference.
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I also really appreciate the Pixel 9 Pro being as compact as it is (those who want a bigger phone have the XL version, of course), while many of those Chinese camera phones only come in one size — extremely large and bulky.
The telephoto camera
I also find the telephoto camera on the Pixel to capture much cleaner photos than the iPhone, especially when you zoom a bit more. Here are a couple of photos straight out of camera that show the massive difference.
10X Zoom
< Pixel 9 ProiPhone 16 Pro >
Notice the crazy amount of noise and the washed out look on the iPhone.
< Pixel 9 ProiPhone 16 Pro >
Same thing in the second set of photos — a clean detail on the Pixel and tons of noise on the iPhone.
So what is it about the Pixel 9 Pro photos that is so special that you should know about?
The “Pixel look” is a combination of three things:
1. perfectly controlled highlights with excellent dynamic range
2. pleasingly soft detail, no oversharpening
3. natural color tones, no saturated colors “smartphone look”.
There is something about the clean detail and gradual falloff of colors on the Pixel that you don’t quite get on other phones too, which gives them this unique character. They look a bit like film, but they are not moody like the shots from the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
No phone camera is perfect, though, and there are a few areas I definitely want to see improved on the next Pixel 10.
Pixel 9 Pro Camera: Biggest Gripes
The SLOW processing — those used to an iPhone, will notice the Pixel being much slower to process AND capture images, the latter being the bigger problem. When you are taking picture of moving people, this can be very annoying.
No one-tap focal length change — I’ve gotten so used to quickly tapping the 1X button on an iPhone to switch between 24mm, 28mm and 35mm focal lengths. This is a great help if you want to compose better, and unfortunately with the Pixel you don’t have this one-tap action to switch between presets.
The god awful portrait mode — I don’t know what is it exactly, but portrait mode on Pixel phones is completely broken. The Pixel portrait mode greets you with 1.5X and 2X camera presets, which... makes no sense!
Bokeh mode on an existing image results in... trash photos — In the past year or so, most camera phones have added the ability to blur the background on an image in post. The Pixel can also do that, but only in theory. Take a look at the horror show that is the Pixel Bokeh mode in action. Yikes!
Crop from a Pixel 9 Pro 1X image after I applied Bokeh mode and the results are... horrific!
Gimmicky options that no one uses — remember Add Me? Or know about the Action Pan mode? Yeah, these camera modes are a gimmick that someone somewhere probably used once, and that someone was likely on the Pixel marketing team. Or AI. These certainly do not belong to the main mode selection.
A few bugs related to Google’s computational photography magic:
- Desaturated skies — while this does not happen every time, it occasionally does, and it can completely ruin the look of photos AND videos. With all the focus on dynamic range and HDR, Google occasionally gives a completely desaturated sky. Yeah, I don’t want crazy inky blue skies, but I don’t want a gray sky either (when it actually has color in it).
Desaturated skies are sometimes an issue on the Pixel
< Pixel 9 ProiPhone 16 Pro >
- Lighting up faces — this is something that Becca Farsace noticed in her testing, and I’ve been also noticing it a lot in some scenarios, especially when shooting against the light. It doesn’t look good.
But most of these are venial sins, little dents in the Pixel’s shining camera armor. Despite all the talk about others catching up to the Pixel computational photography magic, I don’t really see that. Most other phones still have that “smartphone look” and I think most photography enthusiasts would rather avoid that.
Of course, you can always go the RAW way and edit your own photos on every major camera phone, but that is a whole different topic that I won’t get into today.
But let me know your thoughts: do you like the Pixel camera? And what do you want to see improved in the Pixel 10?
Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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