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Last month, Google unveiled the third versions of its smartphone (or its eleventh, depending on its appearance), the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, at an event in New York.
Google spent much of the presentation running out about the camera of his latest smartphone. Unlike most of its competitors' phones, it uses a single 12.2-megapixel camera (instead of two, three or more) to create crisp portrait-style photos, zoom, and generally perceive depth. of the earth. As it is Google, which is increasingly trying to integrate artificial intelligence in more and more aspects of its business and our lives, it achieves all this with many proprietary algorithms.
Quartz spent the last few weeks testing the Pixel 3 XL, checking to see if these algorithms were performing well and if Google's latest Android device was up to the competition. And in a few hours of testing, it became clear that this camera is really excellent, one of the best I have ever used on a smartphone.
Last year, Google Pixel 2 set a new standard for smartphone photography. The DxOMark benchmarking website reported on the phone what was its best score, shortly after it was released. The organization has not yet reviewed the Pixel 3 and, since the last year since the release of the last phone, the competition has intensified: the new Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 are two excellent phones which far surpbades the Pixel 2 score.
Google seems to have spent a good deal of its time over the last year tweaking even more the camera. This is not a technical review (I'll leave that to DxOMark), but the photos that my very amateur took were some of the most enjoyable I've ever taken, without me really doing anything other than to direct the camera to something cool. .
Here are some pictures that, I think, summarize the size of the camera:
This adorable puppy that I caught mid-lash emphasizes the functioning of the portrait mode.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
Some railroads enlarged and rusty in Queens, New York.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
It was not long before I noticed that I was flying over Niagara Falls a few weeks ago and that, even at about fifteen meters, the details of the Niagara River are staggering.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
Like in this marsh pulled in Mbadachusetts, in what was actually a pretty bleak day, with no added treatment added to the picture.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
Even with this one.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
The horizon of San Francisco appears in the bright blue sky.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
Just like the fall foliage colors in this Brooklyn street.
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
Here is the wide angle selfie mode (used in conjunction with the portrait mode effect).
Quartz / Mike Murphy
(Click here to see the whole picture)
And even if you do not look great, the photos are still:
Again, the camera of the phone is not devoid of defects. Here is a zoom in on the pixel that tries to differentiate the foreground from the background for a portrait photo. The result is rather terrible:
And even if it is good enough to illuminate images taken in darker places, the result is not surprising:
(That being said, it is interesting to note that Google is planning to launch a "Night Shot" mode soon, which will significantly lighten dark photos, but it was not available during testing.)
The Pixel 3 XL is a smart choice for Android users. It has a large net screen, built-in Google Assistant (probably the best digital badistant available on phone), a 64GB storage capacity, a wireless charge, a fast charge (7 hours charge in 15 minutes!), It is water resistant, and it has a vivid processor.
None of these features are particularly peculiar to the Pixel range. And the Pixel 3 XL starts at $ 899, about $ 50 more than the gorgeous Samsung Galaxy S9 +, and $ 350 more than the OnePlus 6T, which does a lot of what the Pixel 3 can offer, in one more package attractive.
It also has some detractors: the big notch at the top of the screen is awkward and does not seem to add much to the phone; she does not use real estate for face scan systems as does the iPhone X, instead use the space for two selfie cameras and a speaker. The touch gestures used by Google to replace the home button are also pretty tricky: scan from top to bottom to view all open applications on the phone, then you have to perform a new scan to access the library. Applications, or while holding down the mouse button. low. The phone also has a glbad bottom that is scratched fairly easily and whose finish gives an impression of plastic, which is simply strange.
For the price, I'm not sure to recommend the Pixel 3 XL only to the quality of its camera. Many of its competitors have almost as high-performance cameras (although most of the power of Pixel's camera is said to be in Google's software, which should improve over time. ) and that she feels a little more complete at this price. That being said, if you want an Android phone taking amazing photos and always having the latest Android updates first, you probably will not be disappointed with the Pixel 3 XL.
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