Hi guys, its MTG here.
I am back home from MIT for my summer break, and I also have gotten a chance to take the
OnePlus 6 out and compare it to the best smartphone cameras out right now.
In this video, I'll be comparing the OnePlus 6 to what many people think is the best smartphone
camera out right now: the Pixel 2 XL.
I'll be comparing the cameras in various lighting conditions, and I'll also take a look at how
their video and audio qualities compare.
Let's get right into it.
The OnePlus 6 has a dual camera setup.
The main camera is 16 Megapixels.
The secondary camera has the same focal length, is 20 Megapixels, and is said to help the
overall image quality and help with portrait mode pictures.
They both have f/1.7 apertures.
The camera can record up to 4K at up to 60 fps and 1080p at up to 240 fps.
The main camera utilizes both gyroscope-based electronic image stabilization and optical
image stabilization.
The OnePlus 6's front camera is an impressive 16 Megapixels with an f/2.0 aperture.
It utilizes gyro-based EIS and has auto-HDR capabilities.
It can record video at up to 1080p at 30 fps.
The Pixel 2 XL has a single 12.2 Megapixel sensor with an f/1.8 aperture.
Using Google's image processing and machine learning, it can achieve portrait style pictures
on both the front and back cameras.
The camera can record up to 4K at 30 fps and 1080p at up to 120 fps.
It has both optical and electronic image stabilization.
The Pixel 2 XL's front camera is 8 Megapixels with an aperture of f/2.4.
It can record video at up to 1080p at 30 fps.
Right off the back, you could see that these two smartphone camera systems produce images
that are a lot closer than you may have expected.
The Pixel does tend to make pictures with more contrast, whereas the OnePlus 6 tends
to produce overall brighter and more saturated images.
We can also see that the Pixel 2 XL does tend to have the cooler images between the two.
If we zoom into this particular image, we can see that the image processing on the Pixel
2 XL is able to pick up so much detail.
The OnePlus 6 also picks up a ton of detail, but everything is more pronounced on the Pixel's
image.
This image shows how the pictures from the Pixel may become over processed sometimes.
The Pixel 2 picks up a lot of detail once again, but the OnePlus 6 has the more true
to life colors in this image, while the Pixel's shot just looks too grey.
In many other instances, however, the Pixel 2's image processing creates near perfect
images.
In this case, the Pixel's shot has the richer greens and more defined details in the sculpture
and concrete.
As we go through a couple more outdoor shots in great lighting, you can really notice the
trends of how the two phones process their images.
Some may prefer the contrast and detail-focus of the Pixel 2 XL, and others may really like
the brighter images of the OnePlus 6.
Both phones, no doubt perform great in great lighting.
But you aren't always going to be shooting pictures in perfect lighting conditions, so
I also like to test how cameras perform in more complex lighting scenarios.
I shot this picture to test the HDR capabilities of both phones.
In previous years, flagships struggled to capture quality images when light came in
through windows.
However, in this case, both phones did an excellent jobs.
The OnePlus 6 has the slightly brighter foreground, whereas the Pixel 2 XL is able to capture
more detail in the wall outside.
In this image, the Pixel's post processing shines.
Its able to maintain more detail in the top window, and is able to keep the foreground
brighter overall.
Again, this complex lighting scenario was handled well by both phones.
Again, the details look more pronounced on the Pixel 2's image, but the OnePlus 6 maintained
a brighter foreground and background.
In this video, I want to also take a look specifically at both phone's portrait modes.
Remember both phones do not have telephoto cameras, and although the OnePlus 6 does get
help from its second camera, both phones rely heavily on software to achieve the depth effect.
The OnePlus 6 takes wider-angle portrait shots.
I took these two standing in the same exact spot.
I actually had to take a big step forward on the OnePlus 6 to achieve the same angle
as the Pixel.
Although the Pixel is able to pick up more detail in the subject's face, I think the
OnePlus 6 did the better job with distinguishing the foreground from the background.
For some reason, in the Pixel's image, the top half of the hedge is blurred, but the
rest of the right side of the image isn't blurred at all, even if it is in the background.
This next image shows just what the Pixel 2's are capable of when they do get the blur
right.
The Pixel 2 XL is able to pick up great colors, great levels of detail, and I look perfectly
exposed.
The OnePlus 6's photo isn't bad by any means, but details on my face aren't preserved as
much, and I do appear to be slightly over-exposed.
The Pixel 2 XL is able to pick up so much detail once again, but again, it doesn't do
as good of a job with blurring the background.
For some reason, the Pixel thought the entire ledge was in the foreground and didn't blur
it.
Also the OnePlus 6's blur looks less fake than the Pixel 2's in this image.
Both phones have terrific selfie cameras.
The OnePlus 6 has the sheer megapixel count and HDR capability advantage, but the Pixel
2 XL exceeds that with pure image processing.
The Pixel 2's are even able to take excellent portrait mode pictures with their front cameras.
As I shift into video, note that the OnePlus 6 can shoot 4K at up to 60 fps, but since
this video is uploaded at 30 fps, I set them to 4K at 30.
*video montage* Both phones have great 4K video quality.
And both phones really try to make the colors pop.
In both cases, it may lead to a video that is saturated too much, but many people have
openly liked colors that pop, so I guess that's why OnePlus and Google went that route.
In terms of stabilization, they both utilize electronic and optical stabilization.
OnePlus appears to have the more aggressive stabilization algorithms, which makes for
steadier walking, but also for more jittery, less natural panning.
But a plus with electronic image stabilization is that it can be tuned later in via software
updates.
OnePlus carries over its electronic image stabilization to its front camera as well.
This makes for a very stabilized video.
However, to achieve this, OnePlus has to crop into the image a bit.
The OnePlus 6 is able to pick up a lot of detail, whereas the Pixel 2 XL's colors look
more true-to-life.
In terms of audio, both phones have pretty aggressive noise cancelling, which does eliminate
a lot of wind noise, but also makes for tinny audio.
In terms of overall volume, the OnePlus 6's audio is significantly louder.
All the pictures I shot in lowlight were without flash, and I'd say a lot of the pictures turned
out great.
Both phones were able to capture a lot of detail, and take in a surprising amount of
light given the circumstances.
In this instance, the Pixel 2 XL is able to process the image very well and produce the
brighter, more detailed image.
Both phones are able to minimize noise in the sky despite it being very dark at the
time, and both do a pretty good job of not letting light sources get blown.
In this image, the OnePlus 6 handles the light strip better, but the Pixel 2 XL again is
able to produce the brighter image.
In this last lowlight shot, we can see that sometimes the Pixel can unnaturally brighten
the image sometimes.
The OnePlus 6 deals with all of the colored lights better, whereas the Pixel 2 XL always
tries to simply brighten the image.
As you can see, this camera comparison was probably closer than you would've expected.
I've had some people tell me to not even make this camera comparison because of how one-sided
they thought it would be.
At the end of the day, the Pixel 2 XL probably still has the better camera, but how much
of a better camera?
I'll be comparing both the phones fully in a future video, but for now I wanted to just
show you how the cameras stack up.
A lot of the preferences on image quality will come down to what you prefer.
Some people like the really high contrast images, while others prefer brighter, more
saturated images.
Let me know in the comment section your thoughts.
I will be making camera comparisons between the OnePlus 6 and iPhone X and S9+ too so
make sure to subscribe and click that notification bell to see those.
That's all I had to talk about today.
Thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next video.