The new iPhone 15 was finally released in September of this year, and expectations were high. Some of those expectations were reached, others not so much. Not far behind, the Pixel 8, with the far superior name, was released in October, and reviews haven’t been nearly as rave. iPhone versus Google/Samsung battles have always raged on with the latter two staying silent while Apple’s wins and losses always make headlines. So, does the Pixel 8 compare better than the iPhone and we’re just not hearing it, or are Google keeping quiet for a reason? Read on to find out the details.
Table of Contents
The camera
The important point when it comes to choosing a phone, and the main selling point Apple haters use to tell you you’re wasting your money: the camera.
And let’s face it, they’ve got a point. iPhone’s cameras have historically always been a generation or so behind other models, and Google in particular has made an entire marketing campaign, or a few, around the magic qualities of its camera. You can shoot at night, you can take good pictures of all skin tones, and you can erase flaws: all things we couldn’t imagine caring about 20 years ago.
And even the Pixel 8 holds up. The Pixel 8 has a new triple camera system: a 50MP wide main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera that goes to 114 degrees FOV, and a 12MP telephoto camera. The iPhone has a 12MP main camera, with much fewer megapixels, a wider ultrawide camera at 120 degrees, a similar but slightly better front camera, and a better aperture. A mixed bag there but we would say the megapixels in the main camera alone make the Pixel 8 the superior choice for taking your Halloween photos. Create a superhero name here and start gaming with your new persona.
The hardware
There were two very different approaches here. The iPhone 15 makes very minimal design changes, mostly out of necessity, whereas the Pixel 8 is going for a whole new look.
Strutting the runway in a new polished aluminium frame and a camera bag, the Pixel 8 looks stunning and cutting edge in lots of fun colours like “lemongrass” and “hazel”. Behind her the iPhone 15 walks with the same look but this time in black, two shades of grey they’ve named “blue” and “green” a garish yellow and pink. The biggest change in the hardware is the “new” USB-C charging port that was begrudgingly added to comply with EU regulations.
However, the iPhone 15 does have a bigger screen at 6.7” whereas the Pixel 8 has a 6.3” display. Personal preference comes into play here. Choose between watching Netflix comfortably and breaking your pinkie finger.
However, it’s worth mentioning the durability of these items. The iPhone 15 went viral in a way it wouldn’t want to: for being bendable, and in some cases, even snappable.
The battery life
But the big question when it comes to longevity is around the battery life. We all know the scandal of the battery life purposefully depleting over time, so have Apple rectified themselves there?
Well, the Pixel 8 has a 4,700 mAh battery capacity compared to 3,200 mAh for the iPhone 15. The much larger Pixel battery gives it an advantage. In benchmarks, the Pixel 8 lasted around 1.5 days on average between charges, while the iPhone 15 averaged 1 day. Real-world performance aligns with the capacity difference.
The AI
We could dive deep into all the features of the software, but that, at least in Apple’s case is getting rolled out across phone models and won’t really factor into a decision on what model to buy. Instead, we’re looking at the latest venture from Silicon Valley: AI.
Google’s 2nd-gen tensor chip powers AI-based functions on the Pixel 8. The A16 Bionic enables similar smarts on the iPhone 15. The Tensor’s machine learning leadership is narrowing.
