iPhone 16 Pro vs. Pixel 9 Pro: A Detailed Camera Showdown

iPhone 16 Pro vs. Pixel 9 Pro Camera Comparison

How does the iPhone 16 Pro camera compare to the Pixel 9 Pro? Well, let’s find out. Apple’s iPhones have always packed some of the best cameras it’s possible to find in a phone. And so far in our testing, the iPhone 16 Pro is really proving to be no exception. But the Pixel 9 Pro also packs a superb camera that can take some gorgeous photos. So how does the new iPhone stand up against Google’s best? I took them for a photo battle around the beautiful city of Edinburgh to find out.

I immediately found this scene of some lovely fallen leaves displaying their beautiful golden colors. Straight away, I could see that those colors were warmer and more vibrant on the Pixel, with the iPhone shots looking a little drab and cold in comparison. The Pixel has warmer tones in this shot using the five times optical zoom on both phones, and the iPhone’s colder tone is especially noticeable in this image overlooking these allotments. While the Pixel’s image is fairly neutral in tone, the iPhone shot leans heavily into the blue end of the white balance spectrum, which I don’t think looks great. I’m certainly not getting cozy warm vibes, and the same is true of the five times zoom with the Pixel delivering bolder, warmer tones.

I did, however, use the iPhone 16 Pro’s new photographic styles to add a bit of warmth back into the scene, and it looks much better, but I still prefer the richness of color in the Pixel shot. But things suddenly looked different in this example taken in Edinburgh’s beautiful Dean Village. The iPhone captured a brighter scene overall here, which is especially noticeable on the yellow building on the right and the grasses in the foreground. I certainly prefer the iPhone’s version of this image.

Diving into the architecture of the National Museum of Scotland, the iPhone has again produced a brighter, more vibrant image here. I love the warmer tones in the orange floor in particular, while the Pixel shot looks pretty dull. It’s the same story when switching to the ultra-wide lens, with the iPhone’s image looking bright and colorful and the Pixel’s looking just flat. Going ultra-wide wasn’t enough, so I switched to panorama mode. The Pixel has an updated panorama mode, but I find it disappointing. It produced a flatter image than the iPhone, and its method of stitching images together made it harder to centralize the view. Meanwhile, the iPhone’s sweeping method allowed more control over the capture.

I needed a coffee, so I took an indoor shot of my flat white, which turned out far brighter and more vibrant on the iPhone. To be honest, I found the Pixel’s version very disappointing. After refueling, it was time to head to the pub. There’s less to separate these shots, but the Pixel has more even exposure with less highlight on the barrel. However, the tones and contrast look better on the iPhone, especially in the flagstone flooring, which pops in the iPhone’s image.

I moved to another pub full of people enjoying live folk music. The iPhone shot of the players has better colors, but the Pixel edges it in sharpness. Zooming in on this beer tap in a dimly lit room, the iPhone’s image is noticeably brighter and sharper than the Pixel’s.

For dinner, I headed to a vibrant indoor street food market. The Pixel’s image is brighter, but it blew out a neon sign, reducing it to a white square. The iPhone controlled the highlights better but slightly over-brightened a person’s hair in the foreground. Zooming in on a different part of the scene, the iPhone made a shirt and hair much sharper than the Pixel. Overall, it feels like a close victory for the iPhone.

In a nighttime street scene, the Pixel’s night mode brightened the shadows too much, making the image look unnatural. The iPhone maintained more natural shadows and tones in the sky, making its shot the clear winner. The iPhone also won in another night shot where the Pixel pulled back highlights to a ridiculous extent, making normally vibrant signs and lights look strange. The iPhone captured the scene more evenly. The Pixel’s ultra-wide shot had better colors, but it was blurry compared to the iPhone.

So which phone takes better photos? Both the iPhone 16 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro are flagship phones at the top of their game. There isn’t much to choose between them when it comes to camera performance. In some shots, particularly indoors, the iPhone was the clear winner, while in others, the Pixel’s warmer tones and vibrant colors came out on top. Overall, I tend to prefer the iPhone’s more natural look, which provides a better base for editing. The iPhone 16 Pro’s new photographic styles also add a creative advantage over the Pixel. What do you think of the two phones and their images?