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iPhone 12 vs. Pixel 5 camera comparison

Apple just launched the iPhone 12 and Google the Pixel 5. While the $829 iPhone 12 is more expensive, on paper both phones have a similar setup in terms of cameras. Each phone has a main wide-angle camera, an ultrawide-angle camera and a wide selfie camera. We took both phones out and took dozens of…

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Apple just launched the iPhone 12 and Google the Pixel 5. While the $829 iPhone 12 is more expensive, on paper both phones have a similar setup in terms of cameras. Each phone has a main wide-angle camera, an ultrawide-angle camera and a wide selfie camera. We took both phones out and took dozens of photos and videos to see how they stack up against each other.

0:26 Standard Wide Lens Comparison
3:29 Digital Zoom
7:39 Ultra-Wide Lens Comparison
9:35 Selfie Portrait Mode
11:17 Sample Photos
11:38 Video Comparison
13:05 Google Pixel 5 – Cinematic Pan
14:18 Slow Motion Video
15:01 Conclusion

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79 Comments

  1. Michael Jordan

    October 24, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    where was this shot? the area looks quite picturesque

  2. davit Katamadze

    October 24, 2020 at 10:35 pm

    Imagine pixel upgrading hardware in pixel 6 or whatever its gonna be

  3. palashholkar

    October 24, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    Really nice comparison 👍🏼

  4. theswamerica com

    October 24, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    From a guy using a apple laptop. I have both and my wife has the apple and I have the pixel. My wife asks to use my pixel for any important photos. Huge difference when shown on a phone. Pixel blows apple out of the water. Not surprised if he did some editing.

  5. Alexandre A. Pascotto Montilha

    October 24, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    Colors look muted on Pixel

  6. Brian P

    October 24, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    I love this reviewer his method of presenting is enjoyable and relaxing

  7. joncaju

    October 24, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    In almost every photo you took, the iPhone 12 camera is clearly better than the Pixel. For me, it’s not even close.

  8. theswamerica com

    October 24, 2020 at 11:00 pm

    Just buy a Sony. They are the makers of most phone cameras.

    • Harry James Barton

      October 25, 2020 at 12:52 am

      No. They don’t have processing as good as Apple or Google.

  9. theswamerica com

    October 24, 2020 at 11:01 pm

    Fixed too. My old Pixel 3 takes better photos than the apple. These are not correct comparisons.

  10. Ruben Padmore

    October 24, 2020 at 11:10 pm

    You are so partial towards iPhone this video became trash. Why making excuses for the iPhone? I like iPhone but I was expecting an honest review. Stick to the facts.

  11. Guilherme Fernandes

    October 24, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    I think google finally worked on video so it’s better in that department now but they need to upgrade hardware for next year. Competition surpassed google in some areas in photos already

  12. Kevin Norales

    October 24, 2020 at 11:29 pm

    Pixel 5 wins all day long for me, my personal preference

  13. Ron Cosby

    October 24, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    These people are so arrogant and just plain unintelligent.

  14. red_array

    October 25, 2020 at 12:10 am

    Cool comparison. I’ve had a pixel for a few years and am going back to iphone just as a change of pace. It’s almost like the new pixel is truer to life and the iphone pushes reds to warm the images up. The opposite of what I would’ve guessed.

  15. Larimon Kharumnuid

    October 25, 2020 at 12:16 am

    I phone 12 is the best

  16. Gfdereew Ghyjhhkkk

    October 25, 2020 at 12:21 am

    Iphone 12 also has deep fusion for medium lighting. So it’s definitely better pictures and in videos, only it’s ultra wide is worse at night.

  17. Bernie Ess

    October 25, 2020 at 12:31 am

    To choose one or the other one bases on the camera seems odd to me. They both have very good albeit different cameras. Apple emphathizes color and contrast, Pixel is more neutral and cooler. Question of taste. I will choose based on what system I prefer. As most of my stuff is Apple, the Pixel is out of the game. Easy.

  18. Chad Mason

    October 25, 2020 at 12:39 am

    “Dynamic range better on the Iphone” Nope, not if you lose detail. The pixel in most of the shots had shadow detail, instead of black blobs. Look at the bushes in front of the building in the picture with the green steeple type roof (zoomed in). The steeple color is totally different between the two phones, you did not mention the one the looked closer to real life. The sky looked more natural (on my screen at least) on the pixel. I liked however how the clouds popped on the Iphone. I did notice though that each phone traded shots each beating the other at certain times. Thank you for admitting the lenz was dirty on the Pixel night shots as those photos turned me off.

  19. Dimitar & Lidija Berberu

    October 25, 2020 at 12:44 am

    They are OK but nowhere close to normal large lens.

  20. Eddie Castillo

    October 25, 2020 at 1:02 am

    Impressed how well the older hardware held up. I would have been concerned if iPhone didn’t do better, but it is good for the consumer. Competition means more choices and quality!

  21. Dan Mills

    October 25, 2020 at 1:06 am

    For the first time since the Pixel 1, the iPhone surpasses it. By a little.

  22. aniket singh

    October 25, 2020 at 1:08 am

    I think you could have worked a bit more on the video production, there seems to be some kind of inconsistencies with the editor who is delivering the content.

  23. M J

    October 25, 2020 at 1:22 am

    Pixel still killing it on the selfie bokeh, particularly on deciding what’s in the foreground and what’s in the background.

  24. KillitWithNeon

    October 25, 2020 at 1:22 am

    Pixel 5 iBeat my children

  25. Ahsan Zafar Channel

    October 25, 2020 at 1:29 am

    11:32 that iphone night mode photos was magical tbh

  26. Adarsh Bhavihal

    October 25, 2020 at 2:52 pm

    Save your 15 min, iPhone>Pixel.

  27. MrOldeastdallas

    October 25, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    iPhone’s pictures look warm, like Samsung’s. SMH I hate when they do that. I rather have realistic colors. I had an iPhone x and it made my skin look orange and soft, like if I was wearing makeup.

  28. Franiel Ferreiras

    October 25, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    The iphone 12 really saturates photos and videos… How the tables turned

  29. Luc David

    October 25, 2020 at 3:22 pm

    That’s probably why the head of Pixel imaging left Google to go work with Adobe on a revolutionary camera app that will be available to a lot of different devices. No too far away, we’ll have a gcam equivalent on pretty much any phone. Pixels are dead to me.

  30. Checkma8s

    October 25, 2020 at 3:48 pm

    watching on my iphone se

  31. J V

    October 25, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    Thank you.. im going for Iphone 12 mini now!!.. thanks for this comparrison.. but i have never used IOS, i come from Pixel 2.

  32. Luiz Nunes

    October 25, 2020 at 4:34 pm

    So disappointed that the zoom was replaced by the wide lens. If you want a wider picture, back up a little, or take a panoramic picture. Now, if you want to zoom, what can you do without the photo lens?

  33. Subham Rath

    October 25, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    This person clearly made his mind to favour the iPhone 😂 classical CNET stance

  34. William

    October 25, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    why not the iPhone 12 pro version

  35. coojofresh

    October 25, 2020 at 5:39 pm

    I’m sure people click on these videos that are titled like this to see which one is better. I feel like you should add a, “no decision is made on these cameras” disclaimer.

  36. roguegeek

    October 25, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    If you’re going to make a video about pixel peeping, you should be using someone capable of performing pixel peeping-level testing.

    • Ernie Correa

      October 25, 2020 at 6:59 pm

      Yup both of their night shots were not taken well

  37. Khaldoun Al-nuaimi

    October 25, 2020 at 5:45 pm

    I prefer the iPhone’s over all processing but I prefer the pixel’s colour science.

  38. Brown Boi

    October 25, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    More how to defend iphone xd

  39. So fine

    October 25, 2020 at 6:07 pm

    🇱🇷 just got back my account thanks to @steve.watcher such an incredible hacker. Find him on Instagram🙂

  40. Jason Rodriguez

    October 25, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    This dude needs to be called out enough with this bias bull crap 💩 already man the pixel 5 did win more but this man didn’t want to say but when he thinks the iPhone did good he yells it this man just did a iPhone 12 review and he was so biased for it ! Enough

  41. Jawad Assiri

    October 25, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    no @4:58 the diff between the photos is 30+ seconds. Plus you can clearly see the time difference between the two photos.

  42. Roman Kr

    October 25, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    Would be nice if you show us not edited photos we can clearly see there are some adjustments and changes lol ….

  43. Max

    October 25, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    The iphone is way more expensive.
    I personally like the iphone a bit more.

  44. David Jamgochian

    October 25, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    THANK FOR YOUR TIME IS NOT A PROBLEM BUT IT IS A GREAT VACATION WHERE IS!! !!

  45. Vincent Tubes

    October 25, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    My old pixel 3a takes better pictures than the iPhone 12, it’s really noticeable. Video is slightly smoother on iPhone. iPhone screen and speakers are amazing though.

  46. まこと

    October 25, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    買い換え予定だから参考なる!
    Thank you!

  47. Kee Law

    October 25, 2020 at 11:04 pm

    iPhone has gone very Samsung like with its saturated colour science…. very much moved away from its previous truer to life colours

  48. Michael Roxas

    October 26, 2020 at 12:02 am

    Dude, oversaturated picture is not natural. Since when is oversaturated color is realistic?

  49. Aleksandar Gorgiev

    October 26, 2020 at 12:15 am

    apple fan boys youtubers can’t really talk about small iphone batery,64 gb storage ,60hz displays no charger,no headphones, ugly notch notch,no reverse charge overpriced phones,no usb c port

  50. Gustavo Oliveira

    October 26, 2020 at 1:11 am

    iPhone is much, much better!

  51. k k

    October 26, 2020 at 12:09 pm

    If you are watching them via the iMac , wouldn’t it give the iPhone a slight advantage over the google pixel? Just thinking 🤔

  52. Mark Binder

    October 26, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    The Pixel 5 wins at 6:00 in the video as the church steeple is sharper and maintains the 3D imagery better at 7X than the iPhone does at 5X.
    The white balance is much better on the Pixel 5 at 7:24 which is evidenced by the yellow tint of the bottom of the wall compared to the bottom of the window. Same color mortar, but represented differently in the picture on the iPhone.
    At 9:21, I prefer the ultrawide on the Pixel 5 because when looking at the iPhone, the two lamps seem to be pointing/leaning inward. Even more-so is the block with the “Court Square” sign on it. I mean that block looks like it’s been twisted on the iPhone compared to the same block on the Pixel 5.
    Personally, I’d call the video a draw. The Pixel 5 does better with dymanic range (fountain), while the iPhone can do 240fps slow motion.
    For my money, I’m going with the Pixel 5, because I get the charger in the box. Stupid move by Apple to not include the charger in the box.

  53. Ernest Henley

    October 26, 2020 at 12:58 pm

    try as you might, just admit the pixel camera outperforms the iphone 12.

    • Patrick Holland

      October 26, 2020 at 4:00 pm

      Ernest Henly, you’re right there are times the Pixel 5 camera does out perform the iPhone 12. I call those out, too.

  54. Web Application Firewall

    October 26, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Making excuses when iphone doesn’t do a better job than the Pixel…such a stoopid sheep.

    • Patrick Holland

      October 26, 2020 at 4:04 pm

      Web Application Firewall I disagree with your name calling. I’ve been a Pixel fan since the Pixel 2.

  55. R3DLiFE

    October 26, 2020 at 2:49 pm

    It’s 2020 and this video highest capability is 1080p ? Y’all can’t afford 4K or ?

  56. Nathan Aji George

    October 26, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    I like the pictures and videos from pixel 5 more

  57. Pretty

    October 26, 2020 at 3:42 pm

    I like the pixel looks more realistic while the iphone looks yellowish.

  58. aditya rao

    October 26, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    Pixel kills Iphone. Period. It has the best camera

  59. tipoomaster

    October 26, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    10:32, the difference between bokeh and blur. I’m surprised Google didn’t catch up there because their portrait mode is usually more reliable for cutouts.

  60. Lạc Mất Em

    October 26, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    Iphone 12 win👌

  61. xtinaroma

    October 26, 2020 at 4:28 pm

    I subscribed to this channel just because of how thorough this camera comparison was.
    Patrick, thank you so much!

  62. rawnak y

    October 26, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    Where is the brick building located?

  63. KB Eightyseven

    October 26, 2020 at 6:02 pm

    What’s going on with the sky on the 2nd image (the building) on the iPhone? There’s a white light all the the way down the left side of the building, it looks like the building is photoshopped on, I feel like iPhone have gone for a more Samsung/Instagram saturation this year

  64. CrankyBeast

    October 26, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    Both take great pictures.

  65. Sati

    October 26, 2020 at 6:07 pm

    It seems that the iPhones are taking a more Samsung like style as far as saturation and extra processing over pure naturalness. For years we harped on Samsung for this, it some how became the norm, and now people are saying more natural photos like the ones on the Pixel have less detail.

  66. JT-Media

    October 26, 2020 at 6:07 pm

    Pixel is no longer the camera king. Other brands got really better. iPhone 12 series seems best so far.

  67. Sandi Hermana

    October 26, 2020 at 6:18 pm

    i think the iphone 12 really match versus with galaxy note20 ultra Not Pixel5, because the Pixel5 is now Not Flagship category phone, is midrange phone

  68. F!zZ

    October 26, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    If only both phones were at a reasonable price in India. They say you can travel to Dubai from India and buy the phone there, it would still cost less than buying a unit here.

  69. Xrzysiek

    October 26, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    Regarding zoom on the Pixel there is super res zoom not regular digital 😉

  70. Matelight Cartoon

    October 26, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    I don’t like that this video is in 24 fps but you show videos from phones which have 30 fps, so the are jerky as *!@#@

  71. Avin Shaji John

    October 26, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    When samsung had their saturation high, people used to ridicule about it trying to be unrealistic but now with the iPhone everything seems more realistic. Bias on point😂. I guess from what I saw pixel had more lifelike with the accurate amount of saturation.

  72. Joel Cano

    October 26, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    I hate to say that I prefer the pictures and videos from the iPhone. What I’m supposed to do now? I cannot but an iPhone after all the things I said for the last 10 years…

  73. LittleMopeHead

    October 26, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    STOP APOLOGIZING!!! :]

  74. Gagan

    October 26, 2020 at 10:30 pm

    If I shoot a picture with Pixel I probably have to edit it to give it a look that iPhone already has.
    On the other hand….maybe, if for some reason more details are required from shadow areas, I would have to edit iPhone photo to boost those shadows, hoping it wouldn’t destroy the whole photo.

  75. michael bautista

    October 26, 2020 at 11:41 pm

    You are an apple sheep. I get it

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