Apple's iPhone 14 is a Slightly Better Night Shooter Than Google's Pixel 7

Before we get into the comparison photos, here’s a rundown of the respective camera loadouts inside the iPhone 14 (left) and Pixel 7 (right):

• iPhone 14: The iPhone 14 camera system differs from the iPhone 14 Pro. The primary camera is a 12-MP sensor with an f/1.5 aperture, while the ultrawide camera is also 12-MP and boasts a 120-degree front-facing field of view. There is no telephoto lens. Apple went triple-threat on the 12-MP sensor by adding it to the front, with an f/1.9 aperture. The iPhone 14 also runs on the last-gen A15 Bionic chip, though it’s been upgraded for the iPhone 14 since it was used in last year’s iPhone 13 Pro. Apple boasts tuned camera algorithms.
• Pixel 7: The Pixel 7 has a similar dual-camera system as the Pixel 7 Pro but without the third telephoto lens. On the back, there’s a 50-MP primary camera with an f/1.85 aperture and a 12-MP wide-angle lens with a 114-degree field of view. Google’s leg up is its AI-infused Tensor Chip, specially tuned for processing camera images. The Tensor G2 chip is the same inside the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

Besides the disparate ecosystems, color temperature is the main differentiator between the iPhone and Pixel smartphones. The iPhone 14 (left) tends to be more “true to life”—if there’s haze in the air, the atmosphere is a bit fuzzy, and the hues skew more yellow and green. Conversely, the Pixel 7 (right) appears more punched up in the blues and reds—sometimes aggressively.

The color temperature differences aren’t always noticeable. Sometimes, shots I took with the iPhone 14 (left) and Pixel 7 (right) looked exactly alike, so I had to keep the window open to see the EXIF data on each file while putting together this article. However, you can see the difference in detail in this photo of limes on a tree. The iPhone 14’s result is sharper in the foreground than the Pixel 7, which seems to blur the edges in an attempt to add depth.

The color tuning stays pretty consistent when there’s extended daylight. In this photo, which is zoomed in to 2x on both the iPhone 14 (left) and the Pixel 7 (right), both palm trees are sharp and detailed enough that you can see they’re flailing in the wind. But when you zoom in more closely, you can also see that both the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7 had to aggressively sharpen the edges of the palms to avoid blurring.

The iPhone 14’s maximum zoom capacity is 5x digital on its main camera. The Pixel 7’s is 8x digital, aided by Super Res Zoom software tweaks. While you aren’t buying these smartphones for their zoom capabilities, it’s worth understanding what you’re missing out on by not having a dedicated telephoto lens.

Overall, I found the Pixel 7 (right) to be the sharper of the two in most zoom situations. It’s most apparent in the foreground, where the trees are more silhouetted in the right-most image. You’ll also notice that the iPhone 14 (left) had a harder time picking a focus point.

I can see a field of windmills about 15 miles away from my house on a clear day. I usually save this test for my top-tier flagship camera shooters, like the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pixel 7 Pro, which performed well in their respective reviews. I tested it instead with the iPhone 14 (left) and the Pixel 7 (right) to see if it’s possible for them to zoom even without the dedicated telephoto lens.

Bottom line: Don’t zoom with these phones. I mean, zoom if you have to frame a shot a little more closely and you’re within stepping distance of the subject. And definitely zoom like your life depends on it if you see a celebrity in the wild—a blurry photo is better than no photo. But don’t plan to shoot airplanes and planets with the lenses on the iPhone 14 and Pixel 7. Either buy a dedicated camera or shell out the cash for a loaded smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.

I wasn’t feeling the spooky season this year, so I just put up whichever Halloween decorations felt easy. The iPhone 14 (left) had an easier time tempering the rest of the image than the Pixel 7 (right). Even with the Pixel 7’s relative sharpness, I preferred the iPhone 14’s interpretation. It got the lighting temperature right and didn’t overprocess the ghost light projected on the wall.

The night modes between the iPhone 14 (left) and Pixel 7 (right) were pretty effective, but I was surprised that the iPhone’s algorithm lightened up this photo more than the Pixel’s result. It starts to make sense when you compare the paperwork. The iPhone 14’s primary rear-facing camera has a slightly wider aperture than the Pixel 7’s, which helps it capture a bit more light the minute you press the shutter button.

I wasn’t expecting the iPhone 14 (left) to out-light the Pixel 7 (right) in indoor night shots, but lo and behold. The iPhone did a better job lighting up the whole photo overall, while the Pixel 7 focused on enhancing the background and foreground details.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 14 (left) and the Pixel 7 (right) won’t help you scope out coyotes in the dead of night (they were howling in a chorus while I snapped these shots). But if the moon is out and there’s a beautiful scene in the distance, at least you know both phones can capture its essence for evidence.

I was also not expecting the iPhone 14 (left) to beat out the Pixel 7 (right) in terms of saturation—or maybe I was thinking about Samsung the whole time (the brand is notorious for the way its phones oversaturate their final results). Anyway, the difference in aperture ensured that the neon coloring of the toy on the right side of this shot came through on the iPhone 14’s result. It’s even more obvious the toy on the left is a glow-in-the-dark green here versus how it looks in the Pixel 7’s shot. While I appreciate that the Pixel 7’s version was more detailed, I’m also embarrassed that it enhanced the dust underneath the shelf. Apple’s algorithms were kinder to me.

The iPhone 14 (left) and Pixel 7 (right) smartphones take wonderful shots in sunny daylight and on cold nights. The Pixel 7 is a little more affordable at its $600 starting point, but I’d recommend the higher capacity version anyway—start with 256GB. The 128GB iPhone 14 is a little more pricey at $800.

It’ll be interesting to see how these phones stack up to their mid-tier counterparts, the iPhone SE and Pixel 6a, which offer similar camera algorithms for $200 less.