{"id":300352,"date":"2018-03-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imaging-resource.com\/review\/google-pixel-2-review\/"},"modified":"2018-03-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-30T04:00:00","slug":"google-pixel-2-review","status":"publish","type":"review-cameras","link":"https:\/\/www.imaging-resource.com\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Pixel 2 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"review-microformat\">\n<h2 class=\"rev-tab-head\">Google Pixel 2 Field Test<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"rev-tab-head\">An impressive little pocket camera, that also happens to make phone calls<\/h3>\n<p>Although my &#8220;daily driver&#8221; smartphone is an <a href=\"\/cameras\/apple-iphone-8-plus-review\/\" target=\"_blank\">iPhone 8 Plus<\/a>, I recently had an opportunity to test out the Google Pixel 2. And although the Pixel 2 isn&#8217;t the newest smartphone on the block, it&#8217;s still one of the two current flagship &#8220;Made by Google&#8221; devices, and one that&#8217;s received rather <a href=\"\/news\/google-announces-the-pixel-2-dxo-testing-shows-it-outperforming-the-iphone\/\" target=\"_blank\">high praise for the image quality of its camera<\/a>. With the ever-increasing quality and performance of smartphone cameras, I grow more and more curious about using smartphones for &#8220;actual&#8221; photography. As a photographer and camera reviewer, though, I do struggle with leaving behind my dedicated camera &#8212; with fast lenses, large sensor and tactile buttons and dials &#8212; to <em>just<\/em> use a smartphone. But, man, it truly is hard to overlook the convenience of a smartphone that just slips in your pocket, freeing you from having to carry anything else. <em>Simplicity.<\/em><\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738937?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180305_164001-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/120s, ISO 215<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>OK, back to the camera itself&#8230; <\/p>\n<p>Despite the small sensor size, I was rather impressed with the image quality from the iPhone 8 Plus (all things considered), and so I was really curious to see how the Pixel 2 compared. The timing worked out really well, too. I received the phone to review, and then shortly thereafter I traveled to Japan for CP+. I activated Project Fi mobile service on the Pixel 2, and then used the Pixel 2 as my daily phone while abroad for about two weeks. Once back in the States, I also shot some more gallery photos as well as some comparison images against the iPhone 8 Plus, both in &#8220;regular&#8221; camera mode as well as with each camera&#8217;s respective &#8220;Portrait Mode&#8221; setting. <\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738925?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180309_113304-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/120s, ISO 52<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Shooting Experience<\/h3>\n<p>Unlike a dedicated camera, the Pixel 2 is a much more simplified shooting experience. Using just the default camera app, the Pixel 2 is very much a point-and-shoot-type experience, especially with its single,  27mm-eq. f\/1.8 wide-angle camera. Like the iPhone and, really, smartphone cameras in general, simplicity is the name of the game here. (Didn&#8217;t I mention simplicity earlier?) And, in a way, there is a nice beauty to that; with no dials or knobs, no lens to fiddle with or lens caps, no shutter speeds or apertures to worry about. Just a simple interface that I find forces you to think more closely about your composition. I quite like it.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738928?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180308_140910-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/1300s, ISO 74<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Now, there <em>are<\/em> some adjustments you can make to get a bit of control over the final look of your photo. Like the iPhone, the Pixel 2 lets you tap anywhere to adjust focus as well as auto-exposure. Further, if you slide your finger up or down after tapping for AF\/AE, you&#8217;ll adjust exposure compensation up or down to +\/-2EV. You can also lock focus and auto-exposure by tapping on a small lock icon that appears along the right side of the camera screen. I&#8217;m used to the iOS behavior of tapping-and-holding for AF\/AE lock, but Pixel 2 doesn&#8217;t do that, In fact, the lock icon is much faster than the iPhone&#8217;s oddly sluggish method (though it could be argued that the iPhone&#8217;s method is easier to operate one-handed).<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738927?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180308_140901-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/450s, ISO 50<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\">\n\t\t\t\t<em><strong>Side note:<\/strong> I also want to point out a nice feature of the Pixel 2&#8230; <strong>weather-sealing<\/strong>. The Pixel 2 has IP67-rated water resistance, which came it very handy on my touristing days around Tokyo. Weather on both days was cold and with fairly steady, drizzling rain. Not a downpour, but enough that I&#8217;d have gotten soaked eventually had I not carried an umbrella. I was also carrying my Fuji X100F, which frustratingly does not have weather-sealing like the X-Pro2. So, guess which camera I was more apt to pull out during the bad weather? The Pixel 2. No problems. Thanks, Google! (And tsk tsk, Fuji. Make the X100 weather-sealed!)<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>The default camera app also offers white balance presets aside from auto white balance, but there&#8217;s no &#8220;manual&#8221; white balance option (no surprise). There are also HDR options as well as flash (on\/off\/auto) and a self-timer. Like the iPhone, the Pixel 2 also offers a &#8220;Live Photo&#8221;-type capture mode, dubbed &#8220;Motion.&#8221; When enabled, the camera will capture a very brief video clip with a photo (a Motion photo, so to speak).<\/p>\n<p>The Pixel 2 does offer some other unique imaging modes, including a computational Portrait Mode (which I discuss further down), a sweep Panorama mode, an interesting 360-degree &#8220;Photo Sphere&#8221; mode (that guides you in taking a whole bunch of photos in all directions then automatically stitches them together), and an &#8220;AR Stickers&#8221; feature, which uses augmented reality to virtually place various objects and characters into a scene (pretty gimmicky, but rather clever and fun).<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738907?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180330_103824-ARSticker-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"1129\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\">\n\t\t\t\t<em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/2000s, ISO 53, 1920 x 1080<br \/><strong>AR Stickers: <\/strong>Hey look, a Stormtrooper&#8217;s on my balcony!<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>I ended up using the default camera app and the standard photo capture mode for the vast majority of the time. Of course, there are a variety of third-party camera apps, just like for iOS, which offer additional photo features, manuals controls, RAW capture and so on, but it&#8217;s hard to beat the convenience of the built-in camera app &#8212; especially since you can quickly access it from the lock screen. On that note, though, I do find it a bit awkward to access the camera from the lock screen on the Pixel.<\/p>\n<p>By comparison, on the iPhone, you can quickly raise-to-wake the device, then swipe left from anywhere on the screen to open the camera immediately. With the Pixel 2, it doesn&#8217;t offer a full &#8220;raise-to-wake&#8221; feature that turns on the display. Rather, you can very quickly unlock the device with the fingerprint reader on the back, in which case you&#8217;ll simply need to tap the camera app icon. Or, you have to manually press the sleep\/wake button on the side, then swipe up from the bottom right corner. As a lefty, I found the process of pressing the sleep\/wake button (on the right side), then swiping up from the right corner a bit awkward. Thankfully, the fingerprint sensor is very responsive, letting me access the phone and camera quickly. <\/p>\n<p>Overall, for your standard snapshots and general picture-taking, the default camera is straightforward, easy to use, and overall very similar to the iPhone camera app. In other words, very little learning curve.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738921?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_123106-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/3906s, ISO 51<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Performance<\/h3>\n<p>Just a quick note about camera performance. As mentioned, the Pixel 2 is pretty simple when it comes to picture-taking. Shot-to-shot time was very quick, with little to no delay that I perceived when snapping single frames one after the other. Autofocus is single-shot only, and no continuous AF for stills. I find that the tap-to-focus behavior on the Pixel 2 is, however, a bit sluggish compared to the iPhone 8 Plus; it&#8217;s not a big difference, mind you, but it&#8217;s enough to be noticeable especially if you have both devices side by side, like I did.<\/p>\n<p>There is a burst shooting mode (simply hold down the on-screen shutter button), but Google doesn&#8217;t publish a burst rate &#8212; it is <em>very<\/em> fast, though, and you&#8217;ll capture a whole bunch of frames in short order! It&#8217;s so fast, it&#8217;s hard to time it, but I&#8217;d estimate around 20 or so frames in about a second.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738918?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180318_143416-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/7813s, ISO 59<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Image Quality<\/h3>\n<p>Now the moment you&#8217;ve been waiting for, right? Image Quality. Well, I&#8217;m happy to report that the Pixel 2 does, in fact, take excellent photos for a smartphone camera. Despite its very small sensor, the Pixel 2&#8217;s 12MP camera captures images with lots of fine detail as well as pleasing, natural-looking colors. Similar to what I saw with the iPhone 8 Plus, though, if you zoom in, you&#8217;ll see the limitations of the tiny sensor. At 100%, you can see a lack of very fine details that cameras with larger sensors would typically be able to resolve. Luminance noise is also visible, even in low ISO images. <\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738911?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_130726-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738911?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_130726-CROP.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/2128s, ISO 52<br \/>\n    Despite the wide-angle shot and far-off subject, the Pixel 2 is still able to resolve fine brick detail in this building. You can also see fairly strong sharpening artifacts, however.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Compared to the iPhone 8 Plus, however, I think I have to hand it to the Google Pixel 2. I tried my best to take some side-by-side images with both cameras (handheld shots, one right after the other), and the Pixel 2 was able to capture photos with a bit more fine detail as well as less noise than the iPhone 8 Plus. It was very surprising, despite the two devices having similar 12MP rear cameras. The Pixel 2&#8217;s image processing and noise reduction are noticeably different from that of the iPhone&#8217;s. The Pixel 2&#8217;s photo processing definitely ups the contrast more than the what I see from the iPhone, and the Pixel 2 also seems a bit more aggressive on sharpening, but not to an extreme extent &#8212; at least to my taste.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\" align=\"center\">\n<h4><strong>Google Pixel 2 vs. iPhone 8 Plus<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong>Google Pixel 2<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><strong> iPhone 8 Plus<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738909?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_132621-Pixel2-300px.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/PRODS\/apple-iphone-8-plus\/Y-IMG_0649.HTM\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_0649-iPhone8Plus-300px.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/120s, ISO 79<\/em><\/td>\n<td align=\"center\"><em> 4mm (28mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/120s, ISO 50<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738909?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_132621-CROP1.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/PRODS\/apple-iphone-8-plus\/Y-IMG_0649.HTM\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_0649-CROP1.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738909?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_132621-Crop3.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\/PRODS\/apple-iphone-8-plus\/Y-IMG_0649.HTM\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_0649-Crop3.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><em>There are obvious image processing differences between the Pixel 2 and iPhone 8 Plus, but to my eye, the detail from the Pixel 2 crisper and cleaner, and the Pixel 2 image has less noise than the 8 Plus&#8217;s.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Fine detail is also quite impressive when focusing on close-up objects. Though not capable of macro photography (out of the box), the Pixel 2 camera&#8217;s close-focusing ability is pretty good. Combining good close focusing and nice lighting, you can see in the image below that the Pixel 2 is capable of capturing lots and lots of fine detail:<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738932?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180307_090621-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738932?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180307_090621-CROP.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/2342s, ISO 51<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Color accuracy and white balance, on the other hand, appear a bit more natural from the iPhone 8 Plus, I find. In this  comparison shot below, you can see how the overall colors look quite pleasing from both cameras, especially when it comes to a nice, clear blue sky. However, the shadows from the Pixel 2 photo have a slight bluish cast, while the iPhone 8 Plus feels a bit warmer.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738911?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180322_130726-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em><strong>Google Pixel 2: <\/strong>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/2128s, ISO 52<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/PRODS\/apple-iphone-8-plus\/Y-IMG_0620.HTM\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_0620-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em><strong>iPhone 8 Plus:<\/strong><\/em> <em>4mm (28mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/1333s, ISO 20<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Dynamic range is also quite good on the Pixel 2, all things considered. Despite the boost in contrast from the image processing, the Pixel 2 captures nice photos with plenty of detail in the highlights and shadow areas.<\/p>\n<h3>Low Light &amp; High ISO<\/h3>\n<p>Bearing in mind the tiny sensors, it&#8217;s not surprising that smartphone cameras  struggle in low light situations. That being said, I&#8217;m rather pleased with the low light\/high-ISO performance from the Pixel 2. Given the camera app&#8217;s auto-exposure behavior and thus auto ISO functionality, the Pixel 2 was rather smart when dealing with low light and seemed to prefer lowering the shutter speed rather than cranking up the ISO. Even in really dark locations, the Pixel 2&#8217;s ISO only ever crept up to about ISO 700 or so. To be fair, that&#8217;s a pretty high ISO for such a small sensor, and there certainly is a lot of noise and noise reduction going on when you look at the image close-up, but at small sizes or for the typical Instagram post, the low-light shots look rather nice and still manage to display some fine detail. <\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738926?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180307_205139-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/33s, ISO 400<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738926?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180307_205139-CROP.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em>At the relatively high ISO of 400, at least for a smartphone, the Pixel 2 still manages to capture lots of fine detail, even the fingerprints on this glass!<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738923?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180308_232258-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/17s, ISO 737<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738923?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180308_232258-CROP.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em>This is far from a great shot, both technically and artistically, but this serves as an example of the Pixel 2&#8217;s low-light performance. Despite appearances, it was quite dark inside this club, and the Pixel 2 had to ramp up the ISO all the way &#8220;ISO 737&#8221; &#8212; not as high as I would have thought, but still quite a high sensitivity for such a small sensor. As you can see, the shot is noisy, but the camera does a nice job at controlling both luminance and chroma noise while still preserving some detail.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Portrait Mode<\/h3>\n<p>Lastly, I want to discuss the Pixel 2&#8217;s Portrait Mode. Like the iPhone 8 Plus and many other modern smartphone cameras, the Pixel 2 offers a &#8220;Portrait&#8221; mode that produces photos with a simulated\/computationally-derived shallow depth of field look. The iPhone 8 Plus and other dual-camera smartphones utilize both cameras simultaneously to capture sharp, in-focus subjects blended with an out-of-focus background. <\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738941?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-GooglePixel2-PortraitMode-026-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"847\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\">\n\t\t\t\t<em><strong>Portrait Mode:<\/strong> 4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/1232s, ISO 52<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>The Pixel 2, on the other hand, only has a single rear camera, so how does its Portrait mode work? Hard to say if it&#8217;s more complex, but it certainly behaves differently that the Portrait mode on my iPhone. <a href=\"https:\/\/research.googleblog.com\/2017\/10\/portrait-mode-on-pixel-2-and-pixel-2-xl.html\" target=\"_blank\">With the Pixel 2<\/a>, it uses its HDR+ mode to capture multiple shots, then it separates the foreground and background using machine learning and a trained neural network (essentially chroma-keying out the subject from the background), and finally it uses the camera&#8217;s on-chip phase-detect AF sensors to create a depth map, before combining all this information together for a final image. It&#8217;s amazing that this complex, multi-stage process happens  in only a matter of seconds &#8212; from the user&#8217;s perspective, it looks like you&#8217;re just snapping a single photo!<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s different about the Portrait mode experience on the Pixel 2 compared to the iPhone 8 Plus (and presumably other dual-lens smartphones) is that you can&#8217;t see the blurring effect in real-time on the Pixel. You have to take the shot first, then when you preview the photo,  after a few seconds the camera will generate the depth-of-field effect. It&#8217;s not as seamless of a process or experience as it is on the iPhone.<\/p>\n<p>Also, since there&#8217;s only one camera\/lens, it&#8217;s not as telephoto as the Portrait mode is on the 8 Plus &#8212; though Portrait mode does crop-in on the Pixel compared to its normal  photo mode. <\/p>\n<p>As for the results? It&#8217;s decent, but not great. Portrait Mode on the Pixel 2 is far from flawless, but nor is the iPhone&#8217;s for that matter. Just as I experienced with the 8 Plus, the Pixel 2 can create interesting and pleasing-looking shallow-depth-of-field photos, but on close inspection, you can often see errors in the processing. <\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738941?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-GooglePixel2-PortraitMode-026-CROP.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em>Without looking closely, the shot at the top of this section looks quite nice with a pleasing shallow depth-of-field look and good subject isolation. However, as you can see in this 100% crop, edge detection and processing doesn&#8217;t always do a perfect job. But the iPhone 8 Plus didn&#8217;t get it perfect either, as you can see below:<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/PRODS\/apple-iphone-8-plus\/Y-iPhone8Plus-PortaitMode-002.HTM\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-iPhone8Plus-PortaitMode-002-CROP.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>It&#8217;s particularly noticeable on subjects with complex shapes or glossy or transparent surfaces; the Pixel 2 can struggle with edge-detection and knowing what part to blur relative to the intended sharply-focused subject. Overall, the Portrait mode on the Pixel 2 is okay, but I didn&#8217;t find myself using that feature all that often (I don&#8217;t use it on my iPhone very much either, to be honest). I do feel that the iPhone 8 Plus &#8212; at least in my experience &#8212; does a slightly better job, as I noticed more egregious compositing and incorrect blurring issues with the Pixel 2. Given that the Pixel 2&#8217;s Portrait mode is more software-based, considering its single-camera setup, perhaps it will improve with future software updates.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738945?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-GooglePixel2-PortraitMode-024-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em><strong>Google Pixel 2:<\/strong> Even without showing a close-up, it&#8217;s easy to spot processing errors in how the camera detected the albeit complex subject and incorrectly applied blurring to various background areas.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/PRODS\/apple-iphone-8-plus\/Y-iPhone8Plus-PortaitMode-001.HTM\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-iPhone8Plus-PortaitMode-001-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"476\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><em><strong>iPhone 8 Plus<\/strong><\/em>: <em>The iPhone 8 Plus&#8217;s Portrait mode wasn&#8217;t error-free in this shot, either, but the results are a little cleaner and more natural.<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Field Test Summary<\/h3>\n<p>The rapid progression in image quality of smartphone cameras continues to amaze me, and overall, the Google Pixel 2 is a very impressive smartphone camera. It captures some of the best photos from a smartphone that I&#8217;ve seen. Is it better than the iPhone, or at least the 8 Plus in my case? That&#8217;s debatable; both cameras offer very good image quality. I think the Pixel 2 edges-out the 8 Plus in sharpness and detail resolving power just a bit, as does its noise reduction processing. Photos are crisp and display a lot of fine detail. The Pixel 2 also does quite well in low light, all things considered. Side-by-side, you do see image quality and image processing differences between the Pixel 2 and the iPhone 8 Plus, with the Pixel 2 producing images with much more contrast and pop and more sharpening, while the iPhone is a bit more understated. <\/p>\n<p>Functionality-wise, both smartphones are very similar. The Pixel 2 camera is fast and snaps photos very quickly one after the other, but I do find the iPhone 8 Plus a bit more responsive with its tap-to-focus performance. I also enjoy the extra creative versatility that the two cameras offer on the 8 Plus compared to the single camera of the Pixel; having a wide-angle and short telephoto camera in one device is pretty cool. On the flipside, the overall smaller size of the Pixel 2 compared to the 8 Plus is refreshing; the 8 Plus is almost too big for my hands and pockets.<\/p>\n<table width=\"606\" border=\"0\" align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"4\" cellspacing=\"4\">\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/image\/738930?section=overview\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"ZY-IMG_20180307_084344-PS_Edit-635px.jpg\" width=\"635\" height=\"833\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><em>4.4mm (27mm eq.), f\/1.8, 1\/3344s, ISO 63<br \/>\n      (Note: this image has been edited slightly in Photoshop. Please click to see the original photo.) <\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>All in all, from just the camera&#8217;s standpoint, the Google Pixel 2 is excellent. As I mentioned in my <a href=\"\/cameras\/apple-iphone-8-plus-review\/\" target=\"_blank\">iPhone 8 Plus Field Test<\/a>, a smartphone camera is still not going to replace a dedicated camera for me, particularly if I&#8217;m purposefully going out to take photos. However, I would certainly have no qualms going without one from time to time and snapping photos with the Pixel 2.<\/p>\n<h3 align=\"center\">\u201d\u00a2 <a href=\"\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/gallery\/\">Google Pixel 2 Gallery Images<\/a> \u201d\u00a2<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Pixel 2 Field Test An impressive little pocket camera, that also happens to make phone calls Although my &#8220;daily driver&#8221; smartphone is an iPhone 8 Plus, I recently had an opportunity to test out the Google Pixel 2. And although the Pixel 2 isn&#8217;t the newest smartphone on the block, it&#8217;s still one of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":300346,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":""},"review-cameras-category":[],"review-cameras-section":[11683],"coauthors":[12014],"class_list":["post-300352","review-cameras","type-review-cameras","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Google Pixel 2 Review - Imaging Resource<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imaging-resource.com\/cameras\/google-pixel-2-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Google Pixel 2 Review - Imaging Resource\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Google Pixel 2 Field Test An impressive little pocket camera, that also happens to make phone calls Although my &#8220;daily driver&#8221; smartphone is an iPhone 8 Plus, I recently had an opportunity to test out the Google Pixel 2. 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