Night mode ON: Pixel 3 vs. Mate 20 Pro

23 November 2018
It's going to be a strictly after-dark clash between computational photography chief Google and night mode pioneer Huawei to try and establish who takes the better (handheld) low-light shots.

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  • P
  • Pajson89
  • x1c
  • 26 Nov 2018

Mate is king of photography

    Both are excelentt! I really like when the software make the magic.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 0Wi
      • 26 Nov 2018

      Rq, 26 Nov 2018And where are the results of your test, and the published r... moreAnd even after that, they could be photoshoped or manipulated and more if they come from a fervent fan, employee or paid reviewer. Only believe in what you test personally.

        • R
        • Rq
        • 0Wi
        • 26 Nov 2018

        Syuser, 26 Nov 2018Tested Xs S9+ Pixel 3 and P20 pro Along with XZ2 Premium an... moreAnd where are the results of your test, and the published reviews? I can that the cows fly in a forum and claim that i tested it too...

          Nick Tagataka, 26 Nov 2018I'm sorry to say this but XZ3's software processing still i... moreTested Xs S9+ Pixel 3 and P20 pro Along with XZ2 Premium and XZ3. Sony have no rival yet. Everyone believe these lame tests on these forums but in real life Xperia performs much better. Indeed Pixel 3 is closest to XZ3 with single camera in performance but XZ3 is so versatile in camera department. Stop gossiping fake affirmations form people who didn't ever hear about latest Xperia (not to mention XZ3 is the fastest mentioned above and the cheapest).

            • J
            • Josh
            • CDI
            • 26 Nov 2018

            dimsum888, 26 Nov 2018king of low light = pixel 3Cannot touch Mate 20 pro!

              • A
              • Azmo
              • iEM
              • 26 Nov 2018

              It would have been nice to report also the time required to take each photo in night mode on Pixel and P20 Pro. As an example, LG G4 can do similar photos with Pixel and P20 if we enable Night Mode, but that will take 3-5 seconds and a still camera.....
              From the reading, 3-4 seconds is the same time exposure required for the new phones, where is the big and fancy improvement?

                google user, 26 Nov 2018thank you Google, i own pixel 2 at the moment, free unlimit... more100% agree... pixel phones offer the best user experience in the Android world :D

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • SrA
                  • 26 Nov 2018

                  Really nice pictures from Pixel considering the shutterspeed compared to Mate

                    • d
                    • dimsum888
                    • 2Ca
                    • 26 Nov 2018

                    king of low light = pixel 3

                      • g
                      • google user
                      • pVP
                      • 26 Nov 2018

                      thank you Google, i own pixel 2 at the moment, free unlimited storage until 2021, great thing, i am not worry to use my camera now even i collect 1000000000 TB it is still free until 2021 and they will keep them for me .

                      i LOVE Google

                        Anonymous, 25 Nov 2018Samsung and Apple hide behind low resolution , wi... moreI'm sorry to say this but XZ3's software processing still isn't that good. The amount of details captured by XZ3's camera is more or less comparable to iPhone XS, or sometimes even worse due to really strong sharpening applied to every single imager which is taking away a lot of details. Other phones don't go over ISO 400 so often because they have OIS so they don't *need to* use higher sensitivity - longer shutter speed introduce more noise but not as much as increasing ISO does, so if you compare similarly exposed image captured by the 2 exactly the same sensors but with different ISO value, the one using lower ISO will produce cleaner image. And not only that, many other phones use better image algorithms than Sony phones too. This is why XZ2 Premium, which has a huge advantage in hardware over iPhone XS, so huge that you can almost ignore its lack of OIS, somehow loses to iPhone XS in almost all situations but pitch black. Smart HDR on iPhone XS is currently unmatched in terms of consistency, processing speed, dynamic range and details, and of course Sony's image processing is nowhere near as sophisticated as Apple's.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • sxs
                          • 26 Nov 2018

                          Anonymous, 25 Nov 2018Cameras do not need HDR mode like phones because the much b... moreYou're partly right. The bigger sensors in dSLR's means they have way better dynamic range than smartphones FOR ANY SINGLE EXPOSURE. However, when smartphones use their auto HDR modes, they are actually combining multiple exposures/frames into one HDR image which will have better dynamic range than a single exposure dSLR capture.

                          See how the Mate 20 PRO handles the filament of the tungsten light bulb? You can't do that with a dSLR in a single exposure - even with RAW/DNG capture as long as it's single exposure. High contrast/high dynamic range scenes like that need multiple frames/exposures blended together to produce a blended HDR image. DSLR's require fewer blended frames than smartphones due to their much larger sensors (translates to inherently superior dynamic range.)

                          To do that light bulb scene in one dSLR exposure requires scene manipulation. You can add diffusers/reflectors to subtly illuminate some of the darker areas of the scene and reduce the scene's high dynamic range. You can also apply controlled, very low intensity yellow filtered fill lighting/fill flash at controlled angles that don't overpower the bulb so that it simulates a 'flashless/available light look' despite actually using auxiliary lighting/flash. You can also use a graduated neutral density filter that reduces bulb light intensity at the rightmost while gradually tapering in light filtering intensity as you go from right to left. Other than those, you will have to do bracketed exposures and make a composite HDR image in postprocessing. That's the reason why there are bracketing options in dSLR's and auto HDR modes as well in newer dSLR models because those other solutions mentioned above may not be feasible and or may not work with all photographic scenes/situations.

                          Bottomline, photographic skills and manual modes are very important. All smartphones that claim to be the 'best' in photography (daylight or night time) should have manual modes.

                            Shanti Dope, 25 Nov 2018When taking normal FoV low light pictures, the Mate 20 Pro ... more*reads all this*
                            *understands nothing*
                            Can you explain a little more?

                              1ns0mniac, 25 Nov 2018"software possibly surpasses even Apple in computational ta... moreMan, if only they had amazing hardware as well. I’d buy one in a heartbeat

                                Anonymous, 25 Nov 2018The telephoto and ultra wide are not helping the main sensor. Except in versatility, though I didn’t know that they weren’t helping

                                  TC, 25 Nov 2018what's so special about this? my Zenfone Zoom 1 uses pixel ... moreCongrats!
                                  Now do the feature, all without the need for a tripod or a stable surface to put the phone on when taking picture

                                    Julian Ryder, 25 Nov 2018I've tested The P20Pro an Mate20Pro camera, owned the P20. ... moreP20 Pro simply has more aggressive sharpening applied in low light so it looks sharper, but the actual detail retention is worse than Mate 20 Pro due to inferior quality optics.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • QXP
                                      • 26 Nov 2018

                                      Optimizer, 25 Nov 2018Single Camera just freaking beat the shit out of 3ple eyed ... moreYo really got to have your eyes checked. Obviously Mate 20 Pro low light are much better and having lesser noise. Pixel photos are just brighten up ridiculously making the photos looking so fake. Also, even during the auto mode, Mate 20 Pro blows Pixel single eye monster out of the water.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • IV8
                                        • 26 Nov 2018

                                        Shows your Google software processing can only go so far.. Pure megapixels still triumph at the end of the day.. After all you just can't cheat physics.. 40 Megapixel powahhh