Google’s newly introduced Pixel 3 is trying a premium area in the smartphone market, especially with its high beginning cost. It’s placed as the phone that increases bench for what Android can do, yet it needs to emulate Apple’s iPhone XS on the other side of the os divide.

The size of the 2 phones is also relatively similar. The Apple Iphone XS measures 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm, while the Pixel 3 is simply a tad thicker and taller at 145.6 x 68.2 x 7.9 mm. The Pixel 3 does take care of to find in at a lighter 148g compared to the iPhone’s 177g, however, offered the similar build, you likely wouldn’t be able to discriminate if they remained in your pocket.

Pull them out, and the Pixel 3’s two-tone layout assists it attract attention a bit more. It also has front-firing stereo audio speakers, where the apple iphone XS integrates the earpiece as well as a bottom-firing speaker for stereo sound.

The round finger print sensor from previous Pixels stays on the Pixel 3, while the iPhone XS has eliminated fingerprint scanning in support of face recognition.

Both phones are safeguarded versus water, with the Pixel 3 offering an IPX8 ranking, and the iPhone XS going additionally with an IP68 ranking (for defense against dust too).

While the layouts are similar, the differences emerge when the screens come on. The iPhone XS easily wins this mini-contest, with a basically bezel-less OLED display determining 5.8 inches, boasting a 2436 x 1125 resolution, as well as sustaining Dolby Vision and HDR10. The Pixel 3 has a much less spectacular 5.5-inch Full HD+ OLED show with HDR assistance, but there’s no reference of HDR10 or other media styles. The screen also covers a fair bit much less of the Pixel 3’s front.

OS and power

The iPhone XS is running Apple’s latest mobile os, iOS 12, as well as the Pixel 3 comes running Android 9 Pie. While the distinction between both may refer preference, Google does obtain the advantage below, for its Google Assistant.

On the hardware side, Apple’s personalized A12 Bionic chip merely blows other mobile phone processors out of the water. The Snapdragon 845 as well as 4GB of RAM inside the Pixel 3 are plenty good, but they won’t stay up to date with the performance Apple can deliver.

Storage-wise, neither phone is winning any kind of awards. Both come with a not especially generous base internal storage space of 64GB, as well as without any microSD assistance in either phone you’re stuck to spending a lot of extra loan to upgrade your storage space, in the Pixel 3’s case, you can upgrade to 128GB, while the apple iphone XS maxes out at 512GB.

Neither phone uses a horribly impressive battery either. The Pixel 3 has a 2,915 mAh battery, while the apple iphone XS is thought to have a 2,658 mAh battery. Both ought to have the ability to get you with a day, however, and both phones supply wireless charging.

Camera

Based on the specs, the apple iphone XS would certainly appear to have an exceptional cam system on the back of the phone, while the Pixel 3 triumphes on the front.

The apple iphone XS rear sensors are both 12MP, with one including a f/1.8 aperture as well as wide-angle lens as well as the other flaunting a 2x optical zoom lens. They both have optical photo stabilization (OIS) for photos as well as video clips, and the phone can tape-record 4K video clip at up to 60fps, as well as 1080p video at 240 fps.

The Pixel 3 has simply one electronic camera on the rear, and it boasts a 12.2 MP dual-pixel sensor with larger 1.4 micron pixels to enhance low-light efficiency and also an f/1.8 aperture. It also has optical as well as digital picture stablizing. It’s not so various from the apple iphone XS, except there’s just one back video camera, and also it can tape-record 4K video clip at a max of 30fps, or 1080p video at 120fps.

The apple iphone XS front-facing electronic camera is a 7MP shooter, and provides Animoji and Memoji many thanks to the phone’s advanced facial sensors. On the other hand the Pixel 3 has 2 8MP front-facing video cameras, one supplying a wide-angle 97-degree FOV and f/2.2 aperture, and the other a quick f/1.8 aperture with a 75-degree FOV.

But those are just the specs. Both Google and also Apple have actually displayed just how much behind the curtain optimizations can do to boost the pictures a video camera is able to record. Both phones have AI functioning to enhance photos, and also Google has actually done an excellent task in the past of elevating the bar for the finest smart devices cams. Offered just how little the Pixel 3 statement concentrated on specifications, it’s a winner that Google sees its upgraded camera elevating the bar once again. 

Time will tell which is actually best.

Price

Neither the iPhone XS nor the Pixel 3 are low-cost. The base rate for the Pixel 3 with 64GB of storage is a tooth-gritting $799 (£739, AU$ 1,199). The iPhone XS dials that up a notch with a beginning rate of $999 (£999/ AU$ 1,629) for the 64GB model. 

That’s a fairly considerable difference in cost, and for phone followers who prioritize camera efficiency the Pixel 3 is most likely to be the winning device.

Takeaway

Both the apple iphone XS as well as Pixel 3 are completing at the high end of the mobile phone market. In many ways, the apple iphone XS pulls ahead of the Pixel 3. Apple offers a much more premium design, far better display, as well as superior performance, while its camera has at least a few clear benefits – yet all of that comes with a substantially higher price.

The Pixel 3’s offering is rather questionable by contrast, as neither the internals nor the screen are class-leading, yet it’s still valued the exact same as or much more costly than other phones in its category, like the Galaxy S9. If the Pixel 3 electronic camera can cover the competitors after that it might confirm itself a worthy challenger, but even then the Pixel 3 XL will offer you extra on the style front, while still using that exact same high quality camera.

• Talking of the Pixel 3 XL, here’s our hands-on Google Pixel 3 XL review