Back in the fall of 2016, we saw two major smartphones releases from two of the largest companies in the world, Apple and Google. Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL were its first Google branded smartphones that it had HTC build. It did away with the Nexus program and truly entered into the premium market competing with the likes of the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones. Everyone who buys a premium smartphones demands a high quality camera, and Google touted the ranking the Pixel earned from website DxOMark which many enthusiasts turn to for camera rankings.
When both phones came out in Sept./Oct. DxOMark had ranked the iPhone 7 followed by the Pixel a week later. The Pixel earned a site best of rating of 89, while the iPhone 7 earned an 87. By anyone’s standards, both cameras are very impressive.
DxOMark claimed the iPhone 7 Plus camera review was “coming out soon” but now four months later, it is still missing. While the main camera is the same on both iPhone 7 smartphones, the iPhone 7 Plus has a dual camera setup that’s supposed to add things like depth of field and optical zoom. If DxOMark wants to claim itself as an authority on cameras, purposefully or even accidentally leaving out the iPhone 7 Plus puts its credibility into question because it’s not comparing the best against the best. DxOMark also failed to pick up on the Pixel’s problem of the lens flare issue affecting the overwhelming majority of owners.
Since that time, DxOMark has managed to review the TCL 950, Mate 9, V20, Xperia XZ, Nubia Z11, Xiaomi Mi 5SPlus and P10. Notoriously missing from that list is the iPhone 7 Plus which leaves the Pixel as the best camera ranked ever.
Personally I owned and used most of the flagship smartphones from last year, including the S7 edge, V20, HTC 10, OnePlus 3, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, Pixel and Pixel XL. Without comparing pictures side by side, it’s easy to say the best of the bunch are the S7, iPhone 7 Plus and 7, and the Pixel and XL. However to call the Pixel the best while leaving out Apple’s best out leads many readers questioning the intentions behind DxOMark and has put a dark spot on its reputation. There are way too many personal biases across most reviews, and DxOMark adding to that list through exclusion only hurts the readers by not giving them the most information to make informed decisions.