When you spend greater than $1,000 on a smartphone, you count on nice cameras as a part of the bundle. It’s not sufficient to supply an honest point-and-shoot expertise at this stage.To really stand out, at this time’s smartphones need to pack pro-level digital camera efficiency into impossibly small our bodies, leveraging devoted image-processing {hardware} and software program to make even rookie photographers look competent. No two rivals signify this arms race higher than Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro and Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL. These flagship fashions signify not simply the excessive finish of every line but additionally the position fashions for different firms to comply with, significantly the Pixel 10 Pro XL, since Google makes Android. (For a take a look at how the iPhone compares towards one other main digital camera cellphone, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, see CNET Editor at Large Andrew Lanxon’s picture shootout.)I’ve been carrying each telephones round Seattle and took them on a visit to the Columbia River Gorge, separating Washington and Oregon, to see how their cameras evaluate. Image high quality has been wonderful on each, however they every shocked me at occasions. For instance, once I thought one would overcompensate in colour, it might be the opposite that went overboard. But which one? You may additionally be shocked.Read extra: Best Camera Phone of 2025All images had been captured with the default automated settings, although a few of them had been captured in uncooked format for extra modifying choices later; nonetheless, none of those photographs have been corrected. All had been exported as JPEGs so CNET’s publishing system can learn them (versus Apple’s HEIF format, as an example). Both cameras additionally seize in excessive dynamic vary mode, which will increase brightness in sure areas, however solely on shows that help HDR viewing. What you see on this web page could not match precisely what you’d see on the iPhone or Pixel display. That’s a normal difficulty with HDR photographs on the net proper now, till the expertise is extra broadly adopted. Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content material and lab-based opinions. Add CNET as a most popular Google supply.iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Main digital camera The principal digital camera in every cellphone has to drag loads of weight. It’s the one which will get the most effective light-gathering means (an aperture of f/1.78 for the iPhone and f/1.68 for the Pixel) and a large, however not ultrawide, area of view to seize most scenes.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETI’ll take nearly any excuse to get out within the fall leaves this time of yr. This scene has all of it: fallen leaves, lengthy shadows, clear crisp climate and even a person in a purple shirt to attract consideration. Both images are nice representations of the second, although the iPhone’s colours are just a little extra punchy with out being oversaturated. Oddly, the foreground department within the Pixel’s picture is barely out of focus, although it is solely noticeable in the event you zoom in. We’ll come again to this scene with the telephoto cameras later.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETWhen testing cameras, I are inclined to search for spots the place individuals are more likely to take images. I additionally like to seek out ones which may problem a smartphone digital camera: darkish shadows within the foreground, a vibrant mild supply within the center and many little particulars like leaves and sailboat masts that may be tough for any digital camera. Both cameras have carried out properly right here, too. The colours within the iPhone shot appear extra pure to my eye, whereas the Pixel is ever so barely muted. But actually, they’re each pretty.
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iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera Jeff Carlson/CNETDid I point out difficult? Let’s fireplace into the solar on a foggy morning. Again, I’m proud of each images. There’s loads of softness across the solar as the sunshine blends outward, and the white steadiness is beneath management in each. If you pixel-peep, you may discover the Pixel 10 Pro XL is a contact sharper — take a look at the road lamp connected to the phone pole on the proper edge — but additionally extra noisy at the hours of darkness areas, just like the fence at left.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETNot each pair of photographs was related, and this scene was a shock. Initially, the colour was method off with the iPhone: very blue and unexpectedly saturated. After some investigating, I spotted the iPhone was set to seize with the Bright photographic fashion by default, a brand new function in iOS 26. I’ve had that chosen since I acquired the iPhone 17 Pro, and generally, it does create a punchy, participating picture. But right here it went overboard. Switching to the Standard fashion introduced the tones and colours again in line, despite the fact that they’re nonetheless too cool blue for my style. The Pixel 10 Pro XL has carried out an incredible job rendering a extra devoted model of the scene with the nice and cozy fall hues.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETLooking on the sculpture from a couple of ft again, the iPhone continues to be obsessive about making every thing blue. Even after setting the photographic fashion to Standard, the sky nonetheless seems unnaturally saturated. The Pixel 10 Pro XL, once more, nails the colour.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera, in Portrait mode. Jeff Carlson/CNETIn this picture, I’m not simply seeking to see how the cameras rendered the topic in shade with vibrant daylight within the background, but additionally how every cellphone handles its Portrait mode. That’s the gentle background impact (bokeh) created in software program as a result of on the principal cameras’ focal lengths, the look is troublesome to realize naturally.
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera, in Portrait mode. Jeff Carlson/CNETI’m glad to report that each cameras have improved the modes over time — the Pixel 10 Pro XL can apply Portrait mode when capturing within the 50-megapixel high-res mode — with natural-looking bokeh and minimal artifacts across the topic. In this case, I choose the Pixel 10 Pro XL picture due to the look on her face, however the lighting and colour of the iPhone 17 Pro picture is best general (I ought to have saved snapping images with the iPhone till I acquired a greater expression).
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera (left); Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera (proper). Jeff Carlson/CNETThis set of images reveals one other shock that turned out to be constant all through my expertise. They’re each related, however the Pixel tends to be extra restrained in tone, colour and saturation. Not essentially flat, nevertheless it’s nearly as if Google is making an attempt to atone for the over-processed sins of previous smartphone cameras. The iPhone picture is just a little hotter, brighter and extra contrasty; take a look at the cement walkway on the bottom-left nook. I’m not saying both picture is dangerous; it was a vibrant, cloudless day. But like Andrew Lanxon did in his iPhone 17 Pro/Samsung S25 Ultra shootout, I choose extra pure, much less contrasty photographs normally. In that comparability, the iPhone was the mannequin of restraint, however right here, it is the one offering extra pop general.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, telephoto digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETThis man will get included as a result of that vest and people glasses simply make him look cool.iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Ultrawide digital camera The ultrawide cameras in every cellphone stay largely unchanged from their earlier fashions.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, ultrawide digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, ultrawide digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETWhat’s notable concerning the ultrawide cameras is one thing you do not see: distortion. Apple and Google have carried out properly to robotically right for warped edges. The high railing in each images does not bend again towards the viewer as one would count on with an especially vast lens. In phrases of colour and tone, the iPhone seems higher to me with its extra vibrant greens and brighter publicity.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, ultrawide digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, ultrawide digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETIn this tight bend within the highway, the iPhone is brighter and hotter than the Pixel 10 Pro XL. iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Zoom high quality One cause to purchase a Pro cellphone is to shoot with a telephoto digital camera that reaches farther than you’ll be able to transfer your ft. The telephoto on the iPhone 17 Pro now lastly has a 48-megapixel sensor and gives a 4x optical zoom, whereas the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s 48-megapixel digital camera has a 5x optical zoom. But we even have to think about the 2x (each), 8x (iPhone) and 10x (Pixel) ranges, which every firm calls “optical image quality,” as a result of these use a crop of the primary digital camera and the telephoto digital camera, respectively.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, telephoto digital camera, at 4x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, telephoto digital camera, at 5x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNETI promised we might get again to this scene for a superb cause. From the identical spot as the primary digital camera picture earlier, these use the 4x and 5x zoom ranges of every digital camera. For a fall-color picture, I’m keen on the brighter, extra saturated iPhone picture. The Pixel shot can be good, however barely muted compared to tamp down the highlights on the leaves. In every picture, the headline of the signal affixed to the bench is clearly readable — an indication so far-off that I did not even discover it from the vantage level the place the images had been taken.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, telephoto digital camera, at 8x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, telephoto digital camera, at 10x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNETHere I’m going once more, taking images straight into the solar. But this time it is with the iPhone’s 8x zoom and the Pixel’s 10x zoom. They’ve each dealt with the brightness and colour of the final moments earlier than sundown properly, however the iPhone has captured the solar’s glow higher and has higher managed the sunshine fringing on the clouds. Notably, although, the infamous lens flare from the iPhone is an enormous distraction, whereas the Pixel has prevented it.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera, at 2x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera, at 2x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNETOne shock about photographing with these two telephones is that I’m reaching for the 2x zoom stage extra typically, which is a crop of the primary digital camera’s sensor, and never the telephoto digital camera. In this pair, the iPhone’s white steadiness lighting up the fog in gold hues grabs my eye instantly. The Pixel seems prefer it needs to provide a “correct” temperature, not one which displays the circumstances. That stated, the sunshine streaks are extra dramatic within the Pixel’s picture, and it is sharper general. Still, I choose the iPhone’s model. Also value mentioning: Google’s processing has delivered a 50-megapixel picture, so despite the fact that it is recording simply the center portion of the sensor, the ultimate shot is upscaled properly. The iPhone at 2x information a 12-megapixel picture, no matter which decision mode you have chosen.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera, at 2x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera, at 2x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNETAndifferent picture shot utilizing the 2x zoom ranges in every digital camera. The Pixel 10 Pro XL’s principal digital camera has a barely narrower area of view in comparison with the iPhone, so when cropped within the framing is just a little tighter. And right here we see the iPhone picture being brighter and extra saturated, although not by loads. Still, the Pixel picture comes throughout as muted — I’d wish to punch up the colour and brightness in modifying later if this had been the one digital camera I had with me.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, telephoto digital camera, at 4x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, telephoto digital camera, at 5x zoom. Jeff Carlson/CNETHere are two examples of why a protracted telephoto choice is nice to have in a cellphone. I’m all for “zooming with your feet,” however a mountain that is miles away is not going to be a lot greater within the body and not using a complete lot of strolling. With a telephoto, nonetheless, it is just like the mountain involves me.The iPhone 17 Pro picture of Mount Adams at 4x zoom captures a lot of element within the grass, the bushes and the mountain itself, all at 48-megapixel decision. However, it does really feel underexposed to me on the grey, cloudy day. The Pixel 10 Pro XL picture at 5x can be stuffed with element and backbone, however has higher colour and publicity. Straight out of the digital camera, the Pixel takes this one.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, telephoto digital camera, 8x zoom (left); Pixel 10 Pro XL, telephoto digital camera, 10x zoom (proper). Jeff Carlson/CNETWith an 8x and 10x zoom, the compression of the mountain, cloud and bushes creates an much more dramatic picture. Again, the Pixel’s publicity and colour have created a greater picture. The Pixel picture has been scaled as much as 50 megapixels from the telephoto sensor’s crop, so credit score to the processing right here. The iPhone’s 8x zoom creates 12-megapixel photographs; it is extra true to what the sensor is recording, however you aren’t getting as many pixels general. That stated, decision is not every thing, and the 8x images have been constantly good. Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera, 2x zoom (left); Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera, 2x zoom (proper). Jeff Carlson/CNETAfter the 2 Mount Adams images by which the Pixel 10 Pro XL ran counter to its pattern, on this 2x zoom instance, it is again to being extra muted and fewer vibrant. The iPhone 17 Pro renders the yellow leaves, inexperienced moss and a extra pleasing general publicity. It’s not that the Pixel rendered a nasty picture, however for this scene, the iPhone higher matches what I noticed.iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Night modes We’re used to cellphone cameras just like the Pixel and that iPhone dealing with low-light and night time images nearly effortlessly, nevertheless it’s nonetheless one of many tougher duties a smartphone digital camera takes on.
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iShot with the Phone 17 Pro, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETTechnically, these images do not depend as Night mode photographs as a result of, though it was nightfall and quickly getting darkish, each cameras had sufficient mild to shoot the scene with their principal cameras at full 48- and 50-megapixel resolutions. Here I’d favor the iPhone’s barely hotter tones, however they’re each acceptable photographs.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, telephoto digital camera, 4x zoom (left); Pixel 10 Pro XL, telephoto digital camera, 5x zoom (proper). Jeff Carlson/CNETLet’s pile on the darkness: Nighttime exterior, taking an image via the window of a darkish bar with a full spectrum of lighting. The colours are nice in each, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL picture is high-resolution sufficient to learn the poster inside and even some recognizable bottle labels. The iPhone 17 Pro’s picture is 12 megapixels, nevertheless it additionally seems good. There are a couple of areas of movement blur in each pointing to longer shutter speeds, however that is not a shock in a dimly lit atmosphere like this.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, principal digital camera, in Night mode. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, principal digital camera, in Night mode. Jeff Carlson/CNETIs it too early for vacation lights? Not right here. Although the images are related, zooming in reveals extra decision and element within the Pixel 10 Pro XL picture. It’s just a little gentle in particulars just like the brick sample on the bell tower. Both images had been captured utilizing the primary cameras, not the ultrawide, as you may assume from the angle of the tower. iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Selfie Who would have guessed {that a} selfie digital camera would get a few of the largest enhancements this yr? The iPhone 17 Pro now contains an 18-megapixel digital camera with a sq. sensor that may seize vertical or horizontal selfies with out turning the bodily cellphone. The Pixel 10 Pro XL’s entrance digital camera is identical 42-megapixel sensor from the earlier yr’s mannequin, nevertheless it outputs solely 10-megapixel photographs.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, entrance digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, entrance digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETNot to be repetitive, however the outcomes from the selfie cameras largely match what we have seen with the rear cameras: The iPhone’s picture is brighter and extra saturated, although in direct daylight, the sunshine on my face comes near getting blown out to white. The Pixel’s picture is once more muted, presumably correcting for the intense daylight.
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Shot with the iPhone 17 Pro, entrance digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNET
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Shot with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, entrance digital camera. Jeff Carlson/CNETAfter I stepped again into the shadow of the tree, the images had been extra related in tone and colour. The iPhone could have a slight edge right here when it comes to the saturation within the leaves, however as for the distracted man within the center, there’s loads of element in each the facial hair and the patterned sweater. iPhone 17 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL: Which has the higher digital camera? Neither digital camera gives the kind of breakthrough that will compel somebody to leap ecosystems only for digital camera efficiency. An iPhone proprietor is way extra more likely to improve to the iPhone 17 Pro from an older iPhone, for instance. Both are fine quality, and the strengths of every come down largely to your desire for the working system. In the case of the iPhone 17 Pro versus the Pixel 10 Pro XL, the variations end up to not be drastic. (If you are an Android proprietor seeking to transfer up based mostly on picture high quality, I like to recommend revisiting my take a look at the Pixel 10 Pro XL vs. the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.) That stated, I used to be shocked to seek out the Pixel’s efficiency to be extra muted and naturalistic normally; typically it is the Android cellphone that pushes the saturation and distinction too excessive (or perhaps that is simply the Galaxy S25 Ultra). There are different elements past sensor and picture high quality which may compel you to choose the Pixel, such because the Gemini integration that permits picture modifying by way of voice instructions, or the flexibility to seize photographs at 100x after which use generative AI to reconstruct particulars that will in any other case be fuzzy. However, though each telephones have nice cameras, I choose the iPhone 17 Pro’s general efficiency. Watch this: The iPhone 17 Pro Max Has Incredible Battery Life
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