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You told us: The Pixel 6 Pro cameras beat Apple and Samsung’s best
June 28, 2025
Google’s camera software has long been held up as the gold standard among all smartphone manufacturers. But it seems like many brands caught up in the last couple of years, delivering software that can go toe-to-toe with Google’s best. This was also compounded by Google’s decision to stick with an aging main camera sensor for the longest time.
ThePixel 6 seriesrepresents a major hardware upgrade though, as Google brings a new main camera sensor to the table along with improved silicon. Are these upgrades (among others) enough to beat theGalaxy S21 UltraandiPhone 13 Pro Maxin your eyes? We posted our camera shootout over the weekend and asked you to pick the best phone. Here’s how you voted.
Which phone takes the best shots overall?
Just over 2,700 votes were counted in our poll at the end of the shootout, and the winner by a rather significant margin is the Pixel 6 Pro (49%). Most of the comments don’t point to a specific reason for choosing the Google phone, although our own Rob Triggs praised the phone for its portraits and zoom performance.
In saying so, there were a few areas of improvement for the Pixel 6 Pro. Rob specifically pointed to the disappointing ultra-wide camera, as well as main camera shots suffering from occasional detail issues and artifacts.
In second place was the Galaxy S21 Ultra, accruing just under 30% of the vote. Rob declared Samsung’s Ultra flagship to be the winner of this shootout, praising its versatility and the fact that it doesn’t handle anything badly. A couple of readers also agreed with our verdict, according to the comments.
More photography coverage:Want a phone with a great camera? Here’s what to look for.
Finally, the iPhone 13 Pro Max was in third place with ~21% of the vote. Rob said the Apple device struggled with exposure, HDR, and low-light shooting, and also wasn’t quite as good as its two Android rivals in terms of long-range zoom and ultra-wide colors. He did however note that it took good portrait images and that it was “phenomenal” for video recording. Reader comments also concur with the latter point.
Some reader comments also say that the images from the various phones all look very similar. So the average consumer won’t really be getting a bad camera experience if they opt for any of these three phones.
Thanks for voting in our poll and for all the comments! Do you agree with the results of this poll? Let us know via the comments section.
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