Google Pixel 2 phone worth buying as a camera alone ... even for the iPhone crowd

The Google Pixel 2 (left) and the Pixel 2 XL operate exceptionally well as cameras.

We won't be buying Google's new Pixel 2 smartphone to replace our iPhone, but we'd seriously consider it as a dedicated camera. The unit's upgraded optics are that good.

Like all phones with front and rear cameras, it's the rear-facing one that's designed for best photography. Here, it's a 12.2 megapixel sensor with an f/1.8 aperture with optical image stabilisation, upgraded from Pixel 1's f/2.0 lens with electronic image stabilisation. So much for the specs. It's the images that impress.

In any conditions, with no real set-up, this handset grabs clear images with impressive colour range, clarity and sense of depth.

Some of our favourite shots are of dining tables arranged with plates, bowls, food, glassware and cutlery. If anything is going to throw a digital image sensor off, it's this combination of whiteware, silverware, transparent objects and food with its textures and colours, presented as a single scene.

In a side-by-side image comparison between Google, Apple and Samsung, you might focus on a main dish in the foreground and wonder why the fuss about Pixel 2. But then explore the rest of the items on the table and it becomes obvious what an outstanding camera it is.

Indoors, outdoors, day and (for the most part) at night, results are first class.

The only condition where Pixel 2 compares unfavourably with an iPhone 8 is in low light. Both devices handle gloom far better than any handset camera did a couple of years ago, but Apple's 2017 offering extracts more colour and delivers sharper images than the new Google.

On paper, Apple's iPhone 8 and Samsung's Galaxy Note 8, both sporting dual lens systems, should have a march when it comes to close-up photography. Pixel 2's front and rear cameras are both only single lens, but thanks to one of the smartest tech tricks in years that's no deficit.

Instead of using a dual physical lens to recognise image depth, Pixel 2's rear camera uses a dual pixel sensor. Each sensor pixel is actually a pair, each ever so slightly offset from the other like a set of very tiny eyes and, like eyes, they can sense distance to target. That's how Pixel 2 can distinguish between near-field objects and background as well as any twin-lens handset.

Combine that smart sensor with clever software and it creates those pro-looking photos of a sharply focussed subject against a blurred background that were once only possible for the few who owned, and mastered, bulky SLR cameras.

The split pixel arrangement is also claimed to assist the unit to focus in double time. It certainly is fast. From a blank screen, double tapping can activate the camera and gain focus in an instant or two. For situations where you want to be ready to snap in a moment, there isn't a snappier option.

Ironically, the Pixel 2 itself isn't the best viewer for the brilliant images its camera captures.

Google has made a conscious decision to tone down the colour range of its LG-made OLED screens in the interest of a more natural look. To many tastes it has gone too far, resulting in a dull display.

Fortunately, it's likely that more of the panel's colour palette can be unlocked by a firmware upgrade, so owners may well be empowered to dial up more vibrancy in future.

But what can't be fixed is an innate foible in the XL model's screen that takes on a light blue hue when viewed even a little off perpendicular. Showing off photos to viewers on your left or right will trigger the effect, tinging white or light areas from their perspective.

Transfer the same images to a late-model iPad with its flawless 2048 × 1536 Retina display and you'll see how good Pixel 2's camera system really is. It would be great if Google's own screen could do justice to the photos its handset can take.

It wouldn't be Google if it didn't do something clever with search, and the Google Lens feature delivers that. As you snap, the handset can run image searches to attempt to identify the subject and offer information about it. It's still patchy, but people said that about Google search itself just a few years ago.

Photographically, you can't go wrong choosing any of today's premium smartphones. But if you must have the best camera, we vote for Pixel 2.

Peter Moon is a technology lawyer with Cooper Mills. peter.moon@coopermills.com.au

Source: Google Pixel 2 phone worth buying as a camera alone ... even for the iPhone crowd