While Apple famously has upwards of 1,000 engineers and researchers solely focused on improving photo quality on the iPhone, they’re certainly not the only smartphone company pushing the envelope when it comes to mobile photography. Google in particular has come a long way in recent years, with the Night Sight shooting mode the company rolled out this past November being a prime example.
Night Sight, in a nutshell, essentially uses advanced software techniques like machine learning to enable Pixel owners to take incredibly detailed photographs in particularly low-light environments. The feature has been described by many as “magic” and it’s hard to argue with that assessment given some of the side-by-side comparisons we’ve seen which position various Pixel phones with the Night Sight feature against Apple’s 2018 iPhone lineup.
With a seemingly endless number of people raving about Night Sight, Google itself is now joining in on the fun. In a new tweet from Google VP of Product Marketing Marvin Chow, we see a side-by-side comparison of a photo taken with a Pixel 3 versus an iPhone XS. The difference in clarity and detail is striking.
Chow’s tweet is far from hyperbolic as the photo below truly does speak for itself.
Night Sight on Google Pixel3 — pretty much speaks for itself 💥 #teampixel pic.twitter.com/ao0Yi2W2Sq
— Marvin Chow (@theREALmarvin) January 27, 2019
While some photo enthusiasts have pointed out that the Night Sight feature can sometime result in a seemingly unrealistic photo, it still seems better than a photo where you can’t even make anything out. Further, some iPhone users have been quick to argue that dark iPhone photos can be tweaked in post as to make them more usable, but the reality is that Google’s Night Sight mode offers users a downright simple way to take solid photos in traditionally horrid lighting environments.
