It’s one of the most keenly watched slugfests in the smartphone face. Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhone versus Google’s all-new flagship. This year Apple launched four iPhones as part of its iPhone 15 line-up with the iPhone 15 Pro Max at the very top. We think this year’s Pro Max represents the biggest shake-up of the iPhone since the debut of the iPhone X back in 2017. It comes with an all-new titanium build and features multiple camera upgrades that include the all-new tetraprism design for its telephoto lens. It’s powered by the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip on a smartphone.
The Google Pixel 8 Pro is the more formidable of the Pixel 8 siblings (there’s also the Google Pixel 8 with a smaller display that is likely to face off with the iPhone 15). Google has tweaked the display — an all-new Super Actua display, that’s one of the brightest out there. The camera gets even better with improved hardware and AI optimisations. This phone rides mostly on its software — Google calls it the generative AI-era smartphone. It’s also the showcase of everything Android, just like the 15 Pro Max is the iPhone to beat. It all makes for an epic battle. Let’s kick this off with the spec sheet highlights:
Display
Both smartphones offer immersive displays that are evenly matched. Colours pop out and at 6.7-inches both displays are perfect for binge-watch sessions. Both smartphones adopt different approaches to conceal the front cameras and keep the bezels to a bare minimum. It makes for engaging viewing. We like how Apple’s pill-shaped cutout (Dynamic Island) creates unique interaction opportunities.
The Pixel display is marginally brighter with a peak brightness of 2400 nits and the new Super Actua display does a great job of producing life-like colours.
Camera
There was a time when the iPhone had a significant edge in the video department. The last couple of Pixel Pro devices have bridged that gap. Just like design or user interface, camera performance is now all about personal preferences. It’s now down to whether you like Google or Apple’s colour approach and processing. Having used both devices and their predecessors extensively, we think it’s tough to choose one camera over the other. We like Google’s whole new bag of AI-engineered tricks like Audio Magic Eraser that scrubs out segments of audio on a video. And then there’s Best Take that is great fix for group shots. Google’s other AI tools like Photo Unblur and Magic Eraser have been around a while now and add to the camera experience.
Both smartphones deliver great results in lowlight and offer excellent zoom photography. We like Apple’s new 24MP super-high-resolution default size that finds the balance between image quality and a practical file size (for storing and sharing). You can now snap portrait images on the iPhone 15 devices without having to switch to Portrait Mode. If there’s a person (or even a dog or cat in the frame), you can turn these photos into portraits with a tap to focus option. Mighty convenient.
Battery life
Here again we found no discernible edge for either device. Battery life is driven largely by your usage patterns as well as preferences like display brightness settings or whether you opt for an always-on display. The Pixel 8 Pro has upped the charging speed slightly — it’s now 30W. Battery performance is similar to the Pixel 7 Pro. It’s the same with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, that doesn’t offer an edge vis-à-vis the iPhone 14 Pro Max in terms of battery performance. You should get through a whole day comfortably with camera and multimedia usage on both devices.
Performance
Apple showcased the capabilities of the A17 Pro chip during the iPhone 15 launch. The iPhone 15 Pro twins will see the debut of console titles (like Resident Evil Village and Assassin’s Creed Mirage) for the first time on a smartphone, that’s a measure of the performance capabilities of the phone. Google’s Tensor G3 chip is more about its AI capabilities than raw power. Each brand has chosen a different approach in terms of its internals to complement the overall user experience. Apple has bumped up the storage on the base variant of the 15 Pro Max (it’s now 256GB), the device comes in multiple storage options that go all the way to 1TB. The Pixel 8 Pro offers only one internal storage option — 128GB, for the Indian Market. You could lean on Google Photos though.
Extras
The Google Pixel 8 Pro certainly has quite a few talking points that revolve around its generative AI theme. There’s the ‘Record, transcribe and summarise’ feature that can transcribe an audio recording into a text file that is a fairly accurate version of the audio feed. It’s a handy meeting tool. Google is also all set to unleash Google Assistant with Bard that is likely to transform the Google Assistant experience. There’s also the new temperature sensor (that sits under the LED flash) that might border on gimmicky.
The iPhone 15 Pro offers a cool new Action button — a hot key that you can program as a shortcut for any of the functions you’re more likely to use. The iPhone 15 series are among the first phones to ship with the new Qi2 wireless charging standard. This new update adds an additional ring of magnets to ensure proper alignment of charging coils and faster wireless charging speeds.
Aside from the price tag, the choice between the iPhone 15 Pro Max (starts at Rs 1,59,900) and the Google Pixel 8 Pro (Rs 1,06,999) might boil down to a choice between ecosystems. Both devices offer cutting edge hardware, gorgeous displays and arguably the best design aesthetic (that includes a seamless blend of hardware and the user interface) and a whole range of smarts.
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