If you are trying to save money by buying a base smartphone, are you giving up all the hopes of taking good pictures? Cameras on flagship phones like iPhone 16 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra are capable of surprising results, but for those and other best camera options, $ 1000 and higher costs.
Fortunately, Google Pixel has proved that you can still take handsome snaps and pay less than $ 500. The images of the phone look awesome and capture a lot of details and texture. And Google’s algorithm secret sauce is on the entire exhibition here for capture of beautiful and natural colors in the portrait.
But this year something curious happened. Apple replaces his cheap phone with the iPhone 16 e. By doing this, it tried to pull the photographic attention of affordable affordable away from the pixel. The iPhone has taken beautiful pictures with less camera than 16e pixels. Apple is well known to push the phone photography limit with the iPhone, but it is usually bound to its iPhone Pro line, which starts from the Grand. And when $ 599 is the lowest price that Apple sells a new phone, the iPhone 16E pixel 9A miss the $ 500 sweet spot.
So that the question raises: will a pricey phone take better pictures?
To know this, I took the iPhone 16E and Pixel 9 around San Francisco and put them through a camera test. After a few hundred pictures, I was surprised to see the results, but I became my favorite.
See it: Camera comparison: We beat on Pixel 9 against iPhone 16 e
Iphone 16 -e and Pixel 9 A Camera Space
| Camera | Resolution | Aperture | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pixel is wide at 9 | 48 MPs | F/1.7 | OIS |
| Ultrawide at Pixel 9 | 13 MPs | F/2.2 | 12 MP takes photos |
| Selfie at Pixel 9 | 13 MPs | F/2.2 | Focus focus |
| IPhone is 16 e wide | 48 MPs | F/1.6 | OIS |
| IPhone 16 e selfie | 12 MPs | F/1.9 | Autofocus |
The iPhone 16 (left) has a rear camera and it costs $ 599 and Pixel 9 has two rear cameras and it costs $ 499.
From the bat to the right, it’s not exactly a level playground. Pixel 9A has three cameras: a wide, ultraoud and selfie. The iPhone 16e has only two: a wide and selfie. Each phone has a 48-megapixel sensor in the main camera and combines four pixels to create a “super” pixel that captures more light. This means that photos show the sound of low images and therefore requires low noise decreasing, which otherwise your images look like blurred, soft mess.
Both phones lack a dedicated telephoto camera and use sensor crops to achieve 2x magnification which looks pretty good in my exam.
Maine camera at Pixel 9, Macro.
Pixel 9A has a “macro mode” of it and can focus on the topics that are closed. The funny thing is, it does not use its ultuded camera for macro shots like many other phones. Sadly, the rest of the iPhone 16e’s iPhone is a lack of macro mode like 16 brothers and sisters. However, I noticed that the original camera could take a shot off with the in-focus (perhaps not dramatically closed as perhaps allowed to dedicated macro mode).
IPhone 16 e vs. Pixel 9 A: Photos
See a few pictures of my favorite from both phones.
The iPhone is the main camera of 16th.
IPhone 16th main camera, night mode.
The iPhone is the main camera of 16th.
Ultrawide camera at Pixel 9.
Pixel 9a is the main camera at 2x.
Maine camera at Pixel 9, Macro.
IPhone 16 e vs. Pixel 9 A: Comparison
In general, I found that Pixel 9 really pushes the dynamic range into its images. The phone captures more details in the shadow, but as the photos below the cat, they really illuminate them. The image of the iPhone 16E’s Messi does not have much details and texture in his animal. Somewhere in the pixel photo and the iPhone image, the cat actually saw in real life.
On the left is a picture of the Pixel 9A of Myce The Cat. And on the right it is an image from his iPhone 16e.
I also see that the pixel takes the images with the cool color temperature, while on the other hand the photos of the iPhone are more opposite, especially on the outside. Take a look at the images below a brick building here in the mission in San Francisco. Notice the bricks in each picture.
There is a photo of the Pixel 9A on the left and the image of the iPhone 16 e on the right.
In the case of portrait mode, there is no dedicated telephoto lens on the pixel or iPhone. And remember, there is only a single rear camera in the iPhone 16, so it depends entirely on the AI and machine learning to determine the depth of a scene and create the background of the focus outside that artistic.
Pixel 9A’s portrait mode on the left side has a photo of the iPhone 16 e on the right.
The first thing I noticed with the photos of the portrait mode below the CNET belief is how separately the textures were managed in the iPhone and the pixel yellow sweater and green chair. The “cutout” (from the focus to the focus of the focus) looks natural in the photo of the iPhone. And the color of faith seems to be the most true of the life of the image in Pixel 9. The photos of the iPhone 16E look mud and mute to its skin.
There is a photo of the Pixel 9A on the left and the image of the iPhone 16 e on the right.
I noticed something else that the portrait mode of the iPhone 16e only works on people; In the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, animals are automatically recognized as the subject of the portrait. So, if you want a dramatic look snaps with the fado or Mr. Cupcake artist, the pixel is the way to go. Sorry for the picture of another cat, but see the Snap Snap the portrait mode at the bottom of the cat.
Portrait mode on Pixel 9.
Both phones take images of night mode (Google calls their knight viewing photo). In the photos below a space shuttle lego set in a very faded room, none of the images are great. The lowest image of the iPhone 16E image is the sound of the lowest but the opposite is heavy. I like the photo of Pixel 9A.
There is a photo of the Pixel 9A on the left and the image of the iPhone 16 e on the right.
I also spread the images of a residential block in the evening where street lights really show the orange of the iPhone night mode photo. The image of the iPhone is even brighter. But notice the details of the telephone wire at the top of the images below. The iPhone captures them as a uninterrupted line, while the image of Pixel 9A is made up of their small jugged line sections.
There is a photo of the Pixel 9A on the left and the image of the iPhone 16 e on the right.
IPhone 16 e vs Pixel 9 A: Which one would I choose?
This is a difficult choice, but which phone will I choose purely based on its camera?
Overall, in the case of photography, both phones have errors. I don’t think most people will choose an affordable phone only based on the camera performance. Assure that if you have received a phone you will be able to take modest snaps with some images to make you look great.
For the iPhone 16E priced, there is a lack of an extreme lens and the pictures it takes is decent, I think Pixel 9A’s cameras are great for $ 500, and perhaps it will choose.