iPhone vs Android: Which is better for photography and what makes Google Pixel special

There is big debate going on among the smartphone nerds. It was sparked by the comments of Vic Gundotra, a former vice president at Google. Gundotra, who left Google in 2014, recently took to Facebook to talk about state of smartphone photography. Among many things he said, arguably the one that created the biggest ripples was his statement that he will "never buy an Android for photography".

Reason? Gundotra believes that the iPhone 7 Plus, which comes with dual-camera feature that enables portrait mode, has "killed DSLR". He says that the iPhone 7 Plus is so good at photography that it is years ahead of an Android phone. Primarily, says Gundotra, it is because Apple is doing a lot of computational photography -- in other words effects like blurred background created with algorithms, while Google with Android isn't doing much.

Although the world of mobile photography is clearly black and white -- the iPhone wins big and Android loses -- according to Gundotra, the reality is more nuanced. In fact, in the real world as formidable as the iPhone 7 Plus is for photography, there are Android phones that are better. That is the scene at least for now although it is also a string possibility that this will change with the iPhone 8, which may come with a completely revamped camera.

But then if the iPhone 8 is on the horizon, so is the Google Pixel 2. So, instead of talking of the future and how the iPhone and Android photography is going to evolve, let's talk about the present.

Best camera ever in Google Pixel phone? It's possible

Present is simple. As noted earlier, despite all the goodness that the iPhone 7 Plus packs in and despite whatever Gundotra says, there are at least three Android phones that are better at clicking images compared to the iPhone. If you are buying a phone right now and your sole aim is to get stupendously good photos, you should look at Android and not iPhone. But before we talk about these three phones, just a couple of points about the iPhone 7 Plus and why people -- read Gundotra -- may find it full of awesomesauce.

1. Clicking good pictures with the iPhone 7 Plus is easy. You just point the phone and click the photo. The iPhone software and the way the device processes images is so good that chances are you will get an image that is exposed accurately and has great white balance.
2. The portrait mode in the iPhone 7 Plus is truly remarkable. It's no longer unique. The OnePlus 5 offers similar feature and the so does Micromax Dual 5. Huawei phones too have the similar feature. But the iPhone's works best. It consistently creates most natural looking pictures.
3. For shooting videos, the iPhone 7 Plus is miles ahead of other phones in the market. The image stabilisation, the way it deals with focus and the way it processes the footage flawless.

Actually, the features and performance of the iPhone 7 Plus camera make it a very good phone for photographers. It's an all-rounder and may be that is why Gundotra fell in love with it. But it's not best and no, Android is not years behind the iPhone when it comes to photography. The iPhone right now has an Achilles' heel and that is its relatively smaller image sensor. In comparison, there are three Android phones that have stellar image sensors inside them, which give them an edge.

These three phones are: Galaxy S8 (Indian version with Samsung ISOCELL image sensor), Google Pixel (and Pixel XL) and HTC U11.

All these three phones not only click photos with great amount of details they also have superb dynamic range and ability to deal with low light in a better way. In fact, in low light there is no comparison. A Samsung galaxy S8 or a Google Pixel in low light beats the iPhone with ease. In photos clicked with these high-end Android phones, the shadows are cleaner, the noise is lower, the colours are punchier and there is more dynamic light.