I shot over 200 photos with the iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a — here’s the winner

Apple has a lot to prove by only giving the iPhone 16e just a single rear camera, especially when most phones in its price range offer dual-camera setups. The Pixel 8a is one of them and I’ve said how it’s the phone I’d buy with my own money — a verdict I still stand behind.

That’s why I captured over 200 photos with the iPhone 16e and Pixel 8a to better understand if the latest ‘budget’ iPhone can keep pace. I know very well what the Pixel 8a is capable of delivering, especially when it easily came out on top last year in my 200 photo shootout between the Pixel 8a and iPhone SE 2022. That face-off wasn’t even close, which also cements the Pixel 8a’s position in our best camera phones guide.

Things are different this time around, as the iPhone 16e boasts a much improved 48MP main camera. But since Apple's phone only has a single rear camera, it's inherently at a disadvantage over the Pixel 8a’s dual-camera setup — which pairs together a 64MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide. The latter lens is important because it allows me to capture more of the scene, which I’m unable to do with the iPhone 16e unless I step back farther with it.

Similar to all of my past 200 photo shootouts, I take the same set of photos of both phones in various settings, which I then look over on a monitor later on to inspect their difference. For this test, however, I’m only factoring in the performance of their main and selfie cameras.

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Daytime

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In the majority of photos I’ve captured during the daytime, the iPhone 16e’s 48MP main camera comes out on top. Take a peek at the first set of images above overlooking the sandy beach with a ramp in the background.

Not only does the iPhone 16e cast a brighter picture, but zooming in reveals a bit of sharpening that adds clarity to all the details in the shot — like the wooden railing to the left and the sand on the beach. The Pixel 8a still offers a good shot, but there’s just a softness to it that doesn’t make it stand out.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Colors

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Colors are handled differently by the two camera phones, with the iPhone 16e clearly adding a bit more saturation. I really love the richer, more saturated colors of the produce on the shelf in the first batch of photos above. However, there’s some color bleed with the red peppers.

While the Pixel 8a’s colors are still on the saturated side, it's nowhere as much as the iPhone 16e. Don’t get me wrong, the vibrant colors of the iPhone 16e get my attention right away, but they’re not true-to-life. For this reason, I’m choosing the Pixel 8a

Winner: Pixel 8a

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Dynamic range

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Against the harsh sunlight peeking through the tree in the first shots, the iPhone 16e’s dynamic range performance does a much better job at boosting the shadows. As a result, I can see more of the details with the tree and branches. The Pixel 8a does a pretty good job, but the shadows are a smidge underexposed.

The results appear identical in all the rest of the photos, including the ones of the gazebo and the townhomes in the background — where the shadowed areas are much brighter on the iPhone.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Close-ups

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Neither phone offers a dedicated macro mode, but it doesn’t stop them from taking some excellent looking close-ups. The flower in the first set of photos above looks amazing when I look at the overall photo. First of all, the colors are definitely more pronounced with the iPhone 6e, while the Pixel 8a has a toned down look that makes it look more accurate.

Zooming into the middle of the flower, it’s the iPhone 16e that has the slightly sharper look, even though both capture nearly the same amount of detail. When I look at the petals, too, I can make out more definition with the iPhone 16e.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Selfie

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The iPhone 16e packs a 12MP selfie camera, while the Pixel 8a comes with a 13MP one. I think they deliver adequate results, along with a very similar field of view for wider captures.

Yet, they process the selfies I shot differently. I will say that they manage to draw out a lot of detail, like some of my facial features and in the fabric of my hoodie. However, the Pixel 8a overcompensates for the shadows in the images by boosting them — which also inadvertently brightens up my skin tone. It’s a good shot, but I like the more realistic looking ones from the iPhone 16e.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Portrait

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All the portrait shots I captured with the iPhone 16e have too much of a warmer tone, which results in them looking yellowish. I also noticed that it missed blurring a part of the background with one of the shots I took above.

On the other hand, I prefer the creamier looking backgrounds that the Pixel 8a casts with its portrait shots, but I also like how the colors look more neutral.

Winner: Pixel 8a

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Panorama

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I’m happy to report that panoramas have an even exposure across the entire image. There’s no weird stitching going on with either of them, plus I’m impressed by how crisp they turn out.

Still, the thing that gets my attention is how the Pixel 8a casts a stronger contrast throughout the shot. The first set of panoramas show this well, as the rocky lot on the sides and the grassy foreground have better contrast than the iPhone 16e’s shot.

Winner: Pixel 8a

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Zoom

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All zooming is done through the main cameras on both phones, so this category boils down to how well each phone processes those shots to expose as much detail as possible. I shot all of the photos above at 2x and 8x zoom, just so you can see side-by-side their differences.

At 2x zoom, the results are pretty close, but the iPhone 16e manages to squeeze out more fine detail. It’s not by a huge stretch, but enough for me to notice. If you look at the first set of photos of the American Legion building, zooming into the statue by the entrance of the lot reveals more definition to the stone pedestal it’s sitting on top of.

Then at 2x zoom, the results still favor the iPhone 16e. The fourth set of photos with the close-up of the gazebo reveals a sliver more definition with the wooden shingles on its room. Again, it’s not substantially more, but still enough to notice.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Night time

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For these night time shots, I mainly focus on scenes with strong light sources in them to see how they’re able to deal with the strong contrast. I will say that both phones handle them similarly, as they manage to cast an even exposure between the shadows and highlights.

The photos of the Shop Rite grocery store above shows how the iPhone and Pixel are able to brighten the darker areas of the scene, without overexposing the highlights of the signs around the facade. I really like how they both capture the bricks on the outside, but zooming in reveals slightly sharper details in the iPhone 16e shots. Just check out the Hallmark sign to see this.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Low light

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Taking it one step further, I snapped the photos above with very little lighting in the scene — in order to see how the phones process them to draw out the details that are hidden there. I have to give Apple credit for a much improved performance over the previous iPhone SE 2022 because the iPhone 16e beats the Pixel 8a this time.

I like how both phones brighten up the tree in my backyard in the first set of images, but the iPhone 16e’s stronger definition really exposes the difference between them. More of the tree and its adjacent branches reveal better definition.

Winner: iPhone 16e

iPhone 16e vs Pixel 8a: Verdict

What a difference a year makes! The iPhone 16e, despite costing more than the previous iPhone SE 2022, proves that its single 48MP rear camera can produce best-in-class results. It beats the Pixel 8a in this photo shootout by a decent margin, and I’m really happy to see that the iPhone is graced with much improved low light and zooming performances — two key areas where the iPhone SE 2022 failed to compete against the Pixel 8a.

While it concedes to its rival, the Pixel 8a is still a phenomenal camera phone. I can’t stress enough about how it has extra utility due to its ultrawide camera and the overall results still give the iPhone 16e heated competition. However, this might be a short lived celebration for the iPhone 16e considering how the Pixel 9a might be revealed soon.

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