LG G6 vs. Google Pixel: LG Crushes in Camera Face-Off

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While the Google Pixel has a very capable camera, it gets soundly beat by the dual-shooters in LG's G6.

The Google Pixel is easily one of the best smartphones available. It always has the latest version of Android OS, and it offers strong performance and Google Assistant. But the Pixel's camera is also pretty great, delivering crisp 12.3-megapixel photos and strong HDR+ images in all sorts of conditions.

The Pixel's 12.3-MP is good, but the dual 13-MP shooters on the G6 are great. Credit: Sam Rutherford

(Image credit: The Pixel's 12.3-MP is good, but the dual 13-MP shooters on the G6 are great. Credit: Sam Rutherford)

However, the Pixel faces a strong challenger in the LG G6, which features two 13-megapixel rear cameras, one of which shoots captivating wide-angle images with a 125-degree lens. In fact, the G6's camera took down the iPhone 7 Plus in a recent shootout. Now, it’s Google’s turn to square off against the latest from LG. To compare images, just drag the dividing line between the photos shot by the G6 and the Pixel.

Flat Iron Building

The LG G6’s camera impresses here by picking up greater details in the building. Overall, it’s a sharper image with slightly more contrast. It also picked up more details in the shadows. The Pixel’s camera handles highlight well, but the image looks a little underexposed and the colors aren’t as saturated.

Winner: LG G6

Lego Man

The Lego store had this fellow near the window and we couldn’t resist. The white balance on both images ran a little bit warm, and the Pixel had brighter exposure. The green on the tree behind the figure looks closer to what I saw with the naked eye, though.

Winner: Draw

Bowl of Fruit

Our assistant photo editor put this to me pretty bluntly: “The overall quality [of the Pixel] is not as good as LG.” And it shows here, as the image from the G6 offers richer colors (even though they’re on the warmer side). The LG’s camera also did a better job of balancing shadows and highlights. On the Pixel, the highlights look a little too hot.

Winner: LG G6

Empire State Building (No Zoom)

The real difference in this shot is the color. Once again, the Pixel provided desaturated colors with highlights that were just a bit overexposed. And the white balance went a little cold. The G6's image looks warmer and more inviting while picking up more detail in the buildings and street.

Winner: LG G6

Empire Sate Building (Full Zoom)

This one is no contest. In a zoom shot taken of the Empire State Building, the G6 produced a better image, while the Pixel’s results look muddier. The Pixel also didn’t zoom in nearly as far, maxing out at 4x, compared to 14x for the Pixel. Let’s hope the rumored dual-lens Pixel 2 fares better.

Winner: LG G6

Low Light

Taken in our office stairway, this image reveals that the G6 is capable of picking up good detail in shadows, and the white balance performed pretty well. By comparison, the Pixel's photo exhibited noise in the shadows and blown-out highlights. When we zoomed in on our desktop, the photo looked pretty crummy.

Winner: LG G6

Overall

The Google Pixel has a very good camera — it's one of our top camera phones, in fact. But it's hard to argue with LG winning 5 out of 6 rounds. The G6 is the better shooter based on our testing.

Photo comparison credits: Tom's Guide

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Mark Spoonauer
Mark Spoonauer

Mark Spoonauer is the global editor in chief of Tom's Guide and has covered technology for over 20 years. In addition to overseeing the direction of Tom's Guide, Mark specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to discuss the latest trends, including Cheddar, Fox Business and other outlets. Mark was previously editor in chief of Laptop Mag, and his work has appeared in Wired, Popular Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.

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20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • EljefeNorm
    To me this comparison is just flat out backwards. On my 27-in. monitor, the G-6 was only superior on one shot; the "No Exit sign." Perhaps clarity and focus was not the goal of the comparison, but I know which one I would choose, hands down; notwithstanding the narrative. VERY one-sided view of the G-6!
    Reply
  • Ferrocanis
    Im sorry, but camera alone does not make a phone killer (even though im a huge LG fan), the most important advantage pixel has is the fact that you get updates straight from google, and no other android phone can beat that. tom's guide please atop making click bait titles, im blocking your notifications if i find another one
    Reply
  • Ferrocanis
    Eddit: my apologies to the author, your article did not had a clickbait title, but the push notification did, so can this person please stop that.
    Reply
  • JoeCo
    I don't know what you're smoking.... the pixel wins in every single shot...
    Reply
  • Ifixtheinternet
    I agree that this is backwards.
    Viewing these on a calibrated Samsung DLP in 1920x1080.

    Maybe it's the G6 aperture, but the first two images do not appear to be taken from the same place.

    However in the first picture there is more color variation in all the buildings taken with the Pixel. Particularly on the far left, where blacks on the building show as black on the Pixel, not gray like the G6.
    Also notice the window lines are all clearly defined in the Pixel example, whereas most taken with the G6 are blurry, despite being zoomed in / closer. The overall picture looks brighter on the G6.

    In picture 2, look at the Lego Hat in the dark areas around the rim.
    The Pixel picks up the light colored legos around the edge whereas with the G6 they are blended and are almost invisible. There is also generally more detail in the picture, again, being further out than the G6.
    Look through the window in the back, the G6 cannot cope with the light variation and the colors are washed out.

    In picture 3 there is more detail in the wood grain, the carpet in the background, and the fruit with the Pixel. There is also better contrast, as it picks up both the black shadow in the background and the light colors in the basket better.

    In The Empire No Zoom shot, the building and windows are clearly defined with the Pixel, again.
    The sky gradient from light to dark has more contrast in the photo taken with the Pixel.

    I see more detail, better contrast, and generally a more constant result with the Pixel.
    In the first shot the G6 looked too bright and washed out, but the rest were too warm and colors were too saturated and not accurate.
    Reply
  • Horus12
    Agreeing with others here - the is maybe one shot where the G6 wins out but most of these shots the Pixel is a landslide win.
    Reply
  • muzafar_1
    I say that whenever the new phones arrives these critics start favouring the new ones even if it not good as the old one .
    Reply
  • Mitchell_31
    Everything on the phone looks more zoomed in which is why the Lego guy has more detail. The low light test to say lg won that is not accurate at all when on the pixel it looked like the red was more illuminated which if your looking for an emergency exit isn't that what you'd want? And of course the zoom test the LG won with two camera's when any phone that has one can't zoom in as accurate.
    Reply
  • Mark Spoonauer
    Thanks for your comment. The Pixel does have a very good camera, as we said in our review, but the G6 won this contest based on our analysis, which included working closing with our photo editor to analyze each image at full size and zoomed in.

    19411546 said:
    To me this comparison is just flat out backwards. On my 27-in. monitor, the G-6 was only superior on one shot; the "No Exit sign." Perhaps clarity and focus was not the goal of the comparison, but I know which one I would choose, hands down; notwithstanding the narrative. VERY one-sided view of the G-6!

    Reply
  • 7Robin
    For me, bar the first one, I preferred the pixel.
    Reply