Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs Pixel 2 cameras: This was the toughest comparison yet

Both smartphones shoot great photos. If I want to be nitpicky about it, I prefer the Pixel's photos over the Note 8's. However, if I were to pick a phone purely for its camera, I'd pick the Note 8. The Note 8 has features that the Pixel doesn't have, like a second 2x zoom lens and a Pro mode that gives me more control over the camera's settings. The Note 8's portrait mode is also more consistent than the Pixel's at this stage.

Samsung's phones have been the clear leaders for low-light photography, but the Pixel does an equally good job of brightening up the scene. With that said, the Note 8 made the colors warmer than they should be in this particular shot.

Under certain circumstances, the Pixel can take portraits with too much contrast. Here, the Note 8 does a better job of lighting up my face evenly. 

Both portrait shots from the Note 8 and Pixel differ pretty dramatically in brightness, but I'd be happy with either. 

This is apparently a tough shot for high-end smartphone cameras, as both the Note 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus just couldn't get the details on the white bottle caps. The Pixel, on the other hand, does a great job. 

I tapped the screen to focus on the bottle caps on both phones, and both the Note 8 and Pixel focused as quickly as each other. 

The Note 8's photo has slightly more saturated and vibrant colors than the Pixel, but both phones did well in this indoor lighting situation. Still, if you were to be nitpicky, the Note 8 would come out on top.  

The Note 8 took an oddly soft photo of these flowers compared to the Pixel, and the Pixel photo is better as a result. Contrary to what the Note 8 usually does, its colors aren't as saturated or rich as the Pixel's.

Notice how the sky down the street on the Note 8's photo is white and overblown compared to the Pixel photo. The Pixel also did a better job of keeping details in darker, shadowy areas of the photo. 

There's no contest here, where both phones are zooming in with digital zoom instead of optical zoom. Digital zoom isn't as good as optical zoom because it's simply enlarging the pixels to zoom in, which robs a photo of fine detail.

The Note 8 does better here because its digital zoom is piggybacking off its second 2x zoom lens, whereas the Pixel is zooming in from its single regular lens. 

The major thing to note in this photo is that the Pixel did a better job of retaining details in darker, shadowy areas of the photo.

Apart from that, the Note 8 photo's colors are a little deeper, but things like the trees and skin tones are a little warmer than they should be, as they look somewhat yellow compared to the Pixel photo. 

The Note 8's photo has a gorgeous deep blue sky, better colors, and better contrast than the Pixel's photo. The Pixel also seems to add a yellow-ish tint to the photo, which gives the photo a warmer color "temperature."