Speaker 1: This is the Google Pixel fold. It costs $1,800 and folds from a phone into a mini tablet. And this is the $1,700 one plus open, which does the exact same thing. Now both of these phones represent the cutting edge in terms of phone technology, hence those cutting edge prices. But then there are the cameras. Now, neither foldable has the absolute best camera system because there's no room for them, but both [00:00:30] Google and OnePlus found ways to overcome that. So how do the cameras compare? Let's find out Foldables like the pixel fold and OnePlus Open have a space problem in order to fold in half and not be cumbersome when they're closed. The phones are made extremely thin, but that means there's even less room for camera sensors and lenses. So while you're paying 17 or $1,800, you're getting a camera that's closer in quality to something on a $700 phone or well [00:01:00] at least that's been the case until 2023.
Speaker 1: The pixel fold has a camera bar on the back that sticks out, and this gives the camera hardware more depth and that helps improve the image quality. And that bar houses a main wide angle camera, an ultra wide, and a five times telephoto camera. And when I pitted it against the Galaxy Z fold, I preferred Google's photos at every turn. Now, one plus takes the concept of Google's camera bar [00:01:30] and goes to the extreme, the circular camera bump on the OnePlus open. It feels like someone cut a hockey puck in half and glued it to the back of the phone. It sticks out a lot, but it gives more room for image sensors and lenses. And like the Pixel, the open has a main camera and ultra wide and a telephoto, but it opts for a three times optical zoom, which will be the same camera used in the upcoming one plus 12 that has already [00:02:00] launched in China. Now for this video, I'm just going to compare photos taken with the rear cameras, but make sure to read by full written camera comparison between the two phones on cnet. The link is in the description. So let's take a look at some of my favorite photos that I took with each phone, starting with a Google Pixel fold and ending with images from the One plus Open.
Speaker 1: [00:02:30] As you can see, both phones are capable of some decent photos, but let's do a few direct comparisons and start with a cup of coffee or well, in this case, a cappuccino from Four Barrel Coffee in San Francisco. Both photos look good. If I had to nitpick the pixel fold, snap has better exposure and did a better job at protecting the highlights. And the contrast makes the details in the foam pop. The one pluses photo is exposed brighter, but still has [00:03:00] good detail. The image isn't as over sharpened as the pixel's photo. Notice the difference between the cappuccino foam and the wood table that it's sitting on now, despite having the same F1 0.7 aperture. The pixel folds main camera keeps more of the background in focus. Here are a couple more photos of a recent happy hour outing with my fellow C debtors. Now, neither of these photos was taken with night mode and well, neither is great, but the pixels photo is superior, the exposure [00:03:30] is good, and people's skin tones look better.
Speaker 1: Both of the photos used a long shutter speed to let in more light, but because of that, both photos have some motion blur from people shifting or moving. The one Pluses photo is darker, but the highlights like the chandeliers in the background aren't blown out to white. Now let's shift from happy hour to a cat sitting happily under medium lighting. I use the telephoto camera on each phone to snap these photos of pebbles, the cat. And as you can see, he [00:04:00] was thrilled. The pixels image was taken with a five times optical zoom, whereas the one plus photo was taken at six times digital zoom. So not exactly a fair comparison, but the one plus image looks better to me. It nailed the white balance and captured the detail in pebbles for better. By comparison, the pixels photo looks well flat. Now here are a couple more photos taken with a telephoto camera on each.
Speaker 1: Now this comparison is less about the image quality. I mean, both are good, but the pixel fold [00:04:30] has better dynamic range and more about focal length. The five times optical zoom on the pixel is a great telephoto link, but so is the three times optical zoom on the one plus open. But here's why this is a fair comparison. What's nice is the one plus on this telephoto camera has a 64 megapixel sensor. Compare that to the 10 megapixel one on the pixel. So if I take a photo at six times magnification, I'm still using [00:05:00] 32 megapixels, even though I'm cropped in all of this to say. I think the one plus opens telephoto is a more versatile camera because of it. And that said, the pixel's main camera has a 48 megapixel resolution, and I can take a three times digital Zoom with it to mirror the one plus open, and I still get a decent 12 megapixel photo.
Speaker 1: Now let's take a look at some night mode images from each phone. I took these of a colorful [00:05:30] laser that was aimed over San Francisco during last month's APEC conference. Now the one plus photo is okay, but it still looks pretty dark and details are soft. The pixels photo is brighter, has a wider dynamic range and sharper details. Now these photos were taken with a main camera, but here are some night mode photos from the ultra wide camera on both phones. And here are two more night mode images taken with each phone's telephoto at five x for the pixel and six x for the OnePlus [00:06:00] for night mode. The pixel fold wins in my book. Now, before I give you my final thoughts, I want to give a shout out to one of my favorite features on either phone, the Xan mode on the OnePlus Open.
Speaker 1: It's named after the famous analog camera called the Hassle Hasselblad Xan. That could take photos with 35 millimeter film that were 70 millimeters wide. So basically a wide photo that's twice the width of a regular photo. The one plus can take an Xan photo combining a couple images into [00:06:30] one. And it's ridiculous and there's not a great way to show these off. But I adore this feature. And while the field of view takes, I'm getting used to, I've taken a lot of bad Xan photos. I truly have gotten some cinematic photos like this one with the one plus open. Oh, and one more thing I don't like on the one plus is that the camera shutter button is red. I mean, why? It makes me have this little mini freak out, like I'm getting ready to record a video instead of take a photo. Not good, not good, [00:07:00] but at the end of the day, the Google Pixel fold and one plus open push the bounds of foldable phone photography. I still give the pixel a slight edge because of Google's computational magic, and I feel like the results fit better with my aesthetic. But I want to hear from you. Which phone do you think took better photos? Let me know in the comments. Lastly, if you liked this video, give a thumbs up and thank you for watching.
