The iPhone 18 Pro faced the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro XL in a blind camera test, with the testers choosing their preferred images without knowing which phone took each shot. After 30 photo comparisons and a separate video comparison covering everything from portraits and zoom to difficult night shots, the iPhone came out ahead in both final tallies.
The results were not one-sided throughout the test. Samsung and Google took several early wins, particularly with zoom, ultrawide and macro shots, while the iPhone picked up more votes as the scenes became darker and more difficult.
Samsung And Pixel Take Early Wins
The first few comparisons gave Samsung and Google plenty of strong results. In the 2x shot, the Galaxy S26 Ultra was the preferred image, while the Pixel 11 Pro XL won the telephoto macro comparison.
Samsung also stood out in the ultrawide building shot. Both testers chose the Galaxy S26 Ultra, pointing to its color, reflections and handling of bright and dark areas. One tester called the result “pretty dang good.”
The Pixel performed well in other difficult scenes. It won the ultrawide closeup, a 48/50MP shot taken in tough lighting and the 10x indoor comparison. The testers were particularly critical of the Samsung and iPhone images in the 10x shot, pointing to sharpening and image artifacts.
“Pixel is killing it this time,” one tester said after seeing the 10x result.
iPhone 18 Pro Gains Ground With Portraits
The iPhone began collecting more wins once the test moved into portraits and people shots.
It won a 1x portrait comparison despite all three phones showing some issues with separating the subject from the background. It also won a family portrait and another family shot, with the testers preferring its HDR and more natural-looking detail.
The iPhone also won the food comparison. The testers liked the texture and detail in the image, although the phone was using its variable aperture at f/4 to reduce background blur.
There was another strong iPhone result in the evening 5x portrait comparison. Its warmer rendering and more natural-looking sunset gave it the edge over the other two phones.
Samsung Takes The Video Comparison
The separate video comparison produced one of Samsung’s clearest wins.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra produced the preferred cinematic video because it looked cleaner and avoided some of the sharpening seen on the other phones. The testers also noticed blur-related mistakes in the competing clips.
One of them was particularly surprised by the result because the iPhone has traditionally been strong in video comparisons.
Zoom Results Were Split
Zoom produced some of the biggest differences between the phones.
The Galaxy S26 Ultra won the 10x building comparison, where the iPhone struggled more than the other two phones. The testers noted that the iPhone has a 4x optical telephoto camera, compared with 5x on both Samsung and Google.
But the iPhone came back with an unexpected result at 25x. Its image was preferred for showing more convincing detail without the heavy sharpening seen on the other phones.
The testers described the difference between the iPhone’s brick detail and the competing image as looking like “actual brick” versus “AI jumbo.”
The Pixel also had its share of zoom wins, including the 10x indoor shot and a 2x closeup with natural background blur.
Night Photography Changes The Results
The iPhone’s strongest run came once the test moved into low light.
It won several night comparisons, including a 2x detail shot of a tree, a dark 1x portrait, a 5x portrait and a 1x night playground shot.
The biggest difference came in a 1x night photo taken without Night mode. Both testers preferred the iPhone image, with one calling it “the biggest difference we’ve seen.”
The result led to speculation that the iPhone 18 Pro’s new f/1.48 main camera aperture was helping it capture more light in very dark scenes.
The iPhone did not win every low-light comparison. Samsung took the ultrawide night shot, while the moon and astrophotography comparisons were split between the phones.
The Variable Aperture Was Tested Too
The iPhone’s variable aperture also came into play during the test.
In an indoor portrait, the iPhone was accidentally left at f/4, which produced a different look from what the testers expected. They noted that using f/1.8 would have created more background blur and potentially more detail on the subject.
The food shot was another example where the aperture setting affected the result. The iPhone was again at f/4, this time intentionally, to keep more of the food in focus.
These results show how the camera’s aperture setting can change the look of an image depending on the scene.
iPhone 18 Pro Wins Both Final Tallies
After all 30 photo comparisons and the separate video comparison, the iPhone 18 Pro finished with the highest number of preferred images from both testers.
Ben’s tally gave the iPhone 15 wins, the Galaxy S26 Ultra 9 and the Pixel 11 Pro XL 6.
Max’s tally was closer, with the iPhone at 12 wins, the Pixel at 11 and Samsung at 7.
The testers also noticed a pattern in the results. The iPhone took several comparisons before receiving its first vote, but became more consistent as the lighting changed and the scenes became darker.
That made the final result different from the early part of the test, when Samsung and Google were taking several of the preferred shots.
For this particular blind test, the iPhone 18 Pro finished with the highest tally from both testers, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Pixel 11 Pro XL each picked up wins in specific categories such as zoom, ultrawide photography, macro shots and video.
