All three phones have impressive night shooting features that allow you to take bright and clear shots even in near-total darkness. I’ve already done some night-time testing on the phones as part of the main Pixel 7 Pro review, but I wanted to spend a little more time side-by-side with all three phones to see which one really has the best looking images at night. So I packed them up, put on my winter coat and headed out into the cold and dark streets of Leith, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. All images were captured in JPEG format, with the main cameras (unless otherwise noted) and using the exclusive night modes on both the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra. The iPhone 14 Pro feature turns on automatically, so I just made sure it was active when taking photos. iPhone 14 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra Andrew Lanxon/CNET This first test above is not a good start for the Pixel 7 Pro. Its shot is darker than its rivals, with quite a bit of dirty detail on the ship itself. iPhone 14 Pro, 100% cut Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro, 100% cut Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra, 100% cut Andrew Lanxon/CNET Zooming in to 100% on the same shots above, it’s clear that both the iPhone 14 Pro and the Galaxy S22 Ultra achieved cleaner, more balanced images. Between the two, the S22 Ultra did a better job of capturing more natural color tones, and its shot wasn’t affected by reflected lights on its lens — something much more noticeable in the iPhone’s shot. iPhone 14 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra Andrew Lanxon/CNET The Pixel 7 Pro did a much better job in the river scene above, with excellent exposure throughout the image and tons of detail visible in buildings in the distance. All three phones captured the scene well, with sharp details and minimal image noise. The iPhone image is a bit more contrasty, which I don’t like, but it makes the shot look darker as a result. However, one thing to note in the Pixel shot is the noticeable lens flare from the street light on the left side of the image. While all three phones suffer from glare to some degree, it’s noticeably worse in the Pixel’s image, which I found in my initial tests for the review. Some shots I took had flares so obvious that they ruined the image, and it’s something to be aware of with bright light sources. iPhone 14 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra Andrew Lanxon/CNET All three phones captured the old pub front above well, with excellent exposures throughout. I’m impressed with how they’ve all captured a lot of detail in the shadow areas of the images, but managed to balance the highlights in the window and carvings well. As in the previous boat image, the iPhone 14 Pro shot leans towards a white balance with a yellow tint, which doesn’t look as realistic as the Galaxy S22 Ultra shot. The Pixel went a little too far on the other side, with a more magenta image. iPhone 14 Pro, 100% cut Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro, 100% cut Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22, 100% cut Andrew Lanxon/CNET Zoom in to 100% on the same images and things change. It’s very marginal, but the Pixel 7 Pro managed a slightly sharper image than its rivals, with the iPhone trailing far behind and the S22 Ultra bringing up the rear. I have to pixel peep at this point though, and even then the difference is almost negligible. At full screen, all three images are sharp and look great. iPhone 14 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra Andrew Lanxon/CNET The scene above works to sum up the approach the three phones are taking. The iPhone image has a more yellowish white balance that isn’t particularly realistic. The Pixel 7 Pro’s shot is slightly darker and more magenta-toned, while the S22 Ultra’s shot seems to strike a better balance between the two with excellent exposure and more even colors. iPhone 14 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra Andrew Lanxon/CNET But what happens when we use the zoom lenses on these phones? Well, starting with the standard cameras, all three phones managed to capture solid images above. iPhone 14 Pro, 2x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Pixel 7 Pro, 2x zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Both the iPhone and Pixel offer 2x zoom (digital crop) capabilities, and there’s not a huge amount to choose between them in the photos above. Digital cropping has noticeably reduced the quality in photos from both phones, and while the iPhone is sharper, the Pixel has slightly better dynamic range, with some of the highlights less punchy. iPhone 14 Pro, 3x optical zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra, 3x optical zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET With 3x optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra (the Pixel 7 Pro has 5x zoom, which I’ll get to), the iPhone shot above is noticeably better than the 2x digital zoom shot, with improved detail and dynamic range. And while its shot looks a bit darker than the S22 Ultra’s, it has sharper, more defined details and a more even dynamic range that results in a better picture overall. iPhone 14 Pro, 150% cut. Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra, 150% off Andrew Lanxon/CNET Zooming in to 150%, it’s clear that the iPhone’s dynamic range is better (look at the bright face of the clock in the upper left of the scene) and details are much sharper. Pixel 7 Pro, 5x optical zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET Galaxy S22 Ultra, 10x optical zoom Andrew Lanxon/CNET However, the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22 Ultra can step up their zoom, with 5x and 10x optical zoom, respectively. The above image of the S22 is obviously much more zoomed in, but retains detail and exposure. The Pixel also looks solid, with good colors and clarity. Given the wide difference in zoom levels, there’s no point in deciding which is better here.
Which phone takes the best night mode photos?
Overall, I’m impressed with how well all three phones did in these tests. Despite the dark conditions, I got images that are…
