Google Pixel 8 vs. iPhone 15: Which phone is best for you?

This article is part of our series?Battle of the Brands, in which we compare category-leading products to their counterparts to determine which are actually worth your money.

Over the last month, we’ve seen Apple and Google announce and launch its latest flagship smartphones in the iPhone 15 and Pixel 8 lineups. Google’s offering consists of two phones, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, while Apple’s lineup sticks to its four-phone approach with the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

If you’re someone trying to figure out if the $800 iPhone 15 is a better phone than the $700 Pixel 8, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is either phone is a good choice. The bad news is, well, either phone is a good choice.

Follow along as I walk you through the similarities and differences between the iPhone 15 and Pixel 8, some of which are obvious, others not so much, and use my personal experience with both phones to help you make an educated decision.

Apple iPhone 15 vs. Google Pixel 8 at a glance

Quick comparison

Tried-and-true designs

The iPhone 15 and Pixel 8 may be rectangular slabs of glass, as nearly all smartphones that don’t bend or fold are nowadays, but Apple and Google haven’t shied away from adding their own design flair to the respective phones.

The overall design of Apple’s iPhone 15 doesn’t look all that different from past iPhone models, save for the new color options. It has a 6.1-inch display that, for the first time on a non-Pro model, has a Dynamic Island.

The Dynamic Island is used to hide the front-facing TrueDepth camera by displaying alerts and contextual information, such as timer countdowns, currently playing music and even information from third-party apps like live sports scores.

On the phone’s right edge is the sleep/wake side button, with a mute switch and volume buttons on the left side. On the bottom, also another first, is a USB-C port instead of Apple’s long-standing proprietary Lightning port. On the back of the phone is a square camera array, housing two rear-facing cameras.

You can get the iPhone 15 in several different colors, which are more muted than previous iPhones. The color options include pink, yellow, green, blue and black, with Apple using a color-infused glass with a matte finish. The colored glass looks and feels fantastic, and doesn’t remind me of glass at all.

The Pixel 8 uses the same core design we saw debut with the Pixel 6 a couple of years ago. The 6.2-inch display has a hole punch near the top for the front-facing camera, sans any sort of Dynamic Island-like feature to hide it. However, the Pixel 8 does have an always-on display feature that constantly displays the time and any pending alerts, similar to what the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have. The Pixel 8 is available in three different colors: Hazel, Obsidian and Rose.

The iPhone 15 measures 5.81 by 2.82 by 0.31 inches and weighs 6.02 ounces. The Pixel 8 is slightly taller, narrower and heavier, measuring 5.9 by 2.8 by 0.4 inches and weighing 6.60 ounces.

Both phones are comfortable to hold and can be used with one hand if needed. I’ve found the iPhone 15 to feel more balanced than the Pixel 8, which can feel a little top-heavy due to the camera bar.

Judging the phones strictly based on colors, the iPhone 15 is the clear winner. But when you start taking into account the overall design, the winner isn’t as clear-cut, and it effectively comes down to personal preference.

TL;DR: The iPhone 15 and Pixel 8 use the same design as their predecessors, with both phones being comfortable to hold and use, even with one hand. The iPhone 15, however, has more color options.

2 similar displays with some key differences

As previously mentioned, the iPhone 15’s screen measures 6.1 inches and is, as Apple calls it, a Super Retina XDR display. That’s marketing speak for an OLED display with a resolution of 2556 x 1179 at 460 pixels per inch (ppi). It supports HDR content, it has a refresh rate of 60Hz and it has a peak brightness of 2,000 nits to make it easier to see in direct sunlight.

The Pixel 8 has a 6.2-inch “Actua” OLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 at 428 ppi. It also supports HDR content, it has a variable refresh rate that goes from 60Hz to 120Hz and it has a peak brightness of 2,000 nits.

At a quick glance, the two phones look to have the same overall display quality; images and text are sharp, with plenty of color saturation. However, when you get closer to the display and start to pay attention, you start to notice the Pixel 8’s slightly lower-resolution display, especially when looking at text.

It’s not a bad experience by any means, and you’re likely not going to even notice it unless you’re really nitpicking or looking at the phones side by side.

The same goes for the faster refresh rate of the Pixel 8’s screen, a feature that’s beneficial when you’re doing tasks that involve a lot of quick movements, such as quickly scrolling through your inbox and social feed or playing games. I have a hard time noticing the difference, but scrolling does feel buttery smooth on the Pixel 8. And while the iPhone 15’s screen is locked to 60Hz, the 15 Pro line has a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz, if that’s a key deciding factor for you.

TL;DR: The iPhone 15’s display has a higher resolution than the Pixel 8 you can notice when you nitpick, but the same goes in the other direction for the Pixel 8’s higher refresh rate. In the end, both phones have flagship-caliber displays.

Performance isn’t just about benchmarks

Powering Apple’s iPhone 15 is the A16 Bionic processor — the chip that was used in last year’s Pro series?— and 6GB of memory, with storage offerings of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. The Pixel 8 uses Google’s latest Tensor 3 processor, 8GB of memory and 128GB or 256GB of storage.

Apple’s A-series chips that power its iPhone lineup are known for being the most performant mobile processor across the entire smartphone industry. If you want the most powerful processor you can get in a smartphone, then the decision is easy: Buy an iPhone.

But performance is about more than just how fast a processor benchmarks. For the sake of being thorough, however, let’s take a quick look at the benchmark scores for both phones. You’ll see, there’s no comparison when it comes to raw processing power.

Using the Geekbench 6 benchmarking app, the iPhone 15 has an average single-core score of 2,595 and an average multi-core score of 6,510. The Pixel 8 scored 1,523 and 4,089 in the same single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. The higher the scores, the better.

Single-core performance is important for routine tasks like sending an email or a text message. Multi-core performance is what you want to pay attention to if you’re someone who frequently games or edits photos and videos on your phone.

My experience when using either device, though, doesn’t reflect a huge difference in performance like the benchmark results would make you believe. Apps open quickly on both devices, games load in a timely manner and edits are applied to photos without any delay.

Google has decided to focus on using its Tensor processors on machine learning to enable AI features, better speech recognition and improved photo and video capabilities, and most of it all on the device instead of sending it to Google’s servers for processing. Both phones play most modern mobile games just fine, though it’s worth noting that the higher-end iPhone 15 Pro has exclusive access to a handful of upcoming console-caliber games like Resident Evil Village and Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

As for battery life, both phones are capable of powering through an entire day of typical use. For me, that means reading news stories; chatting in apps like Slack, Messages and Telegram; endlessly scrolling Reddit and Threads; and watching a YouTube video or three over the course of roughly 16 hours. After using both phones over the last few weeks, I’d say the battery life is the same on both phones.

TL;DR: The iPhone 15 is more performant on paper, but the Pixel 8 is able to keep up with any task I put it through.

True-to-life cameras with a twist

The camera performance across both phones is nearly the same, with both capturing photos that are full of color, and equal sharpness, all without being overly saturated and with proper levels of exposure. Google and Apple both capture photos that are more true to life, reflecting what you see when you take a picture.

Where the camera experiences really start to diverge is when you start editing photos on the Pixel 8. Making its debut on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are two features that really show off Google’s Tensor 3 chip and its machine learning prowess. The features, Best Take and Magic Editor, more or less put a miniature version of Photoshop in the palm of your hand and allow you to do some wild photo editing with just a few taps on your screen.

As we all know, taking group pictures almost always leads to someone not looking at the camera, blinking at the wrong time or some other oddity. With Best Take, you’re able to pick the best photo of the bunch, and then the Pixel 8 will identify similar photos and present you with multiple thumbnails, showing each person’s various facial expressions in the rest of the photos. You can then select the thumbnail that has the person smiling, and it’s instantly placed in the photo. And you can do that for everyone in the picture. It’s equal parts scary and impressive.

The second new feature is Magic Editor, which lets you do things like select a subject, be it a person, pet or object, then resize it, move it or even remove it. It’s incredibly easy to use and takes just a few seconds to make changes that alter the overall look and impact of a picture.

In some ways, it’s really scary how easy it is to change so much of a picture on the Pixel.

The iPhone doesn’t have features like Best Take or Magic Editor. Instead, you can do things like convert a regular photo to a portrait mode picture after you’ve taken it, or even change the focal point after the fact. The closest you’ll get to a Magic Editor-like feature on the iPhone is by long-pressing on an item or person to use it as a sticker in other apps or remove it from its background.

TL;DR: The Pixel 8’s camera AI features are impressive but scary. Fancy editing features aside, both phones take great pictures.

Android 14 vs. iOS 17

Of course, at the core of the differences between the Pixel 8 and the iPhone 15 is the fact that one runs Android 14, the other iOS 17. Both mobile operating systems have their loyal followings, whether it’s due to personal preference or the fact that you’re too heavily invested in either ecosystem to make the switch.

There’s plenty of feature and app parity between the two platforms, thanks to both having matured over the years. However, Google continues to add more AI features to Android and, more specifically, its Pixel lineup, and it’s starting to set the Pixel apart not only from the iPhone but Android as well.

In addition to the camera features we just covered in the previous section, Pixel phones have several AI features that improve other aspects of the phone’s overall experience. For instance, Call Screen will automatically screen your calls for spam and scams, allowing real calls through with a high accuracy rate. And for those times when you’re unsure about answering a call, you can ask Call Screen to answer the call and talk to whoever is on the other end. You’ll see a transcript of the interaction in real time on your Pixel’s screen, and even answer the call if you decide it needs your attention.

A new Gboard feature that recently made its debut will analyze your messages, underlining spelling and grammar mistakes as you type. If you tap on the Fix It button that’s displayed above the keyboard, it’ll instantly fix everything for you.

The iPhone and iOS 17, of course, have their own standout features you won’t find on the Pixel or Android as a whole. Contact Posters that let you set your caller ID name and photo, for instance, is a nice touch. StandBy mode, which turns the iPhone into a makeshift smart display when charging, is also fantastic. (I’m fully aware some Android phones have had a similar, but not as polished, screensaver feature for years.)

My point here is this: Google is moving really fast toward the Pixel becoming an AI powerhouse to help you do all sorts of smartphone-like things, and then some. Apple, on the other hand, is sticking to its slow and steady approach of refining and expanding existing iOS features.

TL;DR: There are core philosophical differences between Android and iOS. Neither one is wrong. Google is pushing the Pixel as an AI powerhouse, while the iPhone continues to get more personal.

Bottom line

If you’re stuck trying to decide between the iPhone 15 and Pixel 8, Apple’s iPhone 15 is the safe choice. It has great cameras, a stellar software experience, long battery life and best-in-class performance, all of which combine to make it our overall best smartphone pick.

The Pixel 8, however, provides a different experience than any other phone, and it’s all rooted in Google’s fancy AI features like Call Screen or Best Take you just can’t find anywhere else. If that’s appealing to you, the Pixel 8 is where it’s at.