The Galaxy Note 9 is the closest competitor to the best smartphone camera in the world, the Pixel 2

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

I've finally found a phone that can keep up with the Pixel 2's camera in a real way, and it's called the Galaxy Note 9 by Samsung. 

Take it easy, there, I tell myself. The Pixel 2 is still the undefeated champ, winning round after round of camera comparisons. Some have come close with valiant efforts, but none as close as the Galaxy Note 9.

This isn't to say that the Galaxy Note 9 takes nearly identical photos as the Pixel 2 XL. Samsung adds its own flair to the Galaxy Note 9's camera that makes photos look good in different ways. 

For transparency's sake, I actually used the Pixel 2 XL for the photo shoot, as it's the model I had with me at the time. But both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have exactly the same camera, so it's fair to say that the Pixel 2 XL represents Google's latest lineup of smartphones. 

Note that some of these photos may look blurry or pretty bad on some standard 1080p resolution screens due to the high resolution of the images. 

Check out photos taken with the Pixel 2 XL and Galaxy Note 9:

Both phones took similar photos where the details in the shadows are pretty much lost, which is fine, but it would have been nice to see a little more detail in the trees. Something to note is the Note 9 photo is razor sharp compared to the Pixel 2 XL's slightly softer shot.

Personally, I prefer the Pixel 2 XL's slightly softer look, as the sharpness in the Note 9's photo looks odd in such a calm setting. 

Both phones took pretty similar shots of the sound, too. The Galaxy Note 9 is keeping up with the Pixel 2 XL.

 

Here, the Galaxy Note 9 brightens up some of the darker shaded areas a little too much, resulting in a flatter-looking photo next to the Pixel 2 XL's.

 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• Here's how Samsung's new $330 Galaxy Watch compares to the Apple Watch
• Samsung's long-awaited foldable phone is 'not far away' — here are 7 things to expect from the Galaxy X
• There's no longer an excuse for late Android updates: If this tiny smartphone company can support Android P on the same day as Google, so can everyone else

SEE ALSO: Samsung's long-awaited foldable phone is 'not far away' — here are 7 things to expect from the Galaxy X