DxOMark gives Pixel 2's camera a record score of 98, four points above iPhone 8 Plus and Note8; Pixel 2's 12MP sensor has f/1.8 aperture, Dual-Pixel Autofocus
The Google Pixel 2 is the top-performing mobile device camera we've tested, with a record-setting overall score of 98.
Context & Ripple Effects
DxOMark had already made the original Pixel its highest-rated phone camera in 2016, before the iPhone 8 Plus took the lead with a 94-point camera score in September. Samsung's Note8 then matched that mark immediately before Pixel 2 reset the ranking.
The result restores Google to the top of DxOMark's comparative table and makes the gap over Apple and Samsung explicit at a point when their flagship cameras were clustered at the same score.
First-order effects
- Google gains a 98-point DxOMark endorsement for Pixel 2, four points ahead of the iPhone 8 Plus and Galaxy Note8.
- Apple and Samsung move from sharing DxOMark's previous 94-point lead to trailing Google's new flagship in the benchmark.
Second-order effects
- The iPhone 8 Plus and Note8 now face a clearer camera-marketing comparison, after the Note8 matched Apple's 94-point result only a day earlier.
- DxOMark's successive record scores make sensor, aperture, autofocus, and video performance more visible points of flagship differentiation for Google, Apple, and Samsung.
Third-order effects
- If record-setting scores continue to change hands this quickly, third-party camera benchmarks will increasingly shape the competitive narrative around premium phones rather than merely validate it after launch.
- Mobile imaging competition is consolidating around integrated capture systems, where hardware specifications and camera performance measurements are judged together.
The trend: Flagship phone makers are using increasingly granular camera benchmarks to establish leadership as imaging becomes a central basis for device comparison.