This is why we are pitting these two mobile photography juggernauts against each other in a pre-release specs and features comparison to help you choose whether to jump in or wait for the first camera comparisons to trickle down.

Google Pixel 4 vs iPhone 11 Pro design and specs

Hey, 5.7″ 1080p display with big bezels, meet the 5.8″ iPhone Pro with wide notch

While from the rear the two phones may look identical, with big square camera “islands” at the top left corner, housing the dual (in the case of Pixel 4) or triple camera kits, the fronts are rather different and not because of the screen sizes. The Pixel 4 is expected to land with a 5.7″ 1080p screen, whereas the iPhone Pro will retain its 5.8″ OLED one, not much of a difference here. The XL and Max versions are said to sport 6.3″ Quad HD and the same 6.5″ screen than we have now on the iPhone. Again, the display diagonals may differ slightly, but the fronts are rather characteristic for each company and therefore quite different.

Google’s successful miniaturization of the technology fits in a Soli chip that is small as a pinky nail, yet can detect the minutest of motions. It works on the same principle as the big flight radars that detect airplane movements in the sky. Unfortunately, this was precisely why the FCC didn’t let the Soli chip fly until December 31 2018, when it granted Google a waiver from some of its requirements for radars in the commercial 57-64 GHz frequency band.

Besides the camera prowess, Motion Sense will be Google’s “shtick” with the new Pixels, pushing a new navigation paradigm that may or may not catch up, depending on the execution and the uptake. 

Google is busy moving the Pixel production from China to Vietnam to escape the US trade war restrictions, so now is not the time to introduce more complex design or extra housing colors that will present logistical challenges.

As for the specs, we are expecting Snapdragon 855 coupled with 6GB RAM on the Pixel, and an Apple A13 processor with the second-gen 7nm process that will most likely run circles around the Snapdragon in terms of performance. Both chipsets will be more than enough to run the light and efficient stock Android or iOS platforms, and that’s what matters day to day. 

Pixel 4 vs iPhone 11 Pro camera options

While we have heard a lot about the iPhone 11 Pro’s triple camera in terms of sensor resolution and lenses, the Pixel 4 camera specs situation is a bit murkier. Rumors are that it will sport the same 12MP sensor resolution for the main camera as now, but that will be aided by a 16MP sensor with telephoto lens that will offer up to 3x “optical” zoom, as well as a time-of-flight depth sensing sensor for better portraits. 

Apple, on the other hand, will add a 16MP sensor as well, but for wide-angle shots, and those will be automatically corrected for the wrong perspective and fisheye edges that typically occur with wide angle lenses. Apple has one more trick up its iPhone 11 camera sleeve, though, and it will be live video editing, i.e. you will be able to swap backgrounds and add effects on the fly in streaming video like in Spektral’s video below. This is a company that Apple acquired last fall, so the rumor about live video effects could hold water in the end.

As for Google, we know that the Pixel 4’s camera will be fantastic, as the search company’s computational photography algorithms are second to none, and we can only imagine what the camera will be able to do now that it has added hardware features. So far, Google has just enigmatically teased that:

Pixel 4 vs iPhone 11 Pro prices and release date

Google ditched the “at cost” business model ever since it switched from the Nexus to Pixel line of phones. It acquired HTC’s handset-making division, started using flagship-grade processors and design materials (not flagship design, though, but this year at least it has a reason to go full bezel on us), and commenced charging premium prices. Still, Apple is Apple, so we are expecting the smaller Pixel 4 to cost about two Benjamins less than the basic 5.8″ iPhone Pro with 5.8″ display. What do you think?