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A comment on Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top.

Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by mtgx on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:28AM (#12643188)
The camera sensor seems to be the same one as the one they put last year in the Nexus 6p and 5x, but the new phones have gotten a major upgrade in image processing performance and in software. They also benefit from a new gyroscope that's used for seemingly very good video stabilization (not clear if it's used for still photos as well). Oh, and it has a faster shutter speed.

Hopefully next year they use an f/1.8 or wider aperture, too.

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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by bryanlarsen on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:43AM (#12643288)
They're not the same sensor. The 6P uses an IMX377 whereas the Pixel uses the IMX378.
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by skrowl on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:37AM (#12643240)
The f/2.0 aperture on the Pixel is the widest yet for a smartphone, if I'm not mistaken.
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by MatekCopatek on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:38AM (#12643258)
Not really: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Smartphones-with-the-widest-c...
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by dingaling on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @09:44AM (#12643698)
It's actually pretty mediocre. I was surprised when I read that it was only f/2.

With a modern low-noise DSLR sensor you might just be able to use that aperture indoors at ISO3200+ On a tiny phone sensor you'll need flash.

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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by s3bast0m on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:42AM (#12643282)
No, all 7 series Samsung phones have 1.7
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by tarancato on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:31AM (#12643205)
How do you know that? I find it weird that three different mobiles from three different manufacturers use exactly the same camera.
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by wibbleywobbley on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:39AM (#12643262)
It's really not weird at all, pretty much all high end phones use sensors from Sony because they make the best sensors for this specific application. Some of the phones I know of that had the IMX377: Nexus 5X Nexus 6P HTC One M10

It looks like the Pixel is using the IMX378 -- I'm not sure what differences there are between the IMX377 and IMX378.

It's also worth noting that there is a lot more that goes into a good camera system than the sensor

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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by Ambroos on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:39AM (#12643266)
Apple, Samsung, HTC, LG, OnePlus and Sony all use sensors from the same manufacturer for their high-end models (and often just the same sensors). They're all Sony.
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by MatekCopatek on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:37AM (#12643245)
Well, like someone mentioned above, Sony is really dominating this market with its sensors. Which means it's not that strange to have a bunch of similar sized and prices phones use the same sensor.
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by cheriot on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:40AM (#12643272)
They've been using the same SoC, memory, etc for years. To your point, it would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much the major Android phone manufacturers actually use unique hardware.
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Re:Pixel smartphone camera review: At the top by mtgx on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @08:37AM (#12643247)
Mainly going by the camera specs: 12.3MP, f/2.0. And it "makes sense" for a phone maker to use the same sensor for two years in a row. At least I know Apple does that (sometimes even keeps it for 3 years, like it did with its first 8MP camera).

I think it would be weirder and less likely if they ordered a "next-gen" camera that had exactly 12.3MP resolution and f/2.0 lens, just as last year's camera. There's still a small chance I could be wrong, though, so just take it with a grain of salt. Perhaps Google will confirm it either way soon.

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