Testing the Pixel 2 XL camera

I used our trip to Santa Cruz as a test of the Pixel 2 XL camera. On previous vacations I’ve relied on my iPhone 7 Plus, since it yielded better photos than my Note 5. This time, though, I only brought the Pixel with me. Since I’d been to Santa Cruz before and will visit again, I figured it was a nice soft trial. Overall the camera performed really well: fast, responsive, and high-quality images. I think the low-light photos turned out a bit better than I’d typically get from my iPhone, but I also found myself missing the optical 2X zoom from the 2nd iPhone camera a few times as well. Bottom line: I’d be willing to rely on the Pixel camera on a “real” vacation, confident that I’d be able to take photos just as good as those I’d get on my iPhone.