Google's Pixel and Pixel XL have garnered plenty of interest for their imaging capabilities since they were launched in the beginning of October. They each offer a 12.3MP camera with an F2.0 lens and a 1/2.3" sensor - the same size used in yesteryear's compact cameras - sporting 1.55µm sized pixels. The Pixel phones also utilize gyroscope-based stabilization for some seriously smooth video recording.

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We got our hands on a Pixel XL review unit, and while we wait for the clouds to part outside for some real-world samples, we put it in front of our studio test scene. Take a look below at its JPEG and Raw performance in daylight and low light. It's quite impressive: the lens is relatively sharp across the frame, and our low light Raw shots show that despite receiving 1.33 EV less light than the iPhone 7, the Pixel shows only slightly more noise, meaning it comfortably outperforms the iPhone camera in low light.*

Related: Google's Pixel phones: what you need to know

*Multi-frame noise reduction - used in low light by both the Pixel and iPhone 7 - may skew results in either direction for either camera, providing better performance for static subjects, or potentially blurry images for moving ones.