Google Pixel 7 Pro
⬤ From £849 ⬤ store.google.com
Google Pixel phones were early exponents of excellent portrait modes, with the firm working with machine learning for some time. It’s worth mentioning that Google has made a point of building its training set with a multitude of nationalities and skin tones for what it says is better facerecognition and tone-processing than some of its rivals for non-white subjects, which is something other manufacturers can sometimes struggle with.
With the latest flagship, the 7 Pro, you get a triple-lens set-up, with the main sensor offering 50MP and the telephoto option having 48MP. Again, images are output as standard at 12MP. There’s a dedicated Portrait mode, within which you can shoot at 1x or 2x depending on how much context you want to include. The Pixel is similar to the iPhone in its simplicity, with no option to shoot in an advanced or Pro mode. You can shoot in raw in the main Photo setting, though again not in the Portrait mode. Again, you can shoot using the telephoto lenses with raw switched on, though. A Night Mode is available which can be mixed with the Portrait mode, too.
Other facets of Google’s love of machine learning comes with clever tools like Magic Eraser, which removes unwanted objects (and people) from your shots after you’ve taken them; ‘Frequent Faces’ recognises people you often photograph to recommend the best shots you’ve taken of them; and ‘Face Unblur’ to help create sharper images where the photographer or subject is moving. If portraits are your favoured genre, it’s hard to beat the raft of tools on offer.