As two of 2025's biggest and best phone launches, the OnePlus 15 and Pixel 10 Pro XL will be under consideration by a lot of the same would-be shoppers looking for a new handset. So to help break any potential ties, we're here to check out how close (or not) their cameras compare.
The newer kid on the block, the OnePlus 15 comes with a trio of 50MP rear cameras, updated with a new "DetailMax" image processing pipeline. The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is a couple of months older, with cameras that haven't changed since the Pixel 9 Pro XL. But as the latest in a lineage of devices that has produced many best camera phones entries, Google's most recent Pixel is still the favorite in this contest.
2x zoom
A wonderfully flaky croissant is our subject here, and it's the OnePlus that has brought out the golden color of the pastry the best. The paper napkin is perhaps a little overexposed in the OnePlus as a result, and the Pixel does a better job at showing off the detail in a couple of areas, like the shadows in the creases near the center of the croissant.
Winner: OnePlus 15
Telephoto
Pointing at a church spire from across a park, the OnePlus 15 has offered up a super wide light range, visible clearly in the two faces of the spire. They're much more similarly colored on the Pixel's image, which, while less dramatic, does make the building's sides sit more naturally in the image with the pointed roof and the sky behind.
Winner: Pixel 10 Pro XL
Hybrid zoom
We now move to the maximum lossless zoom of these phones — 7x on the OnePlus and 10x on the Pixel. There's a clear color difference between the two spires in these images, with the OnePlus photo again winding up brighter. The OnePlus also gets points for how much better it controls the street light's glare.
The Pixel is better for contrast. This is helped in the overall photo by the darker color of the sky, letting the spire stand out more clearly. But it's also literally visible in the brickwork and the shadowier regions of the windows too.
Winner: Pixel 10 Pro XL
Macro
These images of the bright yellow berries are taken with each phone's macro mode, managed through their ultrawide cameras.
The OnePlus image is again super bright, which helps given the slightly shaded subject, but also adds highlights in areas where the Pixel produces a flatter color. This in turn gives the Pixel a detail advantage when you look at the leaves or stalks of this plant, or even the small brown spots on the berries themselves.
Winner: OnePlus 15
Main
Looking over this roundabout, the OnePlus deserves credit for brightening up what would otherwise be a lot of grey tarmac. There's more color to be found elsewhere in frame too, but it comes at the expense of texture.
The Pixel's image is darker, but this lighting balance doesn't eliminate the shadows cast by the various elements in the image, and pulls a little extra texture out of the brighter areas of the shot, like the buildings in the background. While not as immediately appealing to the eye, it's got more to offer overall.
Winner: Pixel 10 Pro XL
Night telephoto
After all the comparisons where the OnePlus has taken brighter shots, switching to night mode has made it shoot a darker image compared to the Pixel. The Google phone draws more detail out of the shadows, but it looks a little artificial as a result.
Winner: Pixel 10 Pro XL
Night ultrawide
Color differences caused by changing lights in the scene aside, these two shots are fairly similar. The Pixel's contrast seems a touch better once again, but its wider shot looks a little warped. The OnePlus' image doesn't fit quite as much stuff in, but the edges of the image seem to look more normal.
Winner: Pixel 10 Pro XL
Night
The last of our night mode comparisons is the main sensor face-off. And this time it's the OnePlus looking super bright and high in contrast.
It appears that the Pixel 10 Pro XL's night mode hasn't kicked in fully in this instance, which has resulted in a drab-looking shot, although one that still has some analog-esque charm.
Winner: OnePlus 15
Selfie
With the front cameras, and portrait mode enabled, the OnePlus 15 has taken an almost cartoonishly-colorful depiction of me, really playing up the bright hues in my jacket, hair and beard, plus the background.
The Google treatment of my portrait is a lot more natural-looking, with a much lower saturation. This does mean the darker parts of my hair and the frame of my glasses blend into the background though, even if the portrait effect seems to have cut around me correctly.
Winner: Pixel 10 Pro XL
Ultrawide
With the sun low in the sky as I took this shot of an old storage hut in the center of a park, it's not surprising there are a lot of shadows around.
These are more noticeable in the Pixel's image, since the OnePlus' shot cranks up the brightness to compensate. It's again a question of whether natural colors are superior to more artificial ones that help make more detail visible. In this case, though, the OnePlus photo looks better to my eye.
Winner: OnePlus 15
Verdict
It's hard to pick a winner in this face-off, since the OnePlus 15 and Google Pixel 10 Pro are both aiming in completely different directions with their photo processing. OnePlus wants to beat your eyes into submission with its vivid colors, whereas the Pixel generally wants to strain them as you enjoy all the extra details that its more balanced color and light treatment can show.
As a fan of the more naturalistic side of things, I would prefer to have the Pixel 10 Pro XL in my pocket most of the time. But if I wanted to take some fun shots on a day I knew would present some particularly colorful photo opportunities, I would perhaps pick up the OnePlus 15. Of course, your opinions may be different, but the fact that both the OnePlus 15 and Pixel 10 series appear on our best camera phones guide shows that you can't really go wrong with picking either.
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