Camera shootout! Testing the latest Pixel, iPhone, and Galaxy Note in real life

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Google’s Pixel 3 is one of the best camera phones you can buy, but the competition is stiff. The iPhone XS can take equally great photographs — sometimes even better — than the Pixel 3, while the Note 9 often excels in low light.

Can you really tell the difference? See for yourself. We’re comparing a handful of photos from the Pixel 3 XL, iPhone XS Max, Galaxy Note 9, and the Pixel 2 XL (for those of you thinking about upgrading). If you have an iPhone XS or a smaller Pixel 3 or Pixel 2, expect the same image quality because the cameras are the exact same between the smaller and larger phone.

A few notes: These smartphones all take excellent photographs, and we’re going to be nitpicking to find the best. We used the automatic settings for every shot, because that’s how most people take photos in real life. You also may not agree with some of our winners here, and that’s completely OK. There are technical reasons to like a photograph over another, but it’s also a very subjective choice. This also isn’t the most scientific of tests, but we tried to do our best. Either way, if you have one of these phones, you absolutely won’t be disappointed with the camera.

Daytime

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

You can expect almost any smartphone — even most budget phones — to take killer photos in broad daylight. All of these phones excel here in this photo of the downtown New York City skyline, but there are differences. It’s incredibly tough to pick a winner, but our least favorites are the iPhone XS Max and Note 9 photographs. The iPhone photo has a bit too much of a blue hue throughout, making the sky look a little unnatural and the buildings a tad washed out. The Note 9 photo has warmer toned buildings, but everything is slightly overexposed — look at the clouds, and you’ll see a lack of definition compared to the other photos. That being said, the iPhone XS photo has the best detail. Take a look at the Venmo billboard on the bottom left corner. You can read the Venmo logo on the card easiest on the iPhone XS.

But the Pixel 2 XL and Pixel 3 XL photos have good contrast, which is why we like them the most. We like the Pixel 3’s blue sky, and it has the best-looking clouds. We also like the Pixel 2 photo’s buildings, which are slightly brighter. If we had to choose a picture to share, we’d go with the Pixel 3 XL photo. Again, this is a very close test, and judging them alone, we’d share all of them.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

It’s a little easier for us to choose a winner here, and it’s the Pixel 3 XL again. The Note 9 and iPhone XS Max photos have too much of a yellow hue, taken from the walls, that extend to every part of the photo. Even the skin tone of the girl is unnatural, and the clothes have a yellowish hue. Zoom in on the face, and there’s some visible noise.

The Pixel 2 XL loses out because the photo is blurry overall. We’re not sure if it was due to camera shake or something else, but the optical image stabilization in the phone should have compensated for slight movement. That brings us to the Pixel 3 XL. The subject sharply sticks out from the background, thanks to the more natural colors in the photo. There’s excellent detail from the denim jacket to the subject’s face — and while some noise is still visible, it’s not as noticeable as the Note 9 or iPhone XS photo.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

In this portrait photo — which wasn’t captured with Portrait Mode — we see how each of these phones handle several components, from skin tone and depth to detail and color. The most detailed photos comes from the Pixel 2 XL and Note 9 — zoom in and the evidence is clear.  The most natural colors are in the Pixel 3 XL photo; the subject’s skin tone is too red in the Pixel 2, iPhone, and Note 9 photos. The photos with the best natural depth are from the Pixel 2 and iPhone XS Max, but the Pixel 2 XL photo has too much of a red tone throughout.

Overall, we like the iPhone XS Max photo the most. The colors aren’t as natural as the Pixel 3 XL photo, but it does a better job than the rest. It has good enough detail, but the natural blur and the background are the best out of all the photos.

Winner: iPhone XS Max

Indoors

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

This is a tough one. Once again, we love the Pixel 3 XL photo the most. It’s incredibly detailed with great white balance, very little noise, and the lights are well exposed. The Pixel 2 XL photo isn’t as sharp, and the Note 9 photo feels flat because it lacks punchy colors and the lights are overexposed. That brings us to the iPhone XS Max photo. It’s the most representative of what the store’s ceiling actually looked like, but it goes overboard in making everything look a little too orange. The glasses on the bottom right shelf, for example, were more white in reality.

Look back at the Pixel 3 XL photo now, and it looks a little too cold. It’s not as festive or fun as the iPhone photo. Our favorite would be somewhere in between, but since we have to pick a winner, we’d go with the Pixel 3 XL photo and edit it to warm it up a bit before sharing it on social media. We’d prefer to do this than tone down the iPhone photo because the Pixel 3 XL photo really has more detail — zoom in on the single large light in the middle left of the photo. Look at the steel bar. There’s more detail and less grain on the Pixel 3 photo. It’s the best one to edit.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

These photos were captured at the New York Coffee Festival, where the space is packed to the brim with people holding cups of coffee. It’s a good way to see if these phones can quickly capture photos in weird angles and not produce a blurry photo, because you’re often dealing with poorer lighting and a lot of crowds moving around you that could cause you to shake. We tried to minimize our movement as much as possible.

Zoom in on the coffee beans, and the Pixel 2 XL — the only 2017 phone on this list — does the best job. It’s the sharpest, and if you zoom out a little more, it has the most natural-looking beans. We’d say the Pixel 3 and the iPhone XS come in second and third place, respectively. The Pixel 3 is sharper than the fuzzier iPhone XS photo, but it also cranks the saturation but a little too high. The Note 9 lags — the beans look relatively sharp, but the tablecloth looks like it’s fading out of existence for some reason.

Winner: Pixel 2 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

First off, do not take the sharpness of the spinning wheel in this photo into consideration. It was spun in a few photos, and it may have stopped in others, so we’re not counting it as a major factor here. We like the neon sign in the iPhone XS Max photo the most, because it handles noise reduction the best, but there’s a lack of contrast here that makes the black wall not as black as we’d like. The Pixel 3 XL and Note 9 have the best details — look closely at the globe and you can almost make out “Mediterranean Sea” on both these photos — but the former is a tad too saturated.

The Pixel 2 XL has the most natural colors throughout, but zoom into the neon sign and it has trouble with noise reduction. The Note 9 handles the neon sign well, but there’s a lot of grain creeping in through the rest of the photo. If you look at the people in all of these photos, it’s the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 that have the least grain and offer more detail. We think the win goes to the Pixel 2 for having slightly more natural colors, because the Pixel 3 is a little more saturated. This is a tough photo to judge because they all do a solid job, but also because people are constantly moving at this stall.

Winner: Pixel 2 XL

Low light

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

The iPhone XS Max stands out here. It lights up the scene well, it’s not too grainy, and it’s sharp. The Pixel 3 XL and Note 9 photos are certainly moodier, but the former is blurry, and the latter cranks up the saturation too high and doesn’t light up the wall above the sign at all. The Pixel 2 XL photo is simply overexposed and grainy.

Winner: iPhone XS Max

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

Each of these photos have flaws, but there’s only one that simply looks stunning: the Pixel 3 XL. Zoom in on the building to the right, and you can see it clearly has the best detail of the lot, with the least grain. The colors are also wonderful. The only flaw here is the sky on the left side is just a tad overexposed. The Note 9 comes very close, but it completely masks the buildings in the foreground. The iPhone XS Max has a great sky that isn’t overexposed, but the entire photo is drenched in yellow hues and looks murky. The Pixel 2 XL photo has a bluish tint, and it overexposes the sky on the left far more than the Pixel 3. You may have a favorite look here, but we can’t stop staring at the Pixel 3 photo.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

Let’s take out the Pixel 2 XL and Note 9 out of the running here. The Pixel 2 photo is too blurry, and the Note 9 — while sharp in some areas — loses detail in others, and it overall has too much of a strong orange hue. We think the iPhone XS Max photo has stronger detail here over the Pixel 3 XL: Look at the edges of hair around the dog and you’ll find you can identify individual hairs on the iPhone photo a little better. That being said, the iPhone XS photo is much darker.

With a bit of brightening, the iPhone XS Max photo is the strongest choice here. However, if you wanted to share a photo without any editing, the Pixel 3 is the way to go. We’re giving the iPhone XS the win here, because it has the best detail.

Winner: iPhone XS Max

Food and Portrait Mode on food

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

This bowl of ramen was delicious, and it’s something we had to photograph. The Pixel 3 XL takes the cake for having the best detail. Look at the bowl in the back and you’ll see it white balanced it and the wall really well. The Pixel 2 XL photo comes second, and while the colors are a little more realistic than the Pixel 3, the detail isn’t as strong. The bowl in the back is much darker, but we do like how it spreads the reflection of the neon light in the broth. The iPhone XS photo isn’t as sharp and has a lot of noise, and the Note 9 photo is sadly a bit of a joke.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From left to right: iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

If you try to take a Portrait Mode photo of food in not-so-great lighting, you’re going to have a very tough time with the Note 9 and iPhone XS. In fact, the Note 9 simply said it could not take a photo due to lighting conditions, which is why it’s missing here. The iPhone XS nearly didn’t make the cut, but we managed to get it to work after moving a good distance away from the bowl of ramen. The end result is decent photo, but it wasn’t the original effect we were going for. The Pixel 2 and 3 didn’t have any problems. Both are sharp, with the Pixel 3 having slightly punchier colors. We’re giving it a tie between the two here.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 2 XL

Portrait Mode and selfies

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

We’ve always found Google’s Pixel phones to have the best selfie cameras around, and that rings true here. The iPhone XS and Note 9 are knocked out easily. The iPhone photo is too soft, though it has nice colors and the best HDR work in the background. The Note 9 is also too soft, but it’s overexposed in the back, with poorer colors. It’s difficult to crown a winner between the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, but we like the more natural colors from the newer phone. Both are equally well detailed though.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

The Pixel 3 XL and the iPhone XS Max come very close here, but we have to address the different styles of portrait mode between the two. Apple follows a different strategy with Portrait Mode over Google. You get a radial blur, with bokeh forming around the subject’s face and getting stronger further away. Google, on the other hand, tries to get the subject entirely in focus. Apple has a more traditional approach, but we like Google’s just as much because there’s a stronger emphasis placed not just on your face, but what you’re wearing.

We’re taking out the Note 9 here because the subject’s face is blurry and overexposed. While the Pixel 2 XL does a solid job, it messes up the hair over on the left side of the face. It also adds a slightly less realistic color tone to the face. We like both the iPhone XS and Pixel 3 photo. Both have lots of detail, and you can see the radial blur circling around the subject’s face in the iPhone photo, whereas everything about the subject is in focus on the Pixel 3 photo. So why does the iPhone XS get the win? The background is better white balanced, whereas it’s more yellow in the Pixel 3 photo.

Winner: iPhone XS Max

From left to right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

This one’s easy. It’s a low-light photo taken with the selfie camera with Portrait Mode. Let’s take out the Pixel 2 XL for being blurry. The Note 9 is out too, as detail isn’t as strong and the background is overexposed. The iPhone XS does a great job, but it’s grainy and not as sharp or bright as the Pixel 3 XL photo, which takes the cake.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

Three of these Portrait Mode photos are excellent. Can you guess the loser? Sorry Samsung, the Note 9 photo is simply too overexposed, and it has an unnatural hue. All three of the rest of the phones offer strong detail, with accurate cutouts of the subject. While the Pixel 2 XL does the best job not overexposing the light hitting the subject’s head, it comes in third for the background, which has a reddish hue. It comes down to the iPhone XS and Pixel 3 photos, and this is going to heavily rely on personal preference. We love the airy, cinematic look of the Pixel 3 photo. It brings out the character of the subject a little more than the iPhone XS photo.

All of these photos were taken standing in the same spot. The iPhone XS and Note 9 cameras just zoom in closer for Portrait Mode photos. Either the Pixel 3 or iPhone XS could win here, but we’re giving the edge to the Pixel 3.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

Here’s another easy win for Google’s Pixel 3 XL. The iPhone XS and Note 9 asked us to step back to get Portrait Mode working, but the end results are quite poor, especially the Note 9. The iPhone XS does a little better, but it’s still dark with weak details, and some parts of the blur are messed up. The Pixel 2 does an excellent job, like the Pixel 3, but it’s a little darker. The Pixel 3 wins.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

Zooming in

Google’s Pixel 3 has a nifty new feature called Super Res Zoom. Instead of adding a second camera for optical zoom, Google is using artificial intelligence to improve digital zoom by reducing noise and increasing brightness. The results are often surprising. Most of the time it can’t beat the 2x optical zoom on the Note 9 or the iPhone XS — especially in well-lit scenarios — but zoom in all the way and it’s a different story. The Pixel 2 XL will not get Super Res Zoom.

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

We typically don’t recommend zooming in all the way on your smartphone camera, because the results don’t often look good. Even with the Pixel 3 XL’s Super Res Zoom, don’t expect to magically get amazing photos. That being said, we’re surprised at how well some phones performed over others. The worst in this grouping is the iPhone XS Max. It’s too fuzzy overall. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 2 photos are similar with strong contrast, but the trees in the Pixel 2 photo are too dark. The Note 9, we think, does the best job here. It’s not as saturated as the Pixel 3 photo, but it manages to capture the detail in the letters of the words. Samsung nets its first win!

Winner: Galaxy Note 9

From top left to bottom right: Galaxy Note 9, iPhone XS Max, Pixel 2, Pixel 3

Here we test out the digital zoom on the Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 2 XL over optical zoom on the Note 9 and iPhone XS. This is a subject that was moving, so it’s tougher all around for the Pixel phones, especially since both cameras on the XS and Note 9 have optical image stabilization. We attempted a similar 2x digital zoom on the Pixel phones. We’re removing the Note 9 from the race here, because the photo is blurry. The iPhone XS does a good job, but the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 edge out with slightly more detail on the man’s left hand. The Pixel 3 goes ahead to be the overall brighter image, and wins this one.

Winner: Pixel 3 XL

Conclusion

The Pixel 3 is the best camera phone, at least according to this test. But keep in mind that out of its 10 wins, the margins were thin for many, and the iPhone XS was often close behind. Apple’s phone comes second with four wins, the Pixel 2 got three, and Samsung’s phone only got one. All four cameras took some stunning photos, and while have many more photos to share, we’re calling an end to this comparison for now. We’ll be taking more comparisons over the next few months and you’ll be able to find them here.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Google Pixel 3 XL review
• The best Pixel XL cases and covers
• Google Pixel 3 review
• Verizon’s buy one, get one offer is the best deal on the new Google Pixel 3
• Pixel 3 XL vs. iPhone XS Max: Which plus-sized flagship reigns supreme?

MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Tech Folio for iPad Pro From WaterField Designs

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with WaterField Designs to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Tech Folio or Tech Folio Plus, which are cases that are designed for the 10.5 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models.

Priced at $119 for the Tech Folio (for the 10.5-inch iPad) and $149 for the Tech Folio Plus (for the 12.9-inch iPad), the two accessories are available for purchase in a ballistic black nylon with black leather accents or waxed canvas with chocolate leather accents.

Tech Folio
WaterField Designs’ Tech Folios are meant to hold an iPad Pro along with all of the accessories that you might need to go along with it. The Tech Folio Plus, designed for the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro holds more because of its larger size, but both have space for quite a lot of equipment.

Tech Folio Plus
There’s a main padded compartment that’s designed to hold the iPad itself, while zipped interior mesh pockets are able to hold cables, power adapters, and other small accessories to keep them from getting jumbled up and tangled.

You can open up the interior area all the way so that it lays flat on a table or desk for easy access to everything that you need. Double zippers have been included so you can pull a cord out for charging purposes if you need to.

Two additional interior pockets can hold a mouse, an iPhone, an external hard drive, or a similar device, and a front pocket is available for items that you want to access quickly.

Waterproof zippers are included on both models to keep your iPad Pro and accessories safe from liquids and rain, and there’s a convenient handle for carrying the folio along with D-rings for an optional strap.

Apple is expected to introduce new iPad Pro models in late October, and because the new tablets are believed to be similar in size, WaterField Designs’ Tech Folios may also fit these new models. Also, while this is designed for the iPad Pro, it will work with other similarly sized tablets and ultra thin notebooks.

We have two Tech Folios and one Tech Folio Plus to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win our giveaway, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (October 19) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on October 26. The winners will be chosen randomly on October 26 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Tag: giveaway
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Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls on Bloomberg to Retract Supply Chain Hack Story: ‘There’s No Truth to This’

For the first time since Bloomberg published a highly controversial story suggesting Chinese spies planted microchips in Supermicro server motherboards Apple used in its iCloud facilities, Apple CEO Tim Cook has gone on the record to vehemently deny the claims.

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Cook said there is “no truth” to the story about Apple, before making the unprecedented move of calling on Bloomberg to publish a retraction.

Since the report went live earlier this month, Apple has refuted Bloomberg’s claims in multiple clearly worded statements denying such an incident ever took place. Apple maintains that the story is “completely untrue,” malicious chips were never found in its servers, and there was never an FBI investigation into the incident.

Bloomberg has continued to stand by its original report, which, based on info obtained from 17 unnamed sources, said that Apple, Amazon, and other tech companies had purchased and installed Supermicro servers that had been tampered with by the Chinese government. Small chips were allegedly implanted into server motherboards, allowing China to access corporate secrets and other information.

Apple did have an issue with Supermicro servers that led to the company dropping Supermicro as a supplier, but the relationship ended after malware was discovered on a single server in an incident unrelated to Bloomberg’s claims.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, though he only spoke out publicly about the Bloomberg story this week, he’s been involved in Apple’s response “from the beginning.”

“I personally talked to the Bloomberg reporters along with Bruce Sewell who was then our general counsel. We were very clear with them that this did not happen, and answered all their questions,” said Cook. “Each time they brought this up to us, the story changed and each time we investigated we found nothing.”

Cook went on to say that Bloomberg failed to provide Apple with specific details about the malicious chips the company supposedly found and removed, and that Bloomberg’s claims are based on “vague secondhand accounts.” Cook told BuzzFeed that Apple did a deep search through all of its documentation and could find zero evidence of malicious chips or an FBI investigation.

“We turned the company upside down,” Cook said. “Email searches, data center records, financial records, shipment records. We really forensically whipped through the company to dig very deep and each time we came back to the same conclusion: This did not happen. There’s no truth to this.”

As BuzzFeed points out, Apple has never publicly called for a retraction of a story before, even in instances where incorrect information was published. Following Cook’s discussion with BuzzFeed, the site again contacted Bloomberg, and Bloomberg once again refused to budge.

“Bloomberg Businessweek’s investigation is the result of more than a year of reporting, during which we conducted more than 100 interviews,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News in response to a series of questions. “Seventeen individual sources, including government officials and insiders at the companies, confirmed the manipulation of hardware and other elements of the attacks. We also published three companies’ full statements, as well as a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We stand by our story and are confident in our reporting and sources.”

Along with multiple strongly worded denials from Apple, including one to Congress, several other sources and government agencies have supported Apple’s claims that the information shared in Bloomberg’s story is false.

The UK’s Cyber Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, former FBI general counsel James Baker, and NSA Senior Advisor Rob Joyce have all questioned the veracity of Bloomberg’s claims and have denied knowledge of such an investigation.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: China, Tim Cook, The Big Hack
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Apple Self-Driving Car in Manual Mode Involved in Minor Collision That Wasn’t Driver’s Fault on October 15

One of Apple’s Lexus SUVs outfitted with autonomous driving equipment was involved in a minor car accident on October 15 while being driven in manual mode, and the accident in question does not appear to have been the driver’s fault.

According to an incident report filed with the DMV, on Monday, October 15, an Apple test vehicle in manual mode was side swiped while turning left in a dual left turn lane onto Stewart Drive from North Wolfe Road, an area in Sunnyvale, California that’s close to the Cupertino company’s headquarters.

Both of the vehicles suffered minor damage, but no injuries were reported. The full text of the accident description is below:

On October 15th at 10:28 AM, an Apple test vehicle in manual mode was side swiped while preparing to turn left onto Stewart Drive from North Wolfe Road. The Apple test vehicle was traveling at approximately 5 MPH when a Toyota Camry traveling at approximately 15 MPH crossed out of its lane and contacted the Apple test vehicle. Both vehicles sustained minor damage and no injuries were reported. The police were notified that the driver of the Toyota Camry left without exchanging information.

This is the second time that one of Apple’s test vehicles was involved in a minor traffic accident. Back in August, one of the Lexus SUVs Apple uses to test its software was hit by a Nissan Leaf while attempting to merge in autonomous mode.

Apple, like other companies in California testing self-driving vehicle technology, is required to disclose all autonomous vehicle collisions to the California DMV.

Apple has been testing its self-driving software since early 2017 using Lexus RX450h SUVs outfitted with a host of sensors and cameras. All of the vehicles are piloted by a pair of drivers at all times even when in autonomous driving mode.

We don’t yet know what Apple plans to do with its self-driving software, but rumors this year have suggested the company is once again exploring the possibility of a full Apple-branded vehicle that could come out between 2023 and 2025.

Apple is also developing a self-driving shuttle service called “PAIL,” or “Palo Alto to Infinite Loop,” which is designed to transport Apple employees between the company’s offices across Silicon Valley.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
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Google Chrome 70 is finally getting a picture-in-picture mode

Picture-in-picture mode is finally coming to Google Chrome 70 on Mac, Linux, and Windows, according to Android Police. The feature not only applies to YouTube but also any other website where developers have chosen to implement it.

This functionality has been available on Android Oreo since 2017, but only now makes it to Chrome on desktops. It is still up to web developers to add support for the picture-in-picture mode, though, and a sample package is available to assist in the process. A Chrome Extension is also available for regular users to help enable it on websites without the use of flags.

Currently, the best way to see how things look like in Chrome 70 is to head to YouTube and right click on a video twice to select “Picture in Picture” from the context menu. The video then pops out on the side in a small window that can be resized or moved anywhere. It not only stays visible on the screen at all times but acts independently of the main browser window, allowing for a potential increase productivity across the board.

In Chrome 69, developers originally could have turned on the picture-in-picture option with a flag. It now no longer requires any of those tricks to enable on a desktop, except for Chrome OS, where you still need the flag #enable-surfaces-for-videos to try it out.

Picture-in-picture has slowly become a much-wanted feature in the computing world. It was originally added in September 2016 to Apple Safari and was later added to some applications in Windows 10 with the Creators Update.

Chrome 70 also adds many other new features, including no longer automatically logging users into the browser. Notable elements in the release include Progressive Web Apps (PWA) integrations, developer support for the Credential Management API, Public Key Credential, and the new AV1 video codec.

You can get this update now and enjoy all these latest features by heading to the Help menu and then About Google Chrome. Google also maps out some Chrome features on its developer blog, providing a timeline and tips for enabling the features on its release.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The Nixplay Iris might just make digital picture frames cool again
• Pictures of a blank GeForce GTX 1180 card reveal connectors and memory slots
• Chrome’s picture-in-picture mode for videos is expected to arrive next month
• How to take pictures of the Perseid meteor shower and the stars
• Self-driving freighter out of the picture as Uber dumps truck to focus on cars

Huawei Mate 20 X hands-on review

Research Center:

Huawei Mate 20 X

Seven whole inches sounds like quite a handful, doesn’t it. When we’re talking about the screen on a smartphone, it certainly is. Or rather, it certainly was. Cast your mind back to the Nexus 7 tablet from Google, which had a 7-inch screen, and was in no way suitable for one-handed use. The new Huawei Mate 20 X has an even bigger 7.2-inch screen, and amazingly, it’s possible to use with one hand, and on a daily basis.

While the Mate 20 X cannot be described as small, or even truly manageable, it is a technical marvel. It has a screen size we’d normally associate with a small tablet, yet provided your pockets are big enough, it could be carried around and used as your primary device. It is a phone. Whether you’d want to is a different question, but should it appeal, it’s surprisingly normal despite the abnormal screen size.

Small bezels, tiny notch

Huawei has achieved this by minimizing the bezels so much, they hardly exist at all. The chin is tiny, the side bezels are slivers of almost nothing, and the top of the phone has the same cute, almost completely acceptable teardrop notch seen on the Mate 20.

The Mate 20 X is almost all screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 87-percent, and it’s a beauty. The OLED panel has a 2,244 x 1,080 resolution, HDR support, and an 18.7:9 aspect ratio. We looked at some pre-installed photos and demo video, and it was obvious how great this phone will be for media.

The body is comfortable to hold, with the same well-designed curved edges as the Mate 20 Pro, and although it is holdable in a way that such a vast screen size shouldn’t be, this is still a whopping phone. In our comparison picture, the Mate 20 X is alongside an iPhone XS Max, and manages to make Apple’s biggest phone look rather small. No, your thumb is not going to stretch to the other side of the screen, but if you hold it with two hands, it’s acceptable.

Huawei Mate 20 X Compared To

Red Magic Phone

Motorola Stature i9

Sony Ericsson C902

Casio G’zOne Boulder

Motorola MOTORIZR Z3

Jitterbug Dial

Samsung SCH-u620

LG VX9400

Sony Ericsson K790a

Nokia N93

Blackberry 8700c

Blackberry 8700g

Nokia N90

Palm Treo 650

Motorola RAZR V3c

Who is Huawei trying to attract with the Mate 20 X? Outside of one-upping Samsung by having a screen this large on a device with stylus support — it works with Huawei’s M Pen — it’s also targeting the current trend of mobile gaming. It’s not just the Razer Phone 2 or the Asus ROG phone that needs to watch out, it’s Nintendo’s Switch. Huawei has made a gamepad-style accessory that slides over one end of the phone, providing physical gaming controls. It works really well too. There’s more grip, the analogue d-pad was responsive, and in landscape orientation the screen looks superb — full of color and life.

High specification, little convenience

The Mate 20 X has the Kirin 980 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage space, a massive 5,000mAh battery, and a new cooling system that uses vapor and graphene to keep temperatures under control. We were in a queue of people testing the Mate 20 X with the gamepad attachment, and the phone wasn’t even warm to the touch when our turn came, despite constant, power-intensive use. There’s no 3D face unlock though, and the fingerprint sensor is on the back, and it was a little bit of a stretch to reach.

There’s a reason few phones have a screen this big, and it’s because they’re inconvenient to carry around.

Huawei has not confirmed where the Mate 20 X will be sold, and traditionally these large devices have been released only in China and a few other locations. The phone will be released on October 26 for 900 euros, or $1,040. That’s a high price to pay, and although the specification is also high, and the device is technologically impressive and designed very well, it’s hard to see how it has much life outside a very specific audience.

There’s a reason few phones have a screen this big, and it’s because they’re inconvenient to carry around. It’s not a stay-at-home device either, because it really is a phone, despite home being the place we mostly watch movies and play games for any length of time. It’s a confusing, yet strangely alluring phone that’s still difficult to recommend over the Mate 20 Pro, which has all the features, the best camera, and is a sensible size so you can enjoy all those things everywhere you go.

The best microSD cards for your Galaxy Note 9

The Galaxy Note 9 comes with a hefty amount of storage with the base model at 128GB, but if you want to get more with the 512GB variant, you need to cough up another $250. Granted that version also comes with an extra 2GB of RAM, but that’s still a lot more money on top of an already expensive phone. Thankfully, you don’t have to splurge for the 512GB Note 9 just to get more storage space. Instead, you can pick up a microSD card for a lot less money and still give yourself some more wiggle room.

Cheapest on the list

Silicon Power 32GB High Speed

Just need a little extra space? This card meets UHS-1 Class 10 standards to ensure fast performance, read speeds reach up to 85MB/s, and the included adapter allows you to also use this in a full-size SD card slot.

$7 at Amazon

Best for most people

SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSDXC

For a few more dollars, you can step up to the SanDisk Ultra 64GB card. Along with the added space, read speeds are also a bit faster at 100MB/s. SanDisk also includes a regular SD adapter, and just to be safe, you’ve got ratings for waterproofing, shockproofing, and temperature-proofing.

$15 at Amazon

Super reliable

Samsung 128GB EVO Select

For $30, you can get Samsung’s 128GB EVO Select microSD card and bring you total available storage up to an impressive 256GB. Read and write speeds are rated at 100MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively, and the card’s rated to perform in temperatures ranging from -13°F to 185°F.

$30 at Amazon

Great for lots of pictures

Samsung 256GB EVO Plus Class 10

If you’ve got a bit more cash to burn through, you can step your game up to the Samsung EVO Plus Class 10 microSD card with a whopping 256GB of space. On top of all that storage, you also get an SD adapter, waterproofing, temperature protection, and ultra-fast read/write speeds.

$62 at Amazon

Delightfully overkill

SanDisk Ultra 400GB microSDXC

Need an insane amount of storage? You can go all the way for SanDisk’s 400GB microSD card — bringing your 128GB Note 9 up to a monstrous 528GB of available space! There’s a 100MB/s max read speed, 10MB/s minimum write speed, waterproofing, protection against intense temperatures, and more.

$114 at Amazon

Most you can get

PNY Elite 512GB

We don’t know who needs a 512GB microSD card, but if you feel compelled to purchase one, PNY’s got you covered. This ludicrous amount of space holds up to 100,000 18MP pictures and features 90Mb/s transfer speeds. It’s easily the most expensive card on the list, but you can rest easy knowing you’ll never run out of space.

$350 at Amazon

Which of these cards should you buy? That ultimately comes down to how you use your phone and how many local files you plan to load it up with. I’d recommend going with the SanDisk Ultra 64GB card as it gives you a lot more space for just $15. That’s probably the best choice for most folks, but if you need more space or want to spend a bit less, you’ve got plenty of other options to choose from.

Advance your mobile gaming by pre-ordering the $900 Asus ROG smartphone

Ludicrous speed and power.

The Asus ROG smartphone is now available to pre-order for $899.99 on Amazon. We went hands-on with this phone back in June, but we didn’t know when or where it would be available until now. It’s finally here, and if you’re into mobile gaming and Asus’ unique design then this is the phone for you. It will be released October 29.

The phone has a super-fast Snapdragon 845 processor, a six-inch Full HD 2160 x 1080 display with a 90Hz refresh rate, 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage. The battery has a 4000mAh capacity and is compatible with Quick Charge 4.0 tech, so you can get back to the action as fast as possible. On the front it has an 8MP camera, and on the back it has a 12MP and 8MP camera for wide angles.

This phone’s processor can actually beat out other high-end Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S9, boosting up to 2.96Ghz. The ultrasonic sensors on the back of the phone can be used for games, and the AirTriggers are programmable by you based on the game you’re playing.

You also get a free ROG phone case with the purchase.

See on Amazon

Google Pixel 3s purchased from Best Buy are SIM locked to Verizon [update]

The SIM lock is short-lived, but the bad taste isn’t.

Verizon being the “exclusive” carrier for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL is a bit of an annoyance because it reduces the options for getting the phones in a store and with incentives from other carriers. But now it looks like that exclusivity is more restrictive than in the past — Pixel 3s sold by Best Buy are actually SIM locked to Verizon, so T-Mobile and AT&T SIM cards aren’t working, at least at first.

Best Buy technically only sells a “Verizon” Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. But if we were to follow the past experience of the original Pixel and Pixel 2, these “Verizon” phones were actually identical to the unlocked models and could be used on any carrier of your choice — the only hurdle was getting Best Buy or Verizon to sell you one without a Verizon account.

But yes, Pixel 3s sold by Best Buy are SIM locked — its product pages even say so. Compare that to Best Buy’s listing for the “Verizon” Pixel 2 that clearly lists that phone as being unlocked, which it was. I was tipped off to the issue by a reader (thanks, Alex!) who had zero problems walking into a Best Buy and buying a fresh Pixel 3 XL without a Verizon account … but was unable to get it to work with either a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM. Putting a Verizon SIM in it, the phone worked fine — but it complained again as soon as it had another U.S. SIM inserted, so this isn’t just a “first-time setup” requirement.

Typically, the only reason why a Pixel would be SIM locked is if it was being sold by Verizon — or Best Buy as a Verizon reseller — on a multi-month financing plan. When the phone is sold full-price with no contract, Verizon account or financing plan, we would typically expect that SIM slot to be unlocked. This is not the case when the phone comes from Best Buy or Verizon this time around.

Verizon can, of course, unlock any phone that has a SIM lock to its network. Whether a Verizon representative (in store, online or on the phone) would be willing to do that for you when you’re not a Verizon customer is another question entirely. The current solution to this problem is to leave an active Verizon SIM in the phone for at least 24 hours, and the phone will then be unlocked automatically (some experience it taking longer) to then be used with any SIM. Several people have contacted AC this morning indicating that their phones automatically unlocked after less than 24 hours with a Verizon SIM inside.

That’s a fine process for people who are actually using the phone on Verizon anyway and have access to an active Verizon SIM, and almost understandable from an resale and theft perspective. But that’s not a step most people are willing (or able) to deal with if they didn’t plan on using it on Verizon in the first place, and the fact that Best Buy wasn’t clear with customers when it was selling the phone is bothersome.

For now, this means you should buy from the Google Store if you intend to use another carrier.

Thankfully, this isn’t a catastrophic problem … so long as you know what to do. You can still buy the Pixel 3 and 3 XL from the Google Store, including with 24-month no-interest financing. Those phones will never be SIM locked — and heck, you can even use it on Verizon if you wish. You’ll just have to accept the trade-off of not being able to get any incentives Best Buy and/or Verizon are offering with purchase.

For now, this means that you should stay away from buying a Pixel 3 or 3 XL from Best Buy or Verizon if intend to use it on a carrier other than Verizon. Unless Best Buy and Verizon are your only possible retailers for the phone, the best route to go is to buy it from the Google Store and know it will never be SIM locked.

Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL

• Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL review
• Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL: Everything you need to know!
• Google Pixel 3 vs. Pixel 3 XL: Which should you buy?
• Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL specifications
• Join our Pixel 3 forums

Best Buy
Verizon
Google Store
Project Fi

Master Microsoft Office for just $29

Understanding Microsoft Office and how it all works is very important when looking for a job. Don’t get left behind at the interview table because you don’t know how to use formulas in Excel or analyze data with ease. With Microsoft offering so many apps under the Office umbrella, it can be hard to learn them all, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Luckily, getting started doesn’t have to be hard.

This great bundle is just $39 Learn More

For just $29 you can get access to a year of amazing Microsoft Office information to help you master the suite of apps. From the basic features and functions to data analyzing, you’ll have access to it all.

The courses in this bundle include:

• Microsoft Excel: Beginner to Intermediate
• Advanced Microsoft Excel Course
• Microsoft Word: Beginner to Intermediate
• Effective Outlook Course
• PivotTable Course
• Microsoft SharePoint: Beginner to Intermediate
• Microsoft PowerPoint Course

Each course is broken down into sections and units so that it’s easy to work through them at your own pace. You get 12 months of access to these online courses to make the most of it for this incredible price!

Master Microsoft Office for cheap! Learn More

That’s quite a lot of information, and for a limited time you can get it for just $29. This is huge savings from the original $1,559 price tag that you would pay for all these courses. Whether you think you are good at Office or know you need to get better, you won’t want to miss out on this deal.

Be sure to grab this mastery bundle for 98% off before the deal ends.