During its annual developers conference this year, Google announced the Pixel 3A and Pixel 3A XL -- two budget phones that kick off the company's new endeavor to make cheaper, more affordable phones. The devices are essentially reworked versions of the Pixel 3 and the larger 3 XL, which originally debuted in October 2018. 

Seven months after its launch, the Pixel 3 was the best Android phone of 2018 and remains one of the top phones you can get nowadays. It truly is awesome, and along with the Night Sight update, it includes the best camera you can currently get in a phone.With only a single rear camera, the Pixel 3 pulled off photo tricks that its competition at the time, including the OnePlus 6T, iPhone XS and Galaxy Note 9 needed two cameras (or at times, even more) to pull off. And with Night Sight, it can brighten up even the darkest of scenes without a flash so well that I'm not entirely convinced it isn't witchcraft.

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But the other half of the Pixel's draw is Google's software and the entire ecosystem it's ingrained with. Google wants you to use Assistant and it wants you to integrate it with other Google services like Gmail and Calendar. At times it's useful -- particularly Assistant's new ability to answer calls on your behalf. (Yes, it's as bonkers as it sounds, but it does help to combat the scourge of spam calls in my life.) The constant notifications and tips and prompts get annoying, but fortunately you can turn these functions off.

So is an outstanding camera (which takes better photos than the iPhone XS), wireless charging, water resistance and Google's user experience worth the $799 (£739, AU$1,199) starting price for the 64GB Pixel 3? If you don't care about expandable storage, I say yes. At face value, the phone costs as much as the Galaxy S9 and it's cheaper compared to the iPhone XS' $1,000 (£999, AU$1,629) baseline price. The identically priced 128GB iPhone XR is a tempting alternative, but its camera just doesn't measure up to the Pixel 3.

If you do want extra storage though, things get more complicated. The S9 ends up being the better value since it can hold up to 400GB of extra data, and the 256GB iPhone is actually cheaper than the Pixel 3 at any capacity in terms of price per gig. At any rate, if all these phones are out of your budget, but you love the Pixel 3's camera, consider the Pixel 3A instead.

But if you are willing to pay up, the Pixel 3 is outstanding. It may not look as luxurious as the iPhone XS or Galaxy S9, but it enjoys the extra perks that come from being a Google phone, which include unlimited cloud storage and timely software updates. And with its superlative, easy-to-use camera, the Pixel 3 is top-notch.

Keep in mind, too, that the Pixel 3 is available in a larger 6.3-inch model (compared with this model's 5.5-inch display). The Pixel 3 XL starts at $899 (£869, AU$1,349) and offers a bit more battery life and a hideable notch on its display. But features, including the cameras, are otherwise the same.

Originally published Oct. 15, 2018
Update, Nov. 15: Adds final camera testing and additional impressions. The overall rating has moved from 8.7 to 8.8 and the phone has been awarded a CNET Editors' Choice; May 21, 2019: Adds Pixel 3A and Pixel 3 A XL information

If the Pixel 2 ($460 at Walmart)'s camera was excellent, the Pixel 3 is exceptional. The Pixel 3 takes impressive low-light photos, records steady video and pulls off solid portrait photos with only one rear lens compared to phones that use two cameras for the same effect. Its wide dynamic range handles varying lighting and exposures particularly well, at times producing images that look better than in real life.

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New camera software also aims to improve photo quality. Google improved the camera's low-light capabilities with a feature known as Night Sight. It works extremely well, brightening up even the darkest of scenes and keeping objects in focus. Top Shot, which works when you take "Motion" pictures, looks for smiles and open eyes to recommend the best image in a series. To improve its digital zoom, the Pixel combines several photos together and processes super detailed, zoomed-in shots. 

In general, the Pixel 3 takes brilliant photos, capturing images that are detailed and clear. The colors are a tad more intense than you'd see on the iPhone XS, but not to a level that's unrealistic or exaggerated. The Pixel also handled white-balance and its skin tones were more true to life than the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 at times. It also retained more details with darker shadows than the Galaxy phones.

There were times when the OnePlus 6T had a wider dynamic range than the Pixel 3 XL in its default mode, brightening and punching up colors more. But when I switched to the 3 XL's HDR+ enhanced mode, it outperformed the OnePlus 6T. And while the 6T's Nightscape retained the same, if not slightly more, details than the Pixel 3 XL, the Pixel's Night Sight feature is far better at lighting up dim scenes.

The Pixel 3's camera is skillful at taking portrait photos too. They take a few seconds to render, but the falloff between the fore- and background looks natural and not overly smooth. When I took a photo of a dog, I noticed a patchy-looking stray hair or two, but the effect was minimal. And the Pixel gives you the option to tweak the blurriness and focus of these portraits after you fire the shutter, similar to the iPhone XS and other Android phones. The editing process is precise and easy to use. (For a deeper dive, check out CNET's Pixel 3 vs. iPhone XS camera comparison.)

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