Pixel 8 User Tweaks 4:3 Settings and Open Camera for Samsung-Like Photos

3 articles · Updated · Android Police · Aug 2

Testing roughly 50 shots, the author found the Pixel 8 produced softer, more neutral images than a same-year Galaxy S23, whose photos looked sharper and more saturated.
Open Camera emerged as the preferred fix about three-quarters of the time because its Camera2 API can bypass Google's HDR+ processing; its noise-reduction mode worked especially well outdoors.
Inside Google's camera app, the most useful changes were shifting to 4:3, raising brightness, and warming white balance to counter washed-out subjects and cooler tones, especially in low light.
The results still fell short of fully matching Samsung's punchier look, leaving framing, manual adjustments and post-processing as the remaining path to a closer aesthetic.