Google's Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL are great phones, packing plenty to get excited about from the refreshed design to the plethora of fancy new AI skills. And while many of its AI tools are based around imagery -- including the wild generative AI Pixel Studio -- Google's Gemini Advanced is capable of providing deep (although sometimes inaccurate) answers to almost any questions you may have.

Night Sight wouldn’t appear on Google phones until the Pixel 3 in 2018. However, the Pixel 2 XL already had the pieces for excellent low-light imagery, combining optical image stabilization with Google’s computational wizardry to produce more detailed nighttime photos.

The OnePlus 12 builds on the momentum of the OnePlus 11; it offers a fantastic display, premium build quality, and flagship power with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Although you're sacrificing software support, it's less expensive than the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. And you do pick up fast charging, with 80W wired fast charging.