Comparing their subscores it's obvious that without the new zoom and bokeh categories the Pixel would have stayed on top.
Pixel v iPhone 8+
90 - 89 : Exposure and Contrast
80 - 78 : Color
98 - 74 : Autofocus
70 - 64 : Texture
65 - 68 : Noise
50 - 73 : Artifacts
81 - 84 : Flash
24 - 51 : Zoom
30 - 55 : Bokeh
91 - 89 : Video
I guess picking the "best" comes down to how important those features are to each customer. Though Google isn't standing still, the Pixel 2 is announced in two weeks.
As a Pixel owner I must say it's camera is very good. I used iPhones for a long time due to security features. Pixel's camera and reasonable hardware security lured me away. Pixel has no pure equivalent to Secure Enclave, but it is good enough. The HDR+ on it is great.
Every time I was caught by the richness of the Pixel. The iPhone 8 was ok, but seemed artificial. iPhone 7+ looks downright bad in some pics which goes to show how challenging the scenes must be as its camera is pretty decent.
Pixel v iPhone 8+
90 - 89 : Exposure and Contrast
80 - 78 : Color
98 - 74 : Autofocus
70 - 64 : Texture
65 - 68 : Noise
50 - 73 : Artifacts
81 - 84 : Flash
24 - 51 : Zoom
30 - 55 : Bokeh
91 - 89 : Video
I guess picking the "best" comes down to how important those features are to each customer. Though Google isn't standing still, the Pixel 2 is announced in two weeks.