Both Canon T6i and Nikon D3400 have APS-C sized 24.0 MP resolution sensors so sensor size and resolution is not a differentiator between these two cameras.
One other difference between these two cameras that is worth mentioning is that Nikon D3400's sensor doesn't have an anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moiré occurring in certain scenes.
Below you can see the T6i and D3400 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon D3400 has a 1.1x Larger sensor area than Canon T6i. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Canon T6i and Nikon D3400 sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that D3400 has a better overall score of 86, 15 points higher compared to T6i's score of 71.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon T6i |
71 |
22.7 bits |
12.0 Evs |
919 ISO |
Nikon D3400 |
86 |
24.8 bits |
13.9 Evs |
1192 ISO |