In a comparison of photon energies, scattered photons from a "Compton" interaction are characterized as:

In a Compton interaction, a photon (usually an X-ray or gamma ray) is scattered by a loosely bound outer electron of an atom. This interaction results in the transfer of some of the photon's energy to the electron, causing the electron to be ejected from the atom. Consequently, the scattered photon loses energy.

The energy of the scattered photon will always be lower than the energy of the incident photon. The decrease in energy of the scattered photon is dependent on the scattering angle; as the angle increases, the energy of the scattered photon decreases further. This relationship establishes that scattered photons from a Compton interaction are characterized by having lower energy than that of the incident X-ray photon. Therefore, the correct characterization of scattered photons in a Compton interaction is that they possess a lower energy compared to the incident photon.