iPhone 11 selfie camera fails to crack DxOMark's top-ten list

AppleInsider

Digital camera specialist DxOMark on Thursday released a comprehensive review of the front-facing selfie camera on Apple's iPhone 11, finding the device to offer good, if not great, performance compared to competing smartphones.

Calling it the "junior partner" to iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, DxOMark in its review notes iPhone 11 shares selfie camera specifications with its more expensive siblings. On paper, both iPhone lines should yield identical results, as both boast a 12 megapixel sensor, 23mm-equivalent focal length lens and support for advanced photo processing features like Portrait Mode and Smart HDR.

According to DxOMark, the iPhone 11's fixed-focus lens is its Achilles heel.

While exposure, white balance and color reproduction are generally good, save for expectedly mediocre performance in low-light situations, DxOMark found focus to be a consistently weak point for the handset. Interestingly, iPhone 11 was outperformed by iPhone 11 Pro Max in various focus tests, including still photography and video, with subjects becoming noticeably out of focus the farther they move away from the camera.

The group did not offer an explanation for the apparent disparity between iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Max, though it did note Samsung's Galaxy S10+ outperformed both iPhones thanks to an autofocus system. Samsung's model also trumped iPhone 11 in simulated bokeh shots, marketed by Apple as Portrait Mode photography.

DxOMark found iPhone 11 to deliver "nice" color, accurate exposure and high detail, especially when photographing brightly-lit outdoor scenes. The sensor was somewhat noisy in all conditions, however, and suffered loss of detail in certain situations.

Overall, iPhone 11's selfie camera achieved a score of 91 points, putting it in 13th place behind top-performer Huawei, a slew of Samsung smartphones, Asus' ZenFone 6, iPhone 11 Pro Max and Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 4.

DxOMark published an in-depth evaluation of iPhone 11's rear-facing cameras in January.

beats

No one cared about this company until Google referenced them and oddly stopped doing so after they put Pixel iKnockoffs at the bottom. We shouldn't have cared then and we shouldn't care now. Photographers are still using iPhones and companies are broadcasting from iPhone.

eriamjh

Not to be too dismissive of the iPhone 11’s failure to rank in the top 10 (which is disappointing), I must say that my iPhone 8’s front cam does an adequate job of rendering colleagues working from home that have poor lighting and obviously worse internet in all their lack-of-makeup-wearing glory!

So, for FaceTime, if an iPhone 8 can show everyone’s... uh... home face, then I sure don’t need a better front camera.  I need a makeup filter for incoming video.  

chasm

The selfie camera has never been the best camera on an iPhone, but it is an extremely popular one because it does a great job. DxO have been a bit flakey on their decisions for a couple of years now, but I've always put it down to their "focus" (heh) on 1) the actual camera part, kind of ignoring the post-processing, and 2) focusing on the technical and ignoring the real-world results (see also point 1).

I don't doubt that some other company out there has put more emphasis than Apple on the front-facing camera, and might be genuinely better for selfies -- but as we've seen with innumerable cameras that offer more megapixels or more zoom or more something-else, that doesn't make it the "best" camera overall (and sometimes not even in the area of the feature they promote as the leading thing about their camera).

seanismorris

People still take selfies?  Am I the only one that never has...?

The camera on the other side of the phone is the one that matters and if it’s not class leading, it’s close.

80s_apple_guy

seanismorris said:

People still take selfies?  Am I the only one that never has...?

The camera on the other side of the phone is the one that matters and if it’s not class leading, it’s close.

In a world where most meetings etc are taking place via video conferencing, the front camera is pretty important to that. 

seanismorris

80s_Apple_Guy said:

seanismorris said:

People still take selfies?  Am I the only one that never has...?

The camera on the other side of the phone is the one that matters and if it’s not class leading, it’s close.

In a world where most meetings etc are taking place via video conferencing, the front camera is pretty important to that. 

Apples camera is more than sufficient for video conferencing.  There’s no need for ultra high quality (which takes up more bandwidth) on these tiny screens.

dyonoctis

Beats said:

No one cared about this company until Google referenced them and oddly stopped doing so after they put Pixel iKnockoffs at the bottom. We shouldn't have cared then and we shouldn't care now. Photographers are still using iPhones and companies are broadcasting from iPhone.

DxO used to be quoted in a few digital camera reviews back when phones where horrible, and people still used compact camera. (a few years before the iPhone) It was a thing for photography nerds.

johnbear

They use the same crappy 720p webcam from 10 years ago on their most recent MacBook Pro. I had to buy an external camera recently because of that 

bestkeptsecret

13th place? Damn! I was hoping the iPhone 11 came in at 11th.

baconstang

The front facing camera on my iPhone is very consistent since I placed tape over the lens.

rotateleftbyte

80s_Apple_Guy said:

In a world where most meetings etc are taking place via video conferencing, the front camera is pretty important to that. 

Or the one on the top/front of your laptop. Bandwidth and lag are what is important in a Video Conference. If I wanted top notch video for one then I have a DSLR ready and waiting but no one has complained about the quality of the camera on my ancient MacBook Pro especially if any images that need quality have been distributed prior to the meeting.

I've never taken a selfie. I know how ugly my face is so I don't need reminding. Seeing it every time I use the bathroom is more than enough.

avon b7

I think most selfie cameras hit the 'good enough' point years ago and the images themselves are often subjected to an array of filters for the Instagram crowd etc.

That said though, the front facing cameras should advance and show improvements. In the flagship space that is even more of an issue. Especially as camera versatility is now where phone cameras get their plus points. 

Apple finds itself in this situation through its own strategic planning. It has been late to adopt certain features and there isn't much more to it than that. It has improved a fair bit with the iPhone 11 series but still lags in the versatility stakes. 

avon b7

chasm said:

The selfie camera has never been the best camera on an iPhone, but it is an extremely popular one because it does a great job. DxO have been a bit flakey on their decisions for a couple of years now, but I've always put it down to their "focus" (heh) on 1) the actual camera part, kind of ignoring the post-processing, and 2) focusing on the technical and ignoring the real-world results (see also point 1).

I don't doubt that some other company out there has put more emphasis than Apple on the front-facing camera, and might be genuinely better for selfies -- but as we've seen with innumerable cameras that offer more megapixels or more zoom or more something-else, that doesn't make it the "best" camera overall (and sometimes not even in the area of the feature they promote as the leading thing about their camera).

They very much put the focus on the computational side of things. 

In fact, they even delayed reviewing the iPhone 11 Pro Max precisely to make sure Deep Fusion was live before they evaluated it. 

Nevertheless, it still came in behind the Android leaders in the camera evaluations.

The spec sheet is key in certain areas like noise where Apple is continually rated behind competitors or areas like the ultrawide camera which has no 'night mode' capability at all.

On the other hand, Apple put more focus on the specsheet side of things when it came to video. The problem is that most people value photo quality over video quality as they take far more photos than videos. 

edited May 2020

fred1

Heartbreaking news for the Apple fan selfiphiles out there /s.  This is interesting, even of some note, but definitely not in my top ten of features to look for in buying a phone.  Adequate is fine. 

dewme

When you haven’t shaved in a few days, haven’t had a haircut in weeks, and you’re still in your pajamas after lunch - this is what I’d call a “feature.” 

gilliam_bates

seanismorris said:

80s_Apple_Guy said:

seanismorris said:

People still take selfies?  Am I the only one that never has...?

The camera on the other side of the phone is the one that matters and if it’s not class leading, it’s close.

In a world where most meetings etc are taking place via video conferencing, the front camera is pretty important to that. 

Apples camera is more than sufficient for video conferencing.  There’s no need for ultra high quality (which takes up more bandwidth) on these tiny screens.

Exactly. There’s simply no use case for such high-quality pictures in video conferencing …at least not in the near future.

avon b7

Gilliam_Bates said:

seanismorris said:

80s_Apple_Guy said:

seanismorris said:

People still take selfies?  Am I the only one that never has...?

The camera on the other side of the phone is the one that matters and if it’s not class leading, it’s close.

In a world where most meetings etc are taking place via video conferencing, the front camera is pretty important to that. 

Apples camera is more than sufficient for video conferencing.  There’s no need for ultra high quality (which takes up more bandwidth) on these tiny screens.

Exactly. There’s simply no use case for such high-quality pictures in video conferencing …at least not in the near future.

I'd definitely prefer bandwidth stability over visual resolution in a video call scenario. 

Having a decent image that breaks down periodically in a call is good for no one. Stable connection and decent audio take centre stage for most people. 

Thankfully, 5G brings QoS, intelligent bandwidth optimisation and lower latency to the table.