iPhone XS Max scores second in DxOMark's smartphone camera tests
In a review published on Wednesday, benchmarking firm DxOMark scored the rear camera on the iPhone XS Max 105, ranking it second only to the Huawei P20 Pro, and comfortably above the Google Pixel 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 9.
The phone has "one of the best mobile cameras," with significant improvements over the camera in the iPhone X, the company wrote. That includes Smart HDR, which is said to produce "very good target exposure and a wide dynamic range in all conditions." In bright lighting the XS Max is noted to have "excellent" results in both photo and video, with "spot on" exposure in outdoor shooting as well as good detail and color.
The phone actually scored 110 in photo and 96 in video -- the biggest weakpoints in photo being zoom and bokeh (depth-of-field), the latter because Apple's simulated bokeh still makes mistakes in calculating depth, even if the XS Max does a better job than its predecessor.
DxO also took Apple to task for problems like underexposed flash shots, and luminance noise in zooms, shadows, and low light.
Video problems included the above-mentioned luminance noise as well as "unstable" white balance with indoor lighting.
The XS Max scored above several prominent competitors, such as the Google Pixel 2, and Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. The P20 Pro ranked first as a "triple-camera juggernaut," DxO said.
For several years now Apple has regularly promoted its cameras as one of the main selling points of iPhones. The rear camera on the XS Max has "focus pixels," upgraded light sensitivity, and enhanced processing thanks to a custom image signal processor and the A12 Bionic chip's Neural Engine. In a first for Apple, bokeh can be adjusted even after a photo is taken.
The phone has "one of the best mobile cameras," with significant improvements over the camera in the iPhone X, the company wrote. That includes Smart HDR, which is said to produce "very good target exposure and a wide dynamic range in all conditions." In bright lighting the XS Max is noted to have "excellent" results in both photo and video, with "spot on" exposure in outdoor shooting as well as good detail and color.
The phone actually scored 110 in photo and 96 in video -- the biggest weakpoints in photo being zoom and bokeh (depth-of-field), the latter because Apple's simulated bokeh still makes mistakes in calculating depth, even if the XS Max does a better job than its predecessor.
DxO also took Apple to task for problems like underexposed flash shots, and luminance noise in zooms, shadows, and low light.
Video problems included the above-mentioned luminance noise as well as "unstable" white balance with indoor lighting.
The XS Max scored above several prominent competitors, such as the Google Pixel 2, and Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. The P20 Pro ranked first as a "triple-camera juggernaut," DxO said.
For several years now Apple has regularly promoted its cameras as one of the main selling points of iPhones. The rear camera on the XS Max has "focus pixels," upgraded light sensitivity, and enhanced processing thanks to a custom image signal processor and the A12 Bionic chip's Neural Engine. In a first for Apple, bokeh can be adjusted even after a photo is taken.
Comments
Hate all these picture quality comparisons.
Well that it. It’s over. I’m done with iPhone for good. I’m buying a Huawei P20 Pro and will never look back. /s
Agreed. Camera is just one part of smartphone experience. iOS Vs Android ALONE will seal the issue for most of the people (if not all). And it is not as-if P20 Pro camera is near-perfect. Far from it. It has its own weaknesses, again induced due to AI features in software. Not sure if they fixed those issues in the last 6 months though (we will come to know about it once the Mate 20 reviews are out). The only area where Huawei P20 Pro is way above other phones (including iPhones) is - extreme low light photography which is the hardest thing to pull off. So kudos to Huawei where due.
On the extreme low light photography - Huawei is going to retain that advantage even after 3 months because camera modules chosen by Huawei played the most significant advantage. No amount of software improvement can work around the superiority of sensors used by Huawei compared to the ones used by Apple.
If anything, the draw into Apple's ecosystem now seems to be the Apple Watch series 4, which is unsurprisingly more performant and more feature packed than anything based on Wear OS. More to the point, people are excited about the Apple Watch, which isn't hampered by the maturity of the smartphone market.
You were second post, and I believe, an optimist.
I should add that DxOMark is decidedly flawed, but metrics are metrics, so it's better than nothing for a food fight.
At least that is what I read in reviews as well, i.e. video quality of Huawei phones are poor in general, mostly due to the ISP within the Kirin SOCs which are usually 1 year behind Android competition (particularly Qualcomm's SoCs) and make it 2 years behind with Apple's SoCs. They may have caught up with Qualcomm's SoCs this year or even ahead by 5 months (if Kirin 980 is on-par with Qualcomm's upcoming SoC, most likely NOT), but we will come to know about it only after 5 months.
The primary driver for a quality photo is the person taking the shot. Out of a 100 point scale, it’s probably 80 points of that. The reminder are the diminishing returns that is the point spread in these camera quality comparisons.
Three groups who I don't trust when it comes to picking whether a device/component is better, regardless of who they declare as a winner.
I don't think so. It will have only 3 in the back and 2 in the front, totaling 5 as far as I remember. The upcoming Nokia flagship phone is supposed to have 4 in the back itself, if I remember correctly.
Edit: The Nokia one is supposed to have 5 cameras on the back itself.