One of the best digital camera is all the time the one you will have with you. That makes a smartphone’s digital camera one in every of its most necessary options—in spite of everything, telephone makers have been vying for the title of the “finest digital camera telephone” for many years. Apparently, the highest Chinese language telephones at this time have loopy good digital camera {hardware}; particularly, giant sensors that promise to improve the standard of the photographs captured on a telephone. Sadly, you may’t purchase most of them within the US.
However to seek out out which telephone befits the crown, and the way these giant sensors stack up, I performed a digital camera shootout with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Oppo Find X7 Ultra, and the Honor Magic 6 Pro. For a well-liked level of comparability, I included the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. I shot numerous photographs with these telephones. Beneath are only a few examples, with transient explanations of the totally different {hardware} and software program approaches the producers have taken and why.
With every set of photographs, I’ve ranked them with my favourite first, however it’s possible you’ll disagree. All of the photographs have been taken with every telephone’s automated settings, as that’s how most individuals will use them. Honestly, there isn’t an ideal distinction more often than not. I put photographs from the Samsung Galaxy S24+ final for comparability.
The {Hardware} Specs
Every telephone options an unlimited digital camera system full of cutting-edge digital camera tech. Right here’s a fast breakdown of the primary digital camera specs:
- Xiaomi 14 Extremely: 50-MP important digital camera, 50-MP ultrawide, 50-MP telephoto, 50-MP periscope telephoto
- Oppo Discover X7 Extremely: 50-MP important digital camera, 50-MP ultrawide, 50-MP periscope telephoto, 50-MP periscope telephoto
- Honor Magic 6 Professional: 50-MP important digital camera, 50-MP Ultrawide, 180-MP periscope telephoto
I am not pitting the Galaxy S24 Plus in opposition to these three; it’s included for comparability functions. However listed below are its specs anyway:
- Samsung Galaxy S24+: 50-MP important digital camera, 10-MP telephoto, 12-MP ultrawide
Important Cameras
The principle digital camera is the one you’ll use most frequently. All three telephones have wonderful, versatile important cameras able to capturing beautiful photographs in numerous circumstances and situations. Level and shoot, and as a rule, you may be happy by the outcomes. Nonetheless, there are vital variations within the technical capabilities.
All of those telephones have giant sensors. The Xiaomi and the Oppo have the Sony LYT-900 1-inch sensor, whereas the Honor has a smaller H9000 OmniVision 1/1.28-inch sensor. The bigger the sensor, the extra gentle it might absorb rapidly, so low-light photographs ought to be clearer and fewer susceptible to movement blur.
The aperture is the opening of the lens that lets gentle in, and it really works very similar to the pupil of your eye. Each the Xiaomi 14 Extremely (f/1.63 to f/4.0) and the Honor Magic 6 Professional (f/1.4 to f/2.0) have variable apertures. The f-stops point out the aperture measurement, with a decrease quantity denoting a bigger aperture able to letting in additional gentle. The Oppo Discover X7 Extremely (f/1.8) has the identical mounted aperture because the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus (f/1.8).
The potential drawback with a big sensor and a big aperture is that you could find yourself with a shallow depth of area. The digital camera has issue specializing in the whole lot. That may be nice when you’re taking a portrait shot and desire a bokeh impact, however with close-ups, you may get blurring across the edges, and with panorama pictures, you may lose focus within the foreground or background. A variable aperture reduces that drawback, permitting for a wider depth of area to maintain the whole lot in a gaggle shot or panorama in focus. (We clarify many of those digital camera phrases in our How to Shop for a Camera guide.)
