Camera comparison: Huawei P30 Pro vs S10+, iPhone XS, Pixel 3, Mi 9, Mate 20 Pro
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- J:)hnny
- LaJ
- 20 Apr 2019
To be more precise, a test like this, has to be made in manual mode with same ISO, shutter speed or similar - when you shoot in auto and this changes a lot ... mmmmhhh, the result varies a lot ! Will take more time, of course :)
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- Anonymous
- m2q
- 12 Apr 2019
sonyxz2premiumuser, 06 Apr 2019my xz2 premium has the best low light capture with more nat... moreIt might be a good camera, but to my experience the Sony is very poorly built phone. The camera won't help you when you won't be able to get calls in and out.
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- XXX
- iAF
- 11 Apr 2019
Anonymous, 08 Apr 2019" It wasn't a clean sweep by any means - the Pixel 3 will g... moreIt means not the same winner in all categories, mixed results.
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- Anonymous
- Q}4
- 10 Apr 2019
sonyxz2premiumuser, 06 Apr 2019my xz2 premium has the best low light capture with more nat... moreCorrection:
my xz2 premium has low light capture with dull / washed out colors
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- Anonymous
- T6s
- 08 Apr 2019
" It wasn't a clean sweep by any means - the Pixel 3 will get an edge here, the Galaxy S10+ and Mi 9 there."
What does that even mean
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- Shui8
- KZ8
- 07 Apr 2019
sonyxz2premiumuser, 06 Apr 2019my xz2 premium has the best low light capture with more nat... moreUnfortunately, nope.
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- sonyxz2premiumuser
- Kg{
- 06 Apr 2019
my xz2 premium has the best low light capture with more natural images
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- Anonymous
- Kg{
- 05 Apr 2019
You did not include lg v40, v50 or g8, afaik, ultra wide was first introduce by LG. 😉
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- oreally
- 2Am
- 04 Apr 2019
iamSyleBaxter, 02 Apr 2019It's an absolute best! No phone even comes close. Pixel lov... morereally?have you even had N808?N1020?N9 pureview?if you don't then stop using the word best
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- Shui8
- KZ8
- 04 Apr 2019
Anonymous, 03 Apr 2019I don't own any of the smartphones reviewed here (S9+, Pixe... moreTo each their own, i respect your opinion. However pixel peeping is not everything. There are dynamic range, contrast, exposure level, white balance, high iso performance, color reproduction etc. In low lights to be accounted of. And on that part, P30 Pro nails it. As a result, u got a dramatic Leica photography looking pictures without edited using Master AI, in one overall image, without pixel peeping. I'll take that way rather than just pixel peeping, which most people wont even see it.
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- Anonymous
- sxs
- 03 Apr 2019
I mean S10+ not S9+
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- Anonymous
- sxs
- 03 Apr 2019
Shui8, 03 Apr 2019These low light camera quality different from your percepti... moreI don't own any of the smartphones reviewed here (S9+, Pixel 3, P30 Pro, Mate 20 Pro, iPhone XS, Mi 9) so I compared the phones' merits based on GSMArena's limited low light samples/comparisons in FULL AUTO mode. So maybe, just maybe, I could be wrong and the P30 Pro could be better than the Pixel 3 or the iPhone XS in AUTO ONLY mode. Manual mode is totally different though as the user's photographic skills will have more impact on the ultimate image quality than the phone's camera hardware and image processing software itself. I for instance, can assure you I can get better low light photos whichever camera is given to me in this line up for as long as I am allowed to use manual mode while the selected competing camera from this same line up can only use full auto mode.
But really, based on the samples provided by gsmarena here, I will beg to disagree with the Verge reviewer. I find the P30 Pro's low light photos oversharpened and overprocessed looking. Personally, I use medium and low frequency sharpening judiciously as it has detrimental impact to fine detail. What Huawei is doing with the P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro's jpeg low light outputs scream of excessive medium and low frequency sharpening. While this sort of selective sharpening is effective for photos with severe blur or softness due to misfocus, poor lens quality, motion blur or excessive noise reduction, it shouldn't be used liberally as what Huawei tends to do with the P30 PRO or the Mate 20 PRO here. (If you have ever used a noise reduction software like NeatImage to clean high ISO noise and selectively sharpen low, medium or high frequency detail, you'll instantly recognize the effect you get from the P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro's low light/night mode jpeg output here. It's VERY GLARING/VISIBLE in the full sized samples provided here). The damaging effect of this sort of selective sharpening impacts fine detail and will have nasty impact on human faces. (I have seen how bad this sort of processing will impact human skin, texture, hair, clothing/fabric weave pattern and other fine detail; it adds weird artifacts in repeating patterns like woven materials or in fine detail like the blades of grass or building surface and other textures.)
If you must have the P30 Pro, I suggest you shoot manual and disable AI, noise reduction and adjust/tame whatever default jpeg settings/post processing Huawei is doing as it seriously is not in line with the way most dSLR's would process photo information into the final jpeg output. The iPhone XS and Pixel 3 jpeg output is more in line with how most Canon and Nikon dSLR's would process photo information into final jpeg output although I must admit, I don't like both as they lack smartphone essentials - huge battery, external storage expansion, dual sim slots, manual camera controls and are way overpriced for what they offer.
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- Shui8
- KZK
- 03 Apr 2019
dimsum888, 03 Apr 2019I prefer the Pixel and iPhone photos, others are too saturated.Did u even see the sample? Pixel & S10 colors are saturated, only Iphone XS & P30 Pro has natural colors.
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- Shui8
- KZK
- 03 Apr 2019
Anonymous, 03 Apr 2019Based on gsmarena's sample photos viewed on my calibrated 3... moreThese low light camera quality different from your perception.
- https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/1/18290215/huawei-p30-pro-camera-night-low-light-mode-photos
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- dimsum888
- 2Ca
- 03 Apr 2019
I prefer the Pixel and iPhone photos, others are too saturated.
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- Anonymous
- sxr
- 03 Apr 2019
Based on gsmarena's sample photos viewed on my calibrated 32" 4K UHD monitor,
The best in low light in regular AUTO shooting mode (no night shooting feature enabled):
First place - iPhone XS
Second place - Pixel 3
Third place - DRAW: P30 Pro/Mate 20 Pro
The best in low light with the phone's special AUTO night shooting feature enabled (night mode, night sight, etc.):
First place - Pixel 3
Second place - P30 Pro
Third pace - DRAW: Mate 20 Pro / Mi 9
However, they really are all still garbage compared to what you can get with a dSLR with an F/1.4 lens. The photos just look TOO OVERPROCESSED (except for the iPhone XS and Pixel 3): overly sharpened in medium to low frequencies to disguise the blurry, blotchy mess after the excessive noise reduction, no fine detail whatsoever in low light which is very visible in low contrast subjects - the grass, the tree leaves, the road surface texture, the building surface texture, etc. Just horrible for viewing in any calibrated 32" 4K UHD monitor or larger 4K UHD tv. Only the iPhone XS and Pixel 3 produce low light photos that don't look as OVERPROCESSED/OVERSHARPENED; however, the noise reduction still renders the final image lacking fine detail.
So if you want excellent low light photos from a smartphone, sorry, no luck.
Even in 2019, they're still all horrible.
But if you don't ever plan to buy a real camera, then you have 2 choices:
1. If you never use manual camera modes and will NEVER EVER want to learn how to shoot better photos with manual settings: get the Pixel 3 if you like android,
or the iPhone XS if you must have an Apple device.
2. If you are a smartphone user and might one day want to learn about manual camera modes which will help you get WAY MUCH BETTER low light photos than the Pixel 3 or iPhone XS in their auto modes can ever give you, get the Mi 9 or the P30 Pro or the Mate 20 Pro. When you know your way around manual camera modes, your low light photo quality is directly proportional to your photographic skills.
How about the Samsung S9+ well it doesn't have as good an auto mode as those listed above but since it is equipped with manual camera settings, then by all means, it can outperform any of the above too, depending on the user's photographic skills.
Are any of these smartphones worth $1,000++ for the low light photo quality they capture?
Honestly? No. If you are at all serious about bokeh/portrait shots, moon (telephoto shots) or low light (available light) photography, that $1,000++ is better spent on a $300 dSLR with 18-55mm kit lens + a $400 30mm F/1.4 prime lens. You can save the $300 or use it to buy an Pocophone F1 which, incidentally also has manual camera modes and has an excellent developer community which ported Google's night sight feature to the phone. It still won't be as good as the Pixel 3's 'night sight' but hey, the Pixel 3 costs way above the Pocophone and it doesn't have micro SD card, headphone jack, huge 4000mAh battery, etc.
So there, now you know what to do with your $1,000++. Incidentally, you can also use it to buy a 65" 4K UHD Samsung TV and use the change to subscribe to a 2 year Netflix 4K UHD subscription.
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- huh
- mGY
- 02 Apr 2019
The s10 (just as s7 s8 s9) photos are not just 'punchy' colored, they are FUBAR colored (F^^^d Up Beyond ANy Recognition). Not restorable to good color balance in photoshop , forget it.
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- benny j
- Kir
- 02 Apr 2019
where's Nokia 808 PureView???
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- Anonymous
- 3DR
- 02 Apr 2019
Raj, 28 Mar 2019I like Pixel more and more. Too bad for the prices. That'... morebut oneplus is overpriced garbage
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- iamSyleBaxter
- f37
- 02 Apr 2019
Shui8, 02 Apr 2019Look at this P30 low light camera review, it blows other co... moreIt's an absolute best! No phone even comes close. Pixel lovers trying so hard to compare it including gsmarena but the reality is obvious, they're just not there yet. The P30 Pro kicks everything out!