200MP vs 1-inch - testing the best Android phones for photography

17 March 2023


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stormboy1987, 17 Mar 2023The Banding in the skies from the Samsung s23 ultra and Viv... morepretty sure it's due to firstly the noise reduction and secondly the compression. Noise is good for hiding artifacts like banding or blocking. Once denoised and cleaned up there's high chance for those artifacts to come up or even get created along the way. Try denoising an old anime and see how messy it looks after strong denoising, that's how samsung's photos look unfortunately. Furthermore, the denoising makes the image softer and then they oversharpen to compensate, making the image even worse and colors don't look pleasant as well. People who think noise should be completely removed are making photography worse. Wish there was a choice to reduce the aggressiveness of these effects. Credit where it's due, samsung has good lock and I can reduce the sharpening. I don't know about other variants but on the S22 Ultra SD1, the gcam ports create extremely pleasant noise.

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    • Gazt1888
    • 39x
    • 18 Mar 2023

    damn, 18 Mar 2023S23 ultra blows every chinese phone out of the water, best ... moreShame the s23 ultra has been caught faking moon images, hardly blows anyone out the water

      • j
      • johba
      • pjG
      • 18 Mar 2023

      As a hobby photographer who has a love for the full-frame look, I have a couple of things I would like to point out:

      As most of us that read tech articles may already know, smartphone manufacturers have a tendency to oversharpen the photos coming out of the phones just to make them look impressive at a first glance. While this may be true, I think that when one takes the time to let the picture sink in and tell its story (which I think happens to most of us when we see a well-shot photo, unexperienced or not), the oversharpened look takes me, at least, away from the experience. I'd like to compare it to when you buy a new high-end TV and ends up using it in standard or dynamic mode. It might look impressive on the store shelves, but something's really off as soon as it's ready to use at home.

      The thing that really makes me prefer shooting with a dedicated camera, is that the camera manufacturers leave the choice to the user. On smartphones, in most cases at least, this choice is already made. The oversharpened look that is apparent on most smartphones (and which you certainly can find on photos taken with dedicated cameras as well) creates this strange outline around details in the photo, such as hair, branches, and the small imperfections on our skin. This makes the transition between contrasty elements like these less prominent, thus more blurry in a sense. On TVs, I always turn down the sharpness to near zero due to this reason. It's a bit self-contradictory to me - oversharpened images looking more blurry. Because of this, I would choose a more "blurry" looking photo any day. Cause, in the end, they are the sharpest-looking photos to me. They also often have more impact on me storytelling-wise.

      If you've read this far, I guess it's no surprise that I would choose the Xiaomi 13 Pro. I understand some of the arguments that favor the more standard approach to smartphone photography as most people neither have the technical capabilities nor interest in sculpting the pictures post-shooting themselves. But hey, the Xiaomi 13 Pro manages to output beautiful photos with a less oversharpened look regardless, serving as a great point-and-shoot camera for me as a photographer with "a little more than no experience" as well as my parents which couldn't care less. The 13 Pro shows that the smartphone look still is a choice rather than a result of dedicated cameras being more technically advanced than smartphones.

      But don't get me wrong, the other phones shoot great photos as well. It's just that, as the article authors write themselves, the 13 Pro pleases me as a photographer more with not wanting to brag about how stunning its photos turn out. In the end, it all comes down to preference and usage. Go shoot with whatever you prefer. The best camera is the one in your hands, and the best photo is actually being shot 😊

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        • Mohan
        • PUa
        • 18 Mar 2023

        Comparison supposed to be with the top models on camera shootout I believe, There is Vivo X90 Pro +, and here the model used in X90 Pro.

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          • Zuzuz
          • mA{
          • 18 Mar 2023

          Overall a great article! Should be more of these in every category of prices. Also will be a good thing to add the top in the rankings like pixel 7 pro, apple 14 pro max, mate 50 pro, p60 pro(is coming soon), oppo's find series.

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            • Anonymous
            • tSv
            • 18 Mar 2023

            Overall, the best phone camera comparison I have found.
            A follow-up is eagerly awaited.
            Maybe two, a globally available comparison after the release of the next iPhone and a mid-summer comparison that includes Chinese only releases that are available on the grey market.

              Anonymous, 18 Mar 2023Photography website thinks different Please read. Lit... moreFrankly speaking, I don't give a damn about these arbitrary numeric "scores" that aren't based on scientific tests - if you really think they mean anything, then you should probably spend every single day worshipping DxOMark's overall camera score at the shrine.

              Those photos from Xperia were shot in Basic mode which will trigger HDR automatically depending on the situation, so any blown highlights (There are a LOT of blown highlights, by the way, not in just a few photos) that you see on the sample gallery are due to the software failing to analyse the scene correctly, *not* HDR being disabled by default or anything like that.

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                • Anonymous
                • KZK
                • 18 Mar 2023

                So sad that Nokia doesn't have representative in this race

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                  • Anonymous
                  • U}}
                  • 18 Mar 2023

                  s23 ultra for ultra ai moon😊

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                    • Haree
                    • U@K
                    • 18 Mar 2023

                    damn, 18 Mar 2023S23 ultra blows every chinese phone out of the water, best ... moreYou pay 1.5 time more for samsung phones... They are wiping our economy for years...

                      - X90 Pro is definitely getting the balance between the details and noise reduction right - its photos have great texture renditions regardless of the lenses or lighting condition while maintaining them noise-free at the same time. The coating on the lens seems to be eliminating the ghosting that other phones suffer from, but also introduces a fair amount of glares that reduce contrast. Both the main and the telephoto cameras have a very good bokeh rendition for a phonecamera, and overall there's nothing much to complain about aside from somewhat weak performance from the UWA camera. I would be definitely keen to get this phone (or X90 Pro+) if their phones are available in my country, but sadly they aren't.

                      - The two Xiaomi phones are similar in quality but the 13 Pro's output looks more refined. Extra saturation boost from the AI mode is definitely subtler (Notice how 12S Ultra goes kind of haywire with the blueness of the sky, although turning off AI should eliminate this issue), glares are better controlled, and there's more granular tonality and a smidgen less noise in the deepest shadows (especially evident in UWA). I don't like the way both phones compressed highlights and made them look very unnatural in portrait mode, though. If the 13 Pro or the upcoming 13 Ultra will be available in where I live, I would consider getting one, assuming that Find X6 series isn't coming to my country.

                      - Samsung's camera has come a long way and S23 Ultra is a noticeable improvement over the dumpster fire that the Exynos S22 Ultra was, but I can still spot some issues with their processing - it still goes overboard with the sharpening, shadows are quite noisy during the day despite consistently shooting at the lowest ISO and the slowest shutter speed among the four, bokeh looks junky regardless of which lens you use, it underexposes a person's face and overaccentuates red hue, and in the first two low light scenes the night mode looks straight up worse than the regular auto mode. I like the general quality of the UWA camera and colour rendition of landscape scenes during the day, but this isn't a device that I would like to use to take pictures when I don't have an access to my dedicated camera.. It just doesn't seem to deliver the quality I expect from a modern flagship phone.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 8N3
                        • 18 Mar 2023

                        Nick Tegrataker, 18 Mar 2023"Xperia 1 V" You mean Xperia 1 IV? I mean, if yo... moreYou know best part of the test?

                        S23u at 12.5MP is using " 2.56 micron" , still jpeg is completely obliterated at iso1600, while pro-i with 2,4 micron has better quality at iso12800.
                        Even 1iv at iso6400 is better too,with 1.9 micron.

                        Well well, looks like even the old from 2020 imx557 is more advanced than hp2. 😂

                        S23u should be using 766, 890 instead. Way better than isocell. No surprised xiaomi and vivo got rid of it.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 8N3
                          • 18 Mar 2023

                          Nick Tegrataker, 18 Mar 2023"Xperia 1 V" You mean Xperia 1 IV? I mean, if yo... morePhotography website thinks different

                          Please read. Little spoiler ( pro-i the highest score for image quality, even 1iv above pixel 7 pro)

                          https://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/samsung_galaxy_s23_ultra_review
                          https://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/google_pixel_7_pro_review
                          https://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_xperia_1_iv_review
                          https://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_xperia_pro_i_review

                          So, the 1/1.33" and 1/1.31" dont have higher score than 1/1.65"? So lame ..

                          This without HDR on as default. Imagine if they had turned off on pixel and galaxy to make all same conditions. 😱


                          We forgive you for all those hours wasted on Verge, XDA, Supersaf, MKBHD, MrWhosetheboss,MrMobile

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • x{6
                            • 18 Mar 2023

                            Gsmarena doesn't need to include the Pixel 7 Pro here because it is simply above all the 4 phones here in terms of image quality and performance consistency in low light photography. The Pixel 7/7Pro duo are simply the best in low light photography in as far as a dedicated Night mode/Night Sight is concerned for as long as we're not talking about telephotos beyond 5x (the Pixel 7 Pro's max hardware limit) or 1x (the Pixel 7 doesn't have a dedicated telephoto camera).

                            Unsolicited tip/advice for gsmarena personnel disagreeing with each other which camera phone performs the best: When you do the low light comparisons, put plenty of black and very dark objects in the scene with lots of fine and complex textured objects included. Suggestions: Dark hair, freckled skin/face in candle light, knitted brown or black sweaters, wool carpet, felt paper, foliage, complex embroidery, etc. Put also fabrics with monochromatic colors like Batik shirts. It will help you gauge which phone is pushing the saturation up to unholy levels (clipping point) that result in loss of color detail and textures.

                            To analyze image quality and separate the boys from the men, increase gamma of all the tested phones' captured images to 1.3. Save and then view everything at 100% crop in a calibrated 4K computer monitor in a blind photo evaluation (photos should not bear the phone's name that took the shot).

                            I'm confident all you gsmarena personnel will come to the same conclusion and no longer argue that the Pixel 7/7Pro performs the best overall in terms of color accuracy and color detail (no clipped color channels), and the best balance of noise reduction, detail retention, color retention, and overall low light image quality. I'm talking about low light because in great light, all phones perform extremely well, even midrange phones.

                              damn, 18 Mar 2023S23 ultra blows every chinese phone out of the water, best ... moreIs this supposed to be trolling or did you genuinely forget to read the article before commenting?

                                Mmeco, 18 Mar 2023Kindly include the Honor Magic5 Pr, Pixel 6 Pro and Xperia ... more"Xperia 1 V"
                                You mean Xperia 1 IV? I mean, if you really want to see a phone with a small type 1/1.7 sensor getting curbstomped by those with type 1/1.3 or larger sensors, then be my guest..

                                "Pixel 6 Pro"
                                Yeah that's probably supposed to be Pixel 7 Pro, too.

                                  • S
                                  • Ss
                                  • txm
                                  • 18 Mar 2023

                                  damn, 18 Mar 2023S23 ultra blows every chinese phone out of the water, best ... moreExcept this review and most other review out there said otherwise. It is sad tha samsung go useless 200mp sensor instead of 1 inch sensor and result in noisy photo everywhere.

                                    Dometalican, 17 Mar 2023I agree here. I dislike how they make the 'brighter, m... more'But beneath the over-processed-for-social-media look lies an immaculate technician. There's a great level of detail, expert sharpening, and very low noise'. They also focus on the technical qualities in fairness so did not conclude based on the colours alone but rather on the technical qualities of the photos. The colours are very much personal preference

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                                      • Mmeco
                                      • XBA
                                      • 18 Mar 2023

                                      Kindly include the Honor Magic5 Pr, Pixel 6 Pro and Xperia 1 V in your subsequent test.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • dSV
                                        • 18 Mar 2023

                                        damn, 18 Mar 2023S23 ultra blows every chinese phone out of the water, best ... more🤦 the same comments I see everywhere, omg, you Samsung fans started getting down on my nerve, like the smartphone market only has Samsung on it. Congrats for satisfying samsung. You have officially become famous. Obviously, Samsung must have paid you to say this lol.

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