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Londoner1982

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Original poster
Sep 24, 2018
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According to leaks, the iPhone XS scores 104 on Dxomark, and it will be beaten by Sony XZ2 Premium, Pixel 3, P20 Pro and Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro.

Thoughts?
 

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tonybarnaby

macrumors 68020
Dec 3, 2017
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Everyone is playing for second with the pixel still in the mix. No one can touch googles photo software.
 

Shanghaichica

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Apr 8, 2013
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Interesting that they’ve already rated phones that haven’t even been announced yet.

Also pixel 3 not number one. I guess google won’t be mentioning it at their event then.
 
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Arni99

macrumors 6502a
Feb 26, 2011
551
268
Vienna, Austria
Owned the "Huawei P20 Pro" and am glad I got rid of it - GREAT hardware (1/1,7" sensor size) paired with terrible software.
Perhaps the Mate 20 (pro) which will be released in a few weeks, has ironed out those software shortcomings. It will come on Android Pie (9).
 

Shanghaichica

macrumors G5
Apr 8, 2013
14,646
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Owned the "Huawei P20 Pro" and am glad I got rid of it - GREAT hardware (1/1,7" sensor size) paired with terrible software.
Perhaps the Mate 20 (pro) which will be released in a few weeks, has ironed out those software shortcomings. It will come on Android Pie (9).
Never owned or seen a p20 Pro but my uncle has a p20. I was not impressed with the pictures. They looked washed out and over processed. However maybe you need to tweak the settings and he hasn’t. He’s a point and shoot person.
 

FFR

Suspended
Nov 4, 2007
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According to leaks, the iPhone XS scores 104 on Dxomark, and it will be beaten by Sony XZ2 Premium, Pixel 3, P20 Pro and Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro.

Thoughts?

Not much to think really.
Another forum member posted their analysis on the differences between the two.

I don’t think my summary would do his analysis any justice, so I will just post his thoughts here.
Hope they don’t mind.

Honestly I have yet to call an overall winner between my two phones, but below are my personal observations. For whatever its worth, I still prefer my DSLR for regular shooting, but do find these phones are great tools at times.

Portrait Mode = ⅔ Pixel
The Pixel can handle a wider array of items than the iPhone overall, however when the iPhone nails the shot, it is really no dispute IMO. Where the iPhone struggles is with translucent, or narrow items. When it does get the shot correct, the out of focus effect appears to be much more realistic to what a wide open lens will do.


i-8NdN6pr-X3.jpg


i-dxXMQ3V-X3.jpg


i-zxHwhLb-X3.jpg


i-DscN84x-X3.jpg


To be honest, I like the iPhone's shot of the leaves a bit better as it is doing a little more of what an Actual wide aperture lens would do. Focus would fall off quite quick on my sigma 1.4 when shooting this same scene wide open. The Pixel keeps most of the leaves in true focus, which isn't true to life. Where the iPhone continues to struggle is with narrow or translucent objects near your focal point as seen with the bars in the top portrait shot. Neither compare to a true wide aperture picture as taken on Film, mirrorless or a DSLR though.


Video = iPhone Xs Max
The auto exposure on the new phone does far better than the 2017 X did at adjusting from dark to light. The phone also has less jittery video when OIS is needed, or when panning. Stereo audio recording also puts this phone in an entirely different league. I am ashamed it took Apple this long to record stereo audio considering they have had dual Mics since the iPhone 4! No excuse for any phone to lack it for the past 5 years IMO.

Zoomed images
Anytime you need to go to 2X zoom I feel the iPhone is superior since it does this optically, as opposed to cropping. Don't get me wrong, the pixel's shots still look amazing at face value, it's when you crop in or do larger prints that it sheds light on this issue.

i-9FbVLw8-X3.jpg

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i-tGCmQvt-X3.jpg

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i-pBqwhjz-X3.jpg

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i-vVSTpXk-X3.jpg

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In both cases the 100% crops look more like paintings than true images, however you can see more of a Picasso effect in the Pixel 2.

Undecided
Low light photos, areas with vast lighting differences, meaning low light, bright light in the same scene. Pixel is sometimes too dark, and the iPhone sometimes brings up shadows far too much.

Storage = Pixel 2
Unlimited full resolution photo cloud storage.. No contest here. Come on Apple, you are the richest company in the world, why aren't you matching this?!?





Let us be real now. The Pixel 2 is / was, far from a perfect device.

Personally I am on my 2nd device as I had a hardware fault that would cause the phone to crash / power down when running graphics intensive tasks. IIRC there was other user or two here on MacRumors with a similar issue.

And then there was this Camera problem with many phones

Than an update that caused annoying buzzing and hot phones.

What about lagging / slow phones.

And an Audio recording issue, which for some of us (including myself) results in a now much less useful mic (everything sounds muted).

So no, the Pixel wasn't without problems, and the XL screens were not the only phones with this problem.
 

1144557

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Sep 13, 2018
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The rear camera is but 1 critical aspect of a smartphone. If you are buying a phone based solely on the camera, or camera first, then you are a fraction of a percent of buyers. Most could not care less about these scores or know what they mean.

And when there are allegations of pay to play where you can hire DXo to tell you how to tweak your properties to score higher in their tests, the weight of those scores means a heck of a lot less.
 
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FFR

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The rear camera is but 1 critical aspect of a smartphone. If you are buying a phone based solely on the camera, or camera first, then you are a fraction of a percent of buyers. Most could not care less about these scores or know what they mean.

Yes but pixel owners don’t really have anything, else.

And Judging from the posters on this board that have a pixel or pixel 2, they usually also have an iPhone. I think that says a lot in and of itself.


And when there are allegations of pay to play where you can hire DXo to tell you how to tweak your properties to score higher in their tests, the weight of those scores means a heck of a lot less.

That would explain Huawei getting the top score.

One thing I always questioned about Dxo is since android handsets can’t really do 4K @60fps for more a couple of Minutes (most can’t even do that) vs apple iPhones that have been able to do it since last year. But it’s hardly mentioned and doesn’t look to affect scores.
 

Donnation

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Nov 2, 2014
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Don’t a couple of those phones have triple lenses? They will automatically score higher by default the way they are scored here.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
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I just checked DxOs site and can't find the same scores the OP did. The official scores won't be out until October.

But just because your phone of choice doesn't attain the highest scores doesn't mean it is not a great phone.
Enjoy what you have and move on......

Casting shade on DxO just comes across as sour grapes....
 
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1144557

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I just checked DxOs site and can't find the same scores the OP did. The official scores won't be out until October.

But just because your phone of choice doesn't attain the highest scores doesn't mean it is not a great phone.
Enjoy what you have and move on......

Casting shade on DxO just comes across as sour grapes....

It's a "leak" if it's even real for phones not out.

And it's not "sour grapes" Look it up. It's well known you can pay DxO to help you tweak your phone, obviously in an effort to obtain high scores. Oneplus has done it on the Oneplus 5. '

Facts dont create sour grapes.

"Nevertheless, manufacturers can hire them for consulting and seminar services probably like OnePlus did for the OnePlus 5. They can also buy its modular lab configuration tool called the DxO Analyzer to calculate the rating on their own."

If you can pay to get the testing outlet to help you tweak your processing solely to improve your score, and buy their testing software in advance to calibrate solely to their test, how credible are the results of said test?
 
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Caspavio

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2018
241
110
Yes but pixel owners don’t really have anything, else.

pixel 3 XL will have the ugliest notch ever made. honestly, i think that is an achievement by itself. who would expect that from google.

It's a "leak" if it's even real for phones not out.

And it's not "sour grapes" Look it up. It's well known you can pay DxO to help you tweak your phone, obviously in an effort to obtain high scores. Oneplus has done it on the Oneplus 5. '

Facts dont create sour grapes.

"Nevertheless, manufacturers can hire them for consulting and seminar services probably like OnePlus did for the OnePlus 5. They can also buy its modular lab configuration tool called the DxO Analyzer to calculate the rating on their own."

If you can pay to get the testing outlet to help you tweak your processing solely to improve your score, and buy their testing software in advance to calibrate solely to their test, how credible are the results of said test?

i am more concerned about the practicality then the credibility of these ratings. Not sure if they were published, but i have no idea how the score is weighted. In all honesty, factors like bokeh, zoom, flash, are going to matter a lot less for most people. This is also potentially (at least partially) why many people prefers the pixel 2 than say a P20 pro despite a lower rating.

another problem is how big a difference is that score really? like 106 vs 100. a 6% difference or not noticeable by eye?
 
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1144557

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Sep 13, 2018
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i am more concerned about the practicality then the credibility of these ratings. Not sure if they were published, but i have no idea how the score is weighted. In all honesty, factors like bokeh, zoom, flash, are going to matter a lot less for most people. This is also potentially (at least partially) why many people prefers the pixel 2 than say a P20 pro despite a lower rating.

another problem is how big a difference is that score really? like 106 vs 100. a 6% difference or not noticeable by eye?

Of course, my first post #7 said that too. The scores have nothing to do with real world and who knows the difference of 1 or 6 points in the scoring.

But you cannot discount the eye test which is against DxO as well in my book when you can hire the test proctor to tutor you and get the answer key showing how things are scored before the test.
 

nviz22

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Jun 24, 2013
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Their ratings are nice and all. Good for Huawei to have the highest one. However, you cannot go wrong with the iPhone XS/XS Max cameras or the Pixel 3 camera (assuming it is better than the Pixel 2).
 
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boomer11

macrumors 6502
Sep 23, 2014
316
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i love how any site or article that doesn't have the iphone on top immediately gets attacked for its credibility lol. people on here get butt hurt way too easily.

either way this is fake news. some of those phones on top haven't even been announced yet so i'm not sure how they were already tested.....
 
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jamezr

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Aug 7, 2011
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It's a "leak" if it's even real for phones not out.

And it's not "sour grapes" Look it up. It's well known you can pay DxO to help you tweak your phone, obviously in an effort to obtain high scores. Oneplus has done it on the Oneplus 5. '

Facts dont create sour grapes.

"Nevertheless, manufacturers can hire them for consulting and seminar services probably like OnePlus did for the OnePlus 5. They can also buy its modular lab configuration tool called the DxO Analyzer to calculate the rating on their own."

If you can pay to get the testing outlet to help you tweak your processing solely to improve your score, and buy their testing software in advance to calibrate solely to their test, how credible are the results of said test?
but facts....are based on credible sources...... do you have credible sources that all of the phones listed in the top tier paid for the high marks?
 

1144557

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but facts....are based on credible sources...... do you have credible sources that all of the phones listed in the top tier paid for the high marks?

You must be incredibly naive then and also believe politicians get rich to the tune of millions or tens of millions on their $200k-ish salaries instead of greased palms from lobbyists and special interest groups, just because you can't see it happen in person.

Just because specifics aren't public information doesn't mean it doesnt happen. And to believe only someone tiny like OnePlus did so and none of the "big boys" is incredibly naive too.

Or that those "honest" manufacturers cannot manage their image processing having access to the test software when multiple manufacturers have been caught tricking benchmark scores.

From Androidcentral (so BOTH sides of the OS war saying the same thing to be skeptical):

"Like a wily student preparing for a standardized test, manufacturers who partner with DxO, and get access to its hardware and software, can tune their image processing to ace the firm's synthetic tests (within the limits of the hardware, of course). As a result, their review scores are higher when DxO eventually publishes them — because they've had access to the testing hardware all along. Manufacturers who don't partner with DxO are at an automatic disadvantage in terms of their score, even though real-world, outside-of-the-lab image quality might not be substantially worse. When that happens, as it is bound to, consumers who put faith in comparisons between scores from partners and non-partners are potentially misled.

That's how we end up with scores that tell you the Moto G4 Plus is as good as the LG G6, which is worse than the OnePlus 5.

And that's where the potential conflict of interest arises. Partner with DxO, and your phone has the opportunity to max out its eventual review score — and if it's a new flagship phone, maybe steal the crown with a new high score. Manufacturers who don't license DxO's stuff compete on an uneven playing field."
 
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Nikhil72

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2005
1,433
1,153
I’d say the iPhone camera scored fantastically, and it boils down to software preference, which is a personal choice. Not sure why everything is a competition when it comes to consumer choice?
 

Caspavio

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2018
241
110
But you cannot discount the eye test which is against DxO as well in my book when you can hire the test proctor to tutor you and get the answer key showing how things are scored before the test.

yup, completely agree with you. ultimately, just "listen" to your eye.

either way this is fake news. some of those phones on top haven't even been announced yet so i'm not sure how they were already tested.....

i think historically, huawei, and maybe google, have their scores released on the same day the phones were announced. it means that testing was completed before that. it is entirely possible since the manufacturing starts a few months before release.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
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You must be incredibly naive then and also believe politicians get rich to the tune of millions or tens of millions on their $200k-ish salaries instead of greased palms from lobbyists and special interest groups, just because you can't see it happen in person.

Just because specifics aren't public information doesn't mean it doesnt happen. And to believe only someone tiny like OnePlus did so and none of the "big boys" is incredibly naive too.

Or that those "honest" manufacturers cannot manage their image processing having access to the test software when multiple manufacturers have been caught tricking benchmark scores.

From Androidcentral (so BOTH sides of the OS war saying the same thing to be skeptical):

"Like a wily student preparing for a standardized test, manufacturers who partner with DxO, and get access to its hardware and software, can tune their image processing to ace the firm's synthetic tests (within the limits of the hardware, of course). As a result, their review scores are higher when DxO eventually publishes them — because they've had access to the testing hardware all along. Manufacturers who don't partner with DxO are at an automatic disadvantage in terms of their score, even though real-world, outside-of-the-lab image quality might not be substantially worse. When that happens, as it is bound to, consumers who put faith in comparisons between scores from partners and non-partners are potentially misled.

That's how we end up with scores that tell you the Moto G4 Plus is as good as the LG G6, which is worse than the OnePlus 5.

And that's where the potential conflict of interest arises. Partner with DxO, and your phone has the opportunity to max out its eventual review score — and if it's a new flagship phone, maybe steal the crown with a new high score. Manufacturers who don't license DxO's stuff compete on an uneven playing field."
wait...so if I disagree with you then you attack me?

Look I don't care about DxO ratings to be honest. But you are here stating your opinion as fact.

If you have facts...lets see them.....
Just because you don't agree with the results doesn't mean companies paid for the ratings.
Conspiracies are just that unless there are facts to back them up.....
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,311
24,047
Gotta be in it to win it
I just checked DxOs site and can't find the same scores the OP did. The official scores won't be out until October.

But just because your phone of choice doesn't attain the highest scores doesn't mean it is not a great phone.
Enjoy what you have and move on......

Casting shade on DxO just comes across as sour grapes....
There have been many discussions about the integrity of dxo for many years. Frankly dxo is one data point, there are many other data points.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
15,849
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There have been many discussions about the integrity of dxo for many years. Frankly dxo is one data point, there are many other data points.
I agree.....but talk is not facts......
There has been talk that man never walked on the moon....it was all fake....
There has been talk that area 51 in New Mexico is where the government is hiding aliens from outer space....
some disagree with something ....unless their phone of choice comes out on top that is.....
 
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