DXOMark is a french company dedicated to score several technology like Smartphones, Camera Lenses, Speakers and others. We will focus on Smartphone photography and why you shouldn’t blindy trust a company to rate something that only you can.
Not saying that the results are adulterated but the tests done are far from accurated. Sad enough the top devices are always from the same brands.
1 – Include GCam Mods along side Stock;
All the Smartphones with Google Play services allow users to install Google Camera Mods for their devices, this enhances the camera performance in terms of details, NR, etc. As you can see below:
IMG = Stock Camera
M18 = GCam Mod
GCam Mod allows users to control every aspect in a photo such as Contrast, Exposure, Sharpness, Noise Reduction and even upscaling images for higher resolutions. Due the Google software ISO is also way better controlled to provide better photos in any kind of scenarios.
AGC = GCam on Samsung S22 Ultra
2022 = Stock on Samsung S22 Ultra
2 – Provide REAL Pros and CONS independently on the brand;
Well DXOMark usually hides some CONS in certain brands probably only to enhance them. For example this is the the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Pros and Cons from DXOMark (source):
They even introduced a “Family and Friends” category (only for the newer test devices forgetting to update the old ones to increase the gap in scores) but even with that this is what they wrote in their iPhone review:
So it has vivid colors or slighly desaturated skin tones? Where’s the consistency on this and why is it not mentioned anywhere?
In the same Pros and Cons it is mentioned Wide dynamic range on Photo and Video but in the comparison below they changed their opinion:
Zoom capabilities are also funny to discuss where they compare and share photos out of focus. On the sample below they compare 3.5x optical zoom lens with a out of focus 3.5x digital zoom from the main lens from a Xiaomi 12S Ultra. Still it was mentioned a lack of detail on the iPhone on short range zoom and on long range as you can see below:
Wait lack of details isn’t part of the cons? Why is it hidden?
Funny enough that when they could use the Xiaomi 12S Ultra for the long range comparison (since it has a dedicated 5x optical zoom lens) they opted to use the Honor Magic 4 Ultimate. Again there’s no consistency, the comparisons are almost always made so the iPhone is never the worst but in the other phones review they reveal the worst parts of it.
Huawei Mate 40 Pro with 109 score in Exposure – [FULL RES SAMPLE] vs
iPhone 14 Pro with 111 score in Exposure – [FULL RES SAMPLE]
But this ain’t only for the Apple iPhone 14 Pro, let’s see the Xiaomi 12S Ultra (source):
Oh Accurate photo autofocus in all light conditions wow, let’s see what’s the score.
Well we should compare… let’s see… with a phone that couldn’t focus in any situation. Samsung S20 Ultra:
So Xiaomi 12S Ultra gets a 93 points as a “Accurate photo autofocus in all conditions” but a Samsung S20 Ultra gets a 97 points and even stating “…it underperformed against the best competitors”. And the phone was released in February, 2020.
3 – Use the Camera Settings or even the Mods by the Community
Regardless to say that in the Xiaomi phones without any Macro, the Macro setting is useless and the final image could be way better just doing digital zoom with the Main Lens.
Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra and Mi 11 Ultra has a Full resolution JPEG and RAW Module that provides waaaay better experience to the common rooted user than stock. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra even has a 2x Lens that uses the same technology as the Google Pixel 7 Pro or the iPhone 14 Pro/Max.
Even for the Apple users, 48MP Pro RAW can provide a better photograhy depending on the scenarios than some other phones. These things need to be proper tested so the user knows what to expect when buying a Smartphone and wants to squeeze the most of their cameras.
These are only a few samples from the several that you can discover on their website. You should look at their comparisons with caution to make sure you do the PROPER comparison with what you need in a Camera and not on worthless scores enhanced mostly by Bokeh or Preview, only if that matter for anyone.