iPhone XS Max scores second in DxOMark's smartphone camera tests

In a review published on Wednesday, benchmarking firm DxOMark scored the rear camera on the iPhone XS Max 105, ranking it second only to the Huawei P20 Pro, and comfortably above the Google Pixel 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

The phone has "one of the best mobile cameras," with significant improvements over the camera in the iPhone X, the company wrote. That includes Smart HDR, which is said to produce "very good target exposure and a wide dynamic range in all conditions." In bright lighting the XS Max is noted to have "excellent" results in both photo and video, with "spot on" exposure in outdoor shooting as well as good detail and color.

The phone actually scored 110 in photo and 96 in video — the biggest weakpoints in photo being zoom and bokeh (depth-of-field), the latter because Apple's simulated bokeh still makes mistakes in calculating depth, even if the XS Max does a better job than its predecessor.

DxO also took Apple to task for problems like underexposed flash shots, and luminance noise in zooms, shadows, and low light.

Video problems included the above-mentioned luminance noise as well as "unstable" white balance with indoor lighting.

The XS Max scored above several prominent competitors, such as the Google Pixel 2, and Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. The P20 Pro ranked first as a "triple-camera juggernaut," DxO said.

For several years now Apple has regularly promoted its cameras as one of the main selling points of iPhones. The rear camera on the XS Max has "focus pixels," upgraded light sensitivity, and enhanced processing thanks to a custom image signal processor and the A12 Bionic chip's Neural Engine. In a first for Apple, bokeh can be adjusted even after a photo is taken.

36 Comments

tht 23 Years · 5654 comments

About 6 years ago

These scores from the bottom of the list at 97 to the top of the list at 109 have virtually zero meaning. Picture quality is vastly more driven by human eyeballs understanding what makes a good picture and their capability to actually take the shot; and, like the billions of poor pictures taken from DSLRs, these smartphone cameras won’t enable someone to take better pictures. I’m sure I would be equally bad at taking a good picture with these phones as I am with my 6S Plus. ;)

Hate all these picture quality comparisons.

gatorguy 13 Years · 24627 comments

Wow this is great so far. Not a single member has accused another of lying or being a troll in this thread. Well done, we still have the possibility of an intelligent discussion.

JWSC 7 Years · 1203 comments

Well that it. It’s over. I’m done with iPhone for good. I’m buying a Huawei P20 Pro and will never look back. /s

radarthekat 12 Years · 3904 comments

I simply cannot imagine someone switching from an iPhone to a Hauwei (an Android phone) simply to get better camera functionality, especially since much of what we’ve heard lacking in the XS/XS Max photo/video quality is likely due to the image processing software via the new neural/ML engine, meaning that three months from now it could see dramatic improvements as Apple applies feedback to tune things.

muthuk_vanalingam 8 Years · 1371 comments

radarthekat said:

I simply cannot imagine someone switching from an iPhone to a Hauwei (an Android phone) simply to get better camera functionality, especially since much of what we’ve heard lacking in the XS/XS Max photo/video quality is likely due to the image processing software via the new neural/ML engine, meaning that three months from now it could see dramatic improvements as Apple applies feedback to tune things.

Agreed. Camera is just one part of smartphone experience. iOS Vs Android ALONE will seal the issue for most of the people (if not all). And it is not as-if P20 Pro camera is near-perfect. Far from it. It has its own weaknesses, again induced due to AI features in software. Not sure if they fixed those issues in the last 6 months though (we will come to know about it once the Mate 20 reviews are out). The only area where Huawei P20 Pro is way above other phones (including iPhones) is - extreme low light photography which is the hardest thing to pull off. So kudos to Huawei where due.
On the extreme low light photography - Huawei is going to retain that advantage even after 3 months because camera modules chosen by Huawei played the most significant advantage. No amount of software improvement can work around the superiority of sensors used by Huawei compared to the ones used by Apple.