Camera in iPhone 13 beats iPhone 12 Pro in DxOMark testing

The camera in the iPhone 13 is an improvement on the version used in the iPhone 12 Pro, according to a new DxOMark review, with it equalling the score of the iPhone 12 Pro Max for its imaging capabilities.

In September, DxO reviewed the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max cameras, with their scoring putting Apple's latest models at the top of its smartphone rankings. Published on Friday, its scoring of the iPhone 13 puts the model within the top five devices in the chart.

Starting out its review, DxO points out that the primary module has the same size sensor as the iPhone 12 Pro Max, with Dual-Pixel autofocus instead of PDAF, along with an f/1.6 aperture lens and sensor shift stabilization. It's accompanied by an ultra wide camera with the "same tech specs as on the iPhone 12 generation."

In testing, the iPhone 13 managed 138 points in the Photo category, 55 in Zoom, and 117 in Video. This resulted in the overall mark of 130.

According to the review, the camera had an accurate and repeatable target exposure, with "generally nice colors and white balance," and "good detail in daylight and under indoor lighting." Praise was also given to video with its wide dynamic range, accurate and stable exposure and white balance, and a good texture to noise trade-off.

On the negative side, there were complaints about luminance noise under low light, a limited dynamic range for "challenging high contrast scenes," image artifacts, limited detail in a medium to long-range zoom, and sharpness differences between video frames.

The review itself is briefer than typical, as DXO deems the iPhone 13's camera to be near identical to the system in the iPhone 13 mini, which it previously reviewed in full.

The score of 130 for the iPhone 13 puts it equal to the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max, and two points ahead of the iPhone 12 Pro. It rests in joint fourth place behind the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max at 137, and the "Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders" at 133.

Latest Exclusives

Latest comparisons

7 Comments

Fred257 256 comments · 5 Years

About 3 years ago

The cameras are the only thing they’ve improved since the first iPhone SE. everything else is a complete letdown

slurpy 5388 comments · 15 Years

Fred257 said:

The cameras are the only thing they’ve improved since the first iPhone SE. everything else is a complete letdown

I mean every single word of your statement is an objective, verifiable lie, but sure thing dude. Cause you said it, must be true.

The objective truth is that there isn’t a single hardware aspect that hasn’t been improved vastly since the first SE. The fact that you’re a lying troll doesn’t negate that.

Xed 2875 comments · 4 Years

Fred257 said:

The cameras are the only thing they’ve improved since the first iPhone SE. everything else is a complete letdown

The only thing since they introduced an inexpensive iPhone in 2016? No new SoCs? No new display tech? No increased battery life? Not a single benchmark or component was improved in the least? Even Helen Keller can see how stupid your comment is.

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

Fred257 said:

The cameras are the only thing they’ve improved since the first iPhone SE. everything else is a complete letdown

While it's true that they haven't improved much of anything, they've also been actively making lots of things worse, like taking away the headphone jack and the home button, and adding that idiotic notch to the screen.

darkvader said:

Fred257 said:

The cameras are the only thing they’ve improved since the first iPhone SE. everything else is a complete letdown

While it's true that they haven't improved much of anything, they've also been actively making lots of things worse, like taking away the headphone jack and the home button, and adding that idiotic notch to the screen.

Ah, yes, the ol' "Apple hasn't been good for years" argument. You'll put your stake in the ground and then move it every year or so in hopes that you can still sound relevant and objective in your blind hate for a company while still posting on a forum dedicated to its products and services. Makes perfect sense, but perhaps you should splurge for real therapy to deal with your personal issues.