Compared camera Huawei Mate 20 Pro vs iPhone XS Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 9 …

Now that we only have more than a month left to complete 2018 and the latest series of flagship projects, we have been able to bring together a handful of the most prominent smartphones of the year to be able to compare them face to face with what we really wanted. : the photographic capacity of its rear cameras. There are one, two and three, so this time the photographic comparison of the best smartphones of 2018 he promised and a lot.

This year, the camera level is very high and in several categories there was a draw. Even among us, we did not reach a clear agreement when everyone excelled (or did not live up to the level we expected). In the ring: the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, the iPhone XS Max, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, the OnePlus 6T, the Sony Xperia XZ3, the LG G7 ThinQ, the Google Pixel 3 XL and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. judges: Juan Carlos López, editor-in-chief of Engadget, and who writes to you, then we tell you what we thought of the photographic performance of these smartphones.

Rear camera technical data

	Sony Xperia XZ3	Pixel 3 XL	iPhone XS Max	Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro	OnePlus 6T	Samsung Galaxy Note 9	LG G7 ThinQ	Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Main camera	19 megapixels	12.2 megapixels with f / 1.8 aperture	Wide angle opening 12 megapixel f / 1.8	12 megapixel wide angle f / 1.8	6 megapixel with f / 1.7 aperture	12 megapixels f / 1.5-f / 2.4 (double aperture)	16 megapixel super wide angle of 107 degrees and aperture f / 1.9	40 megapixels (RGB) and f / 1.8 aperture
Secondary camera			12 megapixel telephoto lens with f / 2.4 aperture	12 megapixel telephoto lens with f / 2.4	20 megapixels with f / 1.7 aperture	12 megapixel telephoto f / 2.4	16 megapixels of 71 degrees and f / 1.6 aperture	20 megapixel (wide-angle) and f / 2.2 + 8 megapixel (telephoto) aperture and f / 2.4 aperture
Optical zoom	No	No	Yes	Yes		Yes	No	Yes
Portrait mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (only people)
Night mode	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Other			Double OIS			Variable opening		Leica Vario-Summilux Optics, AIS

Video photo comparison

A walk in camera applications

Something fundamental for a good experience of photography is the performance and interface of camera applications. In each analysis, we discussed it in detail, but it is useful to examine them here to make a reminder without having to go to take a look at each message and taking advantage of anticipating a part of the experience with the cameras.

Huawei Mate 20 Pro App

EMUI maintains the interface by means of non-modifiable tabs that add and delete modes, with the addition of for theoretically secondary modes such as monochrome. However, we also find that HDR, which usually has fast access to automatic shooting, is a scene-dependent folding tool.

Own tabs we see them for the portrait, open and night modes among others like the manual. The first one gives us the opportunity to portray people, leaving everything else in open mode (a classic in this app), and the night mode uses Artificial Intelligence Stabilization (AIS) to take long shots exhibition without tripod.

App of the iPhone XS Max

Another application with tabbed browsing and slips to navigate through them. Few changes since the installation of minimalism with iOS 7, with additions such as moving photos or portrait mode (which has its own tab) and a pretty simple designas well as its use.

With iOS 12, the HDR has become intelligent, or rather independent. To try to have manual control, you need to disable the Smart HDR (in the camera settings, apart from the application in the general settings menu), so that the direct button appears in the interface, but it does not always jump even if we activate it manually.

LG G7 ThinQ App

At LG, we somehow forget about the slide to switch sections and we have the modes in a button in the interface of the automatic mode. HDR is also part of the settings options, such as Brightness mode (which is what LG's night mode would be).

With manual mode and wide-angle shooting typeThere are three fixed tabs for the automatic, the shot with artificial intelligence and the portrait mode. Navigation may be something less intuitive for the distribution of the elements and the night mode will only be activated if the lighting conditions are sufficiently low even if it is put in manual mode.

OnePlus 6T App

Again, we have tabbed browsing, in fact, the interface pretty much reminds iOS for its the simplicity and color palette. Although in this case there is another way, adding the manual and the mono night among other things to portrait mode.

Manual control of HDR is activated from the settings, being these in the application and allowing to shoot in a high dynamic range if the user wishes. This remains in the interface of automatic mode, with quick access, without having to search it every time we want to turn it on or off.

Pixel 3 XL App

As we explained in the analyzes, the Google photo application has been updated by adopting this provision and tab navigation slippery, leaving behind the hamburger menu to access portrait modes or newly released night mode. These occupy either your own tab or a site in the "More" tab, Huawei style.

At the moment, Mountain View does not yet enter manual mode into your camera and leaves everything in the hands of algorithms and processing, but you can choose the high dynamic range degree that is applied (whether HDR + or Enhanced HDR +) or shooting format (if RAW or only JPG), both options as well as the choice of video size of the file in the settings of the application. By activating them, they will appear as quick access in the automatic trigger interface.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 App

The Samsung application maintains its interface for a few years, with a simple design and distribution in tabs with which one navigates. slips. The HDR is still in the settings (and is not available in manual mode, as usually happens in most cases), but we can change the order and appearance of some of the modes.

There is no night mode, but it has a manual mode and a feature that we only see in mobile phones of South Koreans: the opening variable. We talked about it in analysis (especially in the Samsung Galaxy S9 + to be one of those who published it), and to use it, we have to choose the mode Manual or Pro,

Sony Xperia XZ3 App

Sony is also quite conservative and its application has changed little over the years. There is two tabs for camera and video, being the modes in a menu in which those in the form of a separate application, as in the case of fuzzy modes.

The navigation in this regard is not very intuitive and, in fact, it took us a bit to install the one in portrait, which is like an application in the Play Store. HDR is only available in manual mode, so that to try to get a larger dynamic range without stopping to adjust the parameters, you have to open the manual mode, activate the HDR and leave the rest in automatic mode.

Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro App

The Xiaomi app is quite similar to the iOS or Huawei app with regard to navigation, tab layout and color palette. He has a clean button to activate the action of artificial intelligence (unlike EMUI, which is in the settings and we have to enter each time) with the HDR, and has the portrait and manual modes.

Depending on the characteristics of the mobile, the manual mode has a choice of optics. That is to say we can choose to shoot with the main or secondary camera, which can be a telephoto or a wide angle camera, and as with LG, we can focus on the highlight (which illuminates the area focused in one color).

General shot

Perhaps the scene where cameras are most comfortable when the light is abundant. In this case, it also helps us to see how they behave these optical zooms, who is the one who achieves the most and if they manage to differentiate themselves from the electronic systems, as well as the best performing mobile in terms of dynamic range, both with a favorable light and with a backlight.

In this photo, we can already look at many aspects. Some like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the iPhone XS Max, the Sony Xperia XZ3 and especially the Xiaomi Mi 8 have a slight overexposureOthers, such as the Pixel 3 XL and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, tend to oversaturate (without however leaving a result far from reality).

We observed that in terms of color fidelity, the Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro, the Note 9 and the XZ3 were a bit early (the OnePlus being a little further), although in detail, the Pixel stands out and looks pretty handsome. the note and the iPhone, having more room to enhance the Sony Xperia XZ3, the Mi 8 Pro or the G7.

In this case, Juan Carlos first places the Huawei Mate 20 Pro for his ability to recovery of details in dark and light areas, colorimetry and absence of chromatic aberrations, then place the Galaxy Note 9 at a very short distance from the Pixel 3 XL and the iPhone XS Max. My podium corresponds to some of the terminals but in a different order: iPhone XS Max, OnePlus 6T and Huawei Mate 20 Pro, because I think that Apple measures the colors better and gets more details, and that OnePlus and Huawei is Defend well at the level of the dynamic range, the colorimetry and the sharpness, even if I believe it to a lesser extent than Apple.

Taking advantage of this general blow, we put to the test the zoom. With the exception of the Sony Xperia, the LG G7 and the Pixel 3 XL all have an optical zoom of at least 2 magnifications, and try to zoom evenly (though in cases like the one I've seen). Google's interface does not indicate increases and can framing and the distance differs slightly).

Due to its level of detail and the lack of chromatic aberrations, Juan Carlos believes that the best zoom is the one (best to worst) of the OnePlus 6T, the iPhone XS Max and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. detail and that in fact the other two seats could perfectly be exchanged between Apple phones and Huawei. I see better zoom in the case of the iPhone (more sharpness), but gave the Silver OnePlus because it manages to differentiate itself at the level of detail obtained and the bronze Huawei, since I think it is the best results at the border, especially.

We see that they are those who sin least to exaggerate the outlines, which we see with greater impact in the G7 and XZ3 for which it has no optical zoom (the pixel may be recorded by the effect of the treatment that Google has devoted to obtaining an improved digital zoom). Those we have selected as winners seem to be the ones who are overall more balanced and able to cope with the guarantees offered by different scenarios and insights.

Macro

This type of scenes is perhaps the most comfortable par excellence for mobile cameras, and also one of the most popular and most popular in social networks. Here, the foreground details and the natural blur of the lenses are tested, as well as the minimum focus distance and obedience.

Overall, we found that this solves better and faster the Pixel 3 XL (the new approach was designed), both the detail and the blur that remains, closely followed by the Huawei Mate 20 Pro (for its precise approach) and with a third place played between the OnePlus 6T (for Juan Carlos, which considers that the result is similar although a little below) and the iPhone XS Max (for me, since the result is more natural). There are also terminals that tend to vary the balance of the targets being a little warmer, which in this case does not favor, and others that do not define the object too much at foreground (usually occurring when forced to the minimum distance).

HDR

The previous shots are in automatic mode, but what if we try the HDR And if we do it with a backlight? There is a clear division here between those who manage to save a little better the lights of the backlit figure, with differences also in the white balance (especially in the Pixel 3 XL, which varies between an HDR and a other).

Here we think that The one who defends the best is the OnePlus 6T, with a Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro that behaves pretty well with the iPhone XS Max. Juan Carlos believes that the podium here was close enough, but believes that the OnePlus 6T stands out from the others for recovering more information in dark and bright areas. The Pixel 3 XL fails to stand out with any of its modes for Juan Carlos and leaves him in third place with Mi 8 Pro, the Xperia XZ3 and the iPhone, although I give a minipunto to the HDR + of the Pixel 3 XL because I think it defends the detail very well despite the difficulty and balance of the show.

In the night the application of this shot can influence the details by combining the exposures and the remaining shadows and outlines. Comment that in this case was not possible to force the HDR of the iPhone, so in the photo no change in the dynamic range or other aspects.

In this case, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Pixel 3 XL recover their positions (the Pixel always has a better white balance still in the HDR +, not the improved), being further behind the Xperia XZ3, the Mi 8 Pro and the Note 9. OnePlus 6T is always balanced and the HDR helps you to define something better.

Interiors

In this scene, the difficulties begin to appear especially when it is necessary to preserve the details and to avoid that the noise contaminates the result too much. ISOs increase, shutter speeds decrease, and the variety of outlines, white balance, and sharpness is sufficient.

We agree here and consider that the detail is retained a little more in the case of Huawei and the OnePlus 6T. Juan Carlos thinks that the Mate 20 Pro has a convincing white balance and reduces noise. For me it is slightly overexposed, but I agree and I think it's more balanced than the OnePlus, which I put second, because I think it's more at the intersection of the reduction of noise, details and white balance only for the rest.

Juan Carlos puts him in third position because he sees that the OnePlus 6T is superior to the others, knowing that Sony deserves the second place for his good work on this front. I put the third one because I see something noisier than in the OnePlus, but at least do not overexpose because I think they make the Mi 8 Pro, the iPhone XS Max and the LG G7 (without being exaggerated, it's usual that it happens in dark scenes to compensate).

Night photography

This is probably the most demanding condition for cameras and their processing, especially if light is scarce. We see here variations in the white balance and in particular in the level of detail they maintain, as well as in the amount of noise. We compared a shot in automatic mode, then another in a darker scene, to also take a picture face to face Nightly modes of Pixel 3 XL, OnePlus 6T, Huawei Mate 20 Pro and LG G7 ThinQ.

Those who behaved better at night in the HDR were the Pixel 3 XL (although much better in its HDR + than in its automatic) and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, but in this case with much less light the OnePlus 6T, the The iPhone XS Max and the XZ3 manage to differentiate themselves. Others control the exhibition less well, forcing them to make scenes too exposed, hot, with watercolors and noise.

Attend night modes, we see a big difference especially between those of Huawei and Pixel and those of LG and OnePlus. The G7's brightness mode retains much less detail and exposes more, and although the auto exposure time (the Huawei allows manual adjustment) does not differ too much between them, the stage lights are better measures than others. In this example, it is Huawei who wins.

In synthesis of all night scenes Juan Carlos and I put the Google smartphone first, considering that it retrieves the maximum of detail and captures as much light as possible with as little noise as possible (taking into account all of its modes of shooting), and we agree in the third, d & # 39; a successful Huawei Mate 20 Pro, which we also believe control noise. But in second place, Juan Carlos puts the OnePlus 6T (also capturing enough light without masking the noise), while I see a more balanced iPhone, nightless mode or an effective HDR also controlling the noise and maintaining a good balance whites.

Portrait mode

One of the most prominent trends in mobile photography over the past two years. Currently Most manufacturers incorporate a, differentiating both in the process and in the source of the image (or images), and thus in the result.

Here we examine what best saves the outlines, as well as the quality and type of background blur. In some cases, we find a flatter application, as in the case of bokeh Pixel software, or there are certain nuances that we do not see so much in automatic shooting as in the case of a warmer white balance in the iPhone.

There are aspects that are almost inevitable in one of them, whether they are based on optics or not, like the holes that remain in the main plane (the typical space if we open our arms and that there is an opening with our body or in the case following the handle). the cut), but what we see here is which best defines the cut when the chromatic contrast with the background is smaller.

Con éstas y el resto de pruebas que hemos hecho ambos creemos que el Pixel es el que mejor modo retrato tiene teniendo en cuenta todas las escenas, aunque seguido bien de cerca del iPhone XS Max y la combinación de modos retrato y apertura del Huawei Mate 20 Pro (al probar con objetos y personas), que han sido segundo y tercero para Juan Carlos y a la inversa para mí.

Coincidimos en que el de Google tiene un bokeh homogéneo que da un resultado acertado y que suele ser certero en la identificación del contorno del objeto, aunque Juan Carlos coloca antes el iPhone XS Max por la calidad general de los retratos y yo considero que acierta más Huawei en la identificación de contornos (de hecho creo que hay una mejora considerable en estos modos con respecto a lo que hemos visto anteriormente en la marca).

El resto nos convence en menos ocasiones y tiene resultados más irregulares, y sobre todo consideramos que Sony debería incorporarlo como una posibilidad más de la propia app y no como app accesoria (ya que podría ser desconocida para el usuario que adquiere el móvil). Resulta muy sencillo tener el modo retrato cerca en la interfaz, teniendo en cuenta además el auge que está experimentando, por eso (y por calidad final) hemos tenido una mejor experiencia cuando está integrado.

Y el ganador es…

Con el nivel que está alcanzando la fotografía móvil hacer este tipo de comparativas es tan interesante como complicado. Hay escenas en las que ha sido bastante complicado decir quiénes sobre salen, así como ponernos de acuerdo en ello a la hora de decidir un ganador o quiénes merecen las medallas.

Así, teniendo en cuenta los minipuntos que hemos ido dando por su desenvoltura en cada escenario, la eficacia de su fotografía y procesado y los aspectos que hemos ido definiendo en cada apartado, nos toca darle el oro al Pixel 3 XL, la plata compartida entre el OnePlus 6T y el Huawei Mate 20 Pro y el bronce para el iPhone XS Max. El resto no queda lejos, pero consideramos que tienen más margen de mejora en su procesado y ejecución.

	Juan Carlos	Anna
Ganador en toma general	Huawei Mate 20 Pro	iPhone XS Max
Ganador en HDR	OnePlus 6T	OnePlus 6T
Ganador en macro	Pixel 3 XL	Pixel 3 XL
Ganador en zoom	OnePlus 6T	iPhone XS Max
Ganador en nocturna	Pixel 3 XL	Pixel 3 XL
Ganador en interiores	Huawei Mate 20 Pro	Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Ganador en retrato	Pixel 3 XL	Pixel 3 XL

Lo que concluimos de cada uno, a modo de resumen, sería lo siguiente:

• Huawei Mate 20 Pro: los de Huawei nos han mostrado que la triple cámara puede ser una herramienta muy interesante, pero asistida con un procesado que al final da muy buen resultado de noche y disparos acertados en otros escenarios. Aunque en otros casos no logra destacar, con margen de mejora en la exposición y la colorimetría.
• iPhone XS Max: es una de las cámaras más versátiles al dar un resultado más que aceptable en la gran mayoría de escenarios, pero no se posiciona claramente como un ganador ni siquiera en un modo retrato que en ediciones anteriores sí sobresalía de manera evidente con respecto a las otras opciones. El procesado podría mejorar el resultado de una óptica que sigue siendo interesante (aunque cada vez con una competencia más convincente).
• LG G7 ThinQ hace un balance de blancos convincente y tiene un desenfoque de fondo homogéneo, pero controla menos la sensibilidad cuando escasea la luz (y el detalle es menor), y su modo brillo es quizás el menos espectacular de los cuatro que hemos probado.
• OnePlus 6T: es un poco el móvil revelación de esta comparativa al venir el último y rendir muy bien a nivel global, con un bokeh muy uniforme en el modo retrato y un trazado de contornos bastante preciso, así como un buen rendimiento al disparar en HDR recuperando mucha información en las zonas más iluminadas y más oscuras. Eso sí, su tratamiento del color queda por detrás de los que mejor miden la colorimetría.
• Pixel 3 XL: quizás el que mejor defina y controle los contornos y sobre todo el que mejor se porta en muchos de los escenarios de disparo. Las tomas nocturnas con HDR+ ya son buenas (no tanto las automáticas) y el modo noche es uno de los que mejor rinde, pero cierto es que ofrece menos libertad a la hora de elegir la composición que los smartphones con varias cámaras.
• Samsung Galaxy Note 9: buena gestión del color, balance de blancos muy logrado y desenfoque de fondo homogéneo, pero en tomas nocturnas queda algo por detrás de los que sí logran destacar en este escenario al recuperar menos información en zonas oscuras.
• Sony Xperia XZ3: La colorimetría es fidedigna y recupera bastante información en zonas oscuras al activar el HDR, aunque no es el que mejor queda en este escenario. En modo retrato está claramente por detrás aunque a veces se logra un desenfoque de fondo uniforme (si no nos pasamos al usarlo en la herramienta de ajuste a posteriori) y en tomas nocturnas está también en inferioridad con respecto sobre todo a los que tienen un modo noche competente.
• Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro: logra medir bien el ruido cuando escasea la luz y de noche no se desenvuelve mal si hay iluminación abundante. También tiene una colorimetría fidedigna, pero aunque da buenas sensaciones globales no logra estar en el mismo nivel que los smartphones que logran sobresalir en una mayoría de escenarios.

La experiencia también repercute en la satisfacción final, por eso hemos querido comentar también algunos aspectos de las apps porque su interfaz y distribución puede influir en que descubramos o no alguna de sus posibilidades, y sobre todo en lo a gusto que salgamos a realizar las fotografías. En todo caso, lo que nos vuelve a quedar claro es que en fotografía móvil no por más (cámaras) es mejor y que, aunque el trabajo que han hecho los fabricantes en los últimos dos años es espectacular, siempre queda algo que poder mejorar para competir con más fuerza.