In the test, you vote several times between two photos that were shot with different smartphones. (Picture vote.mkbhd.com)
Marques Brownlee has pitted the cameras of 16 phones against each other in his latest video to determine the best smartphone camera of 2022. For the blind test, he shot a daylight scene, a low-light scene and a portrait photo with each mobile phone. Then he and his team have one website created where you can vote for which photos you like more.
Two photos of the same scene, which were shot with different smartphones, are compared again and again. You choose a favourite. At the end of the test you will find out which smartphone camera won for you personally. Using an Elo rating system similar to that used in online games, Marques Brownlee has determined the overall winner in each category.
Pure image quality is less important than you might think
The following smartphones took part in the blind test:
- Huawei Mate 50 Pro
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 14 Pro
- Moto Edge 2022
- Nothing Phone (1)
- OnePlus 10 Pro
- Oppo Find X5
- Google Pixel 6A
- Google Pixel 7 Pro
- Realme 10 Pro+
- ASUS ROG Phone 6
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Sony Xperia 1 IV
- Xiaomi 12s Ultra
- Asus Zenfone 9
- Vivo X80 Pro+
We don’t want to tell you at this point which mobile phone won in each category. For that you can have a look at the video from MKBHD, which is highly recommended anyway. For everyone else, we have prepared the resolution below.
link to YouTube content
These are the smartphones with the highest overall ranking:
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel 7 Pro
- Asus Zenfone
- Oppo Find X5 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Realme 10 Pro+
However, what is much more important are the insights that the Youtuber gained through this test. In most cases, the image wins that a brighter exposure can show. Smartphones that tend to underexpose therefore performed worse, even if they have high image quality according to DxOMARK’s laboratory tests, for example. However, too bright is also possible and in these cases the image with the correct exposure was often voted for.
In addition, a good placement in one category does not guarantee a high placement in another discipline. A cell phone that has a good night mode does not necessarily have to shoot good portraits.
Such a test once again impressively shows how unimportant pure image quality and megapixels can be. Many people prefer correct exposure and natural-looking colors, especially with skin tones.
To be perfectly honest, it’s probably more because most smartphones these days have very decent cameras. The story looks different if you compare the picture quality of an older cell phone with that of a modern one:
more on the subject
Google Pixel 7 camera in a comparison test against my current cell phone
What is most important to you in a smartphone camera? Image quality, colors, megapixels or other features? Write it to us in the comments!
