Actually, as a photographer, the scene representation and white balance choices of the iPhone are the most real-to-life representations, vs the Pixel and Note who crank up the white balance to warm the images
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Camera Comparison: iPhone 12 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Damn, Google Pixel is in whole different league. The Pixel 5 has the camera sensor as that of the Pixel 2. Moreover the Pixel 5 lacks an image processor unlike the previous Pixel lineup.The photography processing algorithm on the Pixel is miles ahead.
Last edited:
It's all subjective but I like the Pixel 5 shots the best.
I wonder how the images compare to a DLSR camera ?
Finally, some sense in this forum (fitting I guess that you’re a staff member 😂)
Nobody is going to say it’s a bad picture if I hold up my phone and show them it. Side by side, yeah the clouds look artificially blue. But what about in an actually clear blue sky? All of these photos were taken the same day it looks like.
And you're *sure* the world wasn't *actually* tinted blue when you took those photos?
You mean cos of the cropping? It is notable how much more cropping the iPhone has to do to achieve Portrait than the other isn't it?
The iPhone looks like the jacked up mode Big Box stores use to showcase their TVs. Makes for eye candy but not accurate, and at home in a dark room it’s unwatchable.
It may depend on what monitor you viewing it on? The Iphone looks ok to me, and you can always edit if you
don't like it. They beauty of digital.
I have to say, as a filmmaker/photographer, I think something’s wrong with the reviewer’s iPhone or his settings. Having had the 12 Pro Max for almost a month, I’ve taken multiple pictures of cloudy and non-cloudy skies and never had this bluish cast problem.
Take another set of pictures but don't label them. Would love to see the Apple fans struggle to figure out which one is Apple so they don't pick the wrong one. From a realistic perspective, the iPhone is clearly not the winner. But some folks like bright, vivid photos even when it's unrealistic.
The Samsung looks the best to me. I'm currently using an iPhone 12 PRO
I agree. I am a pretty serious photographer, and have found the 12 Pro Max a touch cooler than prior iPhones, but in a balanced/accurate way, closer to my Pixel 3 (which I love! Note the newer Pixels are warmer). Older iPhones were too warm with a touch of yellow caste in landscapes/scenics. I haven't experienced the excessively cool white balance seen in this comparison. Something seems off. Another interesting thing is that none of the reviews or comparisons state whether the "Scene Detection" camera setting is on or off. This may create some differences between reviews. I plan to do a little testing with that setting... I've also been using ProRAW - it's really great! I like it better than the Pixel's version. The files are quite nice - just a touch of blocking in the shadows.
Funny thing. My wife picked the iPhone photos every time. And she didn’t know what she was looking at. Especially the night mode was dramatically better in her opinion.
edit: my 12pm pics don’t look like the reviewers at all. Except the night mode perhaps.
edit: my 12pm pics don’t look like the reviewers at all. Except the night mode perhaps.
I guess better than some of the mentioned phones.. depends on many things. There's no perfect cameras than the eyes we have. Nature knows better
wonder why that isn't just the default setting. I don't like it when default camera apps tint things like sky just because it's "sky". Stop making these default decisions for us! Realistic, then tweak. Not backwards.
It's like Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle. If you do something good then you do something else not so good.
Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max has the most advanced camera technology in the iPhone lineup, but how does it match up to flagship smartphones from other companies? In our latest YouTube video, we compared the iPhone 12 Pro Max to the Google Pixel 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra to see the differences in camera quality.
The $1099 iPhone 12 Pro Max has a triple-lens camera setup with 12-megapixel Ultra Wide, Wide, and Telephoto lenses, with upgrades in sensor size, stability, and telephoto lens over the iPhone 12 Pro.
In comparison, the $699 Pixel 5 has a 12.2-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 16-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens, while the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 108-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens. All three of the smartphones have similar capabilities such as HDR enhancements, portrait mode for background blurring and night mode for taking low light shots. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a LiDAR Scanner for improved low light photography, while the Note 20 Ultra has a laser AF sensor.
These are all high-end flagship smartphones with excellent camera quality, so before we even get into the comparison, it's worth noting that all of these smartphones take excellent images, with small differences between them that vary from photo to photo. Some people may prefer one camera's tendency towards cooler tones, or have a preference for warmer colors or a certain softness or sharpness, but for the most part, there's no one smartphone camera that's a clear winner because a lot comes down to personal tastes.
When taking these photos during a cloudy Ohio day, we found that the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a bit of a quirk when it comes to the sky. In all photos where there's a cloudy sky, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is tending towards blue, creating an artificially blue sky. Apple added HDR 3 Scene Recognition to this year's iPhones to better let the iPhone distinguish buildings and sky to "optimize" a scene, and that may be what's going on here.
It doesn't look bad, and some people may prefer the bluer sky, but it's not what the scene looked like in real life. Color wise, the Pixel 5 is probably the most true to life, and in several photos, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra used the same kind of effect to colorize the sky, albeit less dramatically.
Viewed alone, the iPhone 12 Pro Max photo doesn't look out of the ordinary and is arguably brighter and more engaging, but next to the Pixel 5, there's a stark difference. Most of the time, the blue tint applies only to the sky, but there are a few instances where the entire photo has a blue cast. This is, of course, limited to situations with cloudy outdoor skies, but it does persist across the Wide and Ultra cameras.
An ultra-wide shot
In Portrait Mode day shots, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a tendency to blow the highlights just a bit with higher brightness and a boost to the colors, which again, doesn't look bad and is probably what most people will prefer, but is a different look than the Pixel 5 and Note 20 Ultra, both of which have cooler tones.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max does a lot better with edges in Portrait Mode than prior iPhones, but compared to the Pixel 5, it seems a little bit soft. That said, the Pixel 5 has problems with edge detection and is sharpening areas that it should not in some situations. Looking at the water in the above shot is a good example of the Pixel 5's uneven blurring.
In Night Mode, the iPhone 12 Pro Max trends towards much warmer tones than the Pixel 5 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The Note 20 Ultra is also on the warmer side, while the Pixel 5 seems to be erring on the side of being a little too cool. In the gazebo photo below, the gazebo is white and there's no real reason for it to have such a warm cast. Not all Night Mode photos from the iPhone have warm tones that dramatic, but the color is noticeable next to photos from other smartphones.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max tends to produce more even lighting in Night Mode, while the Pixel 5 makes some areas of the image too bright. The iPhone 12 Pro Max also seems to be softer in some Night Mode photos, like this portrait shot.
All in all, Both the iPhone 12 Pro Max and Pixel 5 seem to beat out the Note 20 Ultra, but again, it's a matter of preference. The Pixel 5 tends to have colors that are more realistic in terms of white balance, but some of the iPhone images are more visually appealing.
As for video, that's an area where the iPhone 12 Pro Max is a clear winner. Filming in 4K 60 fps, the other two smartphones just can't match the image quality and stability of the iPhone 12 Pro Max during the day. Quality is closer at night, but the iPhone still wins out with better stabilization.
Make sure to watch our video to see all of the photo comparisons, and then let us know what you think in the comments. Which smartphone takes the best images?
Article Link: Camera Comparison: iPhone 12 Pro Max vs. Google Pixel 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
Side by side, the Pixel 5 seems to have the best algorithms to produce the best photos.
Since getting the 12 Pro, I've taken shots outside and love the results, but I haven't taken any on cloudy days... to see it washes the sky blue even if its gray or overcast out is sort of a bummer.
Since getting the 12 Pro, I've taken shots outside and love the results, but I haven't taken any on cloudy days... to see it washes the sky blue even if its gray or overcast out is sort of a bummer.
I thought it was just me thinking that. iPhone shots look oversaturated especially in the first shot with the woman.
Yes, most consumer people prefer the "pop" colour and view those as better. But reality is that colour were never that pop out. iPhone photo looks more like painting or best suited for Instagram.
Personally I prefer the natural, Pixel 5 photos. And yes as someone mentioned, Apple were used to be the one producing natural colour while Android were all trying to pop up colours. Not exactly happy with the direction they are going.
In the sample pictures in this article...especially those which show the clouds in the background...the iPhone clearly skews the white balance in the cool direction.