Digit Zero1 Awards: Best Smartphone Cameras

Digit Zero1 Awards: Best Smartphone Cameras
HIGHLIGHTS

Smartphone cameras came a long way this year, and while it's far from replacing the mighty DSLRs, it can make point-and-shoot-cameras obsolete. We picked out the best smartphone camera among all.

Much of the discussion about smartphones have been around the camera in 2017. Smartphones makers will like you to believe the phone cameras will make DSLRs obsolete, but that’s far from the truth. But even though they can’t replace DSLRs yet, smartphone cameras now replace the point and shoot cameras. And that’s proven by the top three cameras on phones in 2017.

Smartphone cameras improved across the price range this year, quite fascinatingly. Dual cameras now come for as low as Rs 11,000 and dual-pixel sensors are now commonplace. Asus even used a dual-pixel sensor on the front camera of a phone in 2017 and while Asus didn’t really implement it in the right way, it’s a sign of good things to come.

These are the smartphones of 2017 with the best cameras.

2017 ZERO1 AWARD WINNER: GOOGLE PIXEL 2 XL

The Pixel 2 XL is not only the best Android phone you can buy today, it’s also the best camera phone on offer. It has a 12.2 MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture and 1.4 micron pixel size. But hardware is not what makes this camera great. That credit goes to Google’s impressive software, driven by machine learning. The company must have put all the learnings from years of image uploads and its learnings from last year’s Pixel smartphone to good effect.

In practice, the Pixel 2 XL/Pixel 2 are the perfect point and shoot cameras out there. They do falter with white balance at times, but most will probably not mind it. Google’s focus though seems to have been on producing the highest details a smartphone camera can produce. In our comparison tests, the phone consistently performed better than the iPhone X and Galaxy Note 8 in all kinds of conditions.

But all that processing should take a lot of time, right? Google has smartly moved that processing part to the photo gallery, so you can click back to back shots. So, with the impressive focusing speeds, you can click back to back images without fail. Admittedly, we would have preferred a more consistent imaging experience, but we have no qualms in awarding the Pixel 2 XL this year’s Zero1 for best camera phone.Click here to buy.

RUNNER UP: iPHONE X

Scoring out of 55, the Pixel 2 XL got 46.5 point while the iPhone X came in at 44.5. That’s a very accurate representation of how close these two cameras are. The iPhone X has two 12 megapixel camera on the back, with Apple’s telephoto implementation. The iPhone X’s camera also has f/1.8 aperture, though it still doesn’t do as well in low light as the Pixel 2 XL or Samsung Galaxy Note 8, albeit for different reasons. The Pixel 2 XL produces more detailed photos, while the Note 8 produces noticeably brighter shots. Of course, the Note 8 smudges the details in the process.

Yet, the iPhone X has an excellent smartphone camera overall. Apple usually focuses on true to source imaging, but the company seems to have put some emphasis on producing more vibrant colours this time. As a result, it loses some details, which you will only see if you compare it side by side with the Pixel 2 XL.Click here to buy.

BEST BUY: SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 8

When it was launched, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 had the best camera on the market. Now it falls behind both the Pixel 2 XL and iPhone X. Many would argue that the Note 8 shoots the best low light photos smartphone can, but in producing brighter photos, the phone compromises on details quite significantly.
Surprisingly though, the Galaxy Note 8 is the cheapest which makes it the best buy.Click here to buy.

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