One of the last great strongholds of Windows Phone and then Windows 10 Mobile is imaging, of course, thanks to the insane work done by the Nokia engineers in creating the Nokia 808 PureView, the Lumia 1020 and then the Lumia 950/XL (the latter under Microsoft branding). To such an extent that the Nokia 808 was five years ahead of the competition and even today the three year old Lumia 950 camera is beating off most of the 2018 competition. But PureView tech's creators have scattered, to Apple and Huawei notably, with Eero Salmelin heading up imaging for the latter and here's his latest creation, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
Back in April 2018, six months ago, I looked at imaging on the (then) new Samsung Galaxy S9+ versus the champion Lumia 950 XL and concluded that the 'tipping point' had been reached. Sure, the Lumia held its ground for regular images in all light conditions, but the telephoto lens on the S9+ gave it a vital overall edge in terms of distant detail. And now we have the S9+'s bigger brother, the new Note 9 (I refuse to write 'Note9', as PR people would have me do!) - the Note 9 has the same camera hardware as the S9+ but claims extra processing and a 'Scene Optimiser' intelligence. Will this take the device further away from the Lumia or does the AI stuff get in the way?
This is the latest (October 2018) update to the AAWP directory of curated UWP applications, those with native Windows 10 UI and which support different orientations, Continuum and even use on laptop or tablet. (Eight new entries, two apps withdrawn.)
The New York event last week, where the new Surface variants were announced, was also notable for the demonstration of a feature that isn't in Windows yet but soon will be - Android application mirroring, letting you see and use apps from a connected Android phone on your Windows 10 'Desktop'. This is just the latest of several steps seeing Microsoft align itself with Android as its effective preferred mobile OS.
The search goes on for a flagship phone on another platform that can fully replace a Lumia 950 XL without any showstoppers. I said earlier this year that the Galaxy S9+ and Note 9 are great options, but they're also pricey. The LG G7 offers almost everything that the Galaxys do, yet at (now) well under £500 all-in. So how does it stack up?
In this, part 2 of our new series in imaging comparisons, I'm looking at the Lumia 950/XL in comparison with other phone cameras, looking at specific aspects. Previously, I had tested (mainly) the telephoto zooms on the Galaxy S9+ and iPhone XS Max, this time I'm attempting a four way low light extravaganza, by throwing in the 950 too (of course), along with the well respected Google Pixel 2XL. Is there a low light winner?
The last few camera head to heads between the mighty Lumia 950 range and the telephoto-equipped competition have seen the latter win out by virtue of that extra lens. And, let's face it, who doesn't want to zoom in every now and then? But, if you're thinking of moving from Windows 10 Mobile to Android or iOS, which is the best zoom-equipped camera phone to consider? In the first of several such 'alternative' features, here's the Galaxy S9+ against the new iPhone XS Max...
With Apple picking up several of the ex-Nokia PureView team, it was clear that the iPhone's imaging was only going to get better and better, and the new XS Max is terrific. Thanks to the stablised 12MP telephoto lens, it can pick up detail at distance even beyond the mighty Lumia 950 (from 2015). But what about artefacts and performance under challenging light?
