You can probably guess the winner right off the bat, since the new Sony Android device's camera lacks OIS, for starters, plus it's single LED flash only, but hey, it's a 1/2.3" f/2.0 aperture unit and so should be in the same ballpark, at least. So let's see how we go.
Here are the two contenders then, the £350 Lumia 950 (albeit with Mozo back on here for the photo!) and the £450 (currently) Sony Xperia X (it'll come down to £350 too within 3 months, you mark my words!):
Both devices were bang up to date - the 950 on the latest Redstone beta and the Sony Xperia X on its latest OS update, just two or three days ago.
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Test 1: Overcast landscape
My typical suburban scene, with loads of detail, shot here in overcast conditions as the sun wasn't playing ball! In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and Xperia X, click the links to download. Now, because there are significant differences in light levels, white balance and colour in some of these shots, for this feature I'm going to change the format slightly and include a second comparator for each test shot. Firstly comparing the overall images, resized for the web here:
Although at first glance the Xperia X shot looks better, in fact it was using HDR and processing to inject colour that really wasn't there - it was a drab overcast day and the 950 nails the scene, at least to match what my eyes saw.
And secondly as central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
I'm afraid that this is where it starts to get ugly for Sony fans - while the house detail is not much worse than that on the 950, just look at any of the greenery - Sony's algorithms make a complete and utter mess of natural detail. As with the last five generations of Sony smartphone, there's a reliance on noise reduction and image smoothing that is very destructive to image quality. In my opinion.
Lumia 950: 10 pts, Xperia X: 6 pts
Test 2: Sunny macro
For a complete contrast in test case, here's a flower shot while the sun was out! Challenging too, since white flowers often get 'blown out'. In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and Xperia X, click the links to download.
Firstly comparing the overall images, resized for the web here:
As you might expect, both smartphone cameras do very well in such ideal conditions, both focus down to about 10cm or so - go closer than this and it's tough to get a focus lock with the optics.
Let's look closer. As central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
Well, there's not that much to choose between the two images in terms of detail here - the Lumia 950 has the edge in terms of contrast and reproduction, I'd say, but you couldn't really complain about the Xperia X's shot.
Lumia 950: 10 pts, Xperia X: 9 pts
Test 3: Blossom, ultra-close focus
I was curious as to how close these phones could focus - the Lumia 950's shot above was at my first try, the Xperia X was the best of four attempts (annoyingly). In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and Xperia X, click the links to download.
Firstly comparing the overall images, resized for the web here:
Although the very closest tip of the blossom wasn't quite in focus on the 950 shot, it's still a stunning image - and obtained on the first try. In contrast, I just could not get the Xperia X to focus on this stem, the shot above was the best of the bunch and disappointing.
Let's look closer. As central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
As you'll have gathered from the overview, the Sony makes a complete mess of trying to focus on something so close, no matter how I tried. There are glimpses of focus beyond the blossom, but in terms of nailing a photo I wanted the Sony failed completely.
Lumia 950: 9 pts, Xperia X: 2 pts
Test 4: Outdoors, dusk
Not totally dark, but very dim, with the last light in the sky. And slightly darker than the two phone cameras make it seem (as you can judge from the streetlights). In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and Xperia X, click the links to download.
Firstly comparing the overall images, resized for the web here:
There's not that much to differentiate at first glance, but the 950 does seem to 'have' it, plus it gets the exposure closest to how my eyes say the scene - the Xperia X shot is way too light.
Let's look closer. As central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
What you're seeing here is the difference OIS makes to a phone camera. With the 1/25s shot on the Xperia X, there's still long enough for the tiniest of hand trembles to make a difference to crispness in the photo. Meanwhile the Lumia 950 exposes for roughly twice as long and gets an immaculately crisp image. Which is why every flagship camera other than Sony's in recent years has now followed Nokia's lead in incorporating OIS.
Lumia 950: 10 pts, Xperia X: 6 pts
Test 5: Zoom time
This should be interesting, since both phones use a higher resolution underlying sensor to allow themselves some leeway when zooming (to still produce an 8MP JPG). In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and Xperia X, click the links to download.
Firstly comparing the overall images, resized for the web here:
Slightly better contrast and detail on the Lumia 950, but both phones handle modest zoom (around 4x?) here pretty well. (See also my article on PureView zoom.)
Let's look closer. As central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
There's not much in it here - other than to remember to email Tesco about the state of their main sign! Both phone photos show some digital zoom artefacts, but not massively, since they're both not long out of lossless zoom territory here. I'm going to give the win the 950 by a point because of the fuzziness in some parts of the crop in the Xperia X image.
Lumia 950: 8 pts, Xperia X: 7 pts
Test 6: Flashing!
OK, not a beer/party shot, but I did want to show the difference in flash illumination. In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and Xperia X, click the links to download.
Firstly comparing the overall images, resized for the web here:
The Xperia Z's lens is slightly more wide angle than the Lumia 950's and this shot shows the angle difference off well. Both photos are OK but you get the impression that the Xperia X was starting to struggle a bit.
Let's look closer. As central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:
The greater flash illumination (triple versus single) plus the use of OIS to allow longer exposures plus the narrower angle all combine for a dramatically better lit and clearer image for the Lumia 950. Hopefully you can measure the difference with your own eyes by looking at all the textual elements in the crops above?
Lumia 950: 9 pts, Xperia X: 7 pts
Verdict
As ever, I do like to tot up the points in these comparisons, even though it's purely a formality in this case:
- Microsoft Lumia 950: 56/60pts
- Sony Xperia X: 37/60pts
A huge gulf between these two phones in terms of imaging then - the Lumia 950 (and, to be fair, the HTC 10 and LG G5 and iPhone 6s) run rings round the Sony Xperia X. You could argue that it's not pitched as a flagship, but then why is it up in the £500 price range? And the Z5 is being retired, leaving just the X and variants.
I fully acknowledge, for the umpteenth time, that the Windows 10 Mobile OS is not fully finished and that there are plenty of UWP apps needed before the app ecosystem is remotely complete, but there's no doubting the ex-Nokia imaging prowess still at Microsoft and the Lumia 950's camera is physical proof, still wowing anyone who will give it a chance. (I despair of tech reviewers round the world doing imaging comparisons and either missing the 950 out or not bothering to look down at the detail....)