The general comparison proved that the two smartphones were pretty level overall, with the Android powerhouse getting the nod by a nose, especially given the lower price. But one area where the Lumia 950 XL has the edge is in imaging and I've done my traditional imaging comparison feature below - your own eyes can evaluate the two phone cameras under a wide range of conditions.
Both devices were bang up to date - the Lumia 950 XL on the latest Redstone beta and the OnePlus 3 on its latest Oxygen OS (based on stock Android) update. The 950 XL shoots at 8MP usually, i.e. with oversampling, but I wanted to capture as much detail as it could, so opted for the 16MP mode, and this proved a better match for the OnePlus 3 in terms of field of view.
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Test 1: Overcast landscape
A local store scene, with loads of detail, shot here in overcast conditions as the sun wasn't playing ball (again)!
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and OnePlus 3, click the links to download. And here are the interesting 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:
Despite the average lighting, there's really not much to choose between the two phone cameras, you'd have to be very picky to award a win one way or the other. Both do a fine job.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts, OnePlus 3: 10 pts
Test 2: Overcast detail
Another favourite test shot of mine, with aircraft detail and greenery, always tricky for a phone camera to handle.
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and OnePlus 3, click the links to download. And here are the interesting 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:
Hard to pick a winner here too, with the 950 XL capturing slightly more detail but the OnePlus 3 doing a great job as well, with no real issues with artefacts.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts, OnePlus 3: 10 pts
Test 3: HDR forced on
Another aircraft, this time shot with HDR forced on. Both phones feature 'Auto-HDR' as a default, but in each case it could be forced on.
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and OnePlus 3, click the links to download. And here are the interesting 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 Lumia 950 XL starts drawing ahead here, but only by a small fraction - to my eyes, I prefer the character of the detail in the Lumia shot. But, again, both phone cameras do an astounding job - they show how far we've come.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts, OnePlus 3: 9 pts
Test 4: Zoom time
A shot, from a mile away, of Reading's 'Blade', digitally zoomed to roughly the same degree (about 4x?). This is the zoomed view, in overview:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and OnePlus 3, click the links to download. And here are the interesting 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:
Very different approaches to digital zoom here - the Lumia 950 XL's image is much more blocky and I still think work needs to be done to optimise zooming to be more 'interpolative'. While the OnePlus 3's zoom interpolates smoothly between sensor pixels, but the end result is a little indistinct. Neither are that pretty - your comments welcome!
Lumia 950 XL: 7 pts, OnePlus 3: 8 pts
Test 5: Dusk, very low light
Time to really test the sensors and optics, with a shot at dusk, with low ambient light - you can see the street lights now on:
In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 and OnePlus 3, click the links to download. And here are the interesting 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:
With both phone cameras including OIS, I'm not surprised at how incredibly crisp the shots are, despite exposure times in the order of 1/17s. To my eyes, the OnePlus 3's shot 'tries too hard' in terms of processing, with colours that are artificially enhanced and noise that's creeping through the algorithms. So the 950 XL just wins this one, but there's really not that much in it.
Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts, OnePlus 3: 9 pts
Test 6: Party time
By popular request, a human 'moving subject' shot, testing out the flash and freezing capabilities of the two phone cameras. Only with a tea cup, not beer! And shot by my wife, so a typical 'normob' degree of hand steadiness. As usual, I was deliberately moving, as a subject might be at a party or event:
Here are the interesting 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:
Loathe as I am to do this particular test when I don't have a Xenon-equipped phone camera in the mix, the Lumia 950 XL does a passable enough job, with the 'Dynamic Exposure' facility using parts of a shorter exposure to provide detail on moving objects. So, even though the 950 XL shot had a much longer exposure (and therefore better colours), the moving tea-cup is far better frozen. The OnePlus 3 does its best, but a single exposure and single LED flash can't really compete.
Lumia 950 XL: 8 pts, OnePlus 3: 5 pts
Verdict
As ever, I do like to tot up the points in these comparisons:
- Microsoft Lumia 950 XL: 55/60pts
- OnePlus 3: 51/60pts
The OnePlus 3 did very well indeed against the current world imaging champion, the Lumia 950/XL, and up with the other top end smartphones (e.g. Galaxy S7). And far better than other recent contenders (Sony Xperia X). But it does seem as though the Lumia 950 Xl isn't going to get toppled until some other manufacturer comes up with a smartphone that's at least partly imaging-centric. And that's not going to happen for a while, probably not even in 2016.
PS. See also my generic function head to head between the Lumia 950 XL and the OnePlus 3.